Michelle is finding interesting differences non-native speakers and native speakers of English with respect to becoming a CPA. She writes:

Therefore, the group of bilinguals and ESL students has totally different views on the CPA exams than others. They may consider what they have to do more than what they want to do. I will focus on this aspect and discuss more on my paper later.

I'm really looking forward to her discussion of how particular needs can change one's viewpoint of becoming a CPA.

Sengelieva also has an interesting subject, that of ethics. She found out that four companies, when they interview prospective employees, they have some questions regarding ethical issues. One question was:

If you were asked by a co-worker to do something you thought was unethical, how would you respond?

I think it would be easy to answer the question in an interview, but it would be quite difficult in real life.

According to John Swales, a linguist, the introductions in all academic journal articles contain four rhetorical moves. Scholars use these moves to develop a context for their work. Although the order of these moves can vary, in general, the first move is to announce the importance of the research topic. A second move is to review and summarize previous research relevant to their work. Third, they show a problem, or a “gap,” in the previous research, thus making room for their own research. Finally, scientists present their own work as filling that gap or resolving that problem.

It is interesting to read the results of research, and it's interesting to see how researchers give incentives to people to participate in their research. Michelle (Tips: Survey) made two hypotheses: One that chocolate would persuade people to take her survey, and two that men would like Snickers while women would like Crunch. That might be another interesting piece of research: How gender preferences are reflected in candy choice and what types of incentives work best for getting people to take one's survey.

One can study effectively or ineffectively. Here are a few guidelines for becoming more effective in your study habits:

1. Reviewing is more important than cramming. How to review? Right after a class, read and think about your notes for 10-15 minutes. Then right before the next class (same class, just the next time it meets), review those notes again for 10-15 minutes. Next, on weekends, review all of your notes for all classes for the week (perhaps 2 hours). And once a month, review all of your notes for all classes for the month/semester (perhaps all day on a weekend). This is important because for remembering, 15 minutes a day for 4 days (60 minutes) is actually better than studying 90 minutes at one time. I'm not quite sure of the exact number comparison, but it is a fact that reviewing in small chunks of time is more effective for remembering and understanding than studying in a large, single chunk of time. This guideline also applies to writing. That is, writing a little bit on one's essay every day or two will result in a better essay than writing the entire essay at one sitting.

2. When studying the night before a test, be sure to get a good night's sleep. (If you've been reviewing all the time, you won't need to cram.) Lack of sleep interferes with the ability to remember what one studied.

3. When studying, avoid carbohydrates and sugar, but eat more protein, which helps you keep awake and alert.

These are a few basics. If you want more information, go to University of Texas Learning Center's Resources page for handouts on studying and learning.