19/10/2012
How to be an effective student
Your student experience is about you developing your ability to learn, as well as our ability to teach you. You must take responsibility for your own personal development. Learning at University is a very different experience to learning at School, so here are a few top tips to becoming a successful student:
The best way to do this is to start with an honest assessment of your personal study skills: how well do you concentrate; how are your note-taking skills; how well do you manage your time? Your personal tutor can help with this assessment as part of your Personal Development Planning.
You will learn who your personal tutor is during Welcome Week and will have an opportunity to meet with them on Tuesdays 12.00 – 1.00.
1. Attend lectures and lab classes. Even though copies of lecture notes and slides are often provided online, reading these won't be the same as having been in the lecture. Often lecturers will include extra examples, include emphasis on certain areas of study or refer to specific pages in your textbooks, all of which may not be included in the handouts. You will attend a lot of lectures during the course of your studies and come across many lecturing styles. You will enjoy some of these more than others, but don't let an individual style put you off.
2. Take notes. At some lectures you will be provided with extensive notes, copies of all the slides, other relevant material, or a lot of on-line material. At other lectures you will receive much less material. It all depends on the way the particular lecturer teaches, and also on the topic. Even the most extensive and comprehensive set of PowerPoint slides and/or lecture notes won’t be sufficient. You need to learn to write things down in a way that you will understand and be able to refer back to, especially when it comes to revision for exams.
3. Ask questions. Become an active learner and if there is something which you don't understand then NEVER be afraid to ask. If you don't feel like putting your hand up in a large class then you can always catch the lecturer at the end. Make use of labs and tutorials which are specifically designed to help you deepen your understanding of the subject and give you the opportunity to ask more questions.
4. Use the textbooks. There is a suggested reading list you can find here. If you decide to get these books, or any others that are recommended, do make sure that you use them. Most large textbooks are best used as a ‘reference’, for preparing for specific lectures by reading ahead, for finding other examples, and as a source of questions for practice and revision, and help in answering tutorial problems.
5. You should also make use of the libraries on campus. They can reserve books and articles for you and also acquire publications from other libraries through inter-library loans. Students who read around a topic rather than just relying on material given in lectures are the most successful. You should learn to use the library for researching your chosen subject area. The librarians are very friendly and keen to help.
6. Attend tutorials. Your tutor is a valuable resource and can provide feedback on your progress and help you to understand the new aspects of the subject you will come across. Your personal tutor is also there to help you with any questions you may have about your course, Manchester or life in general! Your personal tutor will be the person most likely to provide you with a reference at the end of your studies, so the better they know you the more detailed reference they will be able to provide.
7. Submit work. Be organised in knowing when deadlines are coming up and be realistic about how much time you need to plan, write up and submit work to a decent standard. If you are given work to read through and prepare in advance of lectures or tutorials, make sure you complete this and hand it in.
8. Get organised. Take responsibility for your studies, write down deadlines, exam dates, times and venues for all your classes. Turn up on time and be ready to learn. We will always aim to provide you with clear instructions but won't always chase you up in the same way as at school. We will treat you as adults.
Plan for exams. You will do best in your exams if you practice and work through problems as you go along, so that you not only remember the notes but properly understand the content. Past papers are online for you to consult.
9. Keep in touch. Each year unfortunately a number of students encounter problems which impact on their ability to study. These can be financial, family or medical problems. They can make you feel as though you aren't enjoying Manchester, the course or student life in general. However, the University has a variety of support services and people who can help, so if you find you are struggling, make sure you tell someone, because we can't help if we don't know there's a problem.
10. Read your emails. Most announcements, especially those relating to aspects of administration (deadlines, things you need to check etc) are sent to student distribution lists via your University email address. It's vital that you get into the habit of checking your account daily.
source: http://www.sos.eps.manchester.ac.uk/materials/effective-student/index.html
