6 simple steps that set you on the road to great study habits for uni. It’s probably pretty familiar stuff but why not set each one as a focus for the first six weeks of term – or anytime you need to step up the studying.
It might be pen and paper, a phone app, voice notes or good old Word. But somehow or other you need to make notes. And keep them! And not just keep them but be able to find them again when you need them.
At first, it can be hard to know what’s important but it’s better to make too many notes than too few. Maybe review your notes twice a week and try to summarise what you have learned – that’s really great practice for activating your brain!
Tip: you can use re-run recorded lectures to fill gaps in your notes. Even though it is recorded it is good to make notes - it helps to activate your thinking.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all the information you’re given in the first weeks of university. You could make a check list of things that you need or want to do. For example: review notes, find reading lists, sign up for a language class, find out about language support if English isn’t your first language, download a term planner…
Hopefully you will get chance to visit the campus Library in person but, even if you can’t, it’s a great idea to start becoming familiar with all it has to offer. The Library has thousands of academic books, articles and other resources, all written by experts, which you can’t access through Google. It can seem overwhelming, but you will get lots of help from your course and from the amazing Library staff.
As part of your course, your tutors will expect you to read the resources they select for you – you can find these in the ‘resource list’ for your module on Learning Space.
You will also be expected to read widely around your subject, beyond the books and articles cited on your resource list. Now is a good time to hone those search skills. Check out Library Search and track down something intriguing. If you get stuck, there are videos, guides and your Subject Librarians to help you.
Remember, the Library has physical stock – books on shelves – but there are also tens of thousands of e-books and articles that you can access online.
University study in the 21st century is not all about books and reading. But understanding text and developing your writing skills is still a significant part of most degree courses. Everyone studying at university can read, of course! But you are probably going to need some practice to read quicker, think harder and make more connections.
You may find reading or concentrating difficult – most of us do! Check out the links below to help develop your reading skills and remember it takes time to develop any skill. If you think you might be dyslexic, have a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) or physical difficulty or illness, you should contact the Accessibility service who can advise on extra support or adjustments to your course.
There are lots of ways to use technology to support reading so now is a good time to find what works for you.
It can help to think about developing reading like training for a sporting event, competing at elite level. You have to put in the work week by week, even if you have bad days, and keep building up the stamina and speed, developing reading ‘muscles’.
By now you will have realised that there is quite a lot of studying to manage! Especially if you have a job or caring responsibilities alongside. Of course the internet is chock full of ideas about how to organise your time and be more productive. If there was one simple way that worked for everyone, we would all use it all the time!
So, it’s worth taking a bit of time to try things out and find what works for you. Perhaps you like to have everything planned and organised to feel in control – or perhaps you like some room to be flexible and spontaneous. You need to find a balance that works for you and don’t forget that the balance will shift as you go through the year. Studying becomes stressful - and inefficient - if you don’t get organised.
For many people, serious writing, especially ‘Academic Writing’ looks a bit scary. For this reason, we suggest you prepare by simply starting writing. Write as much and whatever and whenever you can. You will be warming and extend those writing muscles.
You could try writing a summary once or twice a week of what you have learned – just set a timer and write for 10 minutes or 25 if you can manage it. It doesn’t have to make sense or be in complete sentences! You could try writing a short summary of a lecture or seminar or a chapter without your notes – or with them.
The important thing is to get used to yourself writing. And what happens to your thoughts as you write. By the way, ‘free writing’ is a great way to de-stress and take stock – look it up on Google!
Talking can really help you make sense of reading (see Step 3) and develop writing (see Step 5). Talking to family or friends or fellow students about what you have read and about what you think is so valuable – if no-one will listen, you can even talk to yourself! Or a cat if you have one handy.
Speaking out loud helps you get used to new words and ideas and gets you used to hearing the sound of your own voice (great practice for presentations). Many courses set up mentoring or peer study schemes or allocate study buddies – these are great ideas to get you talking and, crucially, thinking together. If this is not available, you could set up your own study group.
A favourite idea of ours, from theory of learning, is that new ideas emerge through dialogue, through interaction between people. We are social animals and we need each other in order to develop. Working with others constructively is a hugely valuable skill to be cultivated at any opportunity. And, of course, we are not talking about copying or getting other people to do all the work!
