From your tutorial team:
The approach we recommend when completing your course is as follows:
- Review the contents of the module quickly, flicking through the pages to pick out headings and sub-headings. This will give you a sense of which subjects are covered in the module.
- Next, read through the course material in detail, completing the activities and recommended reading assignments as you reach them. Make notes as you go along. Don’t note everything down, just the key points. It can take some practice to get this right – the temptation is to write everything down, however, the most useful notes are those that highlight the key points only. These notes will not only be useful later, when you are revising for the exams, but can help you to remember more as you go along. Many studies have shown that the process of creating notes itself – thinking about the material and deciding on the key points, then writing them down in your own words – is an invaluable part of the learning process, helping us to remember much more than we would by reading alone.
- At the end of each week, go through your notes again, reminding yourself of the key points. This should take a couple of hours at most. If you have any questions about the material covered, or there is anything you’re not sure about, contact your tutor. He or she will be happy to answer any questions you have, and to supply additional advice or resources as required.
- At the end of each month review all of the notes produced during the previous month. Repetition is key and will help to ensure that you remember much more of the material than otherwise. Very few people are able to remember material long-term if they only read through it once.
- Some students find it helpful to create index cards with the key points on them and position these around the house where they will see them frequently. This is especially helpful for details and plant names that are difficult to remember.
