Academic Support Centre

When you become a student at BSBI, you are welcomed into a community that actively supports your goals. No matter what you need, we have you covered!

What is the Academic Support Centre?

The term academic support refers to a wide variety of services provided to the students to help them embark on their academic journey of education and meet their academic goals.

Academic support programmes and strategies are used by schools to increase the academic achievement of students, particularly for students who may struggle to reach their full academic potential.
The Academic Support Centre (ASC) of BSBI also offers "enrichment" programmes and more advanced learning opportunities to higher-achieving students. The ASC includes a broad array of related support services to students, faculty and staff including new student orientation, academic coaching (guidance and counselling), academic supervision, educational strategies, tutoring sessions, mentoring, supplemental courses, teacher advisors, positive peer tutoring, assessment and research. All of the aforementioned initiatives are implemented with the aim of improving student retention and academic excellence.

The BSBI Academic Support Centre is here to support you through your way to success!

Aims and Objectives

The ASC aims to foster and promote good communication and study practices among students. The centre provides a variety of academic resources to assist learning in the classroom and help students develop essential skills to reach their academic goals.

Assist students in developing educational plans that are consistent with their life goals.

Make students the central focus of their course and provide quality academic support programme across all academic subjects.

Provide student with accurate information about academic progression that is in accordance with student’s employment goals.

Identify institutional and personal circumstances that may impede student academic achievements as well as developing appropriate strategies to address the latter.

Assist students in understanding academic policies and procedures.

Provide innovative support programmes for students who are struggling academically.

Increase student retention by providing personal contact with students who sometimes need support them to settle in the institution.

Assist students in implementing their newly learned skills into their academic work.

Develop students’ study skills that will improve the chances of academic success.

Provide services and resources to faculty, staff and administrators that enhance and support classroom teaching and professional development.

Improve access to campus resources that will enhance students’ learning experience.

Support and uphold the academic standards and requirements of UCA, CUC and UNINETTUNO. 

Methodology

A methodology is a set of ideas or guidelines on how to proceed in gathering and validating knowledge of a subject matter. Different areas of science have developed very different methodologies.

Using a methodology provides a guide for carrying out some or all the following activities: probing the empirical details of a domain of phenomena, discovering explanations of surprising outcomes or patterns, identifying entities or forces, establishing patterns, providing predictions, separating noise from the signal, using empirical reasoning to assess hypotheses and assertions.

BSBI has both professional and avant-garde professors. Not only do all our professors use valid and up-to-date methodologies to teach, but they also use extra resources and materials to ensure the highest quality of learning process. All students have access to bibliotic resources, eBooks, valid internet resources, informative PowerPoints and videos, for each of their lessons. 

The Academic Support Centre office offers scheduled appointments and also provides a walk-in service. You may send your inquiries and appointment requests here

Support Programmes and Activities 

BSBI students benefit from various support programmes and activities offered by ASC according to their needs. All the programmes and activities are meticulously tailored for students to assist them throughout their studies.

BSBI’s activities and programmes presented by the ASC are:

Both undergraduate and postgraduate students will receive study skill lessons from BSBI, helping them to have a smooth transition into academic life. With the study skills program, each of our students will develop a learning styles which suits them best. The ASC study skills programme provides students with strategies to boost their memories, exam preparations and to have a better academic writing. Most importantly, the ASC will assist students with time management and project management.

The Study Skills course will help to build knowledge and facilitate learning and enable students to succeed in business. It is a way to find, gauge, and seize opportunities and promotes a love of and confidence in reading, writing, analysing, and sharing valuable information. It provides nourishment and exercise for the mind.

BSBI’s ASC has created the Study Skills + programme to help students to increase their confidence, competence, and self-esteem.

The study skills + programme has been created for students to assist them start their academic journeys with ease and safely. Study Skills +, delivered by the ASC, is not only for students who are in need of extra activities or guidance, but it also offers enrichment programmes and more advanced learning opportunities for higher-achieving students. Study Skills +, provides students with tips and tricks on handling academic obstacles smoothly. We aim to keep students motivated and happy. In this programme, we also offer presentation practice and critical thinking methods, and by utilizing up-to-date methodologies, we make sure our students excel.

A method or a methodology is a set of recommendations on how to proceed with scientific research within a certain domain. In the history of philosophy, there has been a hope that science could proceed on the basis of a pure inductive logic: collect the data, analyse the data, sift through the findings and report the strongest regularities found in the data set. However, scientific inquiry requires more than this; it requires discovery and imagination.

As a graduate or an undergraduate student, you will need to know how to write your master’s thesis or doctorate dissertation. The ASC’s Research Methodology course will guide you step-by-step through this process. The foundation of a valid and reliable thesis, dissertation or scientific article comes from understanding research methodology.

On this course you will learn how to come up with a good research topic, which data to collect, where to collect it from, how to collect it and how to analyse it.

When you are ready to conduct research, it must be good enough to produce knowledge that is applicable outside of the research setting. Furthermore, the results of your study may have implications for policy and future project implementation. The main purpose of research is to initiate action, gather evidence for theories, and contribute to developing knowledge in a field of study.

BSBI’s ASC is proud to present the Research Methodology+ course. This course has been designed for students to help them with their master’s thesis, doctorate dissertation or scientific articles. It provides step-by-step guidance on how to choose the best topic, how to come up with good research question/s, which research method to use, how to write your thesis, dissertation or article, how to use valid and standard referencing, and finally how to present your work.

Assessment is one of the most important aspects of language teaching and learning. Two main goals of language assessments are as follows; to make summative evaluations and to provide instructional feedback to help learners progress.

The Academic Support Centre offers Language Assessment programmes, providing resources and support for students working with a language that is new to them. ASC offers assistance with English for developing academic writing and presentation skills, through the online platforms and face to face. The ASC evaluates the language level of all BSBI students when they apply and keep a record of their English proficiency level. Accordingly, ASC offers courses to students such as: General English and English Language skills for academic purposes and also holds international valid examinations such as IELTS and TELC.

The ASC understand that students may need a different style of learning so offers tailored learning plans. Personalized learning is an educational approach that aims to customise learning to each student's strengths, needs, skills, and interests. Each student will get a learning plan that's based on what they know and how they learn best.

Students may learn at different paces and levels, and their learning plans keep them on track and up to standard.

With our personalized learning method, students will receive a learning plan based on how they learn, what they know and what kind of skills and interests they have. The personalized learning method is the exact opposite of the “one plan fits all”. This method has proven success and is used in many well-known schools and institutions.

Peer tutoring is an instructional strategy that consists of student partnerships, linking high achieving students with lower achieving students or those with comparable achievement.

Peer tutoring includes a range of approaches in which learners work in pairs or small groups to provide each other with explicit teaching support, such as:

• cross-age tutoring, in which an older learner takes the tutoring role and is paired with a younger tutee or tutees;
• peer assisted learning, 25 –35 minutes two or three times a week; and
• reciprocal peer tutoring, in which learners alternate between the role of tutor and tutee.

Studies have identified benefits for both tutors and tutees, and for a wide range of age groups. Though all types of students appear to benefit from peer tutoring, there is some evidence that students who are low-attaining and those with special educational needs make the biggest gains.

The Academic Support Centre is always there for you and has your best interests in mind, coaching you and helping you along your academic path.

BSBI’s ASC was formed to assist students to become more effective in their academic lives. The ASC is there to address concerns that may be interfering with your academic potential, such as: having difficulty adjusting to academic life, stress and time management, facing difficulty submitting your assignments or preparing for exams. We are here to improve your effectiveness, boost your self-confidence and guide you to reach your full potential to accomplish your academic goals.