successful learning: strategies for first...

The University of Sydney

Successful learning: strategies for first years

Presented by HELENDRURY LEARNINGCENTREORIENTATIONLECTURE|2016


Academicexpecta>onsatuniversity


Academic expectations

Comparedwithhighschool,universitystudents:

o  receivelessguidanceo  havemoreautonomyo  havemoredistant,impersonalrela>onshipswith

teachersandtheuniversityorfacultyo  havelarger,moreirregularworkloadso  havetodealwithmoreimplicitexpecta>ons



Asauniversitystudent,youareexpectedto:o  knowhowtofindanduseinforma>ono  think,readandwriteanaly>callyandcri>callyo  writetherightacademicgenreforanassignmento  managealargeandirregularworkloado  aOendlecturesandsubmitassignmentson>meo  mo>vateyourselfo  makeyourowndecisionsabouthowtolearno  ac>velyseekhelpandinforma>onwhenyouneedit.o  behavewithacademichonesty(i.e.correctreferencing

andnoplagiarism).



Skillsaudit:o Lookatthelistofacademictasksandskillsinyourhandout

o Giveyourselfara>ngofMaster,Appren>ceorBeginnerforeachskill.



Master: o Thisskillisoneofyourstrengths

o Youhaveahighlevelofconfidenceandexperiencewiththisskill.



Appren>ce: o Thisisadevelopingskill.

o Youmighthavesomeexperiencebutperhapsnotatuniversitylevel.



Beginner: o Youhavelimitedskillinthisarea.

o Youmightnothaveexperienceindoingthis.

o YoumightnothavetriedthisatUniversity.



Take4minutestodotheskillsaudit.



Ifyouareabeginner:o Haverealis>cexpecta>ons:Don’texpectperfec>onin

thefirstassignment.

o Ifyouneedthisskillforanassignment,askforadvice:otherstudents,yourtutorand/oryourlecturer.

o DoafreeLearningCentreworkshop.



Ifyouareanappren>ce:o Haverealis>cexpecta>ons:Don’texpectperfec>on,

butonlyimprovement.

o Setyourselfsomegoalstoimprove.

o DoafreeLearningCentreworkshop.



LoveyourUnitofStudyOutlinebecauseitgivesyou:o Duedatesandinstruc>onsforassignmentso Referencingexpecta>onso Guidetostyleandformatofassignmentso Informa>onaboutcriteriafordifferentgradeso Outlineofthecontentandstructureoftheteachingo Contactinforma>onforlecturersandtutorso …plusmore…


Timemanagementstrategies


Reflect on your study preferences

TimeforstudyTakeafewminutestoreflectontheseques>onso Doyoupreferstudyinginthemorningorevening?o Whenisyourmostproduc>ve>me?o Whenareyoumostabletoconcentrate?o Whenareyouleastproduc>veandmostdistracted?

Nowsharewiththepersonsi`ngnexttoyou.Maximiseyourstudy>me–studywhenyouarefreshandavoid>meswhenyouaredistracted.


Planning

Semester

Week

Session

EnteralldeadlinesonyoursemesterplannerForeachdeadline:•  workbackwards•  iden>fytheweeks/dateswhen

youneedtostartworkonthatassignment/test

UseyoursemesterplannerasthebasisforyourweeklyplannerUseyourweeklyplannerasthebasisofyourstudysessionplanner Gototomorrow’slecture‘Somanybooks,soliOle>me:Tipsforconqueringreadingand

research’(10-11,intheBoschLectureTheatre),formoreonplannersfor>memanagement.


Planning

o  Planningmeans:o  Breakalargetaskintostepsorchunks.o  Es>matehowlongeachstepwilltake.o Workoutwhichchunksneedtobedoneineachweek.

o Writethechunksintheweeklyboxesonyoursemesterplanner


Planning – breaking assignment preparation down into steps

Forexample:wri.nganessayReadandsummarisejournalar>cles–8hoursPlanessay–2hoursWritedrah–3hoursRevisedrah–2hoursWritefinalessay–2hoursFormatreferences–2hoursPrintout–finalproofreadingandelectronicsubmission-1hour


Example semester planner

LING FRENCH BIO ENGLISH

Week1 Readnovel3hours

Week2 Readandsummarisejournalar>cles–8hours

Summariselecturenotes Readchapters1-3andmakenotes–3hoursWritedrahofsummary1hr

Readnovel2hrsFind3ar>cles1hr

Week3 Planessay–2hours

Studyforquiz2hours Writefinalsummary–2hrs

SummaryReadar>clesandmakenotes3hrsPlantutorialpresenta>on1hrDeveloppowerpoint2hrs

Week4 Writedrah–3hoursRevisedrah–2hours

Quiz Readchapters4-6andmake

notes–3hoursWritedrahofsummary1hr

Rehearsepresenta>on2hrs

Tutorialpresenta>on

Week5 Writefinalessay–2hoursFormatreferences–2hoursPrintout–1hour

Essay1due

Writefinalsummary–2hrs

Summary

Break Summariselecturenotes

Week6 Studyforquiz2hours Assignment1 Essay1

Week7 Quiz

Week8 Groupassignment


Procrastination

TimewastersHowdoyouprocras>nate?Takeafewminutestoreflectontheseques>onso  Whatareyourbiggest>mewasters?o  Howcanyouavoidthese?Nowsharewiththepersonsi`ngnexttoyou

o TV/computero Facebook,IM,TwiOeretc.o Phoneo Organisingyourdesko Gamingo Daydreaming...?


Timewasters

TV/computer Facebook Household

chores


Timewasters and solutions

TV/computer

Use it as a reward only

after finishing a task.

Facebook

Check Facebook as a reward when

you finish.

Household chores

Don’t do cleaning or other chores

during your study time.

telephone texting Turn it off!


Goal setting

§  Studentswhosetgoalsaremorelikelytosucceed

§  Goalse`ngcanhelpyoutoimproveacademicperformanceatUniversity

Morisano,D.,Hirsh,J.B.,Peterson,J.,Pihl,R.,&Shore,B.(2010).Se`ng,elabora>ngandreflec>ngonpersonalgoalsimprovesacademicperformance.JournalofAppliedPsychology,95(2),255-264.


Set SMARTgoalso Specifico Measurableo Achievableo Realis>co Time-frame

By2pm,read4journalar.clesandmakeaconceptmapsummaryofideas.

S.cktoweeklystudyschedulethisweek.

TodayIwillavoiddistrac.onsbyturningoffmymobilewhilestudying.


Effec>vereadingtechniques


Reading effectively

Readingforapurpose:§  Whyareyoureading?e.g.:

§  foranassignment,eitherwriOenororal?

§  foratestoranexam?

§  Thewayyoureadandtakenoteswillbedifferent;e.g.:§  foranessayassignmentora(short)essayexam,youusuallyneedtoiden>fythemainideasandargumentbeingdevelopedbytheauthor

§  foranexamtes>ngdetailedknowledge,you’llneedtoseetherela>onshipsbetweenthevariouselementsofthesystem,process,etc.,thatyouarelearningabout


Reading techniques: Skimming

Skimming:gainingageneraloverviewofmainideas,argumentsetc.§  helpsyoudecideifatextisanappropriatesourceofinforma>onand

ifitis,todeterminehowmuchandwhatyoushouldreadmoreintensively

§  youcanapplyskimmingtechniquesatalllevelsofatext:§  skimtheintroductoryandconcludingchaptersofabook,togetherwiththetableofcontents

§  withinchapters,skimtheopeningandclosingparagraphs,theheadingsandsubheadings,thenskimthefirstsentencesofeachparagraph:these‘topic’sentencesusuallysummarisethecontentoftheparagraphorthedirec>onitwillbeleadingthereaderin

§  Skimmingallowsyoutoreflectonandpredictwhatistofollow:§  Takingafewminuteswhileskimmingtopredictcontentkeepsyouac>veasa

reader

§  Skimmingalsohelpsyoutowritebriefernotes


Reading techniques: Scanning

Scanning: to try to locate specific information §  Book:

use the Contents pages (chapter titles) and/or the Preface/Introduction

use the index to find, e.g.:

o  the name of a particular theorist - the index might provide that without having to scan parts of the text at all

o  the main characteristics of a type of plant - find the page number(s) for the plant (or species) and scan the page(s) for the information you require.

§  Journal article:

use find if it is an electronic, searchable version

let your eyes move over each page in a systematic way until you find the information you want

§  Scanning can be used during the early stages of reading and researching as well as during the later stages to clarify specific points


Some General Principles for Reading

1.  Be selective - you can't read everything so read the key texts in depth and skim some of your other references.

2.  Use the information available in the texts to help you decide which texts to read and how much; i.e. use the index, chapter headings, table of Contents, introduction, and so on to help locate specific information.

3.  Use your resources - get advice from lecturers as to which texts are the most important and which topics are the most time consuming.

4.  Know what you're looking for: have a list of questions you need answers for to enhance your understanding of the material.


Learningandrevising…


Learning tips

Forreading/wriMnglearners:§  writesummariesofyourlectures§  makelists§  writekeyconceptsonpost-itnotes§  inventmnemonics(e.g.ROYGBIV–red,orange,yellow,green,blue,indigo,

violet=Newton’scoloursofthespectrum)§  fillanA-Zaddressbookwithaglossaryofkeywords,meanings,synonyms,

equa>ons,theories,etc.,inyoursubject

ForkinaestheMclearners:§  collectpictures/objectsthatremindyouofthekeypoints§  makeupreal-lifeexamplesofabstractconcepts,usecasestudies§  prepareademonstra>on,goonfieldtrips,interviewpeople,perform

experiments,docomputersimula>ons,…


Learning tips: what kind of learner are you?

Foraurallearners:§  recordkeypointsontoyouriPhoneandlisten§  holdstudysessionswithfriendsfordiscussions§  explainyournotestosomeoneelse,listentoothers’explana>ons§  imaginelisteningandtalkingtoyourtutor§  explaintherela>onshipsbetweenconcepts/elements

Forvisuallearners:use§  graphicorganisers,e.g.SmartArt§  conceptmaps,eventmaps,Venndiagrams,flowchartstoexplainthe

rela>onshipsbetweenconcepts/elements§  keywordsdisplayedincolour§  symbolstorepresenteachlearningelement


Concept map Event map

Topic

Feature 1

Feature 2

Feature 3

Feature 4 Event

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

How?

Why?


Venn diagram

A

B C

Things in common

to A and C

Things in common

to A and B

Things in common

to B and C

Things in common

to A, B and C


Learning preferences

§  Askthepersonsi`ngnexttoyou

§  Whattypeoflearningstyledoyouprefer?

§ Reading/wri>ng§ Kinaesthe>c§ Aural§ Visual


Revision tips: exams may seem a long way off !!

Advice from British ‘memory champion’, Ed Cooke: §  start early in the semester §  learn in short sessions §  test yourself over a number of weeks, leaving intervals between revision

sessions §  don’t leave learning, especially of large amounts of information, till the last

minute …

Knowledge building in science Knowledge building in humanities

Concept 1

Concept 2

Concept 3

vertical Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3

horizontal

https://www.memrise.com/


Revision tips: exams may seem a long way off !!

General revision advice: §  revise in short, timed bursts of activity, then have a short break §  revise when you’re ‘at your peak’ = early in the day? much later? §  revise the most challenging subject areas first, while you’re fresh §  give yourself a reward after a challenging revision session!

For example: Use the pomodoro technique 1.  decide on the task to be done (and break it down into intervals). 2.  set the pomodoro timer to n minutes (traditionally n = 25).

3.  work on the task until the timer rings. If you are distracted, record whatever it is, but immediately get back on task.

4.  when the timer rings after one ‘pomodoro’, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then continue with the task. Keep track of the number of pomodoros.

5.  after four ‘pomodoros’, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), and start again. http://pomodorotechnique.com/


Preparing for Multiple Choice Question exams

Reviseindifferentways:§  makesummaries§  makediagramma>crepresenta>ons(e.g.conceptmaps,spidercharts,

flowcharts)§  makeoralexplana>ons/discussions(youcanrecordtheseandplaythem

back)§  applyyourknowledgetonewsitua>ons§  relatenewinforma>ontowhatyoualreadyknow:makeitconcrete,make

itpersonal§  movefromgeneraltospecificinforma>on§  workwithfriendstoprepare–andanswer–possibleques>onsonthe

samegeneraltopic:preparingques>onsyourselfisaverygoodwaytopreparefortheexam


Closing

1.  Ques>ons…?2.  PleasegiveusyourFeedback.Fillintheformand

leaveitintheboxasyouleave–thankyou!3.  Fortheseslidesandadetailedhandout(including

planners),gotosydney.edu.au/lcandclickonResources

Goodluck

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