The Pressure Of Tests And Coursework

The Pressure of Tests And Coursework

In university, the experiences that I have experienced have been nothing like that of when I was at A-levels, but one thing I can definitely say is that the work rate as well as the challenges work brings, have increased. It is very difficult compared to previous levels of study because you have to write more in essays, especially when it comes to 2500 to 5000 word essays. Work presentations are alo made to present to the class on researched topics that we may or may not know about.

To be honest, those were some pretty huge exaggerations, but I am doing the accelerated route and the work this year due to some disorganisation in the system has made it very hard for us AR students taking the exams. This is because everything is cramped together and it means that work happens at an alarming rate and I have learnt this first hand that even when studying for your A-levels, it doesn't compare to the non stop working month I have just had revising for my exams.

During all the coursework essays, I also had to revise for my upcoming exams as well as attend extra classes to prepare me for my exams and tests. Now with the accelerated route, 60 percent was mandatory and praying I got it in one module was not enough as I had to average it overall in order to take the AR exams. Now the pressure on me was immense, especially when it came to succeeding. I hope I did but as you can see the pressure to succeed on this educational platform is very difficult and will only come with hard work and determination.

                                                                                                                 Tunde Ogundare

Lectures and note-taking.

Attending the lectures is the first step if you want to understand what is going on in your module. Even though the classes you have will go deeper into the subjects and help you acquire the knowledge you need, the lectures form the basis of it all. The backside of this is that some lectures are very hard to follow and/or take notes from.

I feel that even though most of what the lecturer is saying might already be on PowerPoint slides, it can be helpful to write down main points or important parts of the lecture anyway. If the lecturer in addition to the slides also uses the board to do diagrams or explanations it can be good to copy these as well.

I myself do not summarize or re-write my notes. I might however take new notes when practicing for a test, from the lecture slides or the book. But looking at the notes I’ve already taken might help if I do so along with the slides and/or the book.

I have experienced that the difference between lecturers are wide. Some are better prepared than others. Some have better lecture slides, or might explain it in a better way. It might be the words they use, how thorough they explain it, or just the way they talk - fast, slow, mumbling, clear. All in all, the times I have not attended a lecture, I might need to work harder on understanding the subject.

       I think the best way to approach lectures is to accept them whole heartily and try to be involved in all of them as best you can. It has worked for me so far! Attendance to the lectures is vital to success as the saying goes ''you can't learn anything if you don't go to class'' by being absent to lectures a student is just pilling up work and making things more difficult for him/herself in the long run. Power point slides are equally as important as attendance because they are summaries of the lecture and are very useful when preparing before the lecture. The tutors also use the slides to explain their topic and also summarize it to students.

       Normally I use the linear style of note taking but these days I prefer just listening to the tutor and drawing spider grams or flowcharts were they are needed. I grow tired of reading notes line after line so I just use diagrams were necessary to represent my points it makes it easier for me when I am going through the notes later on. So far in most of the lectures the tutors say everything on the power point slides and add very little explanation outside the slides so there is not much to jot during lectures. So I feel re-writing notes or summarizing them is a waste of time because most of it is on is on moodle. I constantly revise my jotted notes when reading for a test and also revise lecture notes on moodle just to mix things up and get in-depth knowledge of the module.

The subject of this our third (and last) blog is Lecture Technique. What we would like you to think and write about is how one can best approach lectures. Is it vital to attend or do you think you can use friend's notes, get Powerpoint slides or use Listen Again? Also, how best to take notes? Do other styles rather than linear note taking work for you? What are your observations of the lectures you have attended so far? Should one summarise or re-write notes or is this a waste of time? Does just revising your notes through reading them again suffice?  

As always please refrain from insulting or offensive language. I will have to remove it and it may constitute an academic offence.