You’ll have heard a lot of people saying that studying at university means becoming an independent learner. This can sound quite a daunting prospect, especially if you have received a lot of guidance and support in your studies up until now. The good news is that being an independent learner doesn’t mean doing it all on your own.

So, what is independent learning then? For starters, here are six key things you’ll be expected to do:

1. Manage your time. You will have control over when and where you study so it’s a good idea to create a weekly timetable that suits you and helps you avoid stress. Build in time for study, for important commitments and for fun. Don’t forget to leave space for doing nothing in particular.

1. Motivate yourself. It will be up to you to keep going, even when things are tough. Now is the time to think about your own goals and strategies and to be prepared to adjust them as time goes on. If your motivation falters, there is always someone to talk to, so don’t hesitate to contact your Student Learning Advisor or someone else you think might help.
2. Make choices and take responsibility for your learning. You’ll be choosing your study pathway at university, depending on your interests. This can give you a feeling of great freedom, but if you find you’ve made a choice that feels wrong, make sure you talk to your Academic Tutor in your department.
3. Find, select and use learning resources. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn how to use the library and the learning resources for your course. There’ll be information sessions and drop-ins available and you can contact your Academic Liaison Librarian at the Library at any time with a question.
4. Think things through. You’ll be encouraged to analyse, question and think deeply about what you are learning. There will be opportunities to talk about what you are learning with others, both formally and informally. This will help you to develop a critical perspective within your subject area and to show this in your written assignments. There’s plenty of guidance about how to develop your critical thinking on the Learning Development website.
5. Find out how to access support. Part of being independent is knowing where and how to access all the services designed to support you along the way. There is a whole range of support available at Lancaster, so do make the most of what’s on offer.

So, make the most of your freedom and get ready to try things out. Expect the experience to be challenging in unexpected ways, but keep an open mind and you’ll learn a great deal about yourself as well as your chosen subject.

Image: Tom Longman

Starting to study at university can be a challenge for a range of reasons. It might be that you’ve found studying straightforward so far and you’ve never had to dig really deep to excel. If this is the case, you might not yet have developed familiar strategies to deal with difficulty because you may not have needed them. On the other hand, you may have already found previous study experiences a struggle and now you are afraid that you might not really ‘belong’ at university. You may be tempted to think that you got here by fluke.

These situations are not unusual and they can create negative thoughts that get in the way of developing as a learner. Here are some tips that can help when dealing with struggle:

• Expect to be pushed out of your comfort zone. Lancaster University would not be doing you any favours if the experience here did not push you to develop. Sometimes you’ll find that a new learning experience really challenges you; perhaps it will be the experience of group-work, or speaking out in seminars, or giving presentations that cause concern. When this happens, try to see the experience as a learning opportunity. Even if it feels uncomfortable at the time, students tell us that they inevitably reach a point where they were glad to have had the chance to try something new and to develop new skills as a result. However, if the experience does turn into something that feels overwhelming, do not hesitate to talk to someone such as your Academic Tutor, your Student Learning Advisor or Wellbeing Services.
• Recognise your inner voice, especially if it tends to be negative. Challenge that inner voice and try to turn the statements round so that they are more positive. If you hear yourself saying ‘I’m not good enough’, or ‘I’ll never get this’, or ‘Everyone else knows what they’re doing’, find a way to break into those thoughts and change them. Remind yourself that you absolutely do deserve to be here, and rest assured, there are lots of other students around you who are experiencing similar feelings.
• Recognise that intelligence is not ‘fixed’. You do not come into university as a person with ‘fixed’ ability. You come into university as a person with great potential for development. It’s up to you to develop learning strategies and make the most of the opportunities that will ensure your success.
• Create study habits and strategies to help you develop. Think about how you will use your time, how you will approach the new knowledge, how you will develop your skills. Get some ideas from the Learning Development website for developing as an independent learner, a critical thinker and a skilled manager of your own time and resources.
• Learn from failure. Getting lower grades than you hoped for is never a pleasant experience, but sometimes this can be where the greatest learning opportunities present themselves. Make the most of your feedback and contact your academic tutor or Student Learning Advisor to talk things through, put some strategies in place and improve for next time. Remember that, for undergraduates, the first year is an opportunity to find your feet and mistakes may well be made along the way. You are not alone in experiencing this.
• Talk it through. There is a whole range of support available at Lancaster, so make the most of what’s on offer. Accessing support is a positive step to make and it can enrich your learning experience.

Meanwhile, the Learning Development team wish you all the best for your studies, now and in the future!

Image: Mike Zhang, Pixabay