The Arts Good Study Guide. Ellie Chambers and Andrew Northedge

Transcription

1 The Arts Good Study Guide Ellie Chambers ad Adrew Northedge

2 CONTENTS Preface Ackowledgemets vii xii PART 1 Studyig itelligetly CHAPTER 1 Ivestig i yourself Who this book is for How this book works Ivestig i your developmet The challege of studyig Becomig a skilful studet Thikig about how you lear Beig a reflective learer Ivestig i Iformatio Techology Ivestig i your future 24 Refereces 25 CHAPTER 2 Takig cotrol of your studies Takig resposibility for your ow learig Maagig your work Maagig time Maagig your study circumstaces Maagig your morale Beig a successful self-maager 44 Refereces 45 CHAPTER 3 Uderstadig how you lear Developig ideas about learig What does learig mea? Why do they write like that? Readig, listeig, speakig ad writig Becomig kowledgeable 65 Referece 66

3 PART 2 The essetial skills CHAPTER 4 Readig Readig is easy, is t it? The experiece of readig Gettig roud obstacles How quickly should you read? Readig actively Readig critically Readig ad learig 92 Refereces 93 CHAPTER 5 Makig otes Thikig o paper Capturig kowledge Supportig your memory Orgaisig kowledge Supportig creativity Makig otes strategically 117 Referece 118 CHAPTER 6 Learig through talk Talk i higher learig Learig through group discussio Makig a presetatio Group visits Listeig to talk 145 Refereces 151 CHAPTER 7 Writig essays Gettig to grips with writig What are you meat to write? The sigificace of titles Essay structure Presetig a argumet Makig your case covicig Proper Eglish Writig style ad audiece 182

4 7.9 What is a good essay? Review 188 CHAPTER 8 Maagig the writig process The challege of writig Stages i the writig process Expressig ideas i writig Makig your essay flow The experiece of writig Summaries 222 Referece 223 CHAPTER 9 Processes of study i the arts ad humaities The arts ad humaities Becomig familiar with the text Approachig aalysis Iterpretig meaigs Evaluatio Commuicatig your ideas Beliefs ad theories 259 Refereces 262 CHAPTER 10 Olie research ad project work A world of iformatio at your figertips Fidig iformatio Fidig academic material Misuse of olie data Usig research i project work Doig project work 278 Refereces 283 CHAPTER 11 Preparig for examiatios The positive side of exams Myths about exams What to avoid Revisig for exams 293

5 11.5 Gettig geared-up just before the exam Workig out your tactics for the exam Will you do yourself justice i the exam? 309 Postscript Appedix Idex

6 PREFACE This secod editio of The Arts Good Study Guide is much more tha a update of the origial. The book has ot oly bee rethought ad rewritte i may places, but also supplemeted. It icludes ew chapters, ad parts of chapters, otably o computer-aided study. We have take the opportuity ot oly to brig the book up to date, te years o, but also to stregthe it ad wide its relevace. It is, agai, writte i the belief that studyig is oe of the most iterestig ad satisfyig thigs we ca do ad that learig how to study well is amog the most challegig. Purposes The Arts Good Study Guide retais its primary purpose as a guide for studets of arts ad humaities subjects (though ot primarily for those studyig fie or performace arts); for those who have a serious iterest i the log-term developmet of their learig ad study skills. It is ot a source of quick fixes ad istat remedies. It assumes a willigess to ivest time i workig o exercises ad reflectig o them. It is a thoughtful, theoretically grouded exploratio of the ature of studyig. At the same time, it is a practical guide to reflective experimetatio with study techiques, drawig as it does o may years of explorig these skills with studets. Chages The first editio of The Arts Good Study Guide reached a audiece far broader tha the part-time, adult, distace-learig studets for whom it was writte. Cosequetly, this ew editio has bee recast to address the eeds of all studets aspirig to study beyod school level. It has also bee restructured to reflect the sweepig chages i uiversity study over the past decade. Thus it ow has four more chapters tha before, ad is orgaised i two parts. However, the basic strategies for studyig ad the uderlyig assumptios about the ature of learig remai. Part 1: Studyig itelligetly The first part of The Arts Good Study Guide addresses the broad strategic aspects of successful study ad cosists of three chapters. These chapters address oe of the key chages of the past decade, the relocatio of study skills from their former status o the periphery of higher educatio, as remedial activities for begiers, to the maistream uder the ew label learig skills. Developig skills as a learer is ow recogised as essetial preparatio for life i the twety-first cetury. This is reflected i the title of Chapter 1, Ivestig i yourself. These skills are ot simply practical but are also strategic, requirig a capacity for self-maagemet: hece Chapter 2, Takig cotrol of your studies. They are also reflective skills, which deped o self-kowledge, self-aalysis ad a uderstadig of the learig process: thus Chapter 3, Uderstadig how you lear. This chapter icludes a itroductio to the priciples of critical-aalytical readig ad writig, vii

7 Preface reflectig growig recogitio of the importace of supported etry ito academic discourse for a icreasigly diverse studet body. The other key chage of recet times is the revolutio i study practices brought about by computig ad the iteret. This is addressed right from the start of the book, i Chapter 1 Sectio 1.8: Ivestig i Iformatio Techology. Studets are ofte aware of oly a few of the may ways i which a computer ca be used to support their studies; this sectio ecourages exploratio ad experimet. Parts of the rest of the book have also bee reworked to reflect chages to basic study activities brought about by word-processig, global access to olie iformatio, electroic iformatio storage, ad the like. Part 2: The essetial skills The secod part of the book gets dow to the practical busiess of developig skills i the core activities of studyig. As i the origial editio, readers are asked to udertake geuie study activities, most of them based o a sigle text, O the Tow : Wome i Augusta Eglad, by Joyce Ellis (1995). So the cotet of the origial chapters geerally remais, but Makig otes has bee separated off from Readig to give both processes wider relevace ad to allow exploratio of electroic ote makig. Ad the chapter formerly etitled Differet ways of studyig has bee recast as Learig through talk, icludig extesive ew material o olie group discussios ad makig presetatios. The two chapters o writig remai the logest ad perhaps the most importat, sice acquisitio of a academic writig voice ad the abilities to assemble material ad preset it i the form of a argumet are i may ways the culmiatio of the trasitio ito competet academic practice. Retitled Writig essays ad Maagig the writig process, they retai the same broad divisio ito the what ad how of academic writig. However, the first has bee reorgaised to make the treatmet more trasparet ad accessible. The chapter Processes of study i the arts ad humaities is reworked usig a poem by Robert Frost as the basis of discussio. There follows a ew chapter, Olie research ad project work which itroduces the basics of searchig for pictures olie. The fial chapter, Preparig for examiatios, is the least chaged, though agai there is reworkig. Notes Level We have assumed that may readers will be startig studies at post-school level. However, studets i the later years of schoolig may fid the book useful preparatio for the switch to higher level studies. Equally, studets who have progressed beyod the etry stages of a degree will fid much to reflect o. viii

8 Preface Assumptios about computig We have assumed that all readers will have at least some access to a computer ad to the iteret. May will already be usig a computer for routie study tasks, while others will be lookig for advice o ways i which they might profitably switch to computer-based workig. Terms used Because the origial Arts Good Study Guide was used i schools, colleges ad campus uiversities, we have dropped the use of specific Ope Uiversity termiology ad adopted more geeral terms. However, oe or two are somewhat awkward. For example, we have largely avoided the term lecturer o accout of its arrow cootatios, eve though it is the typical descriptor of the post i higher educatio. Ad we have used tutor maily i the cotext of discussio groups because its usage varies betwee istitutios. Istead, we have teded to use teacher throughout. Persoal ackowledgemets The first editio of this book beefited eormously from the commets of Ope Uiversity colleagues ad studets, ad the same is true of the secod editio. So it is importat that we iclude here those who cotributed origially as well as those who cotributed to the ew editio. First editio May people cotributed to the writig ad productio of the origial book. As part of our preparatio, we asked some studets to voluteer their work. We are very grateful to them, ad to their tutors. Grateful thaks also to Blache Gaskell ad Via Qui-Searle who, as studet assessors, gave us their commets o draft chapters. Members of the OU Arts Faculty s A103 course team offered helpful advice or assistace: especially Cicely Havely (Chair), ad also Coli Cuigham, Julie Dickes, Lora Hardwick, Trevor Herbert, Liz Maig, Derek Matravers, Jim Moore, Nora Tomliso, Lida Walsh, Nigel Warburto ad Roberta Wood. So too did colleagues i the School (ow Faculty) of Health ad Social Care, host to the access course Livig Arts: Marti Robb (Chair), Margaret Allott ad Stella Warriker, with secretarial support from Val O Coor. Other colleagues i the OU who gave us their time ad ideas iclude: Tim Beto ad Hilary Robertso (Arts Faculty); A Brechi ad Toy Walto (School of Health ad Social Care); Nicola Durbridge, Magus Joh, Ja Rae, Mary Thorpe ad Olwy Wilso (Istitute of Educatioal Techology); Giles Clark (Book Trade Departmet); Toy Coulso (Library); Simo Rae (Academic Computig Service). Thak you to Sîa Lewis, who desiged the book. Thaks also to our fried Gill Parsos, the of North Hertfordshire College, for her help with Chapter 6. Special thaks to Nora Tomliso, who read every word ad made may isightful, detailed suggestios for improvemets; to Margaret Allott for her efficiet orgaisatio of the project ad friedly support; ad to Clive Baldwi for his skill ad patiece as editor of the book. ix

9 Preface Secod editio For this ew editio we are idebted to members of the OU Arts Faculty s AA100 Course Team for their commets o draft chapters, especially Richard Brow, Debbie Bruto, Jessica Davies, Ae Laurece, Charlotte Steves, Caroly Price; ad to Carol Gree ad Yvette Purdy (Arts Course Maagemet) for their ufailig helpfuless ad support. Grateful thaks go to Gillia Fare ad Clare Specer, OU Arts Associate Lecturers, for their careful readig ad isightful commets o all the draft chapters. Our thaks too to colleagues i the OU Istitute of Educatioal Techology who gave their support: Peter Kight, Wedy Morga ad Joh Pettit. Ad we are grateful to the book productio team: Emma Wheeler (Media Project Maager), Richard Joes (Editorial Media Developer), Peter Heatherigto (Graphics Media Developer), Haah Parish (Media Assistat), Liam Baldwi (Visual Resources Officer), ad Mahruk Bailey (Assistat Project Maager, OU Worldwide). Thaks also to Sheree Kaur, Sharo Moie, David Sheppard ad Kristoff VaLeeuwe. Particular thaks to our colleagues Jessica Davies, Trevor Herbert, Audrey Likma, Simo Rae ad Derek Sheills for their various cotributios to the book (ackowledged i foototes). We are also grateful to those studets who completed a questioaire askig for their reflectios o the learig process or who agreed to allow quotatio from their olie messages. (Note that the ames which appear i the book are fictioal). The studets who cotributed i oe way or aother are: Billy Aderso, Lora Archibald, Shirley Bai, Gillia Brewi, Shoa Brydso, Jacqui Campbell, Jaice Clerk, Jo Chadler, Rosea Cooper, Lesley Dickiso, Ceri Edwards, Ceri Evas, Suzie Eato, Carol Ferguso, Nicky Gae, Julie Gibbis, Gwyeth Girlig, Simo Harris-Dack, Melaie Harvey, Hayley Hill, Gillia Howie, Patricia Jorda, Matthew Lae, Nicola Lloyd, Paulie Kox, Tracy Mogridge, Shirley Moody, Sophie Nichol, Charlotte Northedge, Laura Northedge, Shoa Paterso, Tracy Reyolds, Agela Parker, Ja Reis, Jaie Richter, Chris Robiso, Kelda Siclair, Tia Smith, David Shortall, Diae Sloey, Peter Staffell, A-Marie Stewart, Deirdre Stewart, Mady Sutch, Stella Taylor, Matthew Thompso, Jeie Tomliso, Laura Ward, Ruth Webb, Gail White, Julie Williams, Pepe Wilso ad Corree Witchard. Fially, we are grateful for permissio to use Joyce Ellis s article as a basis for study exercises i this ad the origial book. The authors Ellie Chambers is Professor of Humaities Higher Educatio i the OU Istitute of Educatioal Techology; Adrew Northedge is Professor of Learig ad Teachig i Higher Educatio i its Faculty of Health ad Social Care. The book is based o their log experiece of teachig, of researchig ito study processes ad discussig them with studets. Adrew Northedge first wrote The Good Study Guide, with studets of the Social Scieces i x

10 Preface mid. With his help, Ellie Chambers adapted the book for arts ad humaities studets; i this secod editio, she has writte chapters 9 ad 10 i their etirety. Although we are joit authors, for coveiece we use the sigular, I, throughout the book. Studet voices You will see quotatios from studets scattered about the book. These are largely take from Ope Uiversity iteret chat areas, with the permissio of the studets. They are iteded to offer iformal reflectio ad light relief. They are simply dropped i where relevat ad sigalled by large quotatio marks. The cotributors are amog those ackowledged above. xi

11 CHAPTER 1 Ivestig i yourself Welcome to The Arts Good Study Guide. This is a book of advice, practical exercises ad tips to help you develop your study skills ad get the most you ca from your studies: better results, a greater sese of persoal achievemet ad more ejoymet. 1.1 Who this book is for This book is desiged for studets of the arts ad humaities. If you really ejoy readig ovels, lookig closely at paitigs or listeig to music, or if you are fasciated by a particular time ad place (such as Classical Greece, Reaissace Italy, Victoria or Moder Britai) ad you wat to kow more about how to study these subjects, the the book is for you. You may be just startig out o higher level studies, or part way through a degree ad lookig to boost your performace. The book will be just as helpful whether you are studyig: full time or part time o campus or by distace learig havig recetly left school, or after a log break away from study. But why should you eed a study skills book? Activity 1.1 Why should you read this book? Do ay of the followig thoughts hover i your mid? Tick ay boxes that apply. 1 With so much to study already, I doubt I ca spare the time for a book like this. 2 I m ot sure I eed to bother with study skills. I have come through years of schoolig. Why read about it ow? 3 I already have my ow ways of studyig ad I do t ejoy beig told what to do. 4 I thik I eed a few hits ad tips, ot a whole book. h 5 I fid it easier to get advice from people tha from books. h 1 I doubt I ca spare the time for a book like this... A fair poit. This is a chuky book ad there always seems to be more to study tha there is time for. But you will certaily waste a lot of time if you do t study effectively. Readig this book will actually save time, by helpig you make better use of it. You do t eed to drop everythig right ow ad read the book from cover to cover. Skills take time to develop. Just set yourself to read a chapter every three or four weeks, i amogst your other studies. h h h 3

12 Chapter 1 Ivestig i yourself 2 I m ot sure I eed to bother with study skills... Perhaps you thik study skills are for begiers, but studyig ever becomes easy. There are always ew challeges ad your skills ca always be improved. Successful studets recogise the importace of cotiuig to develop ad refie their skills. 3 I already have my ow ways of studyig... A good thought. It is right to feel attached to your ways of doig thigs. But you do t eed to commit yourself to remaiig forever locked ito the same practices. Why ot try ew approaches? This book will ot tell you what to do. It will help you to review what you already do ad weigh up alterative strategies. You remai i cotrol. 4 I thik I eed a few hits ad tips, ot a whole book Hits ad tips are very helpful, ad there are plety i this book, but they are ot eough. If you really wat to get ahead i your studies, you eed isight ito the way your mid works together with flexible strategies for gettig the most from all kids of learig opportuities. To achieve this you eed to ivest small chuks of quality time over a fairly log period. You will ot uderstad your ow learig overight. That is where the book will help. It offers exercises ad discussio withi a coheret overall approach to thikig about study. The exercises will help you work out ways of meetig immediate challeges, but the uderstadigs you develop will help you take cotrol of your learig throughout your life. 5 I fid it easier to get advice from people tha from books Advice from teachers ad other studets is excellet for buildig up your cofidece ad givig you ew ideas to try out, but studyig at a higher level is ofte a solitary busiess. Workig o your ow with a study skills book helps you build up your capacity for this idepedet learig. Key poits Why read this book? It will help you make better use of your study time. It offers much more tha hady hits ad tips; it will help you to uderstad how you lear ad build up your capacity for idepedet study. Whether you are a experieced studet or a begier, this book will build o your existig skills ad isights. 1.2 How this book works The book is i two parts. Part 1 cosiders studyig as a whole ad how to thik your way ito it. Part 2 focuses o how to develop your skills by egagig you i specific study tasks. 4

13 Chapter 1 Ivestig i yourself example, a serialist is said to be more likely to start a book o page oe ad read o to the ed, while a holist might read the cotets list ad the coclusio, skim through some of the illustratios ad the dip ito selected sectios to build up a picture of what it is about. Either strategy ca work, but some people are said to have a clear preferece for oe or the other (Pask, 1988). Cotrolled vs impulsive Some studets work i a steady ad systematic way. Others are iclied to put i bursts of itesive study, learig a lot quickly before shiftig to somethig else. Agai, both approaches work. Deep learig vs surface learig Some studets ted to search for the uderlyig meaig of a text as they read (deep learig), while others are more iclied to treat a text as iformatio to be remembered (surface learig). Deep learig is see as a much more appropriate strategy for most uiversity-level study (Marto et al., 1997). However, there is disagreemet about how useful it is to make distictios betwee learig styles, ad about which distictios are most meaigful. New classificatio schemes ad ew versios of old schemes cotiue to emerge. If you wat to explore the topic of learig styles you ca follow it up for yourself by searchig the iteret. Type learig styles i the search box ad you will fid plety. Ultimately, you eed to piece together your ow picture of yourself as a learer, ot rely o questioaire scores. For this you eed to become a practised observer of yourself. I effect you become your ow psychologist, trackig how your mid works ad comparig your experieces with those of other studets ad with what you read about learig. The you ca work out what kid of a learer you thik you are ad develop study strategies accordigly. 1.7 Beig a reflective learer But whatever kid of learer you thik you are, to become a idepedet learer you eed to be reflective. By reflectig o your study experieces you develop real isight ito the ways you lear. The gradually, as your isight grows, you become able to take cotrol of your studies. The process of learig through reflectio o experiece is illustrated i Figure 1.2 (a adaptatio of David Kolb s diagram of the experietial learig cycle). Whether or ot you fid diagrams helpful, this oe aims to idetify what it meas to lear well. 1 Plaig You look ahead to the course work you have bee set ad the deadlies for completig it. You also thik about what is goig o i your life, the time available for study ad ay difficulties you have to circumavigate. The you thik strategically about how to maage the work: Which parts of the work preset the toughest challege? Which parts are most importat to complete? I what sequece will you tackle the various tasks? What targets will you set yourself? Will you try out ay ew ways of doig thigs? 14

14 1.7 Beig a reflective learer Figure 1.2 Kolb s reflective learig cycle, adapted for study skills (Source: Kolb, 1984) Havig thought about such questios, you the sketch out a pla i the form of a task list. 2 Doig The you work at your studies, followig your pla as best you ca. 3 Reflectig At suitable momets, you pause to reflect o how your spell of study has goe. (This could be at the ed of the day, the ed of the week, or at a poit durig your studies whe thigs have groud to a halt.) What have you achieved? You tick off items o your task list. What did you ot complete? What evets iterveed? Which parts were hard goig, ad which parts did you ejoy? Did aythig go differetly from previous sessios? Perhaps make a few otes of your aswers to these questios. 4 Coceptualisig The you try to make sese of what you have observed. What seems to help you lear? where did your strategy work best? What seems to iterfere with your learig? Did you misjudge some of the tasks, or the time required? How does this all fit i with your ideas about the way you lear? What chages i your approach to study might help you to lear better? 5 Cotiuig roud the cycle This brigs you back to the plaig process, as you look ahead to the ext set of tasks. However, ow, as a result of the reflective process, you have more isight tha last time. You ca make better plas, which you the test out further by doig, reflectig ad coceptualisig. As you cotiue your studies, circlig roud ad roud the reflective cycle, your uderstadig steadily deepes ad you become more skilful. See Chapter 3 Sectio 3.1, Developig ideas about learig 15

15 Chapter 1 Ivestig i yourself See Chapter 10 Sectio 10.2, Fidig iformatio The wider value of ICT skills The skills you develop will be of value far beyod your course, both at work ad i your life geerally. As we saw i Box 1.1, the UK govermet has placed IT skills at the heart of its Key Skills strategy, alog with commuicatio skills (for more iformatio see the Qualificatio ad Curriculum Authority s Key Skills publicatios, QCA 2002a d). The core elemets are the abilities to: search for ad select iformatio explore, develop ad exchage iformatio derive ew iformatio preset iformatio, icludig text, images ad umbers. You ca eve acquire a ICT certificate as proof of your achievemets: for istace, a Europea Computer Drivig Licece (ECDL). This cosists of seve modules: Cocepts of Iformatio Techology; Usig the Computer ad Maagig Files; Word-processig; Spreadsheets; Databases; Presetatio; Iformatio ad Commuicatio. (For more iformatio visit the ECDL website at Key poits Use the Help facilities Whe you ru ito difficulties check the software s ow Help resources first. You will ofte be able to sort thigs out for yourself. Ask others If you are still stuck, ask for help from family, frieds, other studets or your uiversity advisers. Get a guidebook Cosider borrowig or buyig a guidebook for your software package. Keep explorig Do t feel you have to lear everythig at oce. Set time aside occasioally to fid out about a ew feature of the software. Watch the clock A computer helps you do may thigs very efficietly but it also has a tedecy to eat up time. Keep a eye o how log you sped o the computer, ad maitai a balace with other study activities. Do t strai yourself Workig log hours at a computer ca cause serious strai to your eyes, hads, wrists, eck ad back. Positio your computer ad chair properly (your uiversity should be able to advise you o this) ad take regular breaks away from the scree. Lear to touch-type This is a big ivestmet of your time, but very worthwhile elearig We have see that you ca use a computer to ehace covetioal textbased studies but computers ca also be used to deliver the cotet of 20

16 2.2 Maagig your work experieces were, or how quickly the support services could have helped her trasform her studies. She did t eve talk thigs over with frieds, such as Tracy. I summary, Jey was uprepared for takig resposibility for her ow studies. For a log time she felt adrift, util evetually it dawed o her that she had to seize cotrol. Key poits It is vital to take resposibility for your ow learig at uiversity because: you sped a lot of time i private study you are resposible for your ow day-to-day work schedule the scope of courses teds to be broad, touchig o may more topics ad texts tha you ca cover, so you have to decide where to focus your efforts you ofte have distat deadlies ad have to work out your ow strategy for meetig them you are expected to seek out support whe you eed it, ot wait for it to come to you. 2.2 Maagig your work Takig resposibility ivolves maagig your ow progress through the coursework. You are studyig for your ow reasos ad uder your ow particular circumstaces, you have your ow backgroud i the subject, so it is up to you to work out where to make special ivestmets of time ad effort. You may have particular difficulties with parts of the subject, or with fidig time, or accessig books, ad it is for you to develop a strategy that addresses these challeges. That strategy might iclude seekig advice ad support, but you remai the perso i charge Sketchig the big picture To take cotrol of your work, you eed to begi with the big picture. What are the mai compoets of the course? Are there key texts? Is the course divided ito topics or themes? What work do you have to had i ad whe? Are there other assessed elemets, such as a exam? All this iformatio will be available o prited sheets or o a departmetal website. Make sure you have tracked dow the relevat sources; the take time to go through them carefully with highlighter pes or write dow otes of the most importat thigs you have to do. Idetify priorities Use differet coloured highlighter pes, or double ad treble uderliig, or star ratigs, to idicate the importace of differet course compoets. What is absolutely essetial? What is optioal? What looks particularly challegig? What will eed to be plaed well i advace? 29

17 Chapter 2 Takig cotrol of your studies Ow the course Take owership of the course iformatio by puttig your markigs all over it. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by official documetatio, so assert yourself. You are the oe doig the course, so build up your ow picture of the course. Havig reviewed the big picture, pick out some of the first tasks ad begi to thik about how to tackle them Breakig big tasks ito smaller tasks A key priciple i keepig o top of your studies is to break big tasks ito more maageable oes. I set myself just oe or two small, maageable tasks. I fid if I ca achieve these it s so much better tha settig myself a full workig day ad the ot gettig roud to much at all. I ofte feel so virtuous at havig achieved the little tasks that I go o ad do more. I get a kick out of tickig thigs off my list. The trouble with big tasks is that their scope ad shape are hard to take i. You ca t see where to start, so, like Jey, you keep puttig thigs off. Ad if you do get started, it is very hard to tell how much progress you are makig. Smaller tasks give you much more cotrol. Make tasks specific It helps to tur vague, abstract tasks, such as make progress with the article, ito specific, cocrete tasks, such as read the ext eight pages. You the kow where to start ad what to do. You ca set yourself a time allowace ad check your progress as you go. Ad whe you complete the task, you ca give yourself a pat o the back Makig a To Do list A excellet way to begi to egage with your work is to create a To Do list. This is a simple device, but very effective, particularly if you use a computer, which makes the list easy to update. The example i Figure 2.1 shows the tasks a studet, Mel, plaed to carry out arraged roughly i the order they would be tackled. Each item has some stars idicatig its importace, ad a estimate, i brackets, of the umber of hours it might take. Notice that tasks 2 ad 3 have bee broke dow ito sub-tasks. Activity 2.3 You may already have a To Do list. If ot, make yourself oe. List your study tasks for the week or two ahead usig pe ad paper, your computer or PDA (persoal digital assistat). Use coloured paper if you have ay, the the list will be easy to fid amogst other papers. 30

18 2.2 Maagig your work Figure 2.1 Example of a To Do list If you use a word processor, umber the items i your list. Try movig the items aroud: put the cursor o a item, hold dow the Shift ad Alt keys ad use the arrow keys :;. Try the right arrow for demotig a task to a sub-task ad the left arrow for promotig it back. If these moves do t work with your word-processor, try the Help meu. Whe your list is doe, save it ad prit it off. Usig your To Do list As you complete the tasks, cross them off your list. Whe other tasks arise, write them i. If you made the list o your computer, go back to the saved list to delete completed tasks ad add i the ew oes; the rearrage the sequece as appropriate, save the updated versio ad prit it off. I this way the ucompleted tasks will gradually move up your list. Nothig gets forgotte, ad you do t have to keep writig out a ew list. A To Do list is a guide to actio. It turs a shapeless moud of work ito a sequece of tasks you ca tackle. It tells you where to start ad eables you to track your progress. You may fid yourself workig o tasks out of sequece, ad that s fie. Your To Do list is a creative tool, ot a straitjacket. With it i frot of you, you ca thik itelligetly about modifyig your plas whe thigs do t work out. You remai i cotrol. 31

19 Chapter 2 Takig cotrol of your studies Key poits To maage your work effectively you eed to: review course iformatio, markig up the importat features, so that you ca build up the big picture of what you have to do break big tasks ito smaller, more maageable tasks make a To Do list to help you steer your way through the work. 2.3 Maagig time Havig got the work ito perspective, you eed to thik about how to maage your time How much time should you sped o your studies? The official view Uiversity courses i the UK are measured i credits ad each credit is otioally te hours of study. So a 60 credit course, for example, is see as ivolvig aroud 600 hours of work. Spread over a 30-week year, this traslates to twety hours of study per week. Most full-time studets study 120 credits per year, which works out at aroud 40 hours a week equivalet to a workig week i may jobs. Meawhile, a part-time studet might study 60 credits per year, equatig to a twety-hour week. (This covers everythig, icludig time spet gettig thigs sorted out at the begiig of the course, searchig the iteret, maagig your otes, talkig with your teacher, preparig for exams, ad so o.) However, the lik betwee credits ad hours is iteded oly as a rule of thumb. The UK Quality Assurace Agecy for Higher Educatio stresses that credit is awarded for achievemet ot for time served (QAA, 2001). The reality But what about real life? Are you i a positio to set aside the umber of study hours implied? If you are ot, do t just give up the idea of studyig. A lot depeds o the quality of your learig. If you are very focused, like Tracy, you ca achieve a lot i fewer tha the recommeded hours. A parttime studet with a full-time job will do very well to fid twelve good hours a week for itesive study. But with other tasks squeezed ito spare momets, that ca be eough. Be aware of the official umber of hours your course expects, but be realistic about the umber of hours you ca actually give to your studies. If you fid yourself havig to maage with less, be assured that plety of other studets are i the same positio. I the ed what couts is how well you use your study hours rather tha the sheer umber of them. As a major review of learig ad teachig i North America uiversities observes:... may of our studets [are] tryig to balace sigificat demads of families, jobs, ad careers... may of today s studets seem uable 32

20 2.3 Maagig time to devote sufficiet time to their studies. Studets eed help balacig these demads, ad [makig] the most of the time that they have available... There is o magic umber of hours that studets should study i order to maximise learig... the amout of time is t the issue. It s how that time is spet. (Vorkik, 1995, p.70) Creatig time How, the, do you fid the hours you eed? Whe studyig comes ito your life it geerally meas that somethig else has to go. However, it is importat to strike a balace which allows you to carry o with the importat thigs i your life, icludig relaxatio ad etertaimet. Effective studyig requires a lot of time i reasoably good-sized chuks. You have to become a expert at creatig usable time. Oe way to set about this is to draw up a study week chart (see Figure 2.2) showig time spet o your typical week s activities ad see where there is room for maoeuvre. Figure 2.2 Chart for workig out time spet o a typical week s activities To fid time for study i a busy life, you eed to review the way i which your time is ormally take up. You may eed to idetify opportuities for makig extra time whether first thig i the morig, after puttig childre to bed, at weekeds, durig luch hours or o joureys. Part-time studets eed to be especially resourceful about this. Activity 2.4 Make yourself a study week chart like the oe i Figure 2.2. Either draw it by had or, better for future updates, use your computer use a table-creatig facility or a spreadsheet template (look i Help if you do t kow how). The, oce you have saved the chart, you ca keep makig ew copies wheever you wat to revise the schedule. Whe you have created your 33

21 Chapter 2 Takig cotrol of your studies chart, fill i the hours spet o your mai o-study activities each day (work, home or family commitmets, travel, leisure etc.). How may study hours per week will you aim for? Write i a target umber of study hours for each day i the Total hours row, tryig to make them add up to your target umber of hours per week. The start markig i possible study slots, to see if you ca achieve your daily totals. What will you cut back o? Where might clashes arise? Ca you achieve somethig close to your target umber of study hours per week? Do t be alarmed if you foud this activity difficult. Life is messy. Ideed, havig struggled to draw up a study week chart, life will itervee to make it hard to stick to. But stickig to it is ot ecessarily the poit. Eve if you costatly have to chage your chart it is still worthwhile makig it. Decidig to chage it makes you thik about your priorities. Plaig helps you to thik strategically istead of just driftig. Key poits The first steps i maagig study time are to: estimate how much time your course requires work out how you ca release a adequate amout of study time withi your typical week Usig time strategically Havig idetified the time available for study, it is importat to thik strategically about how to use this precious time. High- ad low-quality study time Not all your available time will be of the same quality. It will rage betwee: high-quality study time whe you are alert, able to cocetrate ad ca work udisturbed for a decet legth of time low-quality study time whe you are tired, your cocetratio is poor, there are distractios aroud you, ad you do ot have log eough to get deeply ivolved. I m a early bird. I thik ad write much better straight after I get up. My best time to study is i the morig after 11am, whe the kids are at school. I cocetrate best after 9 o clock at ight, whe I ve got everythig from the day sorted out. You eed to maage your studies so that you use your best quality time for the tasks that most eed it. Whe are your best times for study? Whe do you 34

22 Chapter 2 Takig cotrol of your studies Home support You talk with family ad frieds about your study experieces Maagig your morale Studyig makes everyoe feel iadequate at times. That is why talkig with other studets is so helpful, whether i perso or olie. It puts thigs i perspective ad keeps your spirits up. What matters is ot what you have failed to do, but the progress you have made. Whe your spirits sag remid yourself of your achievemets. Focus o the parts of the course you ejoy. Remember, it is your course. Make sure you ejoy it ad get what you wat from it. If you do t ejoy the course you wo t lear much ad you may ot eve stay with it to the ed. Thikig positively is ot a idulgece, it is essetial. Key poits Here is what you should do whe studyig gets you dow. Focus o aspects of study that you ejoy ad do well. Make a list of what you have achieved. Forget the plas you did t fulfil. Igore the abilities ad achievemets of other studets it is t a race. Do some orgaisig to show yourself that you are i charge. Tidy your workspace, set yourself some cocrete tasks. Update your To Do list. Talk to other studets outside class. Talk to your tutor. Remid yourself that you are a ormal perso, experiecig ormal challeges. Remember that you are doig this for you. 2.6 Beig a successful self-maager To be a successful studet you have to become your ow maager, guidig yourself through your studies. These are the essetials. Be active As a studet, you are ot a passeger. You are the driver. You have to take the iitiative i fidig out what eeds to be doe, drawig up plas ad implemetig them. You do t wait to be told. Be strategic Assess your situatio. What eeds to be doe? What difficulties preset themselves? How ca you best achieve your goals? Develop plas which take these factors ito accout, but modify them as appropriate. For example, whe you recogise that your powers of cocetratio have dipped, take the strategic decisio to switch to a less demadig task. Do t flouder aroud. Weigh thigs up ad work out how to achieve the best you ca uder the circumstaces. Be systematic Take time to gather iformatio ad orgaise it. Maitai your filig system, work out detailed plas. For example, the study pla i Activity 2.6 required you to fid out deadlies, create a To Do list ad the 44

23 Refereces map out your week s study. By developig such a pla systematically you will have a much clearer picture of what has to be achieved ad of how to maage your progress flexibly ad itelligetly. Be aalytical Aalyse complex issues ito more maageable compoets. For example, i updatig your To Do list, you break big tasks ito sub-tasks. You the shift items up ad dow the list, thikig about the cosequeces of differet sequeces of tasks. Be reflective Lear from experiece (see Figure 1.2 Kolb s reflective learig cycle ). Review your study activities regularly ad cosider whether your strategies are workig well. Give yourself icetives Remid yourself of your goals, log- ad shortterm, ad keep track of your progress towards them. Set yourself targets ad take satisfactio i your achievemets. Maage your morale Keep your spirits up by playig to your stregths ad focusig o what you ejoy. Set yourself maageable tasks with clear outcomes. Keep your To Do list, your files ad your workspace well orgaised, so that you feel o top of your studies. Keep i touch with other studets. Ad keep remidig yourself that this is all for you. See Chapter 1 Sectio 1.7, Beig a reflective learer Key poits The theme of this chapter is that to ejoy studyig ad achieve success you have to take cotrol. To do this, you have to: take o resposibility for your ow learig, o loger relyig o beig told what to study, whe ad how review the work set by the course ad break it ito sequeces of specific, maageable tasks fid ways of creatig study time, the pla how to use it to best effect make efforts to create the best circumstaces for study that you ca work at keepig up your morale take a active ad itelliget approach to maagig yourself. Refereces Quality Assurace Agecy for Higher Educatio (QAA) (2001) The Framework for Higher Educatio Qualificatios i Eglad, Wales ad Norther Irelad, available at: academicifrastructure/fheq/ewni/default.asp (accessed 31 August 2007). Vorkik, S. (1995) Time o Task i Rickey Hatfield, S. (ed.) The Seve Priciples i Actio, Bolto, MA, Aker Publishig Compay Ic, pp

24 CHAPTER 3 Uderstadig how you lear Most of this book takes a practical approach to studyig. It focuses o specific tasks explored through real examples. This chapter, however, is cocered with how you make sese of your experieces of learig so that you ca thik about the way you approach your studies. I other words, it is cocered with coceptualisig (see Chapter 1 Figure 1.2). See Chapter 1 Sectio 1.7, Beig a reflective learer 3.1 Developig ideas about learig I order to thik, you eed ideas. You will develop may ideas about learig through your ow experieces of studyig. As you experimet with differet ways of studyig, you will form cocepts such as studyig actively ad usig time effectively. But you will acquire cocepts about learig from other sources too. You will develop them as you talk with other studets about their study experieces ad as you pick up advice from teachers. Readig this chapter offers further help with coceptualisig. It will help you to thik about the steps you ca take to make sure you lear well Differet kids of learig We lear all the time. Daily experiece cotiually shapes how we thik ad act. This learig is very visible i youg childre; however, i adult life we ted ot to thik of routie everyday adaptatio to our surroudigs as learig. Rather, we associate learig with those times whe we have to make a coscious effort to accumulate ew kowledge ad skills such as whe startig a ew job, fidig our way aroud a strage tow or learig to drive. Practical learig A lot of this learig is achieved by doig by tryig thigs out, watchig others, askig for advice, reflectig o experiece, practisig, ad simply beig there as part of the actio, so that we gradually become familiar with the surroudigs ad how to act withi them. Abstract learig However, you ca t lear history, for example, simply by doig i this sese. You ca t do the Middle Ages as direct experiece; our kowledge of the past is the product of historias gatherig iformatio, iterpretig ad debatig what it meas, ad writig accouts. It is a product of huma equiry, thought ad debate. At bottom, its currecy is abstract ideas. Much learig i the arts ad humaities is like this. So, how do we lear ideas? That is the subject of this chapter. My focus will be o the type of learig most associated with the word study the learig of abstract kowledge, achieved through readig, listeig, discussig ad writig. 46

25 3.1 Developig ideas about learig A ote o ideas ad skills i the arts ad humaities But focusig o the learig of ideas, rather tha the learig of skills i arts ad humaities subjects for example, the skills of aalysig a poem, a paitig or a piece of music gives a false impressio, because learig skills such as these goes had i had with learig ideas or cocepts. For istace, i music, uderstadig the cocept of cocordat harmoies ivolves listeig to may differet pieces of music the actual objects of your study. To hear these harmoies you eed to kow how to liste carefully, ad be able to pick out ad aalyse particular sequeces of soud. These are some of the skills you lear as you study music. I arts ad humaities subjects you study may differet kids of object writte, aural ad visual such as: poems, ovels ad plays; musical performaces ad scores; paitigs, sculpture, artefacts, buildigs ad their plas; philosophical treatises ad writigs; historical documets ad records for particular periods ad evets. These objects of your study are called primary sources. You also read a lot about these objects i textbooks, scholarly articles ad teachig texts; you watch TV programmes, films ad DVDs, ad liste to radio talks about them. I such texts ad programmes, scholars, critics ad teachers aalyse ad iterpret the meaigs of the particular objects they choose to study. These academic accouts are called secodary sources. I this book we are cocered with how to study secodary sources (except for Chapter 9). How to study the objects themselves is what your courses i the arts or humaities teach you. Usig this chapter Read this chapter whe you feel ready to thik more about the learig process. It covers a lot of groud, so you may wat to read a sectio at a time rather tha tackle the whole thig i oe go. Sectio 3.2 What does learig mea? explores the way that learig happes i the backgroud while you are busy gettig o with your study activities. Sectio 3.3 Why do they write like that? is about the very distictive way academic subjects are discussed ad writte about. This will help you to follow argumets whe you are readig ad listeig. It will also help you to write better essays. You may wat to read this sectio, or read it agai, whe you have writte a essay or two. Sectio 3.4 Readig, listeig, speakig ad writig looks i detail at the advatages ad the challeges of studyig i these differet modes. It will help you to reflect o your experieces after you have bee studyig for a while. 47

26 Chapter 3 Uderstadig how you lear 3.2 What does learig mea? As a studet you sped hours learig a subject, but what is the ature of the learig you are tryig to achieve ad how do you make it happe? Activity 3.1 Brig to mid some studyig that you have doe, ad jot dow a few thoughts i aswer to these questios. 1 How do you kow that you have leared somethig you have studied? 2 What is learig? 3 What do you have to do to lear somethig? These are difficult questios to aswer. I put them to some studets (two of them arts studets) who were part-way through their degree studies to fid out what coclusios they had draw from their experiece. I the followig sectios you ca compare some of their aswers with your ow. It does t matter if your aswers are differet just treat ay differeces as food for thought How do you kow you have leared somethig? Have you ever reached the ed of a chapter ad wodered whether ay of it would still be i your head i a few days time? Have you bee asked about a lecture or talk you atteded ad foud yourself uable to say aythig much about it? I am sure most people would aswer yes to both questios. But do experieces such as these mea that you have leared othig that your time was wasted? Ought you to be able to give a detailed summary of what you have read or heard? The aswer to both these questios is o. Your mid does ot work like a photocopier, makig exact copies of what you read or hear to store as files i your head. The learig of ideas is a much more subtle process tha that. Evidece of what you have leared does ot emerge as a well-formed replica of what wet ito your head. It ca show up uexpectedly ad fragmetarily while you are workig o other thigs. Here is how oe studet put it: Whe you are i lectures, or talkig with mates, ad some piece of iformatio eters your head, the you kow you ve leart it; also whe you get iterested ad start aalysig a idea i your head. So, ideas ad iformatio you have leared begi to appear i your thoughts ad words as you are listeig ad talkig. They become part of your metal equipmet. Also, whe you fid yourself iterested i a ew idea ad tur it over i your mid, this too is evidece that the learig process is uderway. Aother studet had a similar view: I ca tell I have leared somethig whe I m able to rephrase a argumet i my ow terms ad lik it to other argumets... I also kow whe I have leared about a whole topic whe I ca orgaise a overall picture i my 48

27 3.2 What does learig mea? head of how all the differet poits relate to each other. For example, I foud it very satisfyig to be able to piece together a overall picture of... post-war Europea ciema, ad the differet movemets i various coutries. So, beig able to tur over ew ideas i your head is aother sig that you have begu to lear them: beig able to put them ito your ow words ad orgaise them, so that they fit together to create a overall picture. As you lear ew ideas you begi to be able to use them to say thigs of your ow. A studet oted that: You kow somethig must have begu to sik i whe you evetually fid the cofidece to start thikig about your approach to the ext essay you begi to feel you might have the kowledge to hack it. Iterestigly, aother observes that oe sig of havig leared a ew idea is that you are able to carry o ad lear more: Whe you fid you ca uderstad ew aspects of the subject, the you kow you leared what you read before. Kowledge does ot sit like a rack of eatly orgaised CDs i your head which you ca take out ad play wheever you wat. Istead, what you lear becomes embedded i the way that you thik. It is t easy to say look, this is what I have just leared, yet evidece of your learig costatly emerges. Key poits Evidece of learig from study Learig through study does t create a detailed record of kowledge i your head; rather, it develops the way you thik. Idirect evidece of what you have leared will appear i a umber of ways. New ideas ad iformatio pop up i your thoughts as you are talkig to others, readig, listeig ad thikig. You fid yourself becomig iterested i a ew idea ad thikig it over. You ca put a argumet ito your ow words. You ca create your ow summary of a topic. You fid yourself developig a poit of view or comig to your ow coclusios about a issue. You are able to thik your way ito a essay. You are able to move o ad lear somethig else. These are sigs that learig has happeed, but what exactly is learig? 49