Ten Tips for writing an Essay
1. Know Your Stuff!
Assess your current knowledge and understanding of the subject you will be writing about.
Collate all the information you already have – a mind map is an excellent way to do this, and it’s well worth finding a little time to dip into The Mindmap Book, by the Buzan brothers. Alternatively, list everything you know, using different colour pens to group items, to highlight the most important or relevant, or to distinguish areas you may need to revisit.
Once you know what you know, you need to know what you don’t know! List areas you need to research and possible sources, begin researching with specific questions in mind (or better still, written down!)
Make sure your research is wide-ranging but focussed. Be methodical in your note-taking and especially careful in recording your references, to avoid any possibility of unintentional plagiarism.
2. Hit the Books!
You should be reading around the subject extensively before you even get your assignment.
Make notes and list questions for further research as you read. Keep notes concise, using keywords and short quotations, briefly expanded by your own ideas.
Keeping your assignment in mind, learn to skim read for things of interest, which you can then later read in depth. This way you get to filter out irrelevancies, making more effective use of the time you spend reading.
Read a variety of texts, by various authors, expand your module reading list in all directions. Use a variety of media (radio/tv broadcasts, films, the internet) but maintain an academic focus.
3. The Best-Laid Plans …!
Take the time to make a written study plan (essential to effective time-management)
A definitive plan will help to avoid eleventh hour disasters. At the very least, list how many weeks/hours you can realistically expect to use for studying before the assignment is due. Note special lectures or tutorials.
Appreciate time as an important resource – use it wisely and avoid the destructive cycle of procrastinating and binge studying.
Expect the unexpected! Practically, this means plan to allow yourself some ‘extra’ time to deal with unexpected events.
4. Radiant Thinking!
Your brain is amazing, and one of your most important resources.
Approach your assignment with resolve, imagination and a positive outlook. Treat it as an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and understanding.
Recognise your resources – be imaginative! These include physical, intellectual and emotional aspects of yourself, time and space, health, fun and relaxation, and other people.
Try mind mapping – the perfect example of radiant thinking and an excellent resource to use in all areas of your studying (in fact, in all areas of your life!)
5. Raw Ingredients!
Lectures are the raw ingredients of an assignment. You mix them together, add a few more things, some time and some care, and voilá! your recipe for success!
Preparation - To make the most of lectures, ensure you arrive on time, in the right frame of mind, and with everything you need. Don’t ignore something you don’t understand – make a note of it and approach the lecturer for some help at an appropriate time.
Notes – trying to take extensive, detailed notes during an interesting lecture is almost impossible – it means you often miss useful ideas or information. Try using key words or mind mapping. Expand, action and file notes weekly.
Appreciation – express your appreciation to lecturers – always thank them for their time and insight, and tell them when they give a lecture in a particularly useful format. Use any module feedback sheets.
6. Waving, Not Drowning!
Everyone needs a little support now and then.
There are plenty of sources of support within university, depending on the type of help you need. You may need someone to explain things in greater depth, or to advise you about your grammar, or to help you with time-keeping, to inspire you or reboot your enthusiasm, or perhaps you just need a friendly ear.
Ask for help sooner rather than later. Ensure clear communication with lecturers, your family and friends, to keep them informed of your progress and of your needs.
Recognising where you need support, and reaching out to ask for it, are strengths well worth developing as general life-skills. When stuck with an essay, a few minutes conversation with someone can make all the difference.
7. Clean and tidy!
Make sure the format of your assignment is logical, balanced, of a high academic standard, and thoroughly readable.
Ensure an academic style (language, grammar, punctuation) and follow the guidelines for presentation in module handbooks.
Pay attention to your referencing. Stick rigidly to whichever system is preferred in your area of study. Keep any footnotes succinct and take time with your bibliography.
8. Nail Your Argument!
An imaginative, innovative argument will usually be appreciated, but ensure your argument makes sense!
Use words, statistics and diagrams, to underpin your argument as necessary.
Support your argument with academic references. You must ground any argument in existing understanding or theory.
Provide an extensive bibliography to support your references. Never include texts you haven’t read.
9. Make it Shine!
Leave time at the end to polish your work before it is submitted.
A rushed finish is always evident and always disappointing. Build time into your plan to avoid the frustration of handing in a piece of work and knowing you could have done a much better job. A final, thorough proofread prevents sloppy mistakes.
If possible, have a break for a few days before your final edit/proofread, so you read it with fresh eyes. Or ask someone else to read it for you.
Pay attention to external presentation – first impressions do count! Unless told specifically which kind of folder to use, bear in mind the ease of reading when you choose. Use high quality paper and ensure your printing is crisp and clear.
10. Avoid the White Rabbit Syndrome!
Avoid the need for extensions – they do nothing for your self-esteem, your stress levels or your academic reputation.
If the unthinkable happens and for genuine reasons, beyond your control, you need an extension, approach your lecturer. Be prepared to fill in a mitigating circumstances form, and to support it with evidence. However, the following will guard against the need for extensions.
Set early deadlines. When you first receive a submission date, change it! Choose a date (1-2 weeks earlier depending on the length, the time necessary and the time available) a date that is memorable to you. From this point on, focus on this new deadline, and ‘forget’ the original.
Set yourself ‘mini’ deadlines, working backwards from the 'revised' due date, enlisting support to treat them seriously, and to stick to them.
More on this later, as it's a huge part of studying! But one more, very important tip: If you get the chance to choose your own essay title/subject, choose something you find interesting and have fun with it!
(And bear in mind that lecturers read a lot of essays, many of which are very similar, so if you choose the title or subject everyone else is avoiding, it will provide a refreshing change for the person marking your work!)
Showing posts with label Studying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Studying. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Being a Student Parent
As a student parent, you are likely to own a number of hats!
1. Me! Me! Me!
Being your own personal life coach (and biggest fan!)
This is your most important hat – take it everywhere, wear it to bed, wake up with it, don’t hang it up for a minute and certainly don’t lose it!
You may well have other people who need you, but they need you at your best, so make sure that taking care of yourself is your number one priority, develop a regular habit of “me time.” Set aside some time, on a weekly or even daily basis and use it to pamper yourself or to indulge in a favourite activity
Whether you disappear for an afternoon of golf, or into the bathroom for a blissful uninterrupted hour of aromatherapy experience, know that when you return to the world, you will feel healthier and happier – see it as a gift, not just to yourself but also to others.
When it comes to “me time” remember that it is a self-full activity, not a selfish one – make sure you are assertive, determined, even downright stubborn in protecting your right to some personal space. It is not only your earned right, in fact, but your responsibility, so protect it fiercely!
2. Nurture Your Better Half!
Being a partner
Remember that your studying (the highs and the lows) will have a great impact on your partner too. You will have less time and energy, and probably more stress, all of which will affect your partner almost as much as it will affect you.
Keep the lines of communication open, to make dealing with any challenges easier. He or she will often be the voice of wisdom, helping you to put things into perspective, ensuring you remain balanced and grounded. Partners are also useful for practising presentations!
Ensure you spend some quality time together on a regular basis. Be innovative, try new things, explore new places together. Go out on a date (even if it's just for coffee) or spend a romantic evening in together at least once a week.
Be appreciative. If your partner is supportive, make sure they know what a huge difference it makes to your life, and make sure you return the favour.
3. Who’d Have ‘Em?!
Being a parent
As a parent, you will already be used to multi-tasking, as a chef, nurse, chauffeur, chambermaid, counsellor, referee, bank manager, answer machine and doorman, all rolled into one! Enlist help wherever possible, make sure you don’t try to do everything yourself.
Enlist the support of your children with cooking, housework and gardening. Encourage children to be independent – even a four year old can make a sandwich, and older children can read younger siblings a story, for example, when you need a quiet half hour.
Share studying sessions (and tips!) with your children. It will give them the sense of being involved in something important to you, and an idea of your needs and feelings. Plus, you’ll be surprised how much you will learn from them.
Make quality time and time out equally important. Learn the art of tuning out!
4. Home Sweet Home!
Being a housekeeper/homemaker
A cluttered environment is highly conducive to cluttered thinking!
Keeping an entire house immaculately clean and tidy at all times is perhaps impossible, but set aside an area for studying – make it a pleasant and private place where you can retreat from the chaos, and where you can keep all your resources together, and out of the way of sticky fingers.
Keep on top of things as much as possible, so small things don’t morph into monsters. Clearing up as you go along prevents the need for marathon housework sessions, putting things away in a proper place saves the time and frustration spent searching for lost items.
Keep a rota – insist that anyone else who lives in the house (or visits regularly!) does their fair share. Even a toddler can pick up their own toys, and a stroppy teenager will have to do their own laundry eventually, if you can bear to ignore it for long enough.
5. Taming the Jungle!
Being a gardener
People tend to belong to one of two groups when it comes to gardening – those who love it, and those who hate it!
For those who love gardening, a garden is an invaluable asset, providing time out and a definite feelgood factor. As a gardener, it’s easy to treat yourself – a packet of seeds costs hardly anything, and provides months of pleasure. Time spent pottering in the garden provides an oasis of calm and excellent exercise.
For those who hate gardening, a garden is nothing more than a burden. Make it as low maintenance as possible, and enlist support from anyone you know who loves gardening. Have garden(ing) parties – you provide food and drink to family and friends, they provide brute strength or insight.
NB Do not dig vegetable patches with a bad back!
6. Earning a Living!
Being a breadwinner/career person
Time is one of our most important resources, but we rarely recognise its true value.
Make sure you work to live, rather than live to work – not always easy, but at least try and find the best compromise possible.
Assess your income/expenditure situation, and decide whether you could save a little more and work a little less, or whether you could change jobs and increase the value of your time.
Use work as a busmen’s holiday from study or domestic responsibilities. You may need time off at certain points in the year (major assessments or exams) so plan ahead and keep employers and colleagues informed.
7. It’s a Student’s Life!
Being a student
Returning to academic life, after possibly many years’ absence can prove difficult, even somewhat overwhelming at times.
Make full use of the support systems at your place of study. Life sometimes gets in the way of studying, so they will provide help and advice in a number of areas – financial, emotional, academic, etc. Ensure lecturers are aware, as soon as possible, of any serious difficulties you encounter in your studying. Make full use of resources including the library, and Study Skills Advice.
Talk to other student parents, who will probably be facing the same challenges. Start a study group or at least arrange to meet once a week for a coffee, a moan and a good laugh at it all.
You can’t control life, but you can control your studying. Avoid last minute major crises by carefully planning your studying, allowing extra time for those unavoidable distractions which are sure to crop up!
8. To Borrow or Not to Borrow!
Being a financial manager
Studying as a parent is challenging enough, without the added difficulty of financial pressure. Avoid problems by taking control of your finances.
Make sure you are receiving all entitlements you are due. Be aware of all the consequences of any loans you accept – wherever possible, choose a grant in preference to a loan.
Budget carefully, seeking advice if necessary to draw up a written financial plan.
Keep money you get for studying separate from other money, family finances for example. Save when you can – buy second hand books, sell yours when you have finished with them, use the library or share resources with a fellow student. Use your student discount as often as possible.
9. Friendly Faces!
Being a friend
Enlist help whenever possible from friends – they are a valuable support resource! If you’re a good friend yourself, you will hopefully be surrounded by wonderfully supportive people.
Ask them for advice or for practical help – they will more than likely be glad to feel needed! Perhaps you could offer to spend a whole hour/afternoon/day/weekend doing whatever would be most helpful to them.
It’s easy to get caught up in the rest of life, particularly when under pressure from looming deadlines, and unfortunately neglect our friendships. Explain when you need to disappear for a while and set aside regular time to spend with them.
Show them your appreciation of their support, encouragement and understanding. A hand-made card or small gift, a home-cooked meal, a poem written especially for them, or an essay dedicated to them, a beautiful found item (shell, pebble, leaf, etc.) or a simple, heartfelt hug, are all lovely ways to say ‘thank you.’
10. Love and Laughter!
Being a family member
Much may be expected, or even demanded, of us as family members, but with a little compromise, families can be one of our most positive assets.
Be assertive and learn to say ‘no’ to any inappropriate or unfair demands, but be fair and make sure you pull your weight too.
Be appreciative. It’s easy to take family for granted, but easier still to let them know how much they mean to you and what a difference their support makes to your life. Tell them. Treat them. (See Tip 9)
Don’t isolate yourself. Ensure you spend quality time together on a regular basis, no matter how hectic life is. If you’re away from family while studying, keep in touch in a variety of ways – be innovative, have fun!
1. Me! Me! Me!
Being your own personal life coach (and biggest fan!)
This is your most important hat – take it everywhere, wear it to bed, wake up with it, don’t hang it up for a minute and certainly don’t lose it!
You may well have other people who need you, but they need you at your best, so make sure that taking care of yourself is your number one priority, develop a regular habit of “me time.” Set aside some time, on a weekly or even daily basis and use it to pamper yourself or to indulge in a favourite activity
Whether you disappear for an afternoon of golf, or into the bathroom for a blissful uninterrupted hour of aromatherapy experience, know that when you return to the world, you will feel healthier and happier – see it as a gift, not just to yourself but also to others.
When it comes to “me time” remember that it is a self-full activity, not a selfish one – make sure you are assertive, determined, even downright stubborn in protecting your right to some personal space. It is not only your earned right, in fact, but your responsibility, so protect it fiercely!
2. Nurture Your Better Half!
Being a partner
Remember that your studying (the highs and the lows) will have a great impact on your partner too. You will have less time and energy, and probably more stress, all of which will affect your partner almost as much as it will affect you.
Keep the lines of communication open, to make dealing with any challenges easier. He or she will often be the voice of wisdom, helping you to put things into perspective, ensuring you remain balanced and grounded. Partners are also useful for practising presentations!
Ensure you spend some quality time together on a regular basis. Be innovative, try new things, explore new places together. Go out on a date (even if it's just for coffee) or spend a romantic evening in together at least once a week.
Be appreciative. If your partner is supportive, make sure they know what a huge difference it makes to your life, and make sure you return the favour.
3. Who’d Have ‘Em?!
Being a parent
As a parent, you will already be used to multi-tasking, as a chef, nurse, chauffeur, chambermaid, counsellor, referee, bank manager, answer machine and doorman, all rolled into one! Enlist help wherever possible, make sure you don’t try to do everything yourself.
Enlist the support of your children with cooking, housework and gardening. Encourage children to be independent – even a four year old can make a sandwich, and older children can read younger siblings a story, for example, when you need a quiet half hour.
Share studying sessions (and tips!) with your children. It will give them the sense of being involved in something important to you, and an idea of your needs and feelings. Plus, you’ll be surprised how much you will learn from them.
Make quality time and time out equally important. Learn the art of tuning out!
4. Home Sweet Home!
Being a housekeeper/homemaker
A cluttered environment is highly conducive to cluttered thinking!
Keeping an entire house immaculately clean and tidy at all times is perhaps impossible, but set aside an area for studying – make it a pleasant and private place where you can retreat from the chaos, and where you can keep all your resources together, and out of the way of sticky fingers.
Keep on top of things as much as possible, so small things don’t morph into monsters. Clearing up as you go along prevents the need for marathon housework sessions, putting things away in a proper place saves the time and frustration spent searching for lost items.
Keep a rota – insist that anyone else who lives in the house (or visits regularly!) does their fair share. Even a toddler can pick up their own toys, and a stroppy teenager will have to do their own laundry eventually, if you can bear to ignore it for long enough.
5. Taming the Jungle!
Being a gardener
People tend to belong to one of two groups when it comes to gardening – those who love it, and those who hate it!
For those who love gardening, a garden is an invaluable asset, providing time out and a definite feelgood factor. As a gardener, it’s easy to treat yourself – a packet of seeds costs hardly anything, and provides months of pleasure. Time spent pottering in the garden provides an oasis of calm and excellent exercise.
For those who hate gardening, a garden is nothing more than a burden. Make it as low maintenance as possible, and enlist support from anyone you know who loves gardening. Have garden(ing) parties – you provide food and drink to family and friends, they provide brute strength or insight.
NB Do not dig vegetable patches with a bad back!
6. Earning a Living!
Being a breadwinner/career person
Time is one of our most important resources, but we rarely recognise its true value.
Make sure you work to live, rather than live to work – not always easy, but at least try and find the best compromise possible.
Assess your income/expenditure situation, and decide whether you could save a little more and work a little less, or whether you could change jobs and increase the value of your time.
Use work as a busmen’s holiday from study or domestic responsibilities. You may need time off at certain points in the year (major assessments or exams) so plan ahead and keep employers and colleagues informed.
7. It’s a Student’s Life!
Being a student
Returning to academic life, after possibly many years’ absence can prove difficult, even somewhat overwhelming at times.
Make full use of the support systems at your place of study. Life sometimes gets in the way of studying, so they will provide help and advice in a number of areas – financial, emotional, academic, etc. Ensure lecturers are aware, as soon as possible, of any serious difficulties you encounter in your studying. Make full use of resources including the library, and Study Skills Advice.
Talk to other student parents, who will probably be facing the same challenges. Start a study group or at least arrange to meet once a week for a coffee, a moan and a good laugh at it all.
You can’t control life, but you can control your studying. Avoid last minute major crises by carefully planning your studying, allowing extra time for those unavoidable distractions which are sure to crop up!
8. To Borrow or Not to Borrow!
Being a financial manager
Studying as a parent is challenging enough, without the added difficulty of financial pressure. Avoid problems by taking control of your finances.
Make sure you are receiving all entitlements you are due. Be aware of all the consequences of any loans you accept – wherever possible, choose a grant in preference to a loan.
Budget carefully, seeking advice if necessary to draw up a written financial plan.
Keep money you get for studying separate from other money, family finances for example. Save when you can – buy second hand books, sell yours when you have finished with them, use the library or share resources with a fellow student. Use your student discount as often as possible.
9. Friendly Faces!
Being a friend
Enlist help whenever possible from friends – they are a valuable support resource! If you’re a good friend yourself, you will hopefully be surrounded by wonderfully supportive people.
Ask them for advice or for practical help – they will more than likely be glad to feel needed! Perhaps you could offer to spend a whole hour/afternoon/day/weekend doing whatever would be most helpful to them.
It’s easy to get caught up in the rest of life, particularly when under pressure from looming deadlines, and unfortunately neglect our friendships. Explain when you need to disappear for a while and set aside regular time to spend with them.
Show them your appreciation of their support, encouragement and understanding. A hand-made card or small gift, a home-cooked meal, a poem written especially for them, or an essay dedicated to them, a beautiful found item (shell, pebble, leaf, etc.) or a simple, heartfelt hug, are all lovely ways to say ‘thank you.’
10. Love and Laughter!
Being a family member
Much may be expected, or even demanded, of us as family members, but with a little compromise, families can be one of our most positive assets.
Be assertive and learn to say ‘no’ to any inappropriate or unfair demands, but be fair and make sure you pull your weight too.
Be appreciative. It’s easy to take family for granted, but easier still to let them know how much they mean to you and what a difference their support makes to your life. Tell them. Treat them. (See Tip 9)
Don’t isolate yourself. Ensure you spend quality time together on a regular basis, no matter how hectic life is. If you’re away from family while studying, keep in touch in a variety of ways – be innovative, have fun!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Being A Student
Although no longer a student of any official course at the moment, I continue to study in various ways.
It's an ingrained habit now. I have always been someone who questions everything, who searches for, and enjoys the challenge of, understanding. A naturally analytical mind has been encouraged to the point where I can happily analyse a paper bag! I can no longer read a book without a pen in my hand (or a handful of post-it notes if it's a library book) or read a newpaper of magazine without shredding it into individual articles, pictures or even paragraphs. My battered dictionary is an almost constant companion and my handbag bulges with various scrawled notes and lists of book titles.
Studying is very definitely a big part of my life, and I hope it remains so!
I do have direct, recent experience of being a student though, at the same time as being a Mum. An experience I wouldn't change for the world, though had you asked me at the time, you might have got a very different answer. I asked my daughter once, when she had been complaining bitterly about lack of funds for something or other: What do you think you could learn from this? (I was thinking along the lines of: Anything that is worth doing, is worth a struggle.) She thought for a moment, then said: To go to university before I have children!
So, studying continues, in a variety of ways (all of which now cost nothing!): I am helping with some research into the Family in the 21st Century, currently looking at Jungian Archetypes and Personality Typology ... fascinating stuff! I also indulge my ongoing interest in gender relationships on a regular basis. And now, I am studying studying!
I was a student ambassador at university while studying for my bachelors, and now I work there as a student mentor, although have had a far-too-long break, due to a back injury. I adore my job and because I work with students from different departments, I have developed a broad understanding of what it means to be a student.
This has been developed further while home-schooling my youngest daughter last year. I have found the subject of learning styles fascinating. I will definitely post some information about this, as I really believe it's fundamental to the subject of studying, and very useful to parents too.
Well, enough about me ... this blog is not about me, it's from me, I really hope I can be of help to those just setting out on a journey of student parenthood. But I thought it might be a good idea to let you know my credentials. And also let you know that it's possible to survive the experience! The truth is, even during the hard bits, I loved my time at university, which is why I now work there.
And as for studying, I simply can't get enough of it! Working hard now to pay off the fees for the final year of my Masters, then am hoping to do a PhD ...
Well, maybe when I retire!
If you have any questions, please ask and I will do my best to find you the answer, or someone else who can help! Comments and suggestions are very welcome. :o)
It's an ingrained habit now. I have always been someone who questions everything, who searches for, and enjoys the challenge of, understanding. A naturally analytical mind has been encouraged to the point where I can happily analyse a paper bag! I can no longer read a book without a pen in my hand (or a handful of post-it notes if it's a library book) or read a newpaper of magazine without shredding it into individual articles, pictures or even paragraphs. My battered dictionary is an almost constant companion and my handbag bulges with various scrawled notes and lists of book titles.
Studying is very definitely a big part of my life, and I hope it remains so!
I do have direct, recent experience of being a student though, at the same time as being a Mum. An experience I wouldn't change for the world, though had you asked me at the time, you might have got a very different answer. I asked my daughter once, when she had been complaining bitterly about lack of funds for something or other: What do you think you could learn from this? (I was thinking along the lines of: Anything that is worth doing, is worth a struggle.) She thought for a moment, then said: To go to university before I have children!
So, studying continues, in a variety of ways (all of which now cost nothing!): I am helping with some research into the Family in the 21st Century, currently looking at Jungian Archetypes and Personality Typology ... fascinating stuff! I also indulge my ongoing interest in gender relationships on a regular basis. And now, I am studying studying!
I was a student ambassador at university while studying for my bachelors, and now I work there as a student mentor, although have had a far-too-long break, due to a back injury. I adore my job and because I work with students from different departments, I have developed a broad understanding of what it means to be a student.
This has been developed further while home-schooling my youngest daughter last year. I have found the subject of learning styles fascinating. I will definitely post some information about this, as I really believe it's fundamental to the subject of studying, and very useful to parents too.
Well, enough about me ... this blog is not about me, it's from me, I really hope I can be of help to those just setting out on a journey of student parenthood. But I thought it might be a good idea to let you know my credentials. And also let you know that it's possible to survive the experience! The truth is, even during the hard bits, I loved my time at university, which is why I now work there.
And as for studying, I simply can't get enough of it! Working hard now to pay off the fees for the final year of my Masters, then am hoping to do a PhD ...
Well, maybe when I retire!
If you have any questions, please ask and I will do my best to find you the answer, or someone else who can help! Comments and suggestions are very welcome. :o)
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