Academic Support

Do you have difficulty motivating yourself to study outside of your classes?  When you finally sit down to study, do you have difficulty staying focused and putting forth your best effort?  Joining Arty’s Study Groups might be how you can study your way to success this semester! 

Arty's Study Groups

Arty's Study/Accountability Groups offer dedicated weekly study times for the semester and a supportive community for Aims Community College students to help you succeed. These sessions are designed to help students to establish a consistent study routine with accountability, motivation, support and fun.  Groups are available during the fall and spring terms.  

 You might benefit from a study/accountability group if you want to:

• Boost your motivation and accountability for reaching your academic goals
• Have dedicated time to work on assignments/study
• Overcome distractions and improve focus on tasks
• Connect with a supportive community of other students
• Enhance your study strategies and knowledge of campus resources

Groups are facilitated by a Peer Academic Coach who will help you set a study goal for the session, give you time to work, and check in with you on your progress.  Sharing your goal and progress with the group can help you stay on task during the session.  The 90-minute sessions are not course-specific, meaning you can work on any assignment or study for any class with a group of other students who are also committed to studying during the session time.  The Peer Academic Coach leading the session will be studying right alongside you and will also share a study tip, relevant resource, or event each week.  Students who attend at least five sessions will receive an Arty's Bistro gift card.  

Feeling overwhelmed with college? Struggling to navigate the academic challenges that come your way? Our academic coaches are here to provide guidance, support and encouragement throughout your academic endeavors at Aims.

Academic Coaches can:

• Connect you with campus resources
• Support you in setting goals for the semester and helping you stay on track with personalized weekly check-ins
• Help you develop time management and organization strategies
• Teach you effective learning and study strategies, including reading, note-taking and test-taking skills
• Assist with helping you navigate academic technology resources

You can drop in Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the fall or spring terms or Monday, Tuesday or Thursday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., and sign in to study on your own or chat with an academic coach.  

Academic Coaching Appointment Hours

• Tuesday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• Friday 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Coaching is available in English or Spanish with Melissa on Tuesday & Friday.

Check out these resources to help you succeed in college

1. Use this weekly time management grid to help you stay on task throughout the semester.
2. Get a bird's-eye view of the semester so you can plan for assignments, midterms and finals with our Semester at a Glance calendars.

Watch study skills videos

Crash Course has free study skills videos to help you improve your study strategies. 

Read&Write software allows you to: 

• Hear digital text read aloud
• Dictate a paper with speech to text technology
• Soften screen glare and reduce visual stress with computer screens through screen masking

Read&Write is available to all current students at Aims. It’s installed on all student-use Mac and PC computers on campus, and students can install Read&Write on personal devices at home using the same credentials that are used to log into the Aims website. 

Download these programs on the Read&Write website.

Read&Write Installation Instructions for Mac, Windows and Chrome

Google Gemini is the official GenAI service at Aims Community College. Using your Aims login information, you have free access to the education version of Gemini, which does not use your information to train it’s AI model.  To access Gemini, go to https://gemini.google.com and make sure you're logged into your Aims account.  Before using Gemini to assist with your coursework, always check with your syllabus and instructor for the AI use policy in your course.  AI should never be used to do the work for you in your class, only to help you understand concepts better or get suggestions for ways to improve what you’re working on.  AI can also be useful to save you some time on other tasks so you have a little more time for coursework.  

Here are some example prompts you might try:

• Explain [concept] to me like I'm an 8th grader.
• Based on my uploaded lecture notes, create 5 multiple-choice practice questions to help me review.  Then share the answers and why each is correct.
• Act as a debate partner. Critique my argument in favor of [topic] and highlight counterarguments I should address.
• Create an action plan broken down into steps to help me complete a 10 page research paper in 3 weeks.  
• Create a 5-day dinner meal plan for a family of four on a $150 budget.  Include an organized grocery list and simple 20-minute recipes.  

Gemini Notebook is an AI-powered research assistant that lets you upload class materials—like your notes, PDFs, docs, slides, or websites—and then lets you ask questions about the content and generate study materials.  You can create an audio or video overview, mind maps, flashcards, quizzes, or reports (briefing docs or study guides).  Be sure to use Notebook as a study tool to help you better understand concepts, not as a replacement for reading and learning the material.  Notebook will also allow you to ask questions and receive answers about your uploaded information in the language of your choice.  

With your Aims student login, you can access Gemini Notebook at https://notebooklm.google.com.

Grammarly is a free AI writing tool for Aims students that can help with grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, and tone in writing assignments.  Before using the tool, be sure to check your course syllabus or ask your instructor to make sure using Grammarly is allowable in your course.  Also, be cautious about what suggestions you take from Grammarly as you edit your paper.  Correcting grammar and spelling errors is generally ok, but if you take all of Grammarly’s recommendations for style, tone, word choice, etc. your paper will lose your unique voice and may make your paper flag as AI generated content. 

You can access Grammarly on your myApps dashboard (aims.okta.com). 

Goblin Tools is a collection of AI tools designed to offer academic support by breaking down larger assignments and simplifying concepts.  A few helpful tools for academic tasks are: 

• Magic ToDo – Break down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps
  • Example prompt: I need to write a 10 page research paper in the next three weeks.
• Professor – get a mini crash course on any topic you enter
  • Example prompt: Help me understand polynomial equations in college algebra.

Adjust your level of “spiciness” to determine how simply you want an explanation or how much you want a task to be broken down.

The resource is available in multiple languages at goblin.tools. 

Quizlet has interactive study tools to help you learn, memorize, and practice answering questions.  Here are a few of the most useful features: 

• Flashcards – create your own flashcards or browse for already created sets
• Learn – create or use existing practice questions to quiz yourself over material and help you focus on information you still need to practice
• Study guides – create your own study guide or check out study guides created by others on the topic you’re learning

You can see all of the resources at quizlet.com.