“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – A Peer Study Advice Resource

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – A Peer Study Advice Resource

University can sometimes be a lot. And we understand. For current students, there are some things, you wish you had known earlier. For new students settling into studies, there are some things you want to know before beginning.

This is why a team consisting of librarians, learning technologists and academic skills advisors came together for over a year to address a gap in library and academic skills resources.

We carried out a peer-review study. This resulted in the creation of an interactive guide that consists of testimonies of former and current students. Addressing six key themes will help current and new students on their academic journey.

The themes are

• Assessments
• Time Management and Planning
• Finding Information
• Study Skills
• Reaching Out for Support
• Learning Beyond the Programme.

Each theme is packed with helpful snippets that will hopefully guide the university journey. For the post, we will briefly cover each theme and all the tips and tricks they contain. But we highly encourage you to visit our interactive guide. 

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – Assessments

Assessments are an essential part of university life…and they can sometimes be daunting to tackle. But with the right preparation and knowledge, assessments can be less “daunting”.

“You have to learn how to write an essay and then actually do the essay – it’s like learning two things”.  And “try to understand what it is your lectures are asking you to do in your assignments so you don’t get lost”.

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – Time Management and Planning

Remember the old quote: “Failure to plan is planning to fail”.  Time management and planning are essential skills for managing coursework and for striking a balance between studies and personal life. However,  it is easy enough to not plan or lose track of time.  But perhaps the advice of former students might be useful:

“Managing workload to help you with creating a healthy balance between your studies and life”

“Breaking down the hours is an important point because it can be overwhelming when you see it; it’s hard to conceptualise the time needed otherwise”.

And of course,

“If you need it, extensions are possible on assessments if you need something off your plate – talk with your PDT if you are feeling overwhelmed”.

Extensions are there if needed. Please don’t leave things to the last minute.

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – Finding Information

University is all about learning, but where can you go for more information about your course and university life in general?

Where to start finding information is a big question but once things are broken down, the big questions will seem smaller.

“The module handbooks tell you exactly what to do, and every module has one”.

“ Use the resources that Napier has to offer about course information etc. There’s lot s of in-depth information that’s explained well”.

The information is there and it is there to help.

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – Study Skills

Independent learning is what university is really all about.  But how do you go about

“Find out the information you need at the start of the course and develop your digital skills and academic skills”.

From module handbooks to training sessions from the library, there is a lot available to build up study skills.

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – Reaching out for Support

Becoming an independent learner at university isn’t about doing everything alone! As part of our university community, you have access to lots of additional support. Whether it be the academic skills team or Wellbeing, you can always reach out for support. And this is what fellow students had to say:

“Reach out to programme leaders, it’s been amazing to talk with them and bridge the gap between the student and the teacher”.

“Building relationships is really important at university”.

“What Do You Wish You Had Known Earlier?” – Learning Beyond the Programme

University isn’t just about what you learn in the classroom. There is so much more beyond. And it makes the whole experience of university a lot more richer. These are what former students had to say:

“Push yourself to be involved in school activities rather than just coming to class and just living. There’s so much richness in being part of the school beyond this”.

“Look outside if your own classes, so don’t just talk to the people in your course”.

We hope you can take these snippets of advice to help with university. And remember the university is always there to help. 

And we have a blog filled with articles