An increase in both personal freedom and personal responsibility
One of the most rewarding aspects of university learning is
that you are likely to have much more control over what you learn and
how you learn it. There will be far fewer classes timetabled than there
were in school. You will be expected to read and work for much of the
rest of the time independently. Coping with this freedom and organising
your own learning can prove challenging. At school you may have had one
complete set of notes and a single textbook to learn from: now you have
to make sense of whatever notes you have chosen to make during lectures
along with an extensive reading list. Independent study requires you to
manage and organise time and information effectively.
In school you may have been used to a shared set of rules;
university is less rule-bound. Furthermore, you may find that ground
rules shift in that what applies in one School may differ from that
applying in other Schools.
Suggestions
- The first thing you need to do is to take responsibility for your own learning and study.
- Don’t assume that what works well in one situation will transfer straightforwardly to another situation or subject area.
- Be clear on what is expected of you at all
times: carefully read course documentation and all course materials.
Follow the advice of your School carefully.
- Get to know fellow students and share information and ideas.
- Don’t be afraid to question any areas of ambiguity: talk to your lecturers/tutors.
- If you feel you are really struggling, seek advice as early as possible: there is support available.
- It is worth performing some self-analysis to
discover your learning style so that you can work with it as far as
possible and perhaps experiment with adopting an alternative style to
complement your existing one. (See unit, ‘Exploring your learning preferences’).
- Become a more reflective learner (See unit, ‘Reflective learning: keeping a reflective learning journal’).
- Learn how to improve motivation and overcome
procrastination (See unit, ‘Staying motivated and avoiding procrastination’).
- Discover ways to organise and manage information
and time (See units under the headings, ‘Feeling swamped? Getting organised’ and 'Information for learning: making it your own').
- Above all, take advantage of your freedom to focus on and enjoy your interests and to be really engaged with your studies.
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