Reading a novel or magazine is one thing, but when you read as a student you put a whole range of different skills into use. Before you begin to write your essays, you need to read widely and critically. This becomes more important when you approach your masters dissertation and higher levels of study. Here are some points to keep in mind as you approach academic reading.
Carrying out research is one of the most important stages of writing your masters dissertation. Our article on research resources opens up a wealth of options for the dissertation researcher, with information and advice on a whole range of different resources available, and tips on how to use them for the best possible results.
Be sure to use them for an outstanding, top-class masters dissertation.
Before university, you may have been able to submit handwritten essays. Once you start your university course your essay has to be typed on A4 paper. If you haven’t started to get to grips with computing software that improves the essay format, then now is the time to learn about Word. By learning just a few commands you will have enough information to type up your essay, save it and print it. Here are a few notes on Word 2007 to help you put your essay in typed format.
An assignment is a piece of work that you are given by your tutor to be completed outside class time. If you are given research assignments, often the material collated from the research will appear in essay format. For example, an assignment which requires an investigation into the impact of the smoking ban on the English pub, might require the student to problem solve by developing a questionnaire to discover people’s opinions. The results would be collated and presented in an essay format. In this case, assignment writing will need the same skills that would be used for academic essays.
Effective note-taking is an essential skill for study and forms the basis for essay writing. Let’s say you’re in a lecture and as the teacher speaks you make your notes. You write as fast as you can and you try to write down every word they say. At the end of the lecture you’re exhausted and you can’t really remember much of what was said because you were taking dictation rather than really listening to what the lecturer was saying.
If you’re having trouble concentrating on your studies this can really ruin a revision session. Feeling upset about something someone said to you, daydreaming about a night out or just feeling bored can mean that you fail to get the most from your studies. You can sit dutifully at your desk for an hour, but if you’re not making any progress on compiling your revision sheets, then you’re wasting your time. You need some tips to help you focus and maximise the productivity of your study period.
As you move away from school and into a university environment, the way you study and your essay writing changes. You are now seen as an adult, and it’s up to you to make sure that you succeed in your studies. To effectively study, make sure you can deal with these points:-
Solitude – During the course of your university career, you will have to spend a lot of time on your own studying. Some people love studying alone, but for others you may feel a complete lack of motivation. Work out how you feel about solitary writing time and how you can best deal with it.
It’s the time of year when students turn their attention to revision. But how can you produce effective revision sheets?
Making revision notes seems to be something that causes many students concern. There’s no big mystery as to what should go into your notes. Also, there is no right way to make revision notes. Your revision note methods will depend on the subject matter and what you prefer.
