1.1: Before we begin...
Pre-lecture readings and activities for topic #1: Independent learning.
⏳ DURATION: 25 minutes
Attempt: 55
Extract 1
Before we begin please read the following extracts from Turner, J. (2002) How to Study London: Sage. Note: This book is available as an ebook from the Library. New and returning students can read the full text. Log in with your usual Essex ID and password. Unfortunately, until you gain access to your IT account, you will not be able to access this resource.
Nobody is ever completely prepared in advance for university life, and arguably it would not be good if you were. Going through university should be a transformative experience, making you a different person from the one you were before you began your studies. Being willing to go through the process of familiarisation with a new context, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things is perhaps the most important ‘study skill’ you should have, but you can develop a range of other skills and strategies which help you to make your way successfully through undergraduate study.
Studying is not just about learning particular content, whether in courses across one main subject area or in ‘modules’ from different subjects, it is also about actively managing the process of studying.
The relationship between managing your learning and learning is symbiotic, the one feeds and nourishes the other. If you have a good learning experience, for example you work in a particular way on an essay writing task and you get a good result, you are likely to develop and refine that way of working. The same principle applies even if you get a bad result, only instead of refining, you change your way of working!
The important thing is that you reflect on what you're doing and take responsibility for what you learn and how you manage that learning.