What will be expected of you as a student? Student Services Orientation 2011 Angela Dierks

Getting to the other side Student Services

Our expectations Keep contact details up to date Be an autonomous learner Attend lectures and seminars and be on time Stick to deadlines (especially for course work) Get organised Be prepared to work with other students Develop academic skills and thinking Be ready to accept new challenges Student Services

Contact details Ensure that your details are up to date on the My Birkbeck profile Check correspondence regularly Student Services

Autonomous learner Take on the responsibility to ask questions and to ask for help Take appropriate action if experiencing any difficulties (eg using College services, using support info on My Birkbeck website) Only few hours are scheduled as directly taught sessions. Be prepared to spend most of your time studying on your own without clear direction Student Services

Attendance and time keeping Expectation is that you attend all sessions; some courses have a percentage attendance rate Erratic attendance and late coming detrimental to learning; expectation is that students are committed to the course Student Services

Dreaded deadlines Non negotiable for handing-in of course work (unless you have mitigating circumstances) Allow sufficient time for your assignment; note deadlines down in calendar Seek help on producing academic work or if struggling with your IT skills Student Services

Being organised Absolutely crucial to succeeding as a student How much time can you dedicate to study? Draw up a realistic schedule Prioritise – identify what needs to be done Have a weekly and study plan Organise your study space Student Services

Working with others You are not alone Studying with peers helps you perform better Group work common in many subject areas, including group assignments Student Services

Working with Blackboard Some Birkbeck courses use a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Blackboard Shows course material, reading/learning material, course work tasks and discussion groups Check regularly for news and announcements Student Services

Academic thinking and skills 1.Reading and researching theories and studies 2.Understanding and expressing ideas in own words 3.Applying to theory to real world problems or issues 4.Analysing information 5.Thinking critically 6.Formulating your own thoughts (copying directly from others is called plagiarism) 7.Presenting your final judgement These skills can be learned! ( Student Services

Accept new challenges The student is perforce required to venture into new places, strange places, anxiety provoking places. This is a part of the point of higher education. If there was no anxiety, it is difficult to believe that we could be in the presence of a higher education. (Barnett 2007: 147) The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lit. (Plutarch c46-127AD) Student Services

Accept new challenges Student Services

Creative thinking Below are four simple questions. Try to answer all of them before looking at the answers. #1: How do you put a giraffe into a fridge? #2: How do you put an elephant into a fridge? #3: The King of the Jungle is holding a meeting for all of the animals. One of them is not there. Which one? #4: You are standing on the bank of an alligator infested river and have to get to the other side. What do you do? Student Services

Creative thinking And now for the answers to the four questions: #1: Open the fridge, put the giraffe inside, and then close the fridge. #2: Open the fridge, remove the giraffe, put the elephant inside, and close the fridge. #3: The elephant. The elephant is in the fridge. #4: You swim across the river because all the alligators are attending the meeting. This is what the questions are trying to find out: #1 checks to see if you try to make simple things complicated and make assumptions about problem boundaries. Nobody actually said that the fridge was not big enough to put a giraffe inside! #2 tests your ability to consider previous actions. Who says that they are four separate questions? #3 simply tests your memory. #4 checks to see how quickly you learn. After all, you must have answered question 4 correctly. Student Services