Beginning Your University Journey

Arriving at University is an exciting experience;

It is also a life changing one But at first, it can be a little daunting. Just remember you are not alone; Hold on to those dreams and ambitions,

and, RELAX!

Initial Impressions

You want to go from this ….

To This …..

Familiarise yourself with the campus Find the important places; The library, the computer labs, student

services, where your school office is, where your personal tutor’s office is, not forgetting

The shop, where you can get something to eat and drink, the Student Union and of course, the nearest and cheapest pub!

And you will, but here are some tips

Check the notice boards and your e-mails regularly;

Get hold of your timetable and go for a wander, find out where your classrooms and lecture theatres are, this will save you the stress of searching frantically where you should be when classes start,

And find out the name of your personal tutor and where they can found.

Listen to announcements

Familiarise yourself with the portal and its links to the library catalogue, the electronic journal databases, Bannerweb and Study Skills.

Make use of your course’s Moodle page; these contain important academic information, coursework, announcements and online discussion forums.

The Student Portal & Moodle

Socialising and making friends is a vital ingredient of university life, but you also need to devote time to reading, researching and writing.

One of the most important transferable skills you will learn at university, is being able to work to deadlines and prioritising tasks.

Many students hold down jobs, have childcare responsibilities and have to study – it is not an easy task.

Managing Time

Invest in a diary or a wall chart, mark in the deadlines for assignments;

Break down tasks into manageable chunks; Little and often is preferable to the long

haul; Think about when you work best and when

your mind is freshest and, Give yourself sufficient time to gather

information before you start writing. Planning ahead can save you a great deal of

stress.

Think Ahead

Being an independent learner means that you are expected to manage your studies and while you will be supported, you must take the initiative to manage your time and hand in your work on time.

Coming from school to university is very liberating but tutors will not chase you for assignments nor will they nag you to get out of bed in the morning!

You are Independent Learners

Lectures are designed to give you useful pointers and a starting point for searching for information;

Use lectures as a springboard to access credible and reliable sources.

Resist trying to take verbatim notes but note down key points, thinkers, theorists, dates and the titles of important works

And remember, there is a huge difference between passive and active listening!

Lectures

Seminars are your time for discussing and sharing ideas;

If you have a question resist feeling shy or silly by asking it because there will be many others in the room glad you did, but they were too afraid to ask!

It is a good idea to prepare for seminars so that you can get the best out of them, which means doing the reading required.

Seminars

Get hold of the reading list for the course and check out the books in the library;

Those books available on short term loan are those on reading lists.

You are not expected to read every book, but learn to read selectively;

Look at the blurb, the contents page, the index and the summaries of chapters to see whether the book has what you need before borrowing it.

Researching

Access the journals via databases like Swetswise via the student portal;

The journals contain current information and ‘cutting edge' research;

The reference list in journal articles can also help you locate those sources to check out for yourself.

It is useful to realise that generally, someone has been there before you and that therefore, you can utilize someone else’s knowledge.

The Journals

Resist writing your essay and researching at the same time;

Try and gather information before you start writing;

That way, you will be more sure about your direction and approach,

And you will be less likely to waffle because you know exactly how you propose to answer the question – and answering the question is the key to success.

Writing

We are here to help you and can offer support in any area of academic study, be it essay writing, referencing, note taking or presentation skills.

We offer workshops and one-to-one sessions with a tutor.

You can access the timetable on the Study Skills Website via the portal;

This will tell you when workshops are running and when one-to-one sessions are available.

Study Skills Support

It is not always possible to go it alone and there is no shame in asking for help;

Afterall, being at university allows you to take advantage of other people’s expertise;

So use us, that is what we are there for. If you need to contact us, you can e-mail us

at study-skills@greenwich.ac.uk

Going it alone

Enjoy the journey and see where it takes you;

If you come out at the end of three years and realise how little you know, then we will have done a good job.

THINK ABOUT IT!

And Lastly,