You may feel nervous aboutreturning to academic life after a few years: this attention to “the big picture” helps you. Imagine sailing into university recklessly confident that you know all about studying only to be surprised by new demands. Thinking abouthow to study effectively means you can consciously craft strategies to meet Trent’s academic expectations. Many of your skills from previous studies still work, and the problem-solving you did in the workplace andelsewhere hashoned your thinking and time management skills. Look beyond your nervousness:seeing the big picture right off the bat is a great advantage!
In A Nutshell
Go to all classes.
Manage your time (use false deadlines, break things down into chunks, never do everything in the last minute).
Make connections with instructors and students.
Knowsupport systemsand how to find information (be it how to do a lab report, use commas or send in assignments).
Keep your writing clear and simple.
Answer all parts of assignments. Underline key words to help you focus and create a checklist.
Take courses you are passionate about.
Have fun!
Active Learning
Passively absorbing information is ineffective (and boring!). Be active: the more you do something with information, the more it sinks in, stays and evolves.
Form a study group or rope in a family member and tell them about the major themes in a course. When you teach someone (anyone) something, your brain is firing on all cylinders: you are recalling, summarizing, synthesizing and presenting material in a complex fashion. If you can teach it, you know it.
Read critically and actively. Opening up a textbook and reading a chapter is overwhelming. Read with a purpose. Know what you are looking for. Underline key words. Write summaries, questions and elaborations in the margins. Make connections.
Use all of your senses. Write information down. Review it. Revise it. Say things out loud. Create your own mnemonic devices (HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior). Write limericks or rap songs. The more unusual the associations you make, the better you will remember them.
University is not about a dull rote learning of “what” and “when.” It is an active critical engagement with higher order questions (“why” and “how”).You are not consuming knowledge.
You areproducing it.
Library
Trent has excellent library facilities and dedicated librarians. Think about it: these people have chosen to intensely study how to store, retrieve and use information. Ask them a well-formed specific question about how to retrieve or use information, and they will be delighted to help you.
The library is a complex place. It takes time to figure it out. In fact, you can think of it as many libraries in one and it is best to set some time aside before you are inundated with assignments to spend unpressured time familiarizing yourself with the library. Visit. Take a tour. Browse. Do the following online tutorial that many courses require:
Library Orientation Program
What is an Acceptable Academic Source?
Every field has its own area of expertise. Millions of hockey fans may listen to a certain coach or commentator, but a brain surgeon goes elsewhere for advice. Different communities accept (or shun) very specific sources of expertise. A university is no different. There are certain criteria with which information is judged.
Information must be current. Of course, you might look at a document from three hundred years ago in a history class and analyze it, but you would want to use a recent book with a critique of it, not a book that is fifty years old (unless, of course, you were studying the situation fifty years ago).
Information must be created by respected experts. This does not mean that they are “correct,” but it means that they are leaders in their fields and their ideas can be brought to the table and discussed.
Peer reviewed academic journals represent the cutting edge of research. The newest findings appear there before they end up in books and textbooks. “Peer review” means that every article must be accepted by a panel of experts. These articles lie at the heart of scholarship.
Different disciplines have different standards and sources. Note your syllabus and readings.
Talk to your instructor, librarian or an Academic Skills Instructor when in doubt about sources.
WikipediaWhile some scholars (cautiously) embrace open forum sources such as Wikipedia, whether it is a “legitimate academic source” remains a controversial and contested issue in universities.
Do not use Wikipedia in your academic work.
You can start with Wikipedia or other popular sources such as magazines to get an overview of an issue. Identify key terms and names of respected authorities and use these to find information in legitimate academic sources.
Wikipedia, used cautiously, can be an effective starting point for your research.
Courses: Why You Can’t Go Wrong
This short video explains how you have a lot of “wiggle room” to try things out in first year. There’s more than enough room to manoeuvre in subsequent years.
Support and Information
Information about your Senior Tutor
Charter of Student Rights and Responsibilities
Health Services
Academic Integrity Policy
Academic Calendar
Academic Skills Centre