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a health science student obsessed with the sixties

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The Transition to Higher Education

Unlike previous learning experience at school and sixth form, success in Higher Education is completely your responsibility. Of course, your tutors want you to succeed, but if you don’t want to make an effort, there’s not a lot they will do about it!

Take control of your learning - Don’t wait to be told something, find out yourself! Don’t wait for opportunities to arise, go out and create them! Don’t wait for inspiration, inspire yourself!

1. Commit time to study - Practise makes perfect. Expertise is a result of dedicated hours studying. 

2. Make the right choices - Choose the right course/module for you, and make wise decisions about how you spend your time.

3. Use the available opportunities - As a university student, you will have access to more books and journals than you could dream of. Use them! Also, you will be working alongside experts in your field, so make use of them. Join societies that interest you and network with other students and employers.

4. Have the right mind-set - Be curious. You have to want to learn, or it just won't turn out well for you. Recognise that your education is your responsibility and go out on your own to find things out.

5. Think long-term - Think about where you want your degree to take you, and what you need to do to get there

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Treat your studies like a real job. Get up in the morning with a goal and go to bed after checking off your entire to do list of the day. Dress for your job, act for your job. Handle it like a boss.

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Studying Independently

When you start university, one of the biggest shocks to the system can be the leap from teacher-led learning to self-directed study. At times, it is challenging to cope with.

Independent study requires a whole new approach to education. Forget everything you know about how to study (well, not all of it!). You’ll need to become responsible for your own learning and be proactive; the only person you can rely on is yourself. It may sound daunting but it can be quite liberating. After all, your tutors are willing to help you with any problems that may arise, just don’t depend on them to tell you what to do and when to do it.

Be proactive:

Take control: universities try their best to offer all the help, materials and guidance possible, and although they offer it they do not give it to you. You must decide what you need and seek it out yourself, whether it be recording equipment for a media piece you’re producing, a meeting with a mental health specialist for when things get tough, or advice about referencing.

Know the essentials: your module lead should put out a handbook with essential information such as deadlines, assessment briefs and what they expect from you. Make this your bible.

Find your own resources: although your teacher should provide a reading list, this is not a strict guide. To succeed you must go above and beyond that which is provided. The reading list should be a springboard for you to go and find related texts and deepen your understanding.

Go beyond the lecture hall: make the most of the opportunities that university provides you. Join that society! Attend that guest lecturer’s talk! Volunteer! You are multifaceted, so show employers that you are more than your education.

Deal with stress: university can be a stressful time. Don’t wait until the stress builds up and you breakdown. Be proactive and dedicate time each day to relax and be mindful. Meditation is key.

Manage your time:

Create a task matrix: Focus Matrix from the App Store is great for this! Divide your tasks into “Important”, “Not Important”, “Urgent” and “Not Urgent”. It will stop you wasting time doing pointless tasks, something which we tend to do while procrastinating.

Motivation:

Intrinsic motivation: this comes from your interest in the subject and a curiosity to find out more. It assumes no reward, or at least the reward of satiated curiosity.

Extrinsic motivation: being motivated by external rewards such as good grades, scholarships and approval form others. However this type of motivation is not sustainable.

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Speed Reading

Learning to speed read properly can triple your reading speed! Don’t spend hours in the library slumped over a pile of books on your reading list, boost your efficiency by learning this valuable skill. But remember, speed reading is not about cramming your essential reading into 15 minutes, it simply allows you to process a large volume of information in order to pick out which areas need closer attention.

Use a Pacer:

A pen down the side of the text, a finger under each line, a z shape down the paper? Choose which works best for you.

Practise with speed training exercises:

Time limits: read for one minute, then read it again but try and do it in 50 seconds, then 40, then 30

Chunking: read every three words at once as one chunk. As you improve, increase the size of the chunk

Pay attention: read for 3 minutes and then write one bullet point about what you’ve read, repeat

Reading on a screen:

Close or hide surplus windows and tabs

Choose an easy to read sans serif font

Increase the size of the text

Zoom out fully to avoid left to right scrolling

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mid week study vibes

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mood

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tfw you submit your essay without that wave of anxiety becuase you’re confident that it is written to the best of your ability and you know you can’t control what happens next, no matter how much you think about it

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manifesting a successful week at uni, attending all my classes, doing all my reading, starting my assignments early, getting a good nights sleep each night and eating healthily

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Do you know what type of learner you are?

This study tip will save you so much time in the long run. Identify your study preference now to stop using up your much-needed effort on ineffective revision techniques.

Visual Learner - Use colour, mind maps, pictures, videos, symbols

Auditory - Record your notes, listen to music while studying, have group discussions, listen to relevant podcasts

Reading & Writing - Write and rewrite your notes, condense notes, practise essay questions, read related books/articles

Kinaesthetic - Draw your notes, associate actions with information, study while exercising, build models

Take care, though. Many students over-identify with how they label themselves, meaning they often ignore methods that they think won’t work for them. Try lots of different techniques out before settling on what works for you. You may be surprised!

Using the right study skills for you makes such a difference to academic performance.