International Students Welcome

Studyingasan Internationalstudent

JohnShanahan

StudySkillsAdviser

StudyingasanInternationalstudent atExeter

ExeterUniversityhasathrivinginternationalcommunitywithover5,000studentsfrom morethan130differentcountries,butweunderstandthat,studyingheremightmean adaptingtoadifferentlanguageandperhapsadifferentacademicculture.

Perhapsthemaindifferenceyou’llexperienceisthatyou’llbeexpectedtodoalotof independentstudyofyourown.

StudyingintheUK

UKuniversitiesuseanumberofdifferenttypesoftaughtsessionstohelpyou learn:

• Lectureswhicharedeliveredbytutorsandgenerallycoverthemaintopicsin yourmodules. Lecturescanbeattendedbyalargenumberofstudents.

• Seminarswhicharenormallysmallergroupsizesandledbyatutorbut involvealotofstudentparticipation.

• Tutorialswhichusuallyonlyinvolveyouandyourtutor.

Lectures

•Lectureswillintroduceyoutokeyconcepts andideas,butyouwillbeexpectedtotreat thisasastartingpointandtodofurther readingonthetopicbeyondthelecture.

•Trytoprepareforlectures,usethemodule readinglisttodoabitofreadingaboutthe subjectbeforethelecture.Sometimesyou mightbegivensomereadingtodobeforea lecture.

Seminars

•Youwillbeexpectedtoactively participateinthese. Thetutormightlead thediscussion,butwilloftenaskquestions togetyoutothinkaboutthesubjectyou arediscussing. Sometimesseminarsare studentled.

•Youmightbeaskedtoreadsomething beforeaseminaraspreparationand, sometimes,mightevenbeaskedtoleada seminareitheronyourownoraspartof agroup.

Tutorials

• Usually justyouandyourtutor.

• Usuallybookedinadvanceorarrangedduringatutor’sofficehours.

• Thesegiveyouanopportunitytotalktoyourtutoraboutyourcourseand anypartsofityouarefindingdifficultordidn’tunderstand.

Assessment

Someofthetypicalformsare:

• Essays • Reports

ReflectiveEssays

• Exams

• GroupWork

• Presentations

• Posters

• Dissertationsandprojects

•

Makesureyouunderstandwhatis requiredofyou

Lookinyourmodulehandbooksfordetailsabout:

• Howyouwillbeassessed(normallyavailableviaELE,theExeterLearning Environment)

• Format(fontsize,spacing,marginsizes)

• Structure(sometimesyouwillbegivenspecificheadingstoinclude)

• Referencingstyle(thereareanumberofdifferentstylesinuseacrossthe university)

• Examdates,assignmentdeadlinesetc.

Manageyourtime

• Comingtouniversityisanexcitingtimeandmakingnewfriendsand developingnewinterestsisanimportantpartofyouruniversityexperience, butyouwillneedtomanageyourtimewell.

• Settingupgood,regularstudyhabitsfromthestartwillbekeytoyour success.

• Whetheryouuseahandwrittenplanner,softwarelikeMicrosoftOutlookor otherapplications,doorganiseyour‘working’weeksothatyoucankeep trackofthedemandsofthedifferentmodulesyouwillbestudying.

• Thestartofyourfirsttermwillmeanyouhavealotofinformation, timetablesanddeadlinestocopewith,settingupaschedulethathelpsyou dealwithandmakesenseallofthis,willbeyourfirstchallenge.

ReadingsSkills

Youwillhavealotofreadingtodo,sothinkaboutyourreadingskills:

• Readwithintent-haveanideaofwhatyouarelookingforandwhy,when youread.

• Skimorscantextstofindthemostrelevantsections.

• Usethestructureofatexttohelpyouidentifyitskeypoints-index,contents, introductions,conclusions,paragraphsandtopicsentences.

• Reviewyourreadingafterwards-whathaveyoulearnt?Aretheregapsor areasyouareunsureaboutthatrequirefurtherresearch?

Notemaking

Notesareonlyusefuliftheymakesensetoyouatalaterdatesothinkaboutwhatyouare tryingtoachievewhenyoutakenotes:

• Don’ttrytocopyeverythingdowninlectures-lookforthekeypoints,dothesamein yourreading.

• Useanotetakingsystemthatsuitsyou(Cornell,OneNote,Linearnotes,Bulletpoints, MindMaps,FlowCharts,voicerecordings).

• Yournotesshouldbeaninvestigationofthelecture/book/articleyouarereading,not anattempttorewriteit-askquestionsofthematerial,highlightthebitsyoudon’t understandsowell,thinkabouthowtheyareusefultoyourunderstandingofatopic.

• Reviewyournotesregularly,it’llmakeretaininginformationandrevisionforexamsa loteasier!

Writingatuniversity

•Academicwritingisoneofthewaysthatyoucommunicateyourunderstandingofyour subjecttothewidercommunityofyourdiscipline.

• Adoptingaclear,logicalstructuretoyourwritingisanimportantskilltomaster.

• Youressaysshouldn’tjustbeasummaryofwhatothershavesaid-yourtutorswantto knowwhatyouthinkaboutwhatothershavesaid!

• Referencingisakeyelementofacademicwriting,itshowsyouacknowledgethework ofothersanddemonstratesthedepthandqualityoftheresearchyouhavedone.

• Twokeypoints:Answerthespecificsofthequestionandwrite

BasicEssayStructure

• Introduction@10%ofthewordcount,setsoutwhatyouressayisabout,whatyouwill trytodemonstrate,howyouwillapproachthetopicandwhyitisimportant.

• MainBody@80%ofwordcount,organisedbyparagraphs,eachparagraph contributingakeypointtowardstheoverallargument.Supportingyourargumentwith evidenceisimportanthere,butadoptingacriticalapproachtotheevidenceisalso important.

• Conclusion@10%ofwordcount,summarisestheargument,butalsodiscussesthe significanceoftheargument,whyitisimportant,howitmightbeusefulforfuture research.

• BibliographyorListofReferences