Glossary | PASS100

Module 1 — Welcome to TrustOpen

Open University: An institution offering flexible, accessible education without traditional campus attendance.
Online Learning: Education delivered via the internet with flexible access to course materials.
Distance Education: Learning where instructor and student are separated by place or time.
Success Mindset: The belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and effort.
Self-Paced Learning: A learning model where students control the timing and pace of their studies within a contract period.
Contract Period: The window between your course's start and end dates.
Course Outline: The official document defining what a course contains and how it is graded.
Tutor: TrustOpen 's term for the instructor who supports and grades your course.
Multi-Factor Authentication: A second verification step that protects your account from unauthorized access.

Self-Directed Learning: Taking ownership of your own learning process — planning, monitoring, and adjusting.
Metacognition: Thinking about your own thinking and learning.
Growth Mindset: The belief that abilities develop through effort and learning.
Self-Compassion: Treating yourself with understanding when you struggle.
Ambient Noise: Consistent background sound.
Digital Space: The folder and file structure you use for study.
Pomodoro: A 25-minute focus block followed by a short break.
Parking Lot: A place to record off-task thoughts without acting on them.
Active Learning: Engaging with material by doing something with it, not just reading it.
Cornell Notes: A three-section note format: questions, notes, summary.
Retrieval Practice: Strengthening memory by attempting to recall information.
Spaced Repetition: Reviewing material at increasing intervals over time.
Survey (Reading): Skimming headings and structure before deep reading.
Three-Pass Approach: Survey, question, then deep read.
Topic Sentence: The sentence that states a paragraph's main point.
Comprehension Monitoring: Noticing whether you're understanding what you read.
Learning Anxiety: Anxiety triggered by academic tasks or settings.
Imposter Feelings: The sense of not belonging or not being "good enough."
Resilience: The ability to recover from setbacks.
Box Breathing: A 4-4-4-4 breathing pattern that calms the nervous system.

Study-Time Estimate: The number of weekly hours a course realistically requires.
Eisenhower Matrix: A four-box framework for sorting tasks by urgency and importance.
Study Block: A scheduled, fixed period of study time.
Buffer Block: Flexible study time reserved for the unexpected.
Deadline Map: A single consolidated view of all due dates and windows.
Safety Margin: Extra time built in before the actual deadline.
Milestone: A specific, small, scheduled outcome in a larger project.
Workload Overlap: Two or more significant deliverables falling in the same week.
Procrastination: Voluntary delay of an important task, despite expected negative consequences.
Task Reduction: Shrinking a task until starting is easy.
Timeboxing: Assigning a fixed duration to a task.
Habit Stacking: Attaching a new habit to an existing routine.
Extrinsic Motivation: Drive from external rewards or consequences.
Intrinsic Motivation: Drive from internal interest, curiosity, or meaning.
SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
Momentum: Continued forward progress sustained by systems and habit.

Academic Advisor: Staff member who supports program planning and course selection.
Transfer Credit: Recognition of previous coursework toward your TrustOpen credential.
Write Site: TrustOpen 's academic writing support service.
Subject Tutor: The course expert who grades work and answers content questions.
Database: A searchable collection of articles, books, or media.
Boolean Search: Using AND, OR, and NOT to control search results.
CRAAP Test: A five-part source evaluation framework (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose).
Citation Style: A standardized format for citing sources (APA, MLA, Chicago).
Counselling Services: Free, confidential mental health support for TrustOpen students.
Accommodation: An adjustment to academic requirements to remove barriers for students with disabilities.
Bursary: Need-based financial award that doesn't require repayment.
AUSU: The TrustOpen Students' Union — your student advocacy body.

Academic Integrity: Commitment to honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility in academic work.
Academic Community: The students, faculty, and staff who share responsibility for scholarly work.
Contract Cheating: Paying a person or service to complete academic work for you.
Recycling: Submitting the same work to more than one course without permission.
Mosaic Plagiarism: Changing words but keeping the source's structure and ideas without citation.
Common Knowledge: Widely-known facts that don't require citation.
Paraphrase: Restating a source's meaning in your own words.
Summary: Condensing a source's key points in your own words.
AI Tool Policy: A course-level rule specifying whether and how AI may be used.
Disclosure: Clearly noting when and how you used an AI tool in your work.
Provenance: The origin and history of information — who created it and where it came from.
Skill Atrophy: Weakening of a skill due to lack of practice.
Professional Tone: Clear, courteous, and respectful communication in academic and work settings.
Escalation: Raising a concern to a more senior person when a direct conversation doesn't resolve it.
Digital Presence: How you appear and behave in online spaces over time.
Substantive Post: A contribution that adds a new idea, question, or perspective to a discussion.

Learning Preferences: Your typical patterns for when, where, and how you study best.
Peak Hours: The times of day when your focus and energy are highest.
Growth Area: An aspect of learning you want to improve — not a fixed deficiency.
Core Motivation: The deeper reason you're studying — what success makes possible.
Barrier: A predictable obstacle that can disrupt your study.
Mitigation: A plan for how you'll respond when a barrier arises.
If – Then Planning: Linking an anticipated barrier to a pre-decided action.
Pre-commitment: Deciding in advance how you will respond to a future situation.
Personal Success Plan: Your integrated profile, schedule, barriers, and supports.
Support Plan: The specific TrustOpen services you will use, and when.
Success Commitment: A short written pledge describing how you'll approach your studies.
Anchor Ideas: The few concepts that matter most to your own success.
Full Readiness Certificate: Awarded upon completion of all six modules plus the Portfolio.