Study Sessions: Study Notes

This year at university I am studying AA100 The Arts Past and Present and L192 Beginners’ French. AA100 is a compulsory module of mixed disciplines which includes English, History, Art History, Religious Studies, Classic Studies. Neither module has exams which I am happy about because exams heighten my anxiety. (I could write a more detailed post in the future about the anxiety around exams if anyone would be interested)

I have a few techniques I use to write study notes, however, I don’t have lectures because the Open University is distance learning. There are face-to-face tutorials but I haven’t attended any. There are also online tutorials for French which I have enjoyed.

For French I use the iPad app “Memrise" to learn vocabulary and test myself. There are also online quizzes and activities. I use these techniques to plan assignments, particularly for AA100.

1. I annotate my module books - I take sticky notes and take out short pieces of information that might link to the question I have been asked. I always include the page numbers. I have begun to write my notes directly in one book because it’s a secondhand copy (I’ve lost my copy which is so frustrating!) I don’t usually do this because the next step is to take the sticky notes and rearrange them into an order that will help me structure my essay. This is also a good starting point for making tables because I can take quotes for each argument and arrange them that way
2. I make mind maps - this helps me structure the essay too with headings for each paragraph. I can then see clearly which topics I want to discuss in more detail
3. I make tables - this is a good technique for essays that ask you to compare and contrast something or an essay with multiple arguments or viewpoints

There are no photos in this week’s post but I do have a Study Sessions playlist on YouTube and I post daily photos on Instagram. I am also planning a number of videos for Book Tube and Author Tube. I feel there is a lot to talk about in these communities.

Kazia x