Volume 4 September, 2014

ILC Newsletter For The Year 2013-2014

Inside this issue

Workshops for L1 & L2 2

CV Clinic 2

ILC Student Development Workshops

3

Movies lab 4

IELTS Practice Initiatives 6

Initiatives for L 3 Students 7

What’s New!? 8

The ILC at UAEU has a long and colourful history, and it is continuously evolving. As part of the Student Academic Success Program (SASP, in University College, the ILC receives over 20,000 student visits each academic year.

With the other Learning Centers - the Writing Center, the Speaking Center, and the Tutorial Center, the ILC makes sure the students can always study outside of class time. In fact, students can study at any time of the day and from anywhere with Internet with the online ILC Blackboard account! This is important to students who can access ILC practice materials from the hostels in the evenings, and from home whenever they like, including weekends.

And from this semester, the ILC not only offers English and Arabic language practice activities, but also it is expanding to support college courses - there is a new Philosophy section, for example! The ILC follows the needs of UAEU students, so if there is something a student would like to suggest, he or she is welcome to do so - we love to hear student comments!

Also, the popular IELTS Speaking practice is offered in the ILC and arranged by the Speaking Center; and the ILC Movie Lab is run in the ILC by an English Foundation Program Instructor - we also love to cooperate! So, as the ILC continuously evolves, we aim to bring more and varied ser-vices to support the students' out-of-class learning.

ILC 24/7

Paolo Rossetti

2

Workshops for levels 1 and 2

Shehab Majud

During the spring semester the ILC organized

several activities that helped our students

cross some roadblocks in their search for

knowledge.

One of the challenges the students face is

when taking the CGE (Computer Generated

Exam). Four workshops for levels 1 and 2

were facilitated throughout the semester to

pinpoint the mistakes students usually make

when they take the CGE.

Our students at the colleges were also involved in the ILC activities. A CV / resume clinic was set up for those interest-ed in finding some career opportunities. The clinic was open every Wednesday at 2.00. UAEU Students and alumni visited the ILC to either get feedback on their resumes or get consul-tation to build one. The clinic continues serving our students during this Fall.

Having witnessed the increasing number of students inter-ested in resume writing/ consultation, the ILC facilitated 1 workshop on resume writing and 2 workshops on how to answer 10 toughest job interview questions – very interac-tive workshop with many interesting scenarios on how to give the most successful answers. Remember all of these ac-tivities are loaded to the ILC Blackboard site.

CV Clinic

The ILC plan is

to

continue offering its

support services to

UAEU students in

general even after

they finish the UFP

stage.

A welcoming

environment that

students of all levels

should make use of.

See you there!

3

ILC Student Development Workshops

I started to grow my interest in student development activities many years ago when I gave a workshop in the UAEU Activities Department on how to be successful. I was stunned by the huge number of students who came to attend and by their positive reaction. This made me feel that these workshops fill an important gap for students who need confidence to navigate successfully through their academic life.

Students usually like to listen to topics that can lead to personal development and provide them with a smooth transition from school life to university life. Therefore, I design my talks around areas like self-confidence, public speaking, communication skills, conflict management, goal setting, prioritizing, CV writing, etc.

I have given many workshops over the past years and they have been well-received by the students. They say that the knowledge they get from participating in this activity remains with them in their university life and beyond.

I would like to mention Ms. Naeima Al Falasi, the ILC supervisor, for the excellent job she does in organizing these workshops. She is very sensitive to the needs of our students and has a deep insight into the topics that can hone their skills and enhance their academic achievement.

In short, I have found, throughout the years I have been here, that studying out-

side the classroom is a very rewarding experience for our students. It stretches their abilities and make them successful learners. Many of them keep mention-ing that the skills they develop by learning on their own, especially in the ILC,

foster their confidence and help them to achieve competitive goals.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in School.” Albert Einstein

As a freshman in UAEU, I had a difficult time adapting to university life and communicating with my peers as I didn't quite have friends in the beginning. Later on, I noticed an email about a workshop on communication and how it is important. It was just what I needed.

That lecture helped me a lot as it stressed the vitality of communication with people. Dr. Hassan Ali, the lecturer, encouraged us that even though we are not fluent in a certain language, we can still argue and debate in support of a certain idea that we believe in, and never let the language hinder us, that alone is communication. Also, we got a chance to know the reasons behind why people fought and argued.

The main most common reason was because of "clash of interest". What you prefer is not exactly what your friend does. You want something to happen your way, but your colleague has another way or approach. This is clash of interest because you believe that following someone's way and compromising means that you will lose something that is important to you, but that's not always true. I believe that this is a common problem we all face in different situations that encounter daily. Communication is very important. It can be the reason of your success .

Ameera Mohamed Osman

Hassan Ali

4

Mary Lanaghan with Asmaa Abelgalil and Shaikhah Saeed

Hi everyone! Wow, a lot has happened in the past two semesters since we started the Movie Lab. Let’s take a moment to shine a light on what we’ve accomplished and cast a hopeful beam into the future.

What, Why, and How? The Movie Lab is a group of staff, students, and teachers in the Foundation Program who want to do something fun and useful at the same time: Watch movies and get better at English. Our weekly movie showings and internet-based resources are advertised throughout campus and our programs are open to all. And yes! We now have Twitter and Instagram feeds…..

We take time to look for movies that can be enjoyed throughout our

campus community. Please (please pleeeeease….. ) check out our blog so you can watch movie clips and vote for films that you would like to see. Our blog address is www.uaeumovielab.wordpress.com and you can also get there from the ILC Blackboard page. We’ll be sooooo glad to hear from you.

After you vote for a movie, check out the rest of blog. You can practice your vocabulary with an online quizlet game, or read about the movies we have shown in the past. If you are teacher, you can find movie-based presentation and practice materials for your classes, and teachers are also invited to contribute materials to be published on the blog.

The Independent Learning Center has printed versions of the Movie Lab learning materi-als as well as an impressive DVD library that lends movies to teachers and students.

Movie Lab, Fall 2014 Mary Lanaghan

4

5

Fun Facts From 2013-14

Here are some fun facts from our first season:

The Lab ran for 28 weeks, over two semesters

We enjoyed 18 complete and carefully selected movies.

Students enjoyed 863 hours of movies with the Movie Lab.

The blog was visited more than 6000 times

An average of 17 students attended each week.

Among the most popular movies were Gravity,

Frozen and Wadjda!!

What next?

Well, more movies, more learning, and hey, did I mention the Twitter and Instagram feeds? Please stay tuned for more ……. .

Follow us

@uaeu_movie_lab

@uaeu.movie.lab

Movie Lab, Fall 2014

6

IELTS Practice Initiatives

To promote learner independence, we have also made available a range of IELTS practice materials both at the

ILC, and online via Blackboard. These materials have been extremely valuable with students, both in the UFP

and from the faculty courses. We have CD players at the center so students can take the time to complete the

listening component of the practice exams in our quiet learning space. Upon completing the exams, students can

also self-correct the practice exams, and can convert their scores to an equivalent IELTS band for each skill. The

Blackboard materials have been a huge success, and we will continue to add to the materials available on our

site.

The ILC also led workshops on the specific skills required for IELTS. Two workshops

were held to improve students’ reading skills. During these workshops, students practiced

their skills in skimming, scanning and reading for detail. They practiced these skills by

completing different types of questions that come up in the IELTS exam, such as multiple-

choice questions, summary completion exercises, and paragraph/heading matching

activities. Students completed a practice IELTS reading exam after practicing these skills as a

group. Another workshop was held to help students to improve their listening skills.

Students were given important tips to maximize their success in the listening

component of IELTS.

Leila Mohanna

The ILC recognizes the importance of IELTS for students. To address this need, we had a lot of initiatives, which were popular with students from UFP and students from the faculties. Firstly, the ILC held two mock

IELTS reading and listening exams for stu-dents during the semester. These events

were well-attended, with an average of 40 students per exam on the women’s campus.

We also introduced the mock IELTS exam on the men’s campus, where it also proved

to be popular with students.

After completing the mock exam, students were given feedback on the approximate band result based on online IELTS band

converters. Based on the popularity of these events, they will be held again this semester.

7

Initiatives for Level 3 Students

Activities and materials were also available

to support the UFP’s level 3 students. In the

Spring semester of 2014, students in the

level 3 course were assessed through the

CGEs. To give students more opportunities to

revise, the practice CGEs produced by the

level 3 committee were made available for

students on the ILC’s computers. Additional

CGE- type practice materials were also produced by the ILC committee, and

made available to students. Level 3 students were also able to revise the

preview reading and listening materials for the course through a

workshop where students jointly read and listened to these materials, and

answered supplementary ILC-produced revision questions.

Leila Mohanna

About us:

Independent Learning Centre

Maqam Campus / Building C5—0028

Editor:

Roqaya Mahmoud 201150248 Design & Layout:

Eman W. Hasan 201050342

ILC, University College, UAEU | Phone:+9713 7136083

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