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Monday 11 March 2013

Challenges


In your second year, there will be a lot of challenges.  Some past engineer students I have spoken to have said their second year of the engineering course was the hardest year for them in terms of the work load and the demand the lecturers had on them.  I can see what these past engineer students were talking about.  No matter how organised and how early you start your assignments, other things come up at the same time.  Things such as tests, quizzes, and presentations are just additional methods lecturers use to assess how well you are doing on the course and where both you and the lecturer(s) can examine which areas you need to improve on.  In a way, they are beneficial for you to work hard but the fact that you have to revise for the tests and quizzes or prepare and present a presentation on top of having to do assignments is quite a lot of work to do for one person.  If you did not know this before, well now you know this is the pressure of university.  



The BEng Computer Systems and Software Engineering course has five modules.  Hardware being one module in particular that is not my best module of the course due to the fact that it is not so much in my interest.  Whereas, my other modules i.e. programming, database systems, software project management and UNIX systems modules are all modules I love.  Anything to do with project management, programming or database and I can tell you what you need to know.  These are my main modules of the course in which I look forward to during the week.

If you have any questions or advice needed, please feel free to leave them in the post comments area and I’ll get back to you.

2 comments:

  1. Hai Danielle. I'm kathy, a 2nd year part time student of bachelor in computing. I need some advices to improve myself in learning skills and time management.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kathy, I'm glad you left your comment. I do appreciate all. Thank you. Right, I can definitely help you with this. Just a heads up before I go into it is, everyone has the general main key skills such as Written, Oral, Listening and Problem-Solving skills(optional). They are very important and required in society. Maybe your strengths could lie in the skills of listening and/or writing etc. but to someone else these skills you obtain could be a weakness to them. This now leads on to my question to you. What are your strong skills? Work on your strengths in order to tackle your weaknesses. I have a few tips for you in order for you to improve your learning/ study skills as well as time management.

      1. Understand what type of learner you are
      - You could probably improve your learning skills if you are
      • an active learner you are classed as a Kinesthetic where you have to do things in order for you to understand fully.
      • an listening learner you are classed as an Auditory then you are better of reading out loud

      I am an visual learner so that means I learn by making notes and diagrams and reading over them in order for the information to remain in my brain. The diagrams and keywords in my notes have to be colourful.

      Here is a link that allows you to find out what type of learner you are: http://sunburst.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/

      Have a go. It will only take 5 mins of your time max. You’ll like it. From there you can understand what you need to do and what type of learner you are.

      2. Form a schedule/ timetable of when you plan to make time for studies/work and time for fun and relaxation
      - The best thing to do is balance yourself. I would suggest you make a realistic timetable that has appropriate hours in there for you to manage your time for university work and then your time for other things you enjoy doing on a daily basis or even working a part-time job.

      3. Organise a study group where you can work with your friends on the same course as you
      - This will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses and perhaps your friends can help you with your weaknesses or even by listening to a different method from your peers, you could learn a different style which you might find easier for you to learn a certain concept. You can also find online help by doing quizzes and practicing by working exercises. You can build your skills up by doing these few things.

      4. Set a time limit
      - Time yourself when doing your work and having breaks. If you set a certain time for studying and time for breaks, make sure you stick to it.

      My final point…

      5. Speak to your lecturers or tutor(s) because I’m sure they will help you. University of Greenwich has a Student support team that can help you with Study skills and occasionally they have events/ workshop to assist students that need to improve their skills such as written, oral, listening and presentation skills.

      If you need anything else, I am here for you. As you are on a similar course to me, please feel free to write back about how your course is going or if you have any issues with your course I’ll be happy to help out.
      Let me know how the skills building goes. I hope you have gained something from my response. Practice helps and researching gives you a better understanding in the long run.

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