Getting ready for academic study module

Getting ready for academic study helps students prepare practically and mentally for their first term at university, with guidance and techniques to help them learn effectively and understand what will be expected from them in Higher Education.

Sample activity: Recognise the importance of resilience in managing the stresses of student life

Rock climber scaling cliff face

Resilience is the quality of being able to withstand times of difficulty or change in such ways that you can either cope reasonably at the time or bounce back afterwards. It isn't that you never feel stressed, disappointed or out of your depth: it is about developing sufficient inner resources to get through and to keep going. There will be times as a student when resilience will be of real benefit.

Below is a list of behaviours associated with resilience. Consider your own resilience by giving yourself a rating for each.

Disagree
Neither agree nor disagree
Agree
I can bounce back from knocks
I look for solutions that help me to solve problems

I can keep a sense of perspective

I can manage stress and keep myself calm

I use support and guidance available

I use my time effectively to help me stay on top of all I have to do

I use a routine to keep myself on track even when I don't feel like it

I keep myself motivated and am effective in encouraging myself to study

I persevere, even when I don't feel like studying or staying on the course

I build and maintain relationships with others, for mutual support and to enrich my life

I can bounce back from knocks
I look for solutions that help me to solve problems

I can keep a sense of perspective

I can manage stress and keep myself calm

I use support and guidance available

I use my time effectively to help me stay on top of all I have to do

I use a routine to keep myself on track even when I don't feel like it

I keep myself motivated and am effective in encouraging myself to study

I persevere, even when I don't feel like studying or staying on the course

I build and maintain relationships with others, for mutual support and to enrich my life

What kinds of situations or issues arise for you as a student where you feel it would help to develop greater resilience?

Module content

Getting ready for academic study features the following:

  • Diagnostic test
  • Section 1: What to expect
  • Section 2: Developing your skills
  • Section 3: Studying effectively
  • Section 4: Strategies for learning
  • Module assessment
  • Expectations at college/university
  • What do I want to get out of my experience and how can I prepare?
  • Methods of teaching and learning
  • Managing life as a student
  • Points of learning from other students
  • What are study skills?
  • The APT-S study skills framework
  • Resilience as a student
  • Reflection on current skills and qualities
  • Managing yourself for study and building an action plan
  • Recording achievement
  • How do we learn?
  • Your skills and qualities - what kind of learner are you?
  • Different kinds of intelligence
  • Insight from other students
  • Skills self-assessment
  • The C.R.E.A.M strategy
  • SHAPE: Style, habit, attitude, preference and experience
  • The 5 different types of learning
  • Skills self-assessment
All modules
Time management

Recognise the importance of resilience in managing the stresses of student life

Resilience is the quality of being able to withstand times of difficulty or change in such ways that you can either cope reasonably at the time or bounce back afterwards. It isn't that you never feel stressed, disappointed or out of your depth: it is about developing sufficient inner resources to get through and to keep going. There will be times as a student when resilience will be of real benefit.

 

How resilience contributes to success

  • It helps you manage when things get tough.
  • It gives you the experience of recovering from setbacks and of coping.
  • It builds your confidence that you can cope, even if everything seems to be going wrong.
  • It gives you confidence to take risks, take part, and to take on new challenges.

 

Resilience helps you as a student when

  • you are experiencing a lot of change: new environments, people, expectations, ways of thinking
  • there are challenges and pressures: emotional, financial, academic
  • there are many demands to juggle at once: work, study, family, friends
  • things don't go as planned: grades lower than you expected; not getting a job you wanted; relationships ending
  • you feel down or want to give up on your studies.

 

Below is a list of behaviours associated with resilience. Consider your own resilience. Have you exhibited any of these signs of resilience?

  • I can bounce back from knocks
  • I look for solutions that help me to solve problems
  • I can keep a sense of perspective
  • I can manage stress and keep myself calm
  • I use support and guidance available
  • I use my time effectively to help me stay on top of all I have to do
  • I use a routine to keep myself on track even when I don't feel like it
  • I keep myself motivated and am effective in encouraging myself to study
  • I persevere, even when I don't feel like studying or staying on the course
  • I build and maintain relationships with others, for mutual support and to enrich my life

 

My journal

Consider what kinds of situations or issues arise for you as a student where you feel it would help to develop greater resilience.

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