Homework. Whether you loved it or hated it, you couldn’t get away from it.
photo by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino
At university, much of your coursework is similar to homework. You do it in your own chosen time, outside of lectures/seminars/tutorials, and with particular deadlines.
New research has come to the conclusion that age and gender differences play a part in how students complete their homework. Younger students seemed to prefer working with friends and outside the home. Older students were happier on their own, in the house. Girls, regardless of age, were more stressed working on their own, preferring to work with friends. Boys, on the other hand, weren’t as interested in working with others.
At uni, you have far more flexibility over your study environment. That includes whether or not you work with other people, when you choose to study, and where you wish to do the work.
Because coursework is like an extended type of homework, it pays to examine what situations work best for you. Surrounded by quiet fields or in a loud and busy setting? With others or away from the rest of the world?
If you found homework a hassle and you’re struggling to find coursework much better, a change of setting may be all you need to alter your attitude for the better.
You need answers. The solution, you may think, is to look for answers. After all, you need them.
Or do you?
An ‘answer’ is like finding a solution, or developing a set of guaranteed instructions. Your search for the answer is usually a search for step by step detail to get from one place to another.
However, it’s hard to find answers when there are only possibilities. A to B is hardly ever restricted to a single route. Worse still, the route is constantly changing.
photo by Crystal Writer
When nothing simple presents itself, the search is often intensified. But you’re just spending more time on a fruitless exercise. Rather than attempt to beat the game, expand your vision beyond objectives. With trillions of ever-moving variables, it’s easier to temper chaos, rather than control it.
For too long, qualifications have been seen as the route to bigger and better things. But it should only be one aspect of a wider aim:
“…anything less than top grades has become tantamount to failure. This leaves little room for experimentation, creativity, or mistakes. Inquisitive learning that is driven by an interest in knowledge and learning for its own sake is squeezed out by consumer-driven demand for acquisitive learning. It involves learning what is necessary to pass examinations or motivated by a need to impress employers with one’s range of extracurricular activities and achievements. It is based on a model of individual rational calculation where the wider purpose of learning has been lost.” [p145 – The Global Auction]
Searching for progress and new discoveries should still be undertaken. The search should never stop.
Forget answers. Your search should be a more open-ended type of enquiry. It’s okay to be vague. Not everything requires an absolute, drilled-down focus to the last speck of detail.
You do need a basic plan of some kind (but it’s flexible), you do need awareness of the general direction you’re trying to take (but it’s bound to change), and you do need conviction in what you’re doing (but that doesn’t mean you’re unmovable & stubborn).
This works for smaller goals, not just grand plans. Writing an essay, for instance, usually involves a search for different views and arguments, proving that there’s no absolute answer. Yet you reach your own conclusion and demonstrate your own results.
If certainty and clear answers ruled the world, higher learning wouldn’t be as important as it is today. Learning can solve problems, but only when it sets out to improve and discover, not when it sets out to staunchly answer.
Just because it’s published, doesn’t mean it’s true.
photo by eye.contact
When you’re researching, think about the following ten things before you accept what you’re reading:
Who wrote the piece – What’s their perspective, intention, bias, belief, and so on?
When it was written – Is the information relevant and accurate to today?
The methodology – Is it clear and does it cover enough ground to be accurate, consistent & useful?
Any obvious bias – Is it written in a searching way, or is it trying to persuade you it’s correct?
References & sources used – Have they covered enough ground and are the sources trustworthy and worthy of use?
Missing links & blind spots – If something is missing, has it been left out deliberately, or is it merely an oversight?
Lack of references, generalisation and stating points as if they are facts (but are not) – Are you reading an opinion piece or an academic study?
Your own understanding & opinion – You should never believe what you read just because it’s in a journal or written by a respected academic. What perspective do you have on the issues under discussion? And have you seen other pieces arguing in a different direction?
Other works by the same author(s) – What other relevant output could expand upon this? Do they have anything more recent and/or fitting to what you’re researching?
Reception within the academic community – In some cases, especially for older academic papers, a healthy number of citations probably means you’ve got a respected paper or a highly criticised paper. A quick check on sites like Google Scholar should give a taste of how many times the paper has been cited. You’re also given the titles of those papers, which is handy for finding more relevant reading material. Result!
What do you like to check for when you’re researching?
A mind map is a great aid to exploring subjects and concepts. From the initial word or outline, you take a creative journey to uncover many links and associations.
Example of a Mind Map (from Wikipedia)
Mind maps help you produce a more visual representation of linked ideas, allowing you to dig deeper without losing sight of your original purpose. You can take the research journey full circle by using your sub-links to find more information, then by re-associating your new findings through the key concept you started with.
If you’ve not seen them before, or want a recap of the basics, check the video at the bottom of this post for an example of a mind map in development. For remembering key facts and forming a basic, overall awareness of something, they’re great. You can easily add more to them and shape them in a way that benefits you.
There are a huge number of services for creating mind maps on computer and online. Chuck Frey has put together a huge resource list of all the mindmapping tools currently available. There are so many tools out there, you’re spoilt for choice.
But be warned. Mind maps aren’t a perfect study tool: “A disadvantage of mind mapping is that the types of links being made are limited to simple associations. Absence of clear links between ideas is a constraint.” (Davies)
In other words, mind maps don’t hold all the information in themselves. They can be used for stepping beyond the basics, but they require your effort to do so. It is only through your own work before and/or after compiling a mind map that you can gain greater insight in your area of study.
I’ve used mind maps in the past to help me gain an overview or to prize basic ideas from my mind. But, as I mentioned above, I cannot rely on them to give me a complex understanding or a range of differing views.
I used mind maps in two different ways:
To explore where I needed to go next in order to make learning leaps;
To highlight key elements of prior learning to serve as a simple reminder or as a way to visually link what I was studying.
Mind maps took me beyond linear thinking. They were a way of getting linear thoughts and creative processes working together. I still had a structure in the mind maps, but it was less restrictive, allowing me to play with ideas more freely.
The use of this technique serves to benefit your study. Davies explains:
“Learning simply by reading textbooks, or listening to a presentation (incorporating linear-structured Powerpoint slides) is far more likely to result in non-learning or rote learning (Hay et al. 2008). However, if students are asked to study, draw or manipulate a map of what they have learned, this may yield improved learning because it is more usable. This is because maps aid in linking new information with what they already know.”
When faced with a visual representation of key concepts and thoughts:
You are no longer limited to a linear way of thinking. You gain an extra dimension to what you’re learning;
The text is placed in a more visual representation (possibly with actual pictures), which aids learning further;
Links are more obvious and it’s easy to drill down to sub-topics.
Mind maps are also great for making rough plans for an essay or dissertation. You can take all the ideas/concepts you wish to write about, branch off to different areas of your essay (introduction, methods, references, conclusions, etc.), and add to your mind map as you see fit.
Jumping between unrelated elements of the same overall topic is much easier in this visual form. You don’t risk losing your place or making so much mess on the page.
And if you use Wikipedia to get a grasp of topics, WikiMindMap brings the data to you in a mind map style. It helps most when you’re exploring a subject and want to find related items to research further.
I’ve already quoted twice from a new journal article by Martin Davies. His paper looks at differences between different types of mapping, including ‘concept maps‘ and ‘argument maps‘. These other types of mapping are less likely to be used in an everyday study scenario. Davies says that “students will have to do a considerable amount of initial reading and thinking and struggle with key concepts before coming to an understanding of the exact task they need to complete. It is only after this process that the student can map an argument.”
Nevertheless, Davies moves on to discuss the future of ‘mapping’ in education and suggests that different types of maps can benefit at different stages of research and writing. New, “as yet unrealised and potentially complementary functions” may help students greatly once software can provide the relevant links.
The possibilities have potential to be pretty impressive. If you want the academic lowdown, the paper is in the journal ‘Higher Education’, which is free to view until December 31st 2010. The paper can be viewed here.
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