London series: Notes

The importance of preparing your notes for class vary on the type of class. For lectures, your notes might be quite useless in general. This is because you’ll be writing new notes and struggling to listen to the lecturer as they explain the material. Checking your previous notes becomes a hassle and might actually compromise your concentration in class. However, for seminars notes are an essential to prepare beforehand. As seminars are generally practical and require you to complete tasks, having your notes with you will be a huge help because nobody should expect you to have memorised everything that has been taught to you over the progression of your studies. Having your notes on hand will definitely help you complete the tasks in your seminars and avoid a wasteful session of unguided confusion.

London series: Breakfast

Breakfast is a very straightforward pre-class essential for uni. Its literally useful for having energy when you start your day. This is important because in-class lectures shouldn’t be underestimated. They could drain your energy inconspicuously and you’ll be left starving by noon with 2 more classes to go.

A typical uni student breakfast doesn’t have to have all the essentials of a healthy diet. In fact, a simple yet enjoyable, filling and easily eaten breakfast is usually of preference for uni students. Quick meals such as oats, sandwiches or eggs are popular breakfast choices for students who strive to stay energised in the morning. This is because those meals can usually be added to with condiments such as peanut butter, fruits or sausages to help fill you app. In addition, uni halls usually provide breakfast for students. These breakfasts are usually made up of common English breakfast cuisine. Here you’ll find yourself eating fish, beans, toast, pastries, eggs and sausages with drinks such as tea, juice or regular water on a daily basis.

Breakfast might not be the most essential for uni students who can survive on an empty stomach. However, it is important to note that even as a student your health should take precedence before fitting in all sorts of agendas within your daily schedule. A healthy lifestyle will breed a healthy student that’ll ultimately gain both academic success and maintenance of your personal well-being.

London series: Equipment

The equipment you need for class is really important for you to prepare beforehand. Cases of having to run back home to get a forgotten book or tool is quite common for university students who have to juggle several modules and extracurricular activities. This happens frequently as some universities still use printed booklets for learning as opposed to fully digitised learning resources, so sometimes you might have to bring 5 books a day which could get confusing. Anyway, the top two three things you would probably have to prepare is any booklets/reading, worksheets and note-taking impedimenta.

First, booklets/readings are important to remember to bring. If your class requires you to bring them anything you do would probably revolve around them and sharing a booklet is inconvenient, unless you’re doing it to socialise with other students. However, not bringing them would force you to ask for notes from other students and you would probably not have as much leeway to write whatever you want on someone else’s booklet.

Second, worksheets are important for more social purposes. This is because you would probably be publicly shamed for not bringing yours by a stricter lecturer and that is quite undesirable. Bringing them would also help you understand the material personally as any answers or mistakes you make individually can be corrected during class.

Third, note-taking utensils are very important for you to bring. Lectures in London universities are quite important as most of the knowledge you need is delivered verbally by the lecturer. This requires you to either memorise on first hearing or bring up the lecturer’s powerpoint that they have shared and add additional notes on the slides. For note-taking, Ipads or other tablets are usually the most convenient as they are light to bring and are versatile allowing you to type (with a case) or write (with a digital pencil).

London series: Pre-class Reading

Pre-class reading is a relatively important part of your in-class learning process. This is because to have an enjoyable learning experience you do need to have some prior context of the materials that you will be taught in class. Doing pre-class reading will usually help you understand the concepts being taught as they are generally used as case studies. Knowledge of the contents of the reading will meet the lecturer’s teachings half way for you to fully understand the material. This is a very common case in social science courses such as politics or history as they usually learn about theories based on events that have happened in real life. Additionally, the moment when you have any confusion after doing the reading and the lecturer explains exactly what you were wondering can become a particularly euphoric experience as its relatively rewarding.

When doing pre-class reading, taking notes is an helpful method in understanding the contents. By taking notes, you don’t have to memorise the contents of the reading and can refer to your notes when the lecturer is explaining or when you want to keep a question in mind to ask during class. Doing this is particularly useful for students whose grades are in danger of failing as it is effective and the panic these students experience are probably sufficient catalysts for them to expend more effort to study.

Despite all of this, not doing the reading would not be the end of the world. Lecturers are generally rather lenient and would not publicly shame you for not knowing the contents of the assigned reading. They would probably let it slide but you would probably have to do extra revision compared to your friends that were more well-prepared for the class.

London series: Pre-class Assignments

Pre-class assignments are sometimes given by lecturers to students as a brief introduction for the material that will be taught in class. These assignments are generally quite useful as they get students to think about a certain concept without any prior knowledge given to them by the lecturer. By completing these assignments, students are able to digest the material given in class more easily and prepare any questions they might have before the class. Pre-class assignments are usually in the form of worksheets, tables or questions that lecturers provide along with reading to complete. However, pre-class assignments are not an essential part of the learning process, especially during online classes as they will probably discussed with the entire class along with the lecturer’s teaching. Considering this, completing them shouldn’t give you too much of a headache. Nevertheless, having the dedication to complete pre-class assignments will only benefit your learning experience in class.

London Series: Pre-Class prep

Pre-Class prep might seem like a trivial ordeal to partake in. However, for those of you truly want to grasp the material explained in class this is an essential part of studying in a UK uni. Similarly, for those of you who can’t be bothered to listen in class, this step could serve as a contextualising mechanism for when your reviewing the notes your attentive friend took. Either way, pre-class prep is an underrated and essential part of being a uni student in the UK and these tips will definitely help your learning style.

  • Reading
  • Assignments
  • Equipment
  • Breakfast
  • Notes