On this page are things which will be useful to students (most of the rest of this website aims to help teaching staff make your learning better). Most of the extracts below have been adapted from two of my study-skills books: ’How to Study’ and ‘How to Get a Good Degree’.
Writing Avoidance Tactics
You’ll have your own collection of these! Assignment late? Essay behind schedule? This little download lets you see the variety of reasons why people don’t manage to write things! Maxine Alterio works in New Zealand and is a best-selling fiction author as well as a lecturer. I could have written it but... (693)
Managing your time, and getting started on a task
This is an extract from ‘How to Study’, and should help you become more efficient and get over some of the work avoidance tactics you may have! Managing time, and getting started (710)
Getting going with your writing
Following on from the extracts above, this download is about making sure your writing earns you good marks. Getting going with your writing (689)
Getting your referencing right
In academic writing, you can lose a lot of marks simply by not being exactly right when referring to others’ work and quoting from your sources. This extract from ‘How to Study’ should help. Getting your referencing right (693)
Lectures and handouts
This extract from ‘How to Study’ should help you make the time you spend in lectures that bit more useful in terms of learning payoff, and also includes suggestions about how to make good use of handout materials Lectures and handouts (606)
Building on feedback
An adapted extract from the 2nd edition ‘How to Get a Good Degree’ (2007, Open University Press) which can help you to benefit more from feedback. Building on feedback (503)
Make a good question bank as you study
This extract from ‘How to Study’ is about paving your way to good exam results, and planning forward to make revision effective, efficient, and much less boring. Question Bank (466)
Take charge of your revision!
Do you realise that your whole lifestyle and career prospects can be at stake when it comes to choosing sensible revision strategies? This extract from ‘How to Get a Good Degree’ should help you make the right choices now. Revision (578)
Refresh your exam technique
Your next set of exams could be the most important in your life! You’ll already have your way of going about exams, but every little improvement helps, and following the suggestions in this download may make all the difference to you. And good luck! Refresh your exam technique (481)
Managing Disappointments
This is about any kind of disappointment. Several readers have told me that the following advice proved helpful when they were confronted with a serious disappointment. I hope you never need this advice! Disappointments (518)
