Get help (both online and in person) with study skills and organising your workfrom 301, the University Student Skills and Development Centre.
How much work is enough?
You should expect to spend a minimum of thirty six hours each week on your academic studies. The University guideline is that all students should spend a total of about 1200 hours on academic study and assessment each year (40 hours per week over 30 weeks). At Level 1, a typical week will consist of 8 hours of lectures plus 9 hours of practical classes, and possibly a tutorial. You will thus have up to eighteen “contact hours” of teaching during each week. This means that you should expect to spend at least an additional eighteen hours each week on upgrading your lecture notes, reading appropriate books, writing up practical reports and preparing tutorial essays and other work in advance.
A similar calculation can be done for modules at Levels 2 and 3. If you assume that a minimum of thirty-six hours academic work each week is required, you can partition your time effectively.
The most obvious consequence of not doing enough work is that you are likely to fail the assessment for one or more modules. Read the section on Examinations and Degree Classifications for more information about this. Before you reach this stage, however, you might find yourself subject to the Progress of Students Regulations of the University. These Regulations require you:
a) to attend punctually and regularly lectures and classes
b) to complete all written assignments, practical or other coursework
c) to attend all examinations
The Student Charter further notes that students are expected ‘to attend throughout each session, including the full examination period. This means turning up on time to all designated teaching sessions, tutorials, laboratory sessions and all assessments'.
The University requires all departments to monitor the attendance of students in at least twelve sessions during the course of each year. The aim is to help ensure that you make full use of the learning opportunities that are available, and to help departments identify and support those students who are having difficulty with their study programmes.
Within MBB, monitoring of attendance takes place in practical classes, analysis sessions, data handling sessions and tutorials. It is compulsory for you to attend all these sessions. Work done in practical classes and tutorials is assessed and contributes to the grade you receive for practical modules. If you are repeatedly absent from practical classes, you will not be permitted to progress to the next level of study until you have repeated the whole practical module in the following year.
You are also expected to attend all MBB lectures. Your presence will not be monitored in every lecture, but spot checks on attendance are made from time to time. You would be foolish to miss any lecture if you could avoid it, as the work involved in catching up is more than is involved in attending in the first place.
Failure to attend classes can result in you being reported to the Faculty of Science for unsatisfactory progress. The University Regulations allow a student to be reported to the Faculty for:
a) failure to attend the programme of study for which the student has registered
b) failure to perform adequately the work of the course
c) failure to present at the times appointed such written work as may have been required
d) failure to pass an examination.
You can be reported to the Faculty at any time for unsatisfactory progress and the Faculty has the authority to expel you from the University.
Organising your Studies
One of the best routes to being successful in your studies is effective use of your time. As a student you need to find the right balance between relaxation and study. An indication of the minimum amount of time you should spend each week on your academic work has already been given above. Part of this time is fixed with regular lectures, practical classes and tutorials. You will also have deadlines for handling in course work. Examination dates will also be announced well in advance. These fixed times form a framework for the whole academic year, within which you can organise your time. You should make a note of all the fixed dates, in your diary or on a wall planner, so that you can plan your tasks for the year ahead.
Weekly study plans are also an important way of using your time efficiently. Each week you could make a chart, and enter details for that week, starting with the times of your lectures, practical classes and tutorials. Mark in any other commitments you have for the week. You should then allocate blocks of time sufficient to prepare for events such as preparation for practical classes, preparation of practical class reports and tutorial work. You may need to plan over a longer time span than a week for some of these. You should aim to plan other study time during periods when you know you can study most effectively (when this is, is a wholly individual matter). Your weekly plan should include reasonable amounts of time for eating, sleeping, travelling, exercising and relaxing. It is only meant to be a guide and so it needs to be both flexible and realistic.
Using Your Study Periods Effectively
Everyone works and studies in their own way. There is no one way of studying which can be guaranteed to work for all students. To be successful in your studies you must develop your own study skills - try out different techniques, select the ones that work for you and stick with them. Effective study requires a comfortable place to work, minimal distraction and accessible books and notes.
Length of study periods is important but again this is an individual matter. Long sessions are not always advisable and should certainly contain a few short breaks. Make sure you have a short break between each study session. You need to set yourself a realistic goal within the time limit of your study session. You may wish to use it to check and expand lecture notes, to prepare a practical class report, to prepare an essay, to read a chapter in a textbook or read a scientific paper. Whatever your goal, do not try to do too much in one go.
Try to concentrate while you are studying. Concentration involves actively processing the material being presented. The length of time for which you can concentrate fully will vary, of course, but unless you can concentrate, your study sessions will not be productive. If you are finding it hard to concentrate then try switching to another subject. A short break may also restore your concentration. If you find you cannot concentrate any longer, then take it as a signal to stop studying and relax.
Reading Effectively
Effective reading varies according to the material you are reading. In general, however, you can get the "gist" of a text without having to process every single word. With practice, you can increase your word span to five or six words, and increase your reading rate to several hundred words per minute. With course materials it is almost certain that you will need to read them more than once to understand them.
To gain an understanding of what you are reading you might, for example, first scan the text quickly to get a broad overview of what it contains. Then read it again more slowly, picking out the main facts and ideas and how they are developed. Finally read it again in detail.
You should aim to read with attention and comprehension, making sure you understand all the important concepts and, at the same time, carefully evaluating the material in the light of what you already know. This is the stage when you might find it helpful to make notes of the more important ideas and facts and to summarise the key points.
How Much Should You Spend on Books?
The University expects you to buy your own copies of “core” textbooks. It is NOT the responsibility of the University Library to provide multiple copies of core textbooks, although it is Departmental policy to purchase multiple copies of recommended, non-core textbooks for the Library, where funds allow. The University expects the spending of science students on book purchases to average between £105 and £125 in each year of study. These figures are based upon national averages across all universities. In MBB we expect students to spend slightly more than average in their first year, but much less in subsequent years. For students entering the Department in 2019-20, the pack of four core textbooks that we expect you to buy will continue to be essential at Level 2 and to be useful even at Level 3.