Quick study guide: Studying at third-level

Read. Memorise. Regurgitate. Leaving Cert students know the drill. But, when it comes to college, rote learning and fact regurgitation isn’t enough. Lecturers expect something different. So, just what is the “something” that they want and, when it comes to writing essays and sitting exams, what do you need to do?

We asked some study experts for their advice on how to do well in college. Dr Majella Dempsey is course leader for the science and maths education programme at Maynooth University. Kathy Bradley is coordinator of the new UCC Skills Centre. Linda Doran is head of the disability support services in UCC. Peter McGuire is a freelance journalist and former lecturer and adult education tutor in Irish Folklore at UCD.

What’s the difference between Leaving Cert study skills and college study skills?

“Critical thinking is essential at third-level,” says Majella Dempsey. “The Leaving Cert has a backwash effect on second-level education which means that teachers don’t have enough time to develop these skills with their students. At second-level, the teachers themselves do most of the information processing and critical thinking. We get highly talented students but they don’t always the skills needed to research a topic, formulate arguments and develop their stance. So we need to work with these students to get them up to the standard of where they can really think critically.”

At third-level, the UCC Skills Centre works on a number of key skills to help students make the transition to third-level, says Kathy Bradley. These include note-taking, study skills and time management as well as writing skills such as grammar, punctuation, how to understand and tackle a question and how to write an argument.

How do colleges do this?

All the universities and most other third-levels now have courses aimed at helping their students to learn effectively. Maynooth University, for instance, has a teaching and learning centre as well as a highly-regarded maths support centre and, through its library, a writing support centre. Tutors will either be on hand to help or you can book an appointment. Get to know these places.

Reading lists will be provided for courses and much of the material will now be online.

Orientation weeks are worth attending for first year students, says Dempsey. “Here, students will be able to take note of the supports on offer.

What are your lecturers looking for?

-The ability to read and understand information, particularly from sources with different points of view, whether in the sciences or social sciences.

- The ability to conduct research and understand the difference between a reliable and unreliable source. Non-academic websites aren’t necessarily bad, but should be used with caution.

- Above all, perhaps - and key to this study guide - they want to see signs of independent and critical thinking.

Taking notes:

“For some, writing notes during a lecture helps them to absorb information, but increasingly it is rare for students to go to a lecture where they just listen to someone talk for an hour,” says Dempsey. “A lot of the lecturing now is almost like a flipped classroom: slides may be on moodle in advance so students will know more about the topic and then they come in and give feedback.”

Critical thinking:

Perhaps the key skill for third-level students. “At UCC, the critical thinking sessions are run in conjunction with postgraduate applied psychology students,” explains Bradley. “It’s about getting you to look at what you read for bias and about developing your independent thinking skills.”

At third-level, critical thinking means that you look at an idea from multiple stances or viewpoints. On points of law, for instance, consider how different judges or academics have interpreted them both in Ireland, the EU and internationally.

Consider different scientific theories. When it comes to the use of non-conventional or “alternative and complementary” medicines, there is much disagreement, but this is just one area where you need to be very careful; there is a mountain of bad science (also known as pseudoscience) out there which has little to no evidence to back it up. If you’re going to argue that acupuncture has benefits, avoid dodgy websites or circular claims on blogs:

Student: Acupuncture cures cancer, I saw it on this blog.

Examiner: Okay, and what evidence does that blog cite?

Student: It cites this other blog.

Examiner: Can you point to robust scientific data that has been tested and replicated by other scientists? Is the data peer-reviewed?

By all means, question received wisdom; that’s what academia in general and science in particular is. But if you’re stating something controversial or from the outer fringes of sciences, make sure you can really back it up. Learning how to read different sources and then understand this is key to being a successful student.

You might not get it all in first year, but it’s the job of your lecturers and tutors to help you understand this as you progress through your time in college.

Bradley agrees. “University is a learning environment and the student is at the centre of it. It’s really about developing those skills with the student. If they go to their classes, do their assignments and come back to the skills centre for any additional help or feedback they will need - or to their own tutor in their own college - they will get good guidance.”

Tomorrow: Writing and study skills