Learning the university way

Independent Learning at Uni

People hark on about ‘independent learning’ a lot at university. It’s probably best to work out what this alien concept actually means before making any attempts to do it.

Books

You may have heard of them. Believe it or not, some books contain more than just stories about teenage wizards. At the start of your course, your lecturer will give you a reading list containing all the key texts to help you not fail, but after that you’re on your own. It’s down to you to find them, to read them, to make notes on them, and even take the blighters back... starting to wish you were back in school?

The vast majority of the reading list should be in the library. For books that you’ll use throughout the course, you’ll normally be advised to buy them. Second-hand books can be found for dirt-cheap on Amazon and Abe Books.

Ironically, academic books are the main reason why you have to learn independently in the first place – your lecturers are too busy getting their research published to devote all their time to spoon-feeding you the information. So selfish.

Periodicals/Academic Journals/Articles

Periodicals are basically magazines, but without the gossip, the news, the pictures, the colour, or the fun. Each university discipline will have many associated journals, in which you’ll be able to read articles written by scholars and lecturers too lazy to complete an entire book.

Periodicals are usually kept in those dark and murky corners of the library that are otherwise reserved for horny couples and idle nappers. For this reason, you’ll be pleased to learn that you can normally access academic journals online.

Online Articles and Resources

Nowadays, university is no longer just about dusty old tomes and wobbly library tables. There is a whole world of online resources available for you to access from home, in between checking your Facebook Newsfeed, and watching videos on YouTube.

Your university will give you an Athens login (or similar), which allows you to access all of the online resources to which they have subscribed, including academic article databases. Google also provides the trusty Google Scholar service, where you can search for relevant articles and books.

Many university use ‘virtual learning environments’, on which your lecturers will upload reading lists and resources. You’ll probably also have to submit your essays online.

Other Resources

If you had the sense to apply for a fun, practical subject like photography, music or design, you’ll have access to all kinds of amusing resources to help make your learning experience even more exciting. You’ll be able to smugly handle the (not quite) latest gadgets, use (semi) cutting edge technology, and maybe even go on (budget) field trips.

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