Literature Review

Although I have heard the word literature before I never understood the proper meaning. When we were told we are going to be doing a literature review I was quite taken back because I had not got a clue what to be doing or where to start. The lecture helped as it broke it down bit by bit and was easier to understand.

A literature review is a review of any literature written by others on a topic which is being written about. The main point of one of these reviews is to question the topics theory or concept.

What I found hard was the topic we had to do our review on. Most times when compiling a literature review it is important to pick a subject that interests you or you can relate to. This would help you in your opinion if you agree or disagree with the authors points.

Books, articles, journals and reports are good sources to locate good literature. It is important to remember that there is a structure in these reviews. An introduction, the main body and a conclusion. The main body is the largest part, where you discuss the authors points. The conclusion is where you either accept or reject the authors reviews.

The conclusion is where I struggled to come to an outright opinion as in my case I agreed with some of the authors points while rejecting some others.

Finally I would stress that it is important not to be too biased as others might be reading your work in the future.

Time Management

After returning to college this year after a number of years outside college I have found it quite hard to actually get into a routine and use my time studying. I thought that it would all just come back to me. I have come to see that it is essential to use your time appropriately and spread out your schedule so not to be snowed in with work all the time.

There a number of ways I have learned to use my time thanks to lectures on time management http://www.askmen.com/money/successful_100/109_success.html. At first I felt myself just studying for hours without remembering much the next day. What I found useful is to take ten minute breaks every hour can help relax the mind.

Creating a schedule is important as the work can be divided over a number of days and it can be a way of keeping on top of things. It is important for the schedules to be flexible as there can be times when something comes up. Remember to socialise as well. Although studying is important, do not let yourself get worked up and stressed over college. This helps me take my mind of things.

When I am in class I write down as much of the lecture as I can. When I go home I re-read the notes and highlight the parts I have found to be most important. This helps save time and keeps your notes in order.

Without an organised schedule you are facing an uphill battle. Be precise and take your time.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism can be defined as practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Before coming to ITB I attended two previous colleges so I had an idea of what plagiarism was. What I didn't know was how important it was though.

ITB takes plagiarism very seriously. If I was too hand up assignments from previous colleges I am sure that most of it would not be acceptable and would be very plagiarised.

The point of referencing your work is to give the author you are referencing credit for his/her work.


 Bibliography or a reference list should be provided at the end of each assignment to show where you have sourced your information and a way of tracing your work. I feel it not only helps the lecturers but it also helps me for when I go over my assignments and know where I got my information.


Plagiarism can occur when people

• Fail to distinguish between their own ideas and those of others and
• lose track of their sources they have taken down

What tends to help me is when I am doing an assignment is to open a second word account and every time your you is source is too take it down straight away so you do not lose track of them. I hope this can be of use to those facing plagiarism for the first time.

Effective Presentations

Presentations can be a nerve racking experience. Some people find it hard to stand up and deliver their presentation in front of a room of people. I recently had this challenge to do. Like others I found it tough first picking a subject to do.

What I found helpful was deciding to do the presentation on a subject I was familiar with. This can help people as the subject can just roll of the tongue and not make you stutter and tighten up. From my lectures we got useful tips, like looking at your audience and not talking too fast. This helped me as it made me connect to my audience. It is important when doing a presentation to speak clear and be fully prepared.

Cue cards can be a good choice for presentations. If using cue cards it would be helpful to have small words on them which act like trigger words to help with the speed of your presentation.

When dealing with a presentation it is important to make it clear of your aims of this presentation. There should an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. If you are like me I would ask to have questions asked after the presentation as I feel this can be an uneccesary distraction and could throw you off course.

Finally I would say is dont panic and get stressed as most others are in the same position as you. Take your time and relax!

1. Effective Note Taking

Having clear and precise notes can go a long way to helping students deal with understanding the subject more. Often while in class I find myself daydreaming if I do not take notes.

The benefits of effective note taking (http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic/notes-tips.htm) can include having the lectures topic summarised into smaller words which will help you understand them more when you got to revise for assignments or exams.Another tip I find handy is to have the notes clear and noticeable. This can be done by using a different colour pen as a way of highlighting what is important. When entering a lecture or a tutorial, reading after the last classes notes will help you prepare and understand the topic more.

Another important part of note taking is to be on time and ready to go. If you are late there will already be parts of the lecture you have missed and you will find it hard to understand and catch up on the notes.

There are numerous ways to take down notes. They are

1. Cornell Format
2. Outline Format
3. Sentence Format and
4. Mind Mapping

What I prefer is to listen out for key words and have them as a separate paragraph with bullet points underneath. This helps me remember that this is a new section of the lecture. Finally it is essential to re read your notes. They say after 30 minutes of leaving the lecture 50% of information has been lost, by re-reading it should help keep it fresh in your memory!