Newswise — Back to school for students often means back to tests, homework, social anxiety and stress. But thanks to an innovative online resource developed by a counselor education professor at the University of South Florida, students from middle school to college are just a click away from expert advice for managing these very critical learning issues.
Carlos P. Zalaquett, assistant professor and coordinator of Community/Mental Health Counseling in the College of Education at USF, developed "Help Screens," a set of tools created and reviewed by guidance and mental health counselors to provide students with easy online access to help with study skills, test anxiety, stress, headaches and even tips for relaxation and breathing. Help Screens are primarily designed for students at various levels in the middle and high school grades, and other help screens have also been created for college and graduate students as well as counselors. Each Help Screen contains skills and techniques for academic and mental improvement.
The Help Screens are meant to aid and enhance the academic process for students. Many of the techniques are truly innovative. Several of the methods are older, more familiar techniques that have been redesigned and adapted for use in these screens. These older methods are still viable in today's learning environment and their adaptation was critical because of their longstanding record of being successful.
Since the inception of the Help Screens, countless people from around the world have visited the Web site and gained knowledge. The screens were originally developed and housed at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, before Zalaquett and his career move to USF brought them here. While housed at SHSU, the Help Screens were among the most visited Web pages at the university, reaching 100,000 hits in 2000. The Help Screens for College Students, based on USF-Lakeland campus, receive an average of 500 visitors per month. Help Screens are available at http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/Help_Screens/HelpScreens.htm or in Spanish at http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/hse/hse.html.
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