Independent study

At university, students are expected to set their own learning agenda, and take responsibility for organising and prioritising the different study activities. You will also need to decide what to learn, and how deeply you need to understand it. However, this does not mean you should always learn alone! Many courses have group work, seminars, peer learning schemes and group tutorials to help students learn from and with one another.

Here are some tips to be successful as an independent learner:

• Be active. Take the initiative in finding out what needs to be done, drawing up plans and implementing them. Don’t wait to be told – act now!
• Be strategic. Assess your situation – what needs to be done? How can you best achieve your goals? Develop plans to work out how to achieve the best you can, within the time you have.
• Be systematic. Take time to gather information and organise it. For example, create a To Do list and then map out your week’s study.
• Be analytical. Analyse complex issues into more manageable components. Determine how the parts relate or interrelate to one another. – use mind maps, checklists, visual diagrams such as charts or Venn diagrams.
• Be reflective. Learn from your experiences. Review your study activities regularly and consider whether your strategies are working well.
• Give yourself incentives. Remind yourself of your short term and long term goals and keep track of your progress towards them. Set yourself targets and rewards for achieving them.
• Manage your morale. Keep your spirits up by playing to your strengths and focusing on what you enjoy. Give yourself bite size tasks with clear outcomes. Keep in touch with other students for support.

The above tips have been informed by ‘The Good Study Guide’ by Andrew Northedge (2005). Other useful resources that can be found in your campus library are:

Cottrell, S. (1999) The Study Skills Handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2009) The Smarter Study Skills Companion. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Northedge, A. (2005) The Good Study Guide. Milton Keynes: Open University.