PUTTING YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

• Explore your subjects and the QUT Real Law community in Blackboard, and the HiQ website. • Download Office365, which gives you free access to the most up-to-date Word, PowerPoint, Excel,

OneNote and Outlook programs. • Make a study group with your peers. • Sign up to the QUTLS Mentor Program and meet a more experienced law student. • Go to your lectures and tutorials, even if you haven’t prepared. You will still get something out of it. • But... preparation is power! Glance over your lecture

PowerPoint slides on the bus or train when you’re going into uni for that lecture, or just before you open

Echo360. Write dot points for your tutorial question responses if you do not have time to write a full response. Everything adds up. STUDY HACKS

• Change the playback speed of your lectures to suit your notetaking style. • Exam preparation starts in Week 1. Keep your notes up to date! It will make a big difference in the long run. • Use the Pomodoro method (25 minutes study, 5 minutes break) because research shows that we learn best in small chunks.

• When reading textbooks, use the SQ3R method: survey, question, read, recite, review • The human brain is good at remembering the information we handwrite and not so much what we type. You probably won’t be able to handwrite everything you are learning during lectures and tutorials, but try to write down the important concepts that you’ll encounter in exams. • Print out and bind your Study Guides! This is relatively inexpensive at Officeworks or you can use the free binding machines in the QUT Library. • Past students’ notes can be useful when creating exam templates, but ensure that all the content within is up to date!

DO I NEED THE $200 TEXTBOOK?

You might have already seen that you have textbooks prescribed for your subjects and if you looked at the QUT Bookshop, they might have been really expensive. Textbooks assist greatly in reinforcing the lecture material and expanding on that content with more nuanced analysis of case authorities and legislation. Many textbooks will be called ‘Cases and Commentary’ textbooks. These books include important extracts of case authorities that you will need to know for your exams.

The Law Library has a number of copies of the prescribed textbooks that you can borrow for two hours at a time for free. Many law students buy and resell used textbooks through textbook exchange groups and pages on Facebook. Two forums to like or join are QUT Epic Textbooks and QUT Textbook Exchange. Make a note of the edition of the textbook you’re looking for. Most of the time, older editions won’t make a difference as long as you actively follow the lecture materials throughout the semester, but it’s a good idea to consult your unit coordinator. Tl;dr: you can get by without buying the textbooks but each subject will be easier if you do get them and use them. STAY CONNECTED - FOLLOW THESE PAGES ON FB, INSTA AND LINKEDIN

• QUT Law student specific pages • FSLS - Fellow Surviving Law Students (private group) • QUT Law Students • QUT Faculty of Law and Justice Students (private group) • QUT Women in Law • LLBHelpMe • LWOB • Pride in Law • Any subject-specific Facebook groups (N.B these are not moderated by academic staff)