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study pathways

Independent study

Studying independently

I lead myself. I study with computers to improve in listening and sometimes I don't understand all the words but I repeat and repeat until I understand. - Haajira

On university courses in the UK, you can expect to spend a large amount of your time outside your timetabled classes studying independently. During this time, you will need to read in your subject area and organise your time to complete your assignments as well as doing other course-related activity.

In these activities you will identify good practice for studying independently and consider how developed your own independent study skills are.

Recognising good and bad study advice

What advice have you received on how to study independently before? In this activity you are going to consider different advice given to students about independent study. You should evaluate it and decide whether the advice is good or bad.

Instruction

Study each of the six suggestions and decide if you think it is good advice or bad advice. Select the 'Good advice' or the 'Bad advice' button for each before reading the feedback. When you have finished, calculate your score and find out how much you know about effective independent study.

Click next to 'Good advice' or 'Bad advice' to make a selection. You can click again if you wish to change your answer.

1. It's always a good idea to deal with assignments in the order that they are given to you.
Good advice
Bad advice

Bad advice

You may be studying several modules at the same time and the order in which assignments are given to you may not be the order in which they must be submitted. For this reason, you will need to look at your assignment deadlines.

It is also important to manage other course demands and decide what you should prioritise. Considering these things will help you when organising your time. Deadlines may occur at the same time (for example the end of the semester) for several assignments. You will need to manage your time carefully so that you finish some assignments earlier to leave time for others.

2. It's not essential to read assignment feedback from your tutor after you have received your grade.
Good advice
Bad advice

Bad advice

Reading and acting on your tutors' comments on your work and asking them if you do not understand something is important, so that you can improve any aspects of your writing that need attention. Your tutors' comments may show that you are weak in a certain area; for example, critical thinking, structuring your written work, or grammatical accuracy. You can then take responsibility for these weaknesses and work on them. This can help you improve your assignment mark next time.

3. Study with other students outside timetabled classes can help your learning.
Good advice
Bad advice

Good advice

You can learn from discussing and sharing thoughts with your classmates. They may come from other countries or backgrounds, and therefore your wide-ranging experiences are very valuable. You may find it useful to form an independent study group to help each other and discuss the reading that you need to do. Learning can take place when you work with others as well as when you are in class with the tutor.

4. If you are not told to prepare for lectures and seminars, you don't need to do it.
Good advice
Bad advice

Bad advice

It is important that you think about topics before you attend lectures, seminars or tutorials, even if you are not instructed to do so. You will not always be told what or when to read by your tutor, but you will be expected to do this automatically as part of your independent study. You can try to identify important themes and ideas in your subject area, and start to develop your own opinions about these. Tutors appreciate it when students come to a seminar prepared and ready to express their own opinions and ideas about a subject.

5. Producing three drafts of a written assignment is better than producing one.
Good advice
Bad advice

Good advice

When you have a written assignment to do, writing several drafts and improving them will lead to a better piece or work. Good academic writing is produced through a process of careful planning, organising, drafting, redrafting, and proofreading.

6. It's best to do your independent study early in the morning before you go to course lectures and seminars.
Good advice
Bad advice

Bad advice

Some people feel they work best early in the morning, so they find it most effective to study at this time. However, other people find they are most alert in the afternoon or evening. Think about which time of day is best for you, and if possible use this time for your independent study. You should also consider where you work best, so that you can find an environment that is good for you and will not offer too many distractions.

How ready are you for independent study? When you have finished, click below to find how many correct answers you have and then look at your score profile to find out what your score shows.

Find your score below and read your profile:

Score: 6
Your score suggests that you are already very familiar with independent study and have probably needed to study independently before. The skills you have already developed will help you succeed on your university course.

Score: 4 or 5
Your score suggests you have some experience of independent study, but that there could be areas in which you could improve. Look at the answers you got wrong; which skills do you think you might still need to develop?

Score: 3 and below
Your score suggests that you are unfamiliar with independent study. It may be that you have not needed to do much independent study in your previous studies. It's a good thing that you did this quiz because now you can start to think about how to prepare yourself for this important part of your future studies.

In the next activity you can start to reflect on your own independent study habits.

Thinking about your own independent study habits

It is important not only to know how you should approach independent study, but also to be able to put it into practice. In this activity you are going to reflect on your own independent study habits so that you can identify areas where you need to act to improve.

Instruction

Think about your own independent study habits and select 'I do this' or 'I don't do this' as appropriate. Then read the feedback.

Click next to 'I do this' or 'I don't do this' to make a selection. You can click again if you wish to change your answer.

1. Balance work and relaxation.
I do this
I don't do this

2. Develop my own opinions.
I do this
I don't do this

3. Write deadlines in my diary.
I do this
I don't do this

4. Work with other students.
I do this
I don't do this

5. Prioritise tasks.
I do this
I don't do this

6. Read and act on feedback from my tutors.
I do this
I don't do this

7. Know where and when I work best.
I do this
I don't do this

8. Do reading without being told to.
I do this
I don't do this

How many items were you able to select 'I do this' for? These items all represent good independent study habits, so the more of them you were able to select 'I do this' for, the more prepared you are for independent study.

Now is the time to think about how you can prepare yourself for your studies in the UK and start developing any new skills you need for success in your studies.

Think about how you can best prepare yourself for independent study on your course in the UK and choose one particular short-term aim and one particular long-term aim in relation to the development of your own independent study skills, and change the words into actions. Then complete the statements below.

Before I come to the UK, my short-term aim in relation to developing my independent study skills is to
.

When I arrive in the UK, my long-term aim in relation to my independent study skills is to
.

Would you like to review the main points?

It is important to understand that there may be differences in the length and type of academic assignment that students are asked to write in the UK. There are other requirements for academic writing too, which you will need to become familiar with. You can now start to think about some of the specific skills that you will need to have to produce good academic writing.

There are plenty of web-based resources provided free by UK universities that you can use to help prepare yourself for academic writing before you come to the UK. Some of these provide information about what will be required of you and others provide useful practice material. Browse around the website of the university that you are planning to study at to see if there are any resources there.