TRANSFORMASI DIRI BENGKEL P ERSEDIAAN ALAM UNIVERSITI P ELAJAR BARU 2011/2012 Studying at university in the UK may be different from

m how you have studied in your home country. There may be differences in everyday academic activities such as lectures, seminars and tutorials, and you may find that there is quite a lot more independent study time on your course than you are used to. Success at university depends on how well students understand the culture of the University and on how well they can navigate their way through university processes. To enhance your chances of success at university, it is important to understand the history of universities and the nature of university culture. Comparing academic cultures The need to take note in lectures Speaking out in seminars Writing that is logical and clear in meaning Changing room for classes Differences in ways of being taught seminars, lectures, workshops, tutorials Managing your own research and time Working with others on tasks Using a wide range of sources for writing Paraphrasing and writing in your own words

University study in the digital age I expect to use a computer mostly for writing essays. My course documentation may be made available to me in a variety of ways. All course contact with my tutors will be through timetabled lectures and seminars. I will only be able to hear my course lectures if I attend them. If I want to identify books and journals that I need for my studies, I will need to go to the library. Sharing ideas with my classmates and course collaborations can only take place during seminars.

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Adapting to a new life When you come to a new country, you have a target. If you know what you have to do there, it can help you adapt to the new changes. Radou You may need to get used to a different way of doing everyday things and find ways to adapt to aspects of your new life. Day to day issue where to eat, where to sleep, transportation and getting to class The unfamiliarity of everything After the orientation, managing your own without support Explore your campus and your local area Get to know the building you will be spending most of your time in. That way you may not have panic moments when running late for a lecture. Make yourself feel at home in your local area by taking the time to walk around a bit and discovering cafes, shops, green spaces and travel connections.

Quiz: How ready you are? Questions I expect that I will need to make an effort to make new friends. I am ready for the challenge of the British diet I know what to expect in terms of British people and social life. I expect to have my English language skills challenged I already have an idea of the cost of living in the UK and know how much I will need to budget for my food shopping I don't expect to like everything and have thought about how I will cope if I get homesick. I have checked the seasonal temperatures in the part of the UK where I'm going and know what kind of clothes I need to bring with me. I have an idea of what my accommodation might be like in the UK. I am ready for the experience of a little culture shock, especially at the beginning of my stay. I expect to gain a lot personally from the experience of living and studying in the UK. Page 2 of 13 X

How many boxes were you able to tick? Find your score below and read your profile: Score: 8 to 10 If you were able to tick 8 or more boxes this suggests that you are already in the process of preparing yourself for life and study in the UK. You have already started to think practically about the experience of living and studying in the UK and know what kind of challenges might lie ahead. You can use this time before you come to the UK very effectively to ensure that you are as prepared as possible so that your stay in the UK becomes one of the best experiences of your life! Score: 4 to 7 Your score suggests that you are already partly aware of how you may be challenged when you come to live and study in the UK, but perhaps you are still feeling very excited about the prospect and have not properly had time to sit down and think about all of the changes that might be involved. If this is the case, now is the time to think about what might lie ahead and make some practical preparations for it. You have already taken the first step by using the learning materials in 'Prepare for Success' to begin preparing yourself! Score: 3 and below Your score suggests this may be the first time you have considered some of the practical issues of coming to live and study in the UK. The range of learning materials in 'Prepare for Success' can help you prepare for this big step in your life. If you work through all of these learning materials you should discover some important and useful information that will help you get ready for your future life and study in the UK. Studying independently On university courses in the UK, you can expect to spend a large amount of your time outside your timetabled classes studying independently. During this time, you will need to read in your subject area and organise your time to complete your assignments as well as doing other course-related activity. In these activities you will identify good practice for studying independently and consider how developed your own independent study skills are.

Quiz: Recognising good and bad study advice Study each of the six suggestions and decide if you think it is good advice or bad advice. Select the 'Good advice' or the 'Bad advice' button for each before reading the feedback. When you have finished, calculate your score and find out how much you know about effective independent study. Suggestions It's always a good idea to deal with assignments in the order that they are given to you. It's not essential to read assignment feedback from Page 3 of 13 Good advice Bad advice

your tutor after you have received your grade. Study with other students outside timetabled classes can help your learning. If you are not told to prepare for lectures and seminars, you don't need to do it. It's best to do your independent study early in the morning before you go to course lectures and seminars Find your score below and read your profile: Score: 6 or more Your score suggests that you are already very familiar with independent study and have probably needed to study independently before. The skills you have already developed will help you succeed on your university course. Score: 4 or 5 Your score suggests you have some experience of independent study, but that there could be areas in which you could improve. Look at the answers you got wrong; which skills do you think you might still need to develop? Score: 3 and below Your score suggests that you are unfamiliar with independent study. It may be that you have not needed to do much independent study in your previous studies. It's a good thing that you did this quiz because now you can start to think about how to prepare yourself for this important part of your future studies. In the next activity you can start to reflect on your own independent study habits.

Independent study habits As a student at Concordia, your schedule is likely a hectic one. Besides attending classes, doing homework and studying for tests and exams, you might also be holding down a part-time job, participating in a team sport, and looking after an apartment. You need to manage your time very efficiently if you are to keep up with your studies and finish your assignments on time.

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Long Range View Take a long range view of the semester so that you know when assignments and exams are due. Set up a calendar for the semester, listing important due dates: readings, assignments, tests and so forth. List everything you must do for each of your courses; include time for study, review, assignments and tests. Establish your priorities and estimate the time you need for each activity. Make a schedule for the week; include in it everything on your list. Plan ahead. Include extra time for major projects. Break major tasks down into smaller ones. Alternate between a difficult task and an easy one. Schedule breaks. Reward yourself when you've completed a task.

Week By Week

Remember to...

Read and act on feedback given by my lecturer/tutor Balance work and relaxation Devoting all of your time to school work may sound like a sure fire way to succeed in your courses, but living only for school can actually lead to burn-out. Conversely, spending too much time on leisure or other activities can lead to major stress (or even failure) when exam time comes. Finding the proper balance between time for school and time for everything else is a crucial step in achieving success. Even though at times the academic tasks one is expected to accomplish on the road to a degree can seem overwhelming and cruel, it is crucial to take time out to relax. Getting a good night's sleep. Enjoying a nutritious meal. Having fun at Page 5 of 13

the movies or at a party. These are all ways to take care of one's health or ensure that one feels fully alive amid the grueling pace of a full course load, one often combined with work. Develop my opinions Write deadline in my diary Know where and when I work best Do reading without being told to do so Work with other students Prioritise tasks

RUN YOUR LIFE. DO NOT LET LIFE RUN YOU University life unfolds at warp speed, with tremendous intensity and a bewildering variety of activities, people and situations. Only you can give order to your day-to-day life, by organizing your time and regulating pressures. You will be toast if you are not on top of things by Thanksgiving.
Relationship with lecturers/tutors Knowing what to expect from your lecturers/tutors Teachers aren't just talking heads that deliver information and grade work. They can also be resources for additional assistance, enabling the student to connect more deeply to the material and to make sense of their reasons for selecting their course of study. Students who take the time to get to know their professors are more successful. Ask questions in class. Show interest in the material. Participate in groups. Share a fascination with the subject that will impress the teacher and inspire the other students. Go to the professor's office hours to talk about assignments. They will be able to put a face to the work one has handed in, an association that can only lead to higher grades. How often do you expect to see a course tutor? Once a year Several times each day Twice a week Once or twice a semester

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What do you think is the correct way to address your tutor? Use their title and family name, e.g. Professor Jenkins, Dr Lowell Use 'Teacher' Address them by their first name Use 'Sir' or 'Madam' 3. If you needed to see your tutor, how would you do this? Find their office and knock on the door Email them to ask for an appointment Telephone them Speak to them at the end of a seminar or lecture 4. If you have a problem that is affecting your study who should you go to see? Your favourite course tutor An assigned personal tutor The receptionist in the School office The Head of School 5. How do you expect your tutor to deal with your assignments? Hand them back in person and go over your mistakes Email them back to you with feedback Leave a printed copy for you to collect with your grade and feedback Post marked assignments to your home address 6. How many tutors do you think you will have on your course during one semester? Page 7 of 13

One tutor Two tutors; one main tutor and one other tutor Between three and eight tutors More than eight tutors

Find your score below and read your profile: Score: 5 or 6 Well done! Your score suggests that you already know what student/tutor relationships are like at university in the UK. You may already have experienced university study in the UK or the same kind of student/tutor relationships may exist at university in your home country. Score: 3 or 4 Your score suggests that you are already partly aware of what to expect from your tutors at university in the UK even if this may be a little different to how things work at university in your home country. There may be a number of similarities with how you have worked with university tutors before. When you start your studies in the UK, do not be afraid to ask if there is some procedure or aspect of working with your tutors that you are not sure about. Score: 2 and below Your score suggests that you are used to a rather different way of working with tutors at university in your home country. Don't worry! Some of these differences are simply due to cultural difference and you can quickly learn how to work effectively with your tutors in the UK. Don't be afraid to ask if you need to ask a question about how to submit and receive your assignments back. Even British students need to ask some of these questions at the beginning of their courses.
Using study time effectively How do you use your time? questions I work best in the morning. I make lists of things I have to do and organise the order in which I will do them. I work best when a task is urgent and I'm under pressure to get on with it. I am easily distracted from a task by other things that I need to do. I can manage lots of things at the same time. I hate rushing and always start a task early, giving myself plenty of time to finish. I work best in the afternoon or at night. yes no

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I like finishing one task before I start another. When do you work best? If you work best in the morning this means that you should try to use the first part of the day for any study tasks that need mental alertness or concentration. Your peak of efficiency is likely to be early in the day and you probably leap out of bed full of energy in the morning. However, you may feel too tired to concentrate well late into the evening. If you work best in the afternoon or at night this means that you should use that time to do your most demanding study tasks. Your peak of efficiency is likely to be later on in the day. It may take you some time to get started in the morning. Are you a methodical person, who takes tasks one by one, or someone who likes multi-tasking? As a student, if you make lists of things you have to do and organise the order in which you do them you probably like to have a system and enjoy spending time organising your study files and notes. This helps you identify what you have to do and find what you need quickly. You probably find it difficult to work on too many things at the same time and prefer to order them so that you can manage your study tasks more effectively. If you can manage lots of things at the same time you probably thrive on having lots of things to do and while working on one study task you may get ideas and inspiration for something else. Your active mind may be busy finding useful parallels between different aspects of your studies and this helps you progress. Are you self-disciplined or do you need outside help to make you focus? If you work best when a task is urgent and you are under pressure you prefer to rely on external demands such as an approaching deadline for an assignment to help you focus on getting your work done. The sense of urgency probably drives you to work harder and it may be that you are able to produce better work in this way. If you hate rushing and always start a task early, giving plenty of time to finish you are probably the kind of student who likes to think things through carefully in order to produce your very best work. For this reason, you plan and organise your study time and are able to organise yourself effectively. Is your mind on ten things at once or can you concentrate exclusively on one thing? If you are easily distracted from a task by other things this means that your mind is always searching for new stimulation. Because of this, it may be difficult to get your work done sometimes.You may need to train yourself to focus on one thing at a time so that you can complete any important study tasks that need to be done. If you like finishing one task before you start another you have no trouble concentrating on one thing and probably dislike having too many study tasks waiting for your attention. If your study tasks all arrive at once, you may need to

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think ahead sometimes and make preparations to begin another task before the current one is finished. Deal with personal life Life has a way of handing us ups and downs when we least expect them. This means that sometimes your life is going to get in the way of your studies. It's important to realize and accept that there will be times when you are just not able to work or study because life issues are demanding more attention. If this happens to you, be ready to seek out resources to help you deal with the situation.

Recognize when a situation needs to be addressed. Deal with situations as they arise; don't let them drag on. Don't fool yourself into believing you can handle everything. Use the resources available to you: Talk to a trusted friend or relative. Talk to your doctor, or make an appointment at Health Services. Talk to your professors for possible extensions. Consider dropping courses to relieve your workload. Determine if you are eligible for medical exemptions.

Make sure your academic standing doesn't suffer:

If... You need further help, if a situation feels too overwhelming, or if you just want someone to talk to, Counselling and Development's professional counsellors offer safe, friendly, confidential personal counselling. Call or drop into our offices to make an appointment. So, if something isn't going right: Deal with it now

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Use the University's sources of help - there are plenty of these and you can access them free of charge in nearly all cases.

Be happy for the good things and develop tactics to roll with the bad stuff. Stand on your own feet, do not whine and take charge of your life. Know the system Success at university is more than just doing well in classes; it's knowing how to work with the system. There are things that you need to know that you won't necessarily be told. And with regards to university regulations, ignorance is not bliss! So be prepared to ask questions and dig a little to find out the information. It's a pest if your study is upset by misunderstanding the way the system works. This means making sense of things like Administration processes such as enrolment, withdrawal, fees and so forth Parking Sanctions and fines etc

Be clear on all this by checking out the information at the Current Students web site

Read the University Calendar to find out: GPA requirements for your faculty and department. The method used to calculate your GPA. Deadlines to drop/add courses, pay tuition, apply for graduation. The University Writing Skills Requirement. Your programme requirements. Student Rights and Responsibilities. Etc

Successful students usually draw on the resources available to them at their academic institution. Whether it be course support, advisors, study groups, Page 11 of 13

tutors, or other services designed to enable one to succeed, don't be afraid of seeking them out! Build up relationship/network Also important are friends and acquaintances. Whether for emotional support when a difficult assignment is due, for research suggestions, or for proofreading a paper, one's friends are vital in assisting the student's academic success. Buildings, facilities and programs are important, but the most critical university resource is people. Introduce yourself to and build relationships with the people who cross your path. Get known by them and show reciprocal interest in them from professors, lab assistants, and department secretaries, to staff, residence co-ordinators, and peer and senior students. They will help you enormously and you will benefit from knowing, helping and interacting with them. BECOME INVOLVED IN UNIVERSITY LIFE. Becoming part of the university or college community is just as important as going to class, writing papers and taking exams. This doesn't mean you should join every group, but be selective and participate. Being involved will only enhance your university experience. Settling down to study Having a positive attitude is important - you know it's not going to be the same as at home; but you know that it's going to be better in a short time. - Lupita You will find the atmosphere at higher education much more serious than it was back in high school. Unlike high school, where there are students who clearly do not want to be there and are itching to quit school, the vast majority of students who go to university, college or trade school are definitely there to learn. This can be quite a motivating factor in itself. However, to be successful in college or university, you have to be aware that there are some major differences between higher educational institutions and high schools. College and university are not simply bigger high schools. References http://www.prepareforsuccess.org.uk/differences_in_university_study.html http://learning.concordia.ca/Help/Ten_Tips.shtml#Time http://unilife.curtin.edu.au/newtocurtin/success.cfm http://catherineowen.suite101.com/how-to-succeed-in-college-or-universitya80840 http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/welcome-to-londonmet/tipsforsuccess.cfm http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/globecampusreport/ten-strategies-foruniversity-success/

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