Tips and Tricks 2:Study Approach @ KU Leuven

Karel JoosStudy Advice ServiceOctober 23rd 2017

Introduction

• Study Approach • Time Management

• Thesis, Writing skills, Presentations, : o For human sciences : Tue 14th of Novo For exact and biomedical sciences : Tue 21th of Nov

• Exams : Mon 4th of Dec

https://www.kuleuven.be/english/studentservices/studyadviceservice/workshops.html

Study Approach• General Approach

o Table of contento Text – imageo To know – to do

• Skills :o Markingo Memorizingo Schemeso Being precise

• Grading

Different Approaches for Studying

• Academic culture• International students : different background• Student studying a course :

o Course - Knowledge : learning everything, memorizing (>< do)

o Student - Personality : what the article did with me (>< factual)

o Studying : independence, flexibility, mental operations = doing something with the facts

Different Approaches for Studying (2)

Student Course content

KU Leuven???Westerncountries???

Easterncountries???

General Approach

Left to Right Approach• Lots of students do this :

• Following chronology of the text, basic understanding (leads to 9-10-11/20)

This is the text of this course. Youcan see 7 different pages here, of course this is

not representative for the average course … … … … … … … ..

Integral Approach

Table of content (1)

Text - Representation (2)

To know – to do (3)

1). Table of Content

Anatomy

Sensoric Central nervous motoric

tactile ….visual

1). Table of Content (2)• how :

o Train of thought on every levelo Asking questionso Try to find :

• Goal of course• What did the professor have in mind• The logic in it

2) Text - Image • Text approach :

o E.g. “in upper right corner, but what was it again”o Not focused on meaning, content

• Representation (mental picture) :o Content-oriented, focused on meaningo How to represent in image what you‘ve reado Concentrationo Building up, adding new elements to the mental picture

2) Text – Image (2)• Per 2-3-4 pages• Skimmed reading (fast, rough idea of structure of text,

content)• Intensive reading : constructing the ‘picture’• Taking distance : what is really written here? • Marking keywords : train of thought in text

• In January : o reading keywords = reconstructing image

3). To know – To do• What to do with knowledge

o Exam : no goal as sucho Useful in professional setting

• Adding information to course material :o Own examples – counter examples

• Heart of the matter• Extend – border with other concepts, formulas,…

o Connections – comparisons (cfr table of content)o Applicationso Critical point of view

• Asking yourself questions about course materialo How does this appear in my own life?o What can I do with it?o Is there an alternative for this?o …

• = To transform course material :o Theory – exampleo Algebraic – graphic (range)o Comparison between two concepts

Small example• Tautology

o = an unnecessary repetition of meaning, the same concept is mentioned twice, one of both can be deleted F.i. “That is totally and completely ridiculous.”

• Pleonasm o = an unnecessary repetition of meaning, a part of a

concept is repeated in another word, only one can be deleted

o F.i. “I drive a mechanical car”

Multiple choice question• “The student room wasn’t great but it was adequate

enough.” is :1. A pleonasm2. A tautology3. Both 4. None of both

pleonasm

tautology

?????

Skills

Marking• First reading (relevance depends on what comes later) • Just a few (key-)words per paragraph• Later on : more “details”• Using symbols : = , , , ,• Use margin (“how”, “what”, “def.”, …)• (taking notes?)

Marking : Questionable Example • Indemnification: To the fullest extent permitted by law, you

agree to indemnify and hold Britannica, its directors, officers, shareholders, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of (i) the information or material you submit, including, but not limited to, liability for violations of copyrights, trademark rights, trade secret rights, or any other intellectual property rights, or the privacy or publicity rights of others, or liability for information or material you provide that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity, or is fraudulent or deceptive, (ii) your use or unauthorized copying of the Services or any of their content, or (iii) your violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable laws or regulations.

Marking : Better Example• Indemnification: To the fullest extent permitted by law, you

agree to indemnify and hold Britannica, (its directors, officers, shareholders, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors) harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of (i) the information or material you submit, including, but not limited to, liability for violations of copyrights, trademark rights, trade secret rights, or any other intellectual property rights, or the privacy or publicity rights of others, or liability for information or material you provide that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity, or is fraudulent or deceptive, (ii) your use or unauthorized copying of the Services or any of their content, or (iii) your violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable laws or regulations.

Memorizing• Memory is limited • How to improve :

o Understanding (imaging) : clustero Structuring (table of content, logic in keywords): cluster

of clusterso Repeating

• Why can you remember a story that happened a long time ago?

• Now : two exercices …

Memorizing : Example 1 : Focus on ‘picture’• House, rain, bird, cold, man, warm, heating, smoke, tea,

autumn, child, visit, story, wood, music, dark, leaf, wind, table, present

• 20 words

• Try to make a picture of it

Memorizing : Example 2 : Structuring• American football • Baseball • Basketball • Cricket •

Canadian football • College football • Cycling • Figure skating • Fishing • Formula One • Golf • Gymnastics • Ice hockey • Motorcycle racing • Wrestling • Rugby • Swimming • Tennis • Volleyball • windsurfing

• 20 words

• Try to make a small table of content

Schemes• Summary >< scheme• Don’t follow the chronology of the text• No sentences, but words, concepts, ideas• Example : mind map

Being Precise• Detail >< being precise

o Detail : less relevant elements - unimportanto Precision : critical elements (make the difference) -

important

Grading

Grading (approximate indication)

Mark Transcript US ECTS % of succeeded

Your answer

20 Outstanding A+ A 10% Exceptional, additional analyses, additional information

19

18

17 Very good A

16 B 25%

15 Good A- Own examples, own counterexamples, compare, critics, application

14 C 30%

13 Above average B

12 D 25% Structuring answer

11 Satisfactory B-C+ Memorizing literally, basic understanding10 C E 10%

8-9 Insufficient D Superficial knowlegde-comprehension

0-7 Very insufficient F Lack of knowledge-comprehension

Finally

• Approach, skills in general, not individualised• Other skills: papers, presentations, exercises, motivation,

….• Individual questions : make a free appointment

• Questions??

Contacto Study Advice Service

Naamsestraat 803000 Leuven016/32 43 11www.kuleuven.be/studyadvice (contact form)

Succes