{"id":93,"date":"2017-04-11T13:17:43","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T13:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/?p=93"},"modified":"2017-04-12T08:57:05","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T08:57:05","slug":"independent-learning-does-not-mean-going-it-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/2017\/04\/11\/independent-learning-does-not-mean-going-it-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent learning doesn’t mean going it alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ll 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\u2019t mean doing it all on your own.<\/p>\n

So, what is independent learning then? For starters, here are six key things you\u2019ll be expected to do:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Manage your time<\/strong>. You will have control over when and where you study so it\u2019s 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\u2019t forget to leave space for doing nothing in particular.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Motivate yourself<\/strong>. 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\u2019t hesitate to contact your Student Learning Advisor<\/u><\/a> or someone else you think might help.<\/li>\n
    2. Make choices and take responsibility for your learning<\/strong>. You\u2019ll 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\u2019ve made a choice that feels wrong, make sure you talk to your Academic Tutor in your department.<\/li>\n
    3. Find, select and use learning resources<\/strong>. You\u2019ll have plenty of opportunities to learn how to use the library and the learning resources for your course. There\u2019ll be information sessions and drop-ins available and you can contact your Academic Liaison Librarian at the Library<\/u><\/a> at any time with a question.<\/li>\n
    4. Think things through<\/strong>. You\u2019ll 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\u2019s plenty of guidance about how to develop your critical thinking on the Learning Development<\/u><\/a> website.<\/li>\n
    5. Find out how to access support<\/strong>. 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<\/u><\/a> available at Lancaster, so do make the most of what\u2019s on offer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      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\u2019ll learn a great deal about yourself as well as your chosen subject.<\/p>\n

      Image: Tom Longman<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      You\u2019ll 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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-preparing-for-study"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9xGnL-1v","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions\/100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}