Preparing to study

The transition from year 1 (Level 4) to year 2 (Level 5) undergraduate study can bring with it a shift in academic expectations. You’re likely to notice a heightened demand from your tutors for independent research and a higher proficiency in your formal academic writing and criticality skills. Foundational skills that you practised in your first year will become more refined and further developed in your second year.

Student Advisor Tom’s reflected on his transition from year to year and the skills he found most valuable were:

• Awareness that grades contribute to final degree
• Meet with personal tutor to discuss expectations
• Access UniSkills support to develop academic skills

Transition from year 2 (Level 5) to year 3 (Level 6) undergraduate study, or direct into a Level 6 postgraduate course, again generates a heightened emphasis on developing your academic skills to the next level.

Advancing your skills in areas such as independent inquiry, scholarly analysis and evaluation and synthesis – the bringing together of complex ideas – can help to boost your learning and your grades. You will be expected to demonstrate a greater breadth and depth of knowledge about your chosen discipline, plus more advanced reflection, critique, judgement and research skills.

Student Advisor Tom remembers

• Refining skills developed over previous years
• Revisit academic feedback and review areas for development
• Fine tuning academic writing and critical analysis skills

Transitioning into Level 7 postgraduate taught (PGT) study you’ll be expected to demonstrate an increase in specialisation, rigour and professional development. PGT study demands a higher level of intellectual engagement, independent research and critical analysis, preparing you for leadership roles and/or specialised career pathways.

While Level 7 presents new challenges, such as learning to manage an intense academic workload, alongside other personal commitments and responsibilities, it also offers unique opportunities for personal, professional and intellectual growth.

Whether you’re completely new to university, in your final year, or returning to postgraduate study after a break, why not come along and share your experiences?

Each Returning to Learning session is facilitated by both an Academic Skills Advisor and a Student Advisor, and offers you the opportunity to:

• Meet other Returning to Learning students
• Share any concerns about returning to academic study at university
• Learn how others in this situation have adapted to Higher Education
• Suggest tips for effective learning
• Develop your academic resilience

We are always happy to answer questions, share our knowledge about studying at Edge Hill, or just have a chat!

Returning to Learning is held on alternate Wednesdays throughout the year in the Willow Room, 1st floor of Catalyst. You can book your place in advance online or drop-in any time between 1-3pm for a cuppa and a chat. Free tea, coffee and biscuits are provided!

• Dealing with Distractions – advice on minimising common distractions
• Planning Your Time – advice on creating a weekly planner resource
• Weekly Planner – a planner template for you to adapt and fill out
• To Do List – a simple task-based template for you to adapt
• Prioritising Your Time – advice on how to prioritise and how to use a priority graph
• Priority Graph – a template you can adapt to help you prioritise and organise your tasks
• Time Management – useful tips for studying more efficiently
• The Crux of Time Management – an article on how to develop positive study habits

This simple but powerful time management method can help you stay focused and productive. The Pomodoro technique is named after the Italian word for tomato as the ‘inventor’ used a kitchen timer which looked like a tomato.

To use the Pomodoro technique, simply break your study time into 25-minute sessions, or blocks, called Pomodoro’s followed by set short breaks. This method helps some students work more efficiently without feeling overwhelmed. Whether you’re tackling assignments, preparing for exams, or working on projects, the Pomodoro technique can help you manage your time better and reduce procrastination. Give it a try to see if this approach can transform your study habits and boost your productivity!

Apps can help you organise tasks, set reminders, and track progress, making it easier to stay on top of your workload. Whether you’re juggling classes, assignments, or extracurricular activities, time management apps can boost your productivity and reduce stress. With features like to-do lists, calendars and notifications, these apps are designed to help you make the most of your time.

• Microsoft Outlook – your Outlook calendar can be used to map deadlines and set reminders
• Microsoft To Do – a digital to-do list that helps track your tasks and syncs with your Outlook calendar
• Trello – a project management app that can be used to help facilitate group work
• Evernote – captures your planner and notes all in one place
• Notion – the free tier includes project workflows, calendar and digital collaborative workspace
• Todoist – the free tier allows you to task manage up to five personal projects

You’ve written your goals, you know what you need to do and by when – but once the initial excitement has worn off, how do you keep the momentum going?

• Speak your goals out loud. Tell others what your intentions are and when you hope to complete them. You are then accountable to others, who will be able to check your progress along the way.
• Work with others. If you’re finding it difficult to complete or even start a certain goal, think about whether there are other people who could help you. Working with others can make completing your task/goal more enjoyable and less isolating.
• Reflect on the progress you have already made. This could be reading previous positive feedback or acknowledging something new that you can now do. Reflecting on what you still need to achieve can also help if you need to revise your goals.
• Keep a to-do list. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to tick off your tasks once they have been completed.

Why set goals?

• Setting goals can help you see the bigger picture.
• Goals can be long term (the future) or short term (the now).
• Goals allow you to determine what you want to achieve and by when.
• Writing a goal down and listing the steps you need to take to achieve that goal, helps to make you accountable to complete the task.
• Goals can keep you motivated, as you experience the satisfaction of ticking completed tasks off your to-do list.
• If you are new to setting goals or would just like a refresher around the key things to consider, then take a look at our guide on setting SMART goals.

Familiarising yourself with the topic or themes of upcoming lectures can help you prepare, build your subject knowledge and boost your confidence.

Tutors may upload slides or resources to Learning Edge in advance of your lectures and even set pre-reading tasks. Skim reading these may support your understanding and help you formulate questions ready to discuss with your peers. For guidance on skimming and scanning, you can visit our Academic Reading and Writing webpage.

You can also conduct your own wider research and reading, a great place to start is your Reading Lists Online and Subject Resources.

Taking notes in lectures helps you both make sense of what you are learning and remember it later. Taking effective notes can be challenging when you first start out, but once you discover which method works best for you it can be a rewarding learning and revision strategy.

You can learn more about notetaking methods and strategies in the section below but remember:

• Notetaking is a skill that takes time and practice to develop
• There are no set rules for how to make notes – whatever format works best for you is the right one – as long as you can understand and use them
• You don’t need to capture everything
• Different strategies you might try out include bullet point lists, mind maps, visual notes and Cornell

Following the lecture, revisit your notes and check you understand what you have written. If there are gaps or you are unsure what was being discussed, you may need to supplement your notes with further annotations, reading or research. Don’t leave too long a gap between the end of a lecture and revisiting your notes. Re-read them whilst they are fresh in your memory.

Lecture Capture (Panopto) is an additional learning tool, which uses software to capture a tutor’s voice in sync with the lecture slides. Tutors can record their lectures and upload them onto Learning Edge for students to revisit at any time. This can be useful if you need to clarify or expand upon any of the notes you made during the session. Panopto is user-friendly and allows you to adjust the speed of playback. Check with your tutor to determine if your programme area is using Lecture Capture (Panopto).

Cornell notetaking is a straight-forward yet effective strategy which helps you take, understand, organise and summarise your notes. Whether you favour working on paper or on a device, Cornell notetaking is quick to prepare.

A page or screen is split with three lines:

1. One horizontal line near the top for a title block
2. One vertical line to form two columns, so that one is narrower than the other
3. One horizontal line near the bottom for a summary

The two columns in the middle help to split up session content. The narrower column is for key words and questions you have about the topic(s). The wider column is for general notes on the session content, including your own thoughts and reflections.

Reasons to give Cornell notetaking a try:

• Notes are logically structured
• Notes are personal
• It promotes focus
• It is a form of active learning because it prompts thinking on the topic
• The summary requires you to place information in context
• Notes are easy to review

Mind maps can be useful for breaking down complex topics, as well as for organising information, ideas, or questions. You don’t have to be an artist to create a useful mind map and if you prefer technology, over coloured pens, you may prefer to use software to create your mind map. The Assistive Technology webpage has information on Inspiration – software you can use to create mind maps.

When you feel you’ve mastered the basics of notetaking and want to take your skills to the next level, the Being Critical Toolkit can support you to enhance your critical reading and critical notetaking skills.

All Edge Hill students have access to various accessible and assistive technologies and some of these can be useful for notetaking. For example, Inspiration can be used to make digital mind maps, and Caption.Ed generates live captions and assists in notetaking.

Other apps you could try include:

• Go Conqr – allows you to create mind maps, flashcards, quizzes, slides and notes and users can access additional resources by following study and discussion groups
• Evernote – allows the creation and annotation of notes in multiple formats including checklists, sketches, photos, scans, audio, video, PDFs and web clippings
• OneNote – allows you to file notes in digital notebooks to easily store, print and sync across devices

• First, make sure to find out what is required of you from your tutors. Check Blackboard for guidance documents and make sure you understand the task or project being set. A great way to make sure you are on the right track is to check your Learning Outcomes or any assessment information.
• Arrange an initial meeting with your group to identify project requirements, main tasks, key milestones and deadlines. This is also a great opportunity to meet people you may not have worked with before, so take some time to get to know each other.
• Discuss your project together and begin to agree roles, tasks, and how you will communicate. This will ensure there is equitable distribution of the workload, help your group understand what each other will be working on and how this is related to their role.
• Set further meeting dates to check in on everyone’s progress and to work on collective tasks together.
• If you have been asked to present your group work, it is a good idea to arrange rehearsal meetings. This will allow you to practice a run through of any verbal presentations ahead of the real time event or assessment. Visit our Presentations pages for more information and tips on presenting

• Some members of your group may have other commitments (including work, placements and/or caring responsibilities) alongside their studies, so it is important to discuss and factor these in when setting group meetings, workload and deadlines.
• Some members of your group may have additional learning needs and require more specific support and guidance when working in groups. Remember to be considerate of these and try to establish any specific requirements at your initial meeting.
• Some students may find it challenging to work with people they do not know or haven’t worked with before, so always remember to be kind to each other.

In-person group work

Catalyst has lots of study spaces and bookable rooms which are ideal for group work and these can be booked on the Study Space Bookings webpage.

Online group work

There are lots of great tools to assist you to work collaboratively online. Online meetings, hosted on platforms such as Microsoft Teams, are great for working with your group members, wherever you may be located.

• Office 365 and Microsoft Teams are available for all students and can be used to create, edit, manage and work collaboratively on Microsoft Office products (such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel).
• If you have been asked to present your group work, you can record your rehearsal presentations or team meetings in Teams or PowerPoint to watch back or recap on discussions.
• It is a good idea to check your connectivity, audio and visual settings before you meet online, whichever platform you are using.
• When meeting online you can work simultaneously on shared documents in real-time and even share your screen to present updates on the work you have been completing.
• Save important group work documents (such as assessment guidance, Learning Outcomes, project outline and deadlines) in Microsoft Teams so all group members have access to them and to ensure you are all working from the same version.
• Set up your own Microsoft Teams chat group to keep in touch more informally with your group members about your project outside formal meetings.

• Pay attention to accountability and roles within the group.
• Instructions and deadlines should be clear and explicit.
• Workload should be divided equitably.
• Good communication is one of the simplest ways to ensure a positive group working experience.
• Check in with each other to ensure all group members understand their role and what they need to do.
• Allow time and flexibility within your plans to arrange follow up meetings, study sessions or tutorials with your lecturers to go through any details.
• Always make sure you understand how you will be assessed and keep an eye on your Learning Outcomes to make sure you are not veering off in a different direction.
• Create your own personal checklist to keep on top of your individual tasks and deadlines. This is useful to help you understand how they factor in with your other responsibilities and commitments.

If your course requires you to work as part of a group, it is important to distinguish between collaboration and collusion. You can explore the Academic Integrity and Referencing Toolkit to learn more about the difference between collaboration and collusion.