Chapter 1: Success as a student Flashcards
Why is higher education a transformational experience?
this is because of
the unique opportunities it off ers …
★ to study interesting subjects
★ to feel stretched intellectually
★ to explore new ideas
★ to engage in a wide range of new activities, not
easily available elsewhere
★ to fi nd out about yourself and how you rise to the
challenge of academic study
★ to consider the kind of person that you want to be
in the world
★ to make friends that can last for life.
How can you make your success a reality?
The more you engage with your course and actively
hunt out the enjoyment in study and student life,
the greater the likelihood that you will not only
survive the experience, but thrive and excel, too.
How can you make the experience of higher education work for you? (How will you ‘take charge’ of your experience as a student?)
Be an active agent on behalf of your own success.
1. Take charge
2. Put the hours in
3. Be well-informed
4. Develop the right mindset
5. Understand higher level study
6. Use the opportunities
7. Decide what you want
8. Make wise choices that work for you
9.Think through
Define “Take charge”?
Plan how you will use your
time as a student to gain your
broader life and career aims.
Don’t wait to be told – find out.
Don’t wait to be asked – do it.
Don’t wait to be inspired –
inspire yourself.
Don’t wait for opportunities –
create them.
Don’t rely only on feedback from
others; learn to make sound
evaluations of your work.
Don’t neglect your well-being –
include it in your goals.
Define “Put the hours in”?
Expertise is largely a
factor of how many
hours you spend on an
activity. This applies to
study as for other skills.
Using that time
effectively is, of course,
just as important.
Define “Be well-informed”?
Investigate. Read.
Ask. Double check
Define “Develop the right mindset”?
Intellectually curious and
open to new perspectives.
Strongly motivated and
determined to succeed.
Resilient, persistent and
persevering
Define “Understand higher level study”?
How and why it is
different.
What is expected.
What you need to know
about the conventions
and culture.
What is regarded as
important in your subject
and what gains the best
grades
Define “Use the opportunities”?
Use resources, support and
facilities on campus, online, in
the local area, through student
organizations.
Use feedback from tutors.
Take extra classes, learn new
skills, stretch yourself.
Learn something outside of
your subject area – take up a
new language or complete an
enterprise project.
Use chances of a work
placement or year abroad.
Network with others.
Make friends for life
Define “Decide what you want”?
★ from your study
★ from the broader
experience of being in
Higher Education.
Define “Make wise choices that work for you”?
To achieve what you
want, choose the right …
★ degree subject
★ modules or topics
★ use of your time in
and out of class
Define “Think through”?
★ how your studies contribute
to your broader life plan and
career ambitions
★ how other opportunities
at college or university can
forward your ambitions
“Your vision of success as a student” Why does it matter?
To return on your
investments.
Students invest a great deal of time, energy and money in their education, so success matters.
If you can formulate a clear vision of what success as a student means to you, you are more likely to achieve it.
“Your vision of success as a student” How does it help?
If you can formulate a clear vision of what success as a student means to you, you are more likely to achieve it.
The way
you conceive of success will influence
how you spend your time and direct
energies which, in turn, will affect your
achievement and experience.
What is expected from you?
As a student, you are expected to have the following
characteristics.
1. Independence
2. Self-motivation
3. Openness to working with
others
4. Ability to work thing out for yourself
5. Ability to set goals to improve
your work
6. Ability to organize your time
7. Ability to work out when and
how you learn best
How is higher level study different?
- Study is different
- The role of the ‘teacher’ is
different - Knowledge is being created
- Intellectual curiosity; learning
community
How Study is different?
As a student in Higher Education, the most
noticeably different features are likely to be:
★ the teaching methods, especially the emphasis on
independent study
★ the assumption that you have the maturity and
intelligence to ‘get on with it’, managing your own
study, goals and life
★ that academic work is more difficult and complex
★ the strong emphasis on ‘understanding’ rather
than ‘information’
★ learning how knowledge is created
★ that time may seem to operate differently: good
time management skills are essential.
How role of the teacher is different?
Teachers at this level are usually known as lecturers,
tutors or professors.
How knowledge is created?
Higher Education is about creating knowledge as
well as teaching it and learning about it. Depending
on the subject, this is through:
★ thinking, discussion and writing to develop
theoretical understandings
★ experimenting to test out theories
★ investigating original sources or past knowledge,
finding new ways of looking at these and bringing
new interpretations
★ applying knowledge and understanding to new
situations.
What is Intellectual curiosity; learning community??
Studying at this level is about being part of an adult
learning community in which everyone, students
and lecturers, are active in finding out new things
for themselves and sharing them with others. It is
assumed that you are intellectually curious, keen
to find things out for yourself and to contribute to
developing new understandings.
Universities play an important role in:
★ encouraging research into new areas
★ leading debate on contemporary issues
★ critiquing existing understandings
★ synthesising knowledge
★ generating new understandings of the world
★ stimulating economic development
★ … as well as teaching students.
What are you required in “Intellectual curiosity; learning community” to do?
Depending on your institution, teaching is likely to
be designed in ways that encourage you to do the
same. Typically, you are required to:
★ engage with debates in your subject
★ hunt out answers for yourself
★ develop your capacity to think in more creative,
systematic and subtle ways
★ be open to new perspectives
★ undertake projects
★ consider the broader significance and relevance of
what you find out
What does “Understanding higher level study” mean?
As you become more expert,
you become aware of what lies behind some of
the generalizations.
1. Journeying into the unknown
2. Culture, conventions and values
3. ‘Learning the rules of the
game and the system
WHat does “ Journeying into the unknown” mean?
Your tutors’ research or scholarship
may be at the ‘cutting edge’ of what is known, as
will much of the recommended reading. As a result,
course material may take you to that ‘edge’ too. You
may study issues where:
★ the answers are not yet known
★ there may be no ‘easy answers’
★ there isn’t a clear ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
★ research findings are ambiguous or contradictory
★ knowledge advances in very small steps – or may
seem to be going backwards
★ there are conflicting points of view.
What does “Culture, conventions and values”?
Each subject
discipline has its own:
★ ways of looking at the world
★ culture, conventions and methodologies
★ specialist terminology, so that it can convey
precise and specific meanings.
~~It enables you, in time, to conduct your own
research using secure methodologies. This means
that you need to learn:
★ the specialist language of the subject
★ what is valued, and why, within the subject
discipline
★ how knowledge has developed and is developing
in the subject – and how to do this for yourself.
