My review of the course

It was about a year ago that most of us started getting interviews for this course. Before that we had applied for the course. Now, we have finally finished the course that would prepare us for university and grant us access to it. Some of us sought to recover study habits that we had lost, if we ever had them, to improve our writing in English so as to produce acceptable pieces at university level and to learn the skills that would see us through university successfully. Scary university. For reasons all of our own we each wanted to make it into university. Maybe it was to improve our lives, or to get a degree, or to be taught skills that are hard to access anywhere else. Different reasons that made us want to make it into university, and for that we required this access course. In my particular case, it is for the reasons mentioned before. I am interested in a foreign culture, the Japanese, and without the language it is really hard to delve into any aspect of their society and customs. I also like the language per se, and unfortunately outside university there are not many ways of learning Japanese, and even those will not take you far. I want to get a degree, for what it means and for what it grants me access to in the working world, and because nobody in my immediate family has one, I want to set an example for my young ones. Now, the access course is finished and university is the next stop on the road. So what did I get from this course and what do I think of it? Let us see.

Most people that have ever met me can tell that I am a confident person, probably overconfident would be used to describe more often than not. That is not really the case, I am ridden with doubts about myself, just like anybody else, but I also know that if I try, if I really do, there is not really all that much that I cannot accomplish, it is a matter of stubbornness, or will if you prefer. Unfortunately, no amount of self-confidence would see me through university if I did not have the skills to draw upon and rely on to tackle the task that university is. Thanks to this course I believe I have become more or less efficient in all of them.

The writing of good essays from the start, from the information gathering and analysis of such information to the actual writing of acceptable academic text. There is still room for improvement in that area, but at least now I know I am capable of it and how to bring about the changes required.

The study habits I never really had. I have always relied on good memory to see myself through exams in college when I was younger, but now I find myself with all these helpful techniques that I can use to be successful at university. From the setting of a study area, to time management, to the breaking down of the workload into manageable units, work plans and more. I feel like I hold an arsenal of weapons waiting to be unloaded and bring forth something that has never been seen before.

Student life. At the start of the course I doubted if I could bring myself to be a fulltime student again. Living on budgets and not having much money, committing myself to one place and one thing for a long period of time, and most importantly, if anything ever happened, going back to class and catching up rather than giving up. I believe my record speaks for itself. I have been absent a lot, but I have made it back, I have struggled, but I have made it back, and this is not only due to my own determination. At the start of the course Dieca told us to look around us, see our classmates, our friends to be and see them for what they were, the people that would be our support, the people that would help us through anything and everything. I was sceptical, I stand corrected. Thanks Dieca and thank you Simon.

There are many other things that I have learned in this course that I find to be of great help. The self organisation and work from the Investigating Europe that help us glimpse what many university classes will be like, just you and a tutor to guide you when needed, but mainly you. The facing of challenges we are not accustomed to, Maths for many, in my case History and Literature, subjects that I used to hate with a passion, and that now I enjoy thoroughly, and this is thanks to Evan and Scott who showed me that if you can back up what you state, your view should not be dismissed and you can dare having an opinion of your own, a freedom of sorts in subjects that I always found suffocating. Thanks.

From Jerry and Dieca I have learned much in the form of study habits and communicating tips. Oral presentations and how we all have them as part of our everyday life, facing an interview successfully, the structuring of the message that you want to deliver, and the actual delivery of such message. And mainly how to play my advantages. Thank you.

From Jane, I have rediscovered my interest and passion for the French language, a great language teacher that has been able to push me farther than any other language teacher ever has, and it is my win. Thank you.

John and Joe saw very little of me, but thanks to their cool relaxed attitude you could approach them and they would steer you in the right direction to show you that you could be successful in their classes. Thank you.

I did not have any actual classes, but thanks for being available and keeping an eye on me, and also for all the help you provided on your tutorials. Most people on the class did not have the need of using many of the things you provided us, but they were of great help for me to make it into Manchester University. Thank you.

And finally Dieca, the bossiest teacher I have ever had. A bit of a bully, I would dare say, she likes getting her way and she will do what it takes to make it so. Thankfully for us, her way is that we all make it not only into university, but through it successfully. I cannot start to thank you enough. If it were not for you, I would have never made it into the university of my choice. With your help and guidance I learnt what to look for in a course and where, how to look for what I needed and how to get in contact with those that would help me through and what to do in order to accomplish what I wanted. At the start of the course Dieca told us that she knew her way through the ropes and that she had seen it all, we all laughed a little, not anymore. Dieca has a well of knowledge from which we have all benefitted, and as I just said, if it were not for her, I would not be making it into the right university for me; I would not even know what to look for. And that is just some of the help she has provided, I believe in the years to come I will be referring more and more to all that she has taught us.

My own performance could have been better, but I am very happy with it. I was not able to stick to the datelines, I skipped class constantly because of work and personal matters, but I have made it back and learn my lesson. That gives me hope in my being able to make it through university. I made it through the course, and that is what matters, for I know that with better management I have everything in me to be able to make it through university, and I am already working and preparing for that. I have learnt my lesson and I will not make the same mistake again.

What to improve about the course? Nothing much, in my honest opinion. Each class has provided us with a wide background on which to build upon depending on our needs and career choices. Each class had something to contribute, from learning a new language, to being independent in the production of your own work, to all of the skills I mentioned before and more.

In conclusion, I have loved this year. I have learned a lot, I have met amazing people, and I have been provided with skills that will serve not only for university but for life in general. Right now I am filled with dreams, hope and illusion. I have a spring in my step that I had missed for years, and it is all because of this Access Course and all that it represents for me, a future full of possibilities. Thank you, sincerely. Thank you.

Arturo, out!

Late reflection on the course.

It's been just a few intensive summer weeks and I feel like I have never attended the College. First of all I am greatly thankful that on the contrary to Poland, education in Britain considers full time mature students, otherwise I would certainly not be at the universitie's doorstep today. When I think of the access course expectations now, I must say that I have strangely not had any as I always thought of going to the university in the first place what was also my main motivation. Furthermore even I thought of the college as more of a place of transition, I started to realise it's importance towards the end of the course. I suppose that what determined my decision about choosing this particular one the most was the option of studying Spanish as I intended to continue it in the future.
According to my experiences in the college they were definitely mostly positive, except the distance one had to overcome everyday. Since I've moved to Edinburgh, bicycle was my main mean of transportation and I could not imagine spending over two hours daily in the bus (listening to Spanish pod casts helped a little). Because of that I have passed my motorcycle driving licence, firstly using my scooter to commute to the college and than, when the weather got worst, the car or eventually buses. I truly hated the long travel and the distance one had to cover in a stuffy, claustrophobic, perfumed and horrendously loud buses and that was also the main reason for rejecting the option of studying at Stirling University. Even so it was worth it in the end as I was given a chance to meet a remarkable people and improve some skills necessary at the university. Beginning from refreshing the history facts and learning many new ones, especially about Britain to breaking my timidity during presentations and finally absorbing vital vocabulary and ability to intelligently analyse and criticize works of others, I have gained a hand full of useful tools to assist me in the future.
Personally I consider this particular course as a very well tailored as in general it is extremely difficult to match everyone preferences and develop them within a year. Despite the different interests and levels of engagement (as there were no two people alike, who have chosen to study the same faculty at the university) this course handed our personal needs greatly. Obviously everyone could find something to improve in the course, nevertheless they are all minor things that do not interfere with the integrity of the whole. As far as I am concerned my only request for the forthcoming years would be to find a more appropriate, interactive space for Jerry's absorbing class. I am highly convinced that it would gain a lot and everyone could take the full advantage of it's time even more efficiently. I must also add that at the begging of the course I had a mixed attitude toward the content of some of the subjects like history or literature, but in time I have realized that throughout being introduced to what their offered I am being more aware of the Scottish culture and society, the society I am a part of now. Therefore I would like to thank to all the teachers and although my dedication to some subjects might have not been noticeable during the course, I deeply appreciate and respect the commitment you have overtaken to share the valuable knowledge you posses. Finally the time spent in the college definitely made me more aware of the world I am living in and what is more important helped me to identify and improve my weaknesses to bravely challenge the future obstacles. Although the number of commitments and required self esteem I have enjoyed the course enormously and would recommend it to anyone looking for a gateway to further education.
Most importantly I loved you all guys (well maybe apart from .... ) and hope we will occasionally meet here and there not to forget this fruitful time that joined us all.
Good luck to you all and see you in the near future.

Good Luck

Hi ! Just thought I'd take a few minutes to say how much I enjoyed working with you guys. It must be a fantastic experience to belong to a group with such diverse backgrounds and yet such a strong and supportive atmosphere. I'm sure the friendships made will last a very long time and be of great value during your future studies.

A lot of the work in Investigating Europe was completed independently so maybe I'm a wee bit on the periphery of things. However tutors learn as much from students as the other way round and I certainly gained a lot from the experience. I'm now something of a world authority on subjects ranging from Latvian song and dance to Euthanasia in Europe and from Jewish Persecution to avant-garde installation artists. I should say a special thanks to Nadine as I now know where the best foam parties will be taking place when I'm clubbing in Ibiza over the summer!

I'm sorry I won't make Dieca's party so I just want to say thanks again and wish you all fun and success over the summer, in your future studies and for the rest of your lives.

Cheers, Joe

Thanks for a brilliant time together with brilliant people in a brilliant environment and a brilliant city! ;)

The course gave me great incentive after some struggling college years in Germany. At Stevenson I felt the course enabled me to study things that matter most to me. All teachers helped us wherever they could and often it was even possible to change the deadline for an essay or presentation. In Communication the majority of subject matters were chosen thoughtfully with the intention to prepare us for academic writing at university. I could often easily motivate myself to do some research and eventually start writing without losing too much time. History classes posed a thorn in my eye until the first half of the course. Retrospectively, I think Evan’s class was of enormous meaning. Even though I don’t entirely agree with the rather classical way of teaching I appreciate his passion he put into every single hour. With regards to Literature, we were all effectively taught to develop the skill of analysing and comparing themes and techniques used in a text. As for Spanish, the target of learning the language has been partly achieved. In the end however, I couldn’t bring up enough enthusiasm for it; though it was clear from the start on that I wasn’t going to study languages at university anyway.
I believe, the course wasn’t just about the preparation though. Part of the experience we have gained, was to be exposed to all sorts of personalities and characters and certainly getting on in a diverse environment. As a result I feel much more confident than before I’d begun Stevenson.

Coming to the improvements I have to say only a few matters should be taken into consideration.
Study Skills is one of those few matters. I can see that some people do need a bit of help with computers, and regardless of my opinion towards the subject they should be supported in Study Skills at any rate. I would therefore suggest cutting down the hours for the remaining ones who have the required computer know-how.
Also, as Hannah has mentioned already, computers are desperately needed for Communication. The fact that we finally, after countless months, got transferred into another room with laptops seemed like an empty joke to me.
Other than that, I felt really happy about everything else in the course.

After recalling the course, I can contentedly look back and say the whole course was an utter success. I’ve discovered weaknesses and strengths, I have learnt how to manage time more efficiently, what makes an academic essay, and so much more. In some ways the time at Stevenson gave me hints that were essential to show me what immediate course I want to pursue.

Now, this is probably the right moment to say thank you. Thanks to all for a fantastic time, I will really miss you!

Well where do I start? It has been an amazing year for me, when I think back to our first week and I remember how nervous I was, meeting new people and learning new skills (such as trying to find my way around Edinburgh) I could never have done it without the help of you guys especially Marieta and Vesy. In my home town I am quite the extrovert believe it or not. However, when you move away from your own safe environment to a new City for the first time it can become a daunting experience, especially if you have lived in Airdrie.

Moving to Edinburgh has been the best experience of my life, not only because of the friends I have made, but also because I have gained a sense of independence finally at the grand old age of 26!! I hear you all laugh but I’ll have you know I have been doing my own washing for the past month!! (Ok the last week but it’s a start). But seriously, each class mate has opened my eyes to their individual cultures and backgrounds from the Latvian dance contest to the German way of life, and each classmate has helped me in some way even if they do not realise it. Kind words of encouragements have forced me to keep trying and never give up.

Last week one of my class mates told me he was so proud of me and he saw a huge difference in me since the beginning of the course, at the time I laughed it off, but actually when I thought about it later I felt quite proud. I know I still have to improve in various areas (grammar and spelling) but I have noticed an improvement in my essay writing (I don’t know about the rest of you but when I came here I had to learn English grammar and I am still learning) even computer skills, I mean last year I honestly did not know how to switch a computer on. NO JOKE!!! Now I can even create power point ha ha. These things might seem trivial to every one else but for me I feel it is a big achievement. I would not be where I am today without the help of each teacher, I couldn’t ask for better teaching methods every one of you have been very helpful and you have given me confidence for University. Simon I totally agree with you on the Maths thing (he he) John you are great but every time I walked to the first floor my skin broke out in blisters lol. I can’t forget to mention Joe; you are an incredible teacher, even though I wish I had completed the Investigating Europe class in the second semester, as I feel I would have had more knowledge in writing academically and I would have chosen a more serious or interesting subject to investigate.

Overall I don’t think the college needs any improvements. The facilities are great and the teachers are very understanding.

I’m going to miss you all

Nadine xx

HANNAH'S REFLECTION

Motivation and positive experiences

My main motivation and expectation of this course was to help get myself into University. I really wanted to do well with this course as I hadn’t done well at school.I have to say I have really felt this course has worked better for me than school ever did.

My most positive experiences have not just been doing the course, but meeting others on my course and having really good conversations and debates with some of them about a range of topics: from whether Euthanasia is right or wrong to how useful Wikipedia can or cannot be. I also feel like my speaking and writing of French and Spanish has improved.

For Jordi’s class it included a lot of extra work on grammar and writing, but that was expected as I was doing an Advanced Higher course. I feel like I really learnt a lot from Spanish i.e. how to check my work properly, not something I always did before.

Roger helped build my confidence up on speaking and writing assuring me that the writing mistakes were mistakes even French people make due to the sound of the language.

I have to say John really helped in the way he taught maths, it was something I was really rather scared of. Most of my maths teachers before were not as patient and therefore I had believed that I’d always be useless at it, but John helped build my confidence up on that.

Improvements

I feel that the course could be improved by having the history assessments a bit closer together as it would give people more time to work on the history investigation, despite Evan’s thought that it takes barely anytime at all. I am aware of people worrying rather a lot about it.

The other improvement to the course that I believe needs to be available is access for communication classes to computers or laptops, and a PowerPoint screen. It’s a shame that the technology meant our first recorded presentations meant that many of us were almost blinded by an OHP light. I think that could have been avoided by having a better room. It’s a shame that the class has only changed location in the last month of the course.

Study skills really helped me to be reflective about my study and how much I’d achieved. I have to say a diary that I at first felt was not the greatest way of planning has now become really useful as a reference to what I’ve done, what I’ve to do and helped me to remember the way I’ve revised last time. I think I may even continue to use it, maybe not online but as a diary or something. We’ll see how well my time management goes.

Conclusions

I have learnt a lot from this course, how to time manage, finding different ways of revising, how to write essays. I have also found out how to structure my essays a lot better, when I think back to my first one for Jerry, structure was practically non-existent. I think I’ve learnt more about myself from this course than I expected. My first thought was just to do my best, but I’ve found I’ve done better than I thought I would. The fact I’ve got the marks I got, and passed things that I thought I’d panic, stress and therefore fail has allowed me to gain a bit more confidence with the things that I do, and I believe that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt.

May 27, 2009 12:19 PM

Reflection

My motivation for enrolling on this course was very strong long before I ever applied – I wanted to study Japanese at University level, but had been out of school too long for my qualifications to still be valid. In this situation, I was faced with a choice between going on a Japanese course with lesser entry requirements or to find a way to gain access to university once again. Going the former route would not have allowed me to reach as high a standard of education and would not have actually given me a degree, which is necessary if I ever want to work in Japan. So, I took the latter option and joined the Access course.

While my qualifications are too old to consider ‘recent’, in reality I have only been out of education for 6 years, and since then I have spent a lot of time writing and studying various topics for recreation, so I did not expect the Access course to challenge me in radically new ways. For the most part, I thought it was be fairly easy; English, History and Maths are all subjects I was good at only a few years ago.

I consider it to be a positive experience that I was proven wrong about the ease of the course – yes, I had covered the majority of the content, but the workload and the pressure which came when I was actually required to start producing work was an eye opener. Had I gone straight to university or another learning institution; if I did not have this year to reacquaint myself with the life and demands of a student, I think I would have received a nasty shock.

This year also showed how valuable the support that tutors and fellow students can provide. This has been excellent group of people to work with, everyone was helpful, friendly and, with most us all feeling the same pressures of the course, helped to allay one another’s fears. As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved, and I will be very grateful if next year I have any tutors or peers like those here at Stevenson.

There are some minor ways the course could be improved, but it is hard for me to make effective criticism considering that I was hardly here for great chunks of time! Personally though, I would have liked to have had more discussions in class. Jerry’s class allowed a lot of time for discussion and the swapping of opinions and I thought Communications was an engaging and dynamic subject because of this. History, on the other hand, while interesting and well taught by Evan, seemed to be mainly listening to the facts rather than discussing them; it may be that the amount of material that needs to be covered is too great to allow this, but I do feel the course, particularly the British history unit, could be streamlined to allow more in-class participation.

What have I learned from this year? Well, I just finished writing an essay on Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for Scott, and one thing that taught me was this: “Don’t Panic”. There was a lot of work to be done this year, and at times it was daunting. But for most people, if you stick your head down and get to work then progress will be made, things will get done, and you’ll eventually emerge on the side of success.

End Of term Reflection by Saiman


Although time has flown - and in actuality it's been several months since we started this course - to me, it still seems like we started last week, and I haven't gotten into my stride as yet. Maybe this is due to my psychological make-up where there's never any rush to finish anything, and there's always time. But in this case, I'm finding things somewhat traumatic since the deadline now is so absolute and final - once this course ends, it ends. That realisation is awfully frightening, especially as there's still some work I have to hand in and I worry if I can achieve it constantly now. So much to gain, and so much to lose. Damn!Anyway, if there's anything I should have learned this year is the importance of deadlines, and time management. Not adhering to any kinda comes back to bite you on your bum, no matter how good the work is when turned in. Upon reflection, and if I could, I would have handed in essays that were passable rather than time-consuming and long pieces that turned out to be more than passable. What makes the situation worse is knowing this but not being capable of rectifying it. That really sucks.My expectations for myself and the course were and are simple, and that was to pass and head on to university and there experience whether my intellectual capacity was sufficiently capable of success or failure. I hadn't expected my somewhat lackadaisical attitude to be such a burden at this college stage. I suppose going to university was the primary motivation but in the midst of college work, it is more than easy to lose focus on that original goal, and to be honest, it can be a daunting goal anyway, especially when at times it so seemed unattainable, such as within these last couple of months.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this course – knowing some Spanish at the end, I suppose. I knew the actual writing stuff would be ok, and although I hadn’t written anything academically for close to 18 years, I did hope I would be able to brush up on whatever English skills I had been neglecting for so long. In doing Communications, Literature, and writing essays for History, I think I’ve learnt a lot and have become more aware of the technicalities of writing essays than before. Yes, I understand that this particular piece of writing lacks the structure we’ve been taught, but since this isn’t an assessment, I’m gonna free-flow and ramble on without a care in the world.Positives: any learning that came my way during the course, not too shockingly. And in that sense, as before, I’ve valued my time learning from Communications, Literature and History. Investigating Europe was interesting in making me learn history first-hand and appreciate the art of research more. Maths can go to hell, where it truly belongs (sorry John, you’re a nice guy, but you’re doing the Devil’s work). As for learning Spanish, to me it’s been a disaster, no less because of what I’ve mentioned previously, but also because I’ve realised that I’m more accustomed to using books to chart my progress rather than learning from a more freed structure this course prefers. But of course, it’s just me, ultimately, as others’ learning seem to be sufficiently of a higher grade.Another positive, and I think it’s the most important one, is knowing that I can get along with just about anyone. It might have been just the make-up of the class where everyone is agreeably friendly, but nonetheless I’ve enjoyed my time with all the people on the course – lecturers and students, alike - and I’ll be sad to not be in the same class ever again.How the course could be improved. The course is good at what it does – preparing its students for university. And I find it difficult to actually fault it. But if I was asked how it could be even better (hee!) then I suppose having a time-table of assessments and deadlines all structured from the start of the course and given out as a guide to all students to have a better picture of the work required, then I think that would be better for the likes of me who like knowing what he has to do next instead of wondering and waiting for that next assessment to be told. (Maybe I’ve been too disorganised to realise this was already done, which is quite possible in my case.)I think that’s it. If I can think of anything, I’ll add to this. Maybe at the end of the course. But for now, regards.
May 28, 2009 10:06 AM

FABRIZIO'S EVALUATION

FINAL EVALUATIONThe course is coming to an end and in less than 3 weeks we will all be on holiday. It is true that the course went really fast and it seems yesterday that the whole thing started.I was very motivated and excited about it as it represented my pass-partout for the University which I will reach next year, hopefully. At the beginning I was highly interested in the subjects, Spanish, History and English mostly as I have always been very keen o languages and literary subjects. The fact of studying in a new college as well as the entire course portfolio encouraged and inspired me a lot.I believe that in certain areas the course could still be improved in order to provide a wider and deeper preparation for students. First of all, considering external factors it should be said that the overall Stevenson College's facilities are advanced and updated, especially when it comes to language labs. However, the strictness of certain figures such as Carlos makes the pleasantness of studying sometimes very little. With regards to the course specifically, I think that small feedback questionnaires to fill at least once every two months and for each subject, could be useful for having a clear overview of the progresses made as well as highlighting chances for improvements. Secondly, I have to say that the first History semester has been ridiculously boring, only gaining interest with the suffragettes’ essay. So that, I think that the study of British History should be critically reduced in favour of European History or more contemporary issues. I think it could also be an idea to insert Philosophy or Politics modules in replacement. Thirdly, I am not completely satisfied by my spoken/written Spanish even though I had to focus on my English for the grater part of Semester 2.Moreover, I believe this year has been incredibly valuable in terms of education and preparation for the University. I have experienced countless positive experiences from the fresher’s week to the funny classmates to artistic projects. I reckon that my own performance has been pretty good considering the results I have achieved. I conveyed all my efforts into this course, trying to better myself and my knowledge. It has been a big challenge as my English was not extremely good and the ielts test put me through the mill. My essay writing skills are gone form nearly inexistent to quite good and my English has greatly improved. .I feel much more confident when it comes to plan, write, present, discuss on academic topics. Generally, I feel ready to cope with a British University and all its barriers.
May 22, 2009 2:23 PM

My evaluation essay

My Reflective evaluation essay :)
It seems like yesterday when this course started :) I did look forward to it, to get to know new people, learn something and prove to myself that I can do this and that my English is good enough to go to university.
Positive experiences for me were the fact that all tutors were very positive and helpful, even subject like maths, which always had been a problem for me and a subject deserving my hatred through my school years came easy because of such a nice guy as John, it just proves if the tutor is interested in the subject and is understanding, people like me can actually start believing that we can do something. I can say that in every subject I learned something useful, for example communication which was my favourite, because Jerry has a fantastic quality to wake an interest in students about the subject, there was always something interesting to do and even though at the end of the course there were a lot of listening and analysing tasks to do, I do appreciate that he made us to do that, because I feel that my ability of listening and analysing has raised. Jerry, I thank you for that.
About the improvements – Considering language studies, maybe it’s just me but I would have preferred if we would have had a book with the programme, to follow, but apart from that I think it is great as it is.
There have to be done something considering this 5 page printing rule and all what comes with it in the self-access centre, although I must say that is was the best place to study because it was quiet, there are some things which can be improved I think you all know what I mean.
Evaluation of my own performance – Well, well, well, I DEFINITELY could have done better and could have done things on time and planned my tasks much better. There is always place for doing thing better. But I also have to admit that I have learned a lot.
What I have learned – In a short words, a lot. Maths – I repeated my entire school programme in three months, it definitely was useful and gave a boost to my confidence J Investigating Europe – helped me a lot in a sense that I had to prepare a presentation and get a lot of materials for my investigation, it was time management, planning and searching for the materials. Spanish language – I have learned Spanish in a level I can understand when people speak, but I could have done better anyway with my Spanish studies. I have learned more about Spanish culture thanks to Dieca who was telling us about that and giving us various materials about it. I think that now I know it a little. History – definitely learned a lot about Britain and Scotland. Communication – praise Jerry!!!! Loved this subject and it was my favourite as there was always some active listening and analysing and writing to do also the fact that Jerry always gave a very logical and useful feedback. I definitely feel my skills have improved. Literature – I read some books I otherwise would not have read and it is again very useful to know classics.
Overall I can say that this course has changed my life, and I hope that it is just a start, I want to thank all my tutors and the boss of the course Dieca for encouragement and all the work she did with us.
Also my dearest course mates, I will miss you guys, it was so great to have such a nice group of people really, I don’t want to say goodbye.

End Of term Reflection

What I wanted from this course at the start is difficult to say! For a number of years I was restless going from job to job and always flirted with the idea with going to university. Going to do highers was my original choice but I was very sceptical about my ability to jump back into education at that level. Luckily my mother found out about this access course. Result! So I came along to the interview hoping to study German. Uh oh found my self in a Spanish course, oh well not to worry off to camp America I went. When I returned two weeks late I was very nervous and only knew how to say ola in Spanish (that’s how I thought it was spelled before the course haha). I persevered and went in to see Dieca tired as hell because I’d had a heavy weekend after my reunion with my friends. So after the first few days of nervousness and wondering what I was doing in the course I settled down. My expectations now: To get to uni; never miss a history class again after I was told I’d missed so much in the first few weeks!!; speak Spanish in a year (I’ve since changed the timescale in that goal); and try not to get anyone hating me in the class (I expected a little too much of myself). All in all the introduction to the course was different than everyone else’s but good all the same I think the fear of being two weeks late made me more determined to work harder.

The positive experiences in this class have been massive. Firstly the friends I have made have been great. I have met people from all over the world and had many friends in different countries before this class but none as close as these. I couldn’t imagine going to a party in Toledo to meet our Spanish friends with a Bulgarian, a Pole, and two other Scots. Classic! What else? I can now communicate in Spanish, not well but I’m on my way. One day I’ll be fluent no matter how many books Edinburgh uni throws at me (if I pass this course first). Now on to the educational side of things since I imagine that is why we are writing this. I’m trying to make this interesting though, if not for the reader at least for myself. I found out I can write an essay, due to my laziness and my ‘anything will do’ attitude I believe the teachers have only seem glimpses of my best work. But you don’t stop being an underachiever over night. Which brings me to my next point; I now know the importance of trying your best at everything you do. I feel that I am well prepared for university with regards to knowing that I have to actually work hard to produce good results. The old high school motto of doing it 5 mins before class has been eradicated from my system. Well done teachers, if you guys have achieved anything this year (you’ve done loads for us really) it’s getting that out my system. Finally and this is going to sound like the class got together and planned to all write this; the importance of deadlines! We are lucky that no-one complained when we handed in stuff late. I know this will not work in uni, not that I would want to get to the end of another course and find out I got so many essays due in so little time.

How the course could be improved eh? Well let me begin. More maths! No word of a lie I loved that class. I planned to do more but I also planned on having a social life too, so maths went! (that seems a stupid thing to say about education). I believe stricter deadlines would help. I know we have been told for months about what we have to do! But any work that is ‘for the end of term at the latest’ is going to be put of by the majority of the class every year. And then we have the build up of work problem again. Imagine the madness if investigating Europe was this term as well, someone would have jumped out of Carlos’s window! What else could we improve? I dunno. In Spanish Alicia was fantastic (shoulda put that in the positives right?). but seriously more classes like hers would have been great, a mix between her and Dieca for the whole year would have people talking a lot better than I can. I don’t have much else on the improvement side of things. I don’t know if this already happens but giving people language exchanges every year would be good – ours were brilliant.

Now were on my performance!! Haha this should be fun and if I have learned anything from study skills I think this is expected to be the longest part. Well I feel my performance has been mixed! History and maths I feel have been my strongest subjects I enjoyed these and tried hardest in these subjects. Spanish has been ok, I feel I have done well but I believe that it took me too long to get a successful studying technique for it. But that’s part of the learning progress. I think that my speaking needs a lot of improvement I still hear Spanish and panic for a few seconds. My reading is my strongest and my listening is no bad. Investigating Europe was interesting, I think I did ok in this. I wish we coulda had classes with Joe cause he’s brilliant. But I enjoyed the class and felt that if I had chosen a subject I enjoyed a little more than something ‘arty’ (I’m just not that guy, give me football or a book any day, but Picasso? Who’s he?) I would have done better. Communication I think I did ok I missed waay too many classes though. I found it difficult to write about some things like the speaking skills! I enjoyed doing the talks for all the classes and feel, other than my attempt at a talk in Spanish, that my skills have improved. Finally literature I haven’t finished all my work for this yet so I’ll find out soon about this. I enjoyed reading all the stuff for this class but comparing one thing to another is difficult and I definitely need work to improve this.
In conclusion (I feel that’s a great opener for this final part of the story) I have learned a lot of important things. Like never break into a hotel in Düsseldorf if you plan on walking normally afterwards! 300 euros is not enough spending money to take to Madrid if you plan on getting drunk every night. Never miss a £1 a drink opportunity, you never know how long its gonna last for. Don’t waste a sunny day in Scotland inside!! And finally my biggest lesson I have learned is if you want to use the language centre; switch off your phone! Don’t eat or drink! Keep quiet! Write your name in the book! AND NEVER print more than 5 pages! Your life depends on it.

Reflective Essay- my personal evaluation of the course



Motivation and positive experience


My main expectation of this course was to prepare myself well to University. I really wanted to do well; however being on this course was not an easy challenge. It has been long time since I left University. What can I say? Being a student is the best time in my life. I really feel this course has done more for me than anything else before.

The most positive thing about the course is meeting others. I have never met so many interesting and amazing people as you guys! And I’m not talking about students only. I think we have done great together. I will never forget all of you and I hope you won’t let me to.

About the course: very well prepared and structured; lovely and very helpful tutors with passion and determination. I would not be here without all of you and I’m really grateful for everything you have done. The course helped me to build my confidence more (sometimes I’m not sure about this being a positive thing) , planning and learning.

Dieca! What can I say? I have never met such a wonderful, surprising, open at people
person. I don’t think I can find enough words to describe how grateful I am for everything you have done for me. I hope you will never change because somewhere there are still people who need a future direction.

Jerry! It was very interesting yea full of challenges, disappointments and never ending assessments. Overall, it was worth every single minute I have spent on it. I think I have got more from this subject than from any other. Why? The subject have had what any student needs to develop wanted skills- great tutor, well structured classes, lovely atmosphere and never ending work!

Scott! The literature has never been my favourite subject. However, this year I found something special about the subject. I might take it the next year but maybe as a third subject J Still classes were relaxing and perfectly structured for nine o’clock in the morning. How sad is, that some of us (always late) will never understand what I’m talking about.

Evan! History was always my favourite subject at school. I was really happy to do it this year again. Very interesting subject and lovely tutor, passionate about the subject. I find British history very interesting, however, it would be nice to learn some more of European history. Maybe if it is possible change a number of hours on Friday, from 4 to 3 or 2 with a coffee break :-)

John! I have to say he really helped me with maths this year. I was so scared of it when I find out that we have to do it on this course. Believe me or not I have done really well but just because of John. I can just say: God bless you!

Joe! I have just good things to say about the tutor and the subject. The tutor lovely, helpful just great person! He helped me a lot with my investigation and I’m sure I would not manage without his help. Thank you again Joe!



Improvements


I agree with some of you about having the history assessment a bit closer so people can get more time to do work on the investigation.

I would not change much about the course. However, there are some things, which could be improved. Maybe like access to computers in each class, as it would be really helpful especially for presentation or even every day class. Also Carlos! Don’t take me wrong, as I do understand that the rules are important but we don’t leave in regime. Of course the place is better to study than any other in this college but the person who works there can be irritating. I think we all know what I’m talking about.


Conclusion

I have learnt a lot from this course: how to plan, write, read and survive. I have found myself in this again. This course has changed my life, as before, what I can see now was boring. ‘ The course will change your life’- Dieca kept saying. And you know what? She was right, again!

I have learnt from this course more than from any other school. This course helps people to learn the real life, help to meet and understand people from different cultures. This course was the best decision in my life. I think I’m ready to go now.
The worst thing is that I don’t know if I really want to go!

Reflective Essay

Personal Evaluation of the NQ Access Course at Stevenson College

Motivation and Expectations

I have enrolled on the Access Course at Stevenson College, following the recommendations I have received by an Admission’s Officer at the Edinburgh University’s Open Day in 2007. My motivation is to achieve the necessary level of preparation that would enable me to get an access to University. This course is relevant to my vocational aspirations which are to read for a degree in Languages.

Positive Experience

In the duration of the course I have noticed that my level of confidence have increased with regard to being able to express myself more clearly in English, having in mind English is not my first language. Moreover, I would like to emphasise the importance of the inclusion of the two subjects Communication and Literature in the curriculum, which greatly assisted in my improving in writing in English.

For instance, writing tasks such as essays and other reading assessments were especially designed to develop our analytical, reading and writing skills, which were in fact the practical implementation of these. We were introduced to different systems for referencing, as well as to project planning skills. I have found ‘The Punctuation Book’ that we were given at the beginning of the course a really helpful tool. Also, I have struggled with paragraphing text for my writing tasks. However, paragraphs and clear signposting have become an essential part of my writing now.

In addition, I have acquired useful skills with regard to preparing oral presentations. We have also developed our abilities in planning and writing projects. During the course we were taught techniques for analysing literary works.

Apart from, getting assistance with regard to more effective time management techniques and evaluation of personal progress, throughout the course we have been introduced to new learning and reading techniques that would benefit us in getting prepared for a demanding university course. I think, the subject Study Skills is an essential unit that need to be taken seriously. One may regard it as an unnecessary waste of time, however, without first seeing and analysing weaknesses, one won’t be able to achieve what they know they are able to achieve. As a result, I have certainly become more organised, I have identified certain areas I need to put more work on.

We have access to computers and programmes that are especially designed to enable us to actively apply new learning skills, i.e. understanding of what we learn, why we learn it, and last but not least see the positive results of the learning process.

The course is well structured as there is good balance between writing and practical tasks.

Conclusion

The course is very informative and highly recommendable for anybody aiming at continuing their further education. In the duration of the course I have learned a lot about myself too.

Refelctive Thingy

How the course could be improved eh? Well let me begin. More maths! No word of a lie I loved that class. I planned to do more but I also planned on having a social life too, so maths went! (that seems a stupid thing to say about education). I believe stricter deadlines would help. I know we have been told for months about what we have to do! But any work that is ‘for the end of term at the latest’ is going to be put of by the majority of the class every year. And then we have the build up of work problem again. Imagine the madness if investigating Europe was this term as well, someone would have jumped out of Carlos’s window! What else could we improve? I dunno. In Spanish Alicia was fantastic (shoulda put that in the positives right?). but seriously more classes like hers would have been great, a mix between her and Dieca for the whole year would have people talking a lot better than I can. I don’t have much else on the improvement side of things. I don’t know if this already happens but giving people language exchanges every year would be good – ours were brilliant.

Now were on my performance!! Haha this should be fun and if I have learned anything from study skills I think this is expected to be the longest part. Well I feel my performance has been mixed! History and maths I feel have been my strongest subjects I enjoyed these and tried hardest in these subjects. Plus who can fault Evan, the man is fantastic. if every teacher had the passion for their subjects like he does it would be a great place to be. Spanish has been ok, I feel I have done well but I believe that it took me too long to get a successful studying technique for it. But that’s part of the learning progress. I think that my speaking needs a lot of improvement I still hear Spanish and panic for a few seconds. My reading is my strongest and my listening is no bad. Investigating Europe was interesting, I think I did ok in this. I wish we coulda had classes with Joe cause he’s brilliant. But I enjoyed the class and felt that if I had chosen a subject I enjoyed a little more than something ‘arty’ (I’m just not that guy, give me football or a book any day, but Picasso? Who’s he?) I would have done better. Communication I think I did ok I missed waay too many classes though. I found it difficult to write about some things like the speaking skills! I enjoyed doing the talks for all the classes and feel, other than my attempt at a talk in Spanish, that my skills have improved. Finally literature I haven’t finished all my work for this yet so I’ll find out soon about this. I enjoyed reading all the stuff for this class but comparing one thing to another is difficult and I definitely need work to improve this.
In conclusion (I feel that’s a great opener for this final part of the story) I have learned a lot of important things. Like never break into a hotel in Düsseldorf if you plan on walking normally afterwards! 300 euros is not enough spending money to take to Madrid if you plan on getting drunk every night. Never miss a £1 a drink opportunity, you never know how long its gonna last for. Don’t waste a sunny day in Scotland inside!! And finally my biggest lesson I have learned is if you want to use the language centre; switch off your phone! Don’t eat or drink! Keep quiet! Write your name in the book! AND NEVER print more than 5 pages! Your life depends on it.

Study skills evaluation

Motivation and positive experiences

My main motivation and expectation of this course was to help get myself into University with ok marks. I really wanted to do well with this course as I hadn’t done well at school.

I have to say I have really felt this course has worked better for me than school ever did.

My most positive experiences have not just been doing the course, but meeting others on my course and having really good conversations and debates with some of them about a range of topics: from whether Euthanasia is right or wrong to how useful Wikipedia can or cannot be.

Dieca's study skills really helped me to be reflective about my study and how much I’d achieved. I have to say a diary that I at first felt was not the greatest way of planning has now become really useful as a reference to what I’ve done, what I’ve to do and helped me to remember the way I’ve revised last time. I think I may even continue to use it, maybe not online but as a diary or something. We’ll see how well my time management goes.

I also feel like my speaking and writing of French and Spanish has improved. For Jordi’s class it included a lot of extra work on grammar and writing, but that was expected as I was doing an Advanced Higher course. I feel like I really learnt a lot from Spanish i.e. how to check my work properly, not something I always did before.

Roger helped build my confidence up on speaking and writing assuring me that the writing mistakes were mistakes even French people make due to the sound of the language.

I have to say John really helped in the way he taught maths, it was something I was really rather scared of. Most of my maths teachers before were not as patient and therefore I had believed that I’d always be useless at it, but John helped build my confidence up on that.

Improvements

I feel that the course could be improved by having the history assessments a bit closer together as it would give people more time to work on the history investigation, despite Evan’s thought that it takes barely anytime at all. I am aware of people worrying rather a lot about it.

The other improvement to the course that I believe needs to be available is access for communication classes to computers or laptops, and a PowerPoint screen. It’s a shame that the technology meant our first recorded presentations meant that many of us were almost blinded by an OHP light. I think that could have been avoided by having a better room. It’s a shame that the class has only changed location in the last month of the course.

Conclusions

I have learnt a lot from this course, how to time manage, finding different ways of revising, how to write essays. I have also found out how to structure my essays a lot better, when I think back to my first one for Jerry, structure was practically non-existent.

I think I’ve learnt more about myself from this course than I expected. My first thought was just to do as well as I could, but I’ve found I’ve done better than I thought I would. The fact I’ve got the marks I got, and passed things that I thought I’d panic, stress and therefore fail has allowed me to gain a bit more confidence with the things that I do, and I believe that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt.

Reflective Study Plan week beginning 19.05.2009

I have decided not to do the Spanish exam, and focus more on the History assessment and investigation as otherwise I feel like there's too much to do and it will cause me more stress.

I have done the second literature essay, but that still needs a bit of tweaking. I will do this on Friday afternoon.

The history assessment revision I'm focusing on just now. I've used a similar method to before which was to use coloured paper for different parts and to put parts of the essay onto it, so that I can visually remember the parts I need to write the essay during the assessment.

I have written out passages and possible quotations to be added into my history investigation as before it was mainly from one main source, which wasn't good. I plan to edit, rewrite and work on it on general once I have the literature essay tweaked. I hope to have it finished by the end of May or first week of June at the latest, as I'm away to Prague in the Czech Republic after that.

Pride Fills My Heart

Thanks Dieca I'm so happy to be given the honourable Tin Star.
I very much appreciate that; East Enders will be welcoming me with open arms from now on.
But it's good to hear you're doing well.

So far so good, my study plan:
This week I've been a bit of a lazy muncher. I've got 2.7 million piles of work to do.

Literature

• Comparison Valentine and Sonnet (from the very beginning of the course. To be fair, I have done about a page 'already')
• Comparison of The Awakening and A Doll's House
• Essay on an individually chosen book

History

• 'How did Hitler rise to power?' (This will be the worst task. As you can possibly imagine in Alemania we've been punched the story into our brains more than four times. Secondly, Evan's archaic style of teaching does not seem to ask us to draw the link to modern society -> e.g. how does the Nazi regime affect our modern society nowadays? This, I believe, is the most interesting part of history, innit?)
  Last night I began this essay and I got to 500-odd words. Not a huge success but hey, five hundred words are five hundred words.
  
• Choose a topic for the project we are required to do for history
  I've been thinking about posing the question, what could have prevented the so-called Islamic revolution in Iran; to what extent were the United States responsible for Saddam's bloody dictatorship; or maybe What crucial factors dominated Churchill's governance?
  

Finally I need to start writing Jerry's 5-minute-presentation and for the Spanish presentation.
That's it for the week...should be manageable, eh?

Study plan

I wasn't as successful as I'd hoped to be last week. I have managed to finish my personal study literature essay, and am more than half way through the second essay on The Awakening and A Doll's House. 

I have to prepare for my talk for communication tomorrow on Couchsurfing tonight. 

After Communication tomorrow, I plan to finish off the History Essay on Hitler by the evening. 

Then I will just need to work on Spanish essays for exam, memorisation of last history essay for assessment and my history investigation, which has been causing me a bit of hassle due to sources. Glad to say that has now been sorted. 

Hola

Just to let you know that I am still here and passing the time reading your contributions.
Gold star this week goes to Dom for a very good reflection on what he has learnt so far. If you haven't read it, do so, it may inspire you to write your own experiences.
Tin star goes to Mend, for just being there and making a contribution (albeit small!).
Bronze goes to the others who have been entering their study plan.
No stars for the absent ones (Arturo, donde estas?)
I am still worrying about you all, so please, do what Jordi tells you.
I hope to be back on Tuesday 12th May, and I hope your Spanish will have improved tremendously by then.
Love
Dieca

Reflection on my studies 29/04/09

Finished essay plan for Scott “The curious Incident of the dog in the night-time”.

Read first 4 chapters of “Doll’s house”.

Started planning history essay, need to complete first draft.

Didn’t revise any Spanish however, this will be my main focus this week (apart from maths).

Oh and guys...

before I forget,

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR THE UP COMING EU-ELECTIONS ON 4TH JUNE!

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

There you can register online to get the ballot paper sent to your address.

Thanks for your attention
Mend

Study Plan

During the week I will be reflecting on all Spanish tenses we've learnt so far.
Yesterday I started working on the latest history essay, apart from that I need to choose topics for literature. One for the most recent assessment for which I have to choose a book, the other one is a comparison of a poem and a short story.
For the last history assessment I need to think about what my European investigation assessment will be on. It wouldn't be that difficult if Evan wasn't asking us to pose a leading question. One possible topic could be about the roaring twenties and the cultural time just before Hitler got to power. At that time Berlin was a cultural heaven; diverse and colourful, with the 'Nastional Socialists' hanging like a carrot above the German people.

Study Plan week 20.04- 24.04

Wednesday-finishing off essays for history
Thursday-finishing off essays for history and revising some reflexive verbs in Spanish
Weekend-I'll spend at least 5 hours throughout the weekend revising in Spanish and Literature

Reflection on how pracrastination is the 'Thief of Time'!

I have spent the whole of my Easter holidays working. I have spent some time studying whenever possibility arised.

I have some work with whcih I am behind.

History: Assessment on Liberal and Labour Reforms.

Communication: To finish 2 written assessments.

Literature: A comparative essay on two litarray works.

Spanish: Start on preparing topic on presentation.

It feelss slightly overwhelming, but it is durable.

Target diary 22/04/09

* Finnish off “The Enlightenment” for Jerry.
* Start essay plan for Scott on prose.
* Do homework for Alecia due on Monday
* Revise Spanish verbs and Subjunctive tense.

Study Plan

Spanish Grammar and Vocabulary - planned to read extract of 'La Lengua de Mariposas' and learn new vocabulary; choose a topic on presentation in Spanish. I had begun doing more grammar exercises in Spanish and I am quite pleased about it, as once started motivation comes naturally.

Still have to complete assessment task for Communication class, which I am going to deal with tonight.

The two weeks' holiday would give me the necessary time to catch up with the work.

My Easter Study Plans.

It's ironic that although I have one or two essays to do still, I'm not too bothered with them as such. And like the Spanish I have to catch-up on, I'm confident that I can finish everything off, and be in a better position once we come back for the last term.

Obviously, in the case of the essays - one for Jerry ( if it doesn't get finished tomorrow) and another one for Evan's History class - I would have liked to have finished everything before the break, but if I don't I'm not going to worry about them too much and will finish them off during the holidays instead. It shouldn't be a big deal.

So, in that sense only Spanish remains for the holidays and I'll make preparations to be ready before we leave college on Thursday: Print out all the handouts; make arrangements with extra classes in the library for next term (this has already been done but will have to wait until we see the new time-table to finalise).

And that's it. Maths is completed. Scott's class only requires reading a book and play. Jerry maybe one more essay. One more essay for Evan's history class ( almost done anyway). And then there's Spanish Spanish Spanish!

I know I must sound like a broken record when I say I worry about Spanish. I do, but so be it. I would be more worried however, about why I did not at least attempt to do something about it. We shall see...

MY STUDY PLAN 25/03/09

I need to study for Spanish and history exam; this will be my main focus this week. I need to revise on verb endings is Spanish.

Also I need to look into funding for Stirling University.

Finnish off reading book for Scott “The Awakening”

How did I spend the last 2 hours

For the last 2 hours I have been watching "The enemies of reason" a BBC documentary program about science against superstitious.I took notes by pausing it and writing down the most significant remarks and experiments in the program.
I found this usefull,because tomorrow when I go to Communication class, I can just sit down and finish the Outcome 3 (which is based on this program).

11 March Studying Skills activities

During today's class I focused on how to compose a successful scholarship letter. As the deadline for most applications is set for the beggining of April I found it to be a vital thing to do. During my research I managed to find few addintional sources of founding and discovered great tips on writting a proper begging plead.

Study Plan for March

English Literature
Read next 30 pages of "the Awakening" and start reading Ibsen's "The Doll's House" - taking notes on each chapter, reviewing, and recapitulating.

Spanish
Work through the podcasts systematically, taking down vocab. and doiong exercises.
Also attach sheets of words to fridge and read them to reinforce what I've learned.

History
Take notes on the career of Otto Von Bismark and read handouts.

General
Look at sources of funding for University, the structure and content of the courses.

What I did today.
Discovered one source of funding and printed out application form.
Made a decision about the 2 courses for which I am going to confirm offers for - 1) Stirling (Spanish) and 2) Heriot Watt (Applied Languages)

Mondays - Revise for English Literature and do any Spanish homework

Tuesdays - Do some reading fro History on Nationalism inb Germany

Wednesdays - Podcasts and any Homework for communications

Fridays - Go to library and go over what I've done in the week

Saturday DAY OFF AS REWARD

Sundays - Do Targets diary for forthcoming week

Study Plan for March

* Go back to studying new Spanish vocabulary and grammar
* Finish my History Essay
* Finish my assessment for Literature
* Finish my second Listening Task in Communication 4

Mend's Study Plan

Study Plan

Target: Finish Assessment for Jerry (The Enemies Of Reason essay)

Target: learn two pages of Spanish vocabulary (thematical vocabulary)

Target: Read 30p from The Awakening (Literature class)

Target: Write History essay (Labour Government)

Target: Revise Spanish grammar (e.g. Tengo que..)

Target: Revise Nadine's History essay


Evaluation:

I've revised Nadine's essay and I've done the Spanish grammar. Also, I've done the Targets diary to Dieca's satisfaction. ;)

Passive Learning

Problems:
1. I've repeated a lot of information over and over again, without understanding it.
2. I've become tired and bored easily.
Suggestion how to solve that:
1. I have to see the information in a different way, and if I still can't understand it, I would ask somebody to explain it to me. Also I need to concentrate more on what I am reading or doing.I get distracted too often.
2. In order to avoid this,I have to find a system, of studying and revising, that will keep me interested for longer. For example, involving music, quizes or interesting excersises would keep me concentrated. Studying with somebody else and competing is another way too.

Effective revision

From the list of efective ways of revision and recalling information I identify myself with thy following ones:

1 Turning text into pictures on and the other way around as I have a better memory for the shape and form than for the plain text, unless the structure of a certain word remainds me of something.(eg. correr - shape of the letter 'r' signifies the runner and the fact that there are three letters 'r' creates the sense of being in a hurry or a race of latters 'r').

2 Using different coloured paper or highlihters (personaly I use three colours, green for underlining words and sentences of a special value (expressions, phrases), brown for new vocabulary and cicleling key turns in the text and black for general purpose with two kinds of underlining (single and duble line) to emphesise the meaning and make the information more condensed.

3 Putting material into strange or outrageous context (as most of us do when we summarise new text while reading).

4 Learning material in different places (as sometimes I can recall the information by focusing on a place where I was revising it).

5 Making numbered list is also pretty common in my revision process as one needs a general plan to follow at any work.

6 Making up rhymes although I try more to find a word that I already know and that sounds alike.

7 Learning with or theaching with other people. I often describe in detail to my flatmate what I am going to write about or do.(if the information is adequate or provided in the interesting tone, naturaly).

I am mostly clear about why I am learning certain things (if not I desperatly look for a good reason)because otherwise I would not touch a thing founding it usless or simply unnecessery. I dont give myself any rewards during the revision as I find it to be to distracting. Nevertheless I always reward myself after I achieve what I had planned with a good movie and a glass of wine or else. I am gradually becoming more aware of how the information and skills we are being thought fit into our future learning, as the course progresses. Depending on my attitude and morals I try to visualise myself achieving the outcome most of the time. If I am field with to many doubts I just try to think of the grief amd dissapointment I will have in the future looking at my unfinished buisnesses. I try to eat and drink before and after revision period as I get easly distracted. If it comes to revision materials I try to preapare everything before I sit and start revising. Oh yes, I often get up and strech myself while looking through the window and that relaxes me a lot so I can quicly come back to what i was doing. I usualy test myself by telling about the content of the material I have studied to my flatmate or myself (although not aloud) if I still have any dificulties or the story lacks some important information I tend to revise again but only for missing information. When I revise a difficult or simply boring paper I usualy try to find an information that is in my field of interst or somhow controvertial and build up the rest of the story aroun it. Unfortunatelly my revision process is not always free from disturbing noises, quarrels and libations as i live in quite a dogy neighberhood and I find late evening hours as most productive time for my studying.

Example of Passive and Active Learning

In English Literature, we were given a handout or rather an Act from the play Educating Rita by Willie Russell with questions. We followed the instructions on the question sheet after Scott had read aloud the extract from the play. However I could have made it more of an active, as opposed to passive, exercise by firstly relating it to my own personal educational journey and as aclasss, whilst reading the play, one of us could have assumed the role of either Rita or Frank, thereby making it far more interactive and more of an active, enriching experience.

Reflective Study Plan.

Session date

04.03.2009

What did I do this week/session?

I read The Awakening by Kate Chopin, I've been ill the past week so I have tried not to waste my time completely. I also wrote a letter in French for the second assessment, and tried to do some history revision, Arturo is going to give me copies of the German History section that we were given last week. I also did an initial draft of the Extended Reading and Viewing essay for Spanish, but it needs a bit more work. I also read a bit on the Inca downfall as an initial start on research for history investigation.*

What was the most interesting thing I did for this session (mark it above with an asterisk) - why was that?

Probably reading a bit on the downfall of Inca history as the beginning of my history investigation, I haven't decided on the title yet though.

What were three main things I learned from this session?

I learnt a bit of French and about Creole culture from reading the awakening, I also enjoyed reading about the conflict within the Inca family before the Spanish conquest.


One thing I learned in this session that I may be able to use in future is...

Reading about the beginning of the downfall of the Inca Royal family has enabled me to have a bit more of an insight and has encouraged me to keep reading. I have enjoyed reading to improve my previously vague knowledge of this period of history, and will try and apply it to other subjects in which I am interested in.

Ideas for action, based on this session...

To keep reading and to note down things I feel are relevant to the topic, this is more or less what I have been trying to do, and to practice Spanish conversation on my topics for advanced higher spanish more with those that are Spanish speakers, i.e. boyfriend

What I most disliked about this session was...

Being ill, but I forced myself to come in on Monday, today and will do so tomorrow in order to get through assessments not yet completed.

Study plan 11/Feb/09

This week I need to finish off history essay.
Learn Spanish vocabulary (future tense) and revise old vocabulary
Start plan for Scott’s essay
Dodge maths class again!!!!

my study plans for week 09.02.2009-13.02.2009

On Tuesday-to do my homework in Spanish,and complete the study plan for this week.
Wednesday-to finish my notes for Communications (Word of Mouth 2)
Thursday- to finish the essay for History.
Friday-to go to dtop-in classes in Maths and finish with the investigating.

This past week

Session date

10.02.2009

What did I do this week/session?

I have had to memorize a presentation, which I will do tomorrow. I have made amendments to original powerpoint show, in order to remember the statistics a bit better. I also wrote up notes for Communication for Jerry, using the Cornell method, which although rather interesting.* I also looked at the character of Frank and his advice on essay writing for Literature.

What was the most interesting thing I did for this session (mark it above with an asterisk) - why was that?

Using the Cornell method was useful, but I found it a bit complex for my liking. I can write a bit of short hand and find that easier rather than this. However it may just be a case of practising.

What were three main things I learned from this session?

I have learnt about the Cornell method, and how to make a powerpoint effective in order to remember certain facts, on top of the imperfect subjunctive.

What did I previously think was true, but now know to be wrong?

I found the word of mouth programme on languages very interesting. It has made me more aware of the different ways of which we can unconsciously switch to and from a language.

What did I not do that I expected I should have done?

History revision, that'll have to be tackled tonight.

What was new or surprising to me?

That it's taking me so long to get round to history revision, I thought I would of at least started it over the weekend.

What have I changed my mind about, as a result of this session?

I have decided to introduce myself to researching a bit about the fall of the Inca empire for my history investigation, seen as originally I was going to do it on Irish history.

One thing I learned in this session that I may be able to use in future is...

Not to set things in stone to much, I am now doing my presentation for Spanish tomorrow, but thought I'd of done it by yesterday.

Ideas for action, based on this session...

To research history topic.

What I most liked about this session was...

The fact that I passed my first Spanish assessment, and have passed literature essay.

What I most disliked about this session was...

I still feel like I've not done much.

Thoughts after watching presentation

Generally speaking I am an exceptionally nervous person and personally find the form of presentation as most problematic one. The only way to change this, I assume, is to practice more. Nevertheless, in my opinion it is hard to change ones character and suddenly turn into a confident and socially open person even only for the time of presentation (unless a shot of sth stronger would be allowed). Like most of my colleagues from the course, I felt embarrassed while watching my presentation as it is hard to be critical to ourselves.

Learning Reminiscences

After Diecas request upon thoughtful reading I have done some research on how I approach different texts.
Firstly I read the whole thing fairly quickly but with compleate understanding, underlying the fragments that will be vital for my work and let me quickly find my way through the article again.
After getting familiar with the text I try to work out how can I stucture my own work according to the material I have read.

Finely, after coming up with a vage structure for my work I read the material again, although I tend to be more focused as this is when a final shape of my work is being formed.

From the newly adapted ideas (proposed by Dieca)I am getting used to taking notes if I come accross sth interesting. I find it very helpful alhtough very invasive and distracting method as I newer could be bothered to do that in the past, knowing how bad will that affect my competency.

Reflective study plan

Reflective study plan
I started reading a book yesterday, and tryed to use the new study technics that we learned.
I found it very helpful to take notes of important parts while reading.I'm going to use this in future.

Reflexive study plan 28 Jan. 09

Last night I used some of the new strategies (for reading to comprehend and learn) which we talked about in study skills yesterday. I found them very helpful. Techniques such as; read for a purpose, survey -skim and question helped me when I read for my history essay and made it easier to plan. I will now use these techniques in all my classes.

Also, after we talked in class about the different methods of study when learning a language (flash cards, colour coding, pictures and lists) I have realised that I have a visual memory. I work best with drawings, spidergrams, pictures and colour coding as apposed to learning from lists or long texts.

Reflective study plan

Session date
19.01.209

What did I do this week/session?
I put my Spanish presentation on PowerPoint, did the second draft of letter for French, and finished the history essay*. I did about 4 hours of French conversation with three French people.* I also managed to do French grammar practice.

What was the most interesting thing I did for this session (mark it above with an asterisk) - why was that?
I planned the history essay. The history did take me longer than I thought and although it took ages, I felt I had a lot of information in it from the research I had done for it, and was quite proud of what I’d achieved.

What were three main things I learned from this session?
I learnt more about how to phrase sentences in French as I was saying things in a very English way. Meeting with the French people was also really good for me, as I now feel I’m a bit more confident speaking French.

What did I previously think was true, but now know to be wrong?
I didn’t manage to do as many things as I wanted to, I learnt I do try and cram too much stuff into studying during the week or weekend. So I’m going to try and be realistic in my targets.

What did I not do that I expected I should have done?
I didn’t manage to edit my Communication essay as I thought, I will get round to it when I have a spare moment, hopefully by end of Feb. I also wanted to memorize a few things for both Spanish and French assessments.

What was new or surprising to me?
The fact that I managed to do some French grammar practice, I’m going to try and do the same with Spanish. I have though been looking at prepositions and pronouns.

What have I changed my mind about, as a result of this session?
To plan what I put into essays from now on.One thing I learned in this session that I may be able to use in future is...To plan what tasks I do better, and make sure that what I’m doing is in a manageable timescale, that doesn’t get me stressed.

I am still unsure about...
Some of the tenses to use when writing in French.

Ideas for action, based on this session...
To plan essays, so I don’t spend too long on them. To allocate enough time for each task whether it be revision or homework, on a realistic timescale.

What I most liked about this session was...I liked the fact that although I still have quite a few tasks to do and assessments, I have managed to get work on most of them.

What I most disliked about this session was...Not having set realistic targets, thus not being able to complete all I wanted to have done by the beginning of this week.

Miscellaneous interesting facts I learned this week
How to say hello in Czech and that I do remember a lot of French despite it having taken a while to get out of the security volt tucked away in the back of my head.