Learning Skills and Guidance

Tips and reflections

Consider what learning skills you might need to use

Online & distance learning might be a totally new experience to you. It may have been some time since you last studied, so be prepared to explore the structure of the course and see what activities you will be engaging in.

No matter what type of learner you are, you will get more out of your learning experience by knowing what to expect and being prepared for it.

Identify and explore your preferred style(s) of learning

For some learners, taking the time to consider and identify what their preferred learning style is can be an opportunity to evaluate past learning experiences and to explore new ones. Even if you think that you really know yourself and have a set way of learning in your mind, a review of how others approach learning can introduce you to methods which you may not have tried before, and which may have a place in your learning skills inventory on the MS.

...the opportunity to reflect, to think, to read something and ponder over it is quite critical. … So, I think you should experiment yourself, because whatever course you are following, it is not just about learning the content. It's also about discovering your own strengths and weaknesses, developing your own learning skills and capabilities. At the end of your program, like many of our students, I hope you'll be able to say, "I've learnt as much about myself as about management theory", and that's true, and the best way of doing that is to try out different methodologies.

Simon Croom, SCMI Executive Director

You have to know yourself to a degree, but I don't think you should box yourself and I think it's very easy to think "Oh well I must be that type of learner, therefore I must study in this way", but I think the thing to do is feel it and try it and see what happens, and if something works, that's great and you've obviously got a formula that works but don't be afraid of trying something else because, even if it doesn't work, you've not actually lost anything. All of it is good experience.

Student

Consider what learning skills you may need to develop:

This program might be very different from previous learning experiences, so you need to consider what skills you might need and if there are any particular areas in which you need to develop or refresh techniques; for example, in:

• essay/report writing
• basic statistical techniques
• satisficing - knowing when something is 'good enough'
• team working
• time management

I think what's interesting with it being a management qualification is that it needs a whole range of skills and that's basically one of its strengths - that it allows you to develop your abilities in areas which maybe aren't things that you naturally have a predisposition towards.Graduate

Explore different approaches to working through the learning materials

There is no single, right way to work with distance learning materials. If you find a range of approaches that work for you, and can create a routine, then you will be an effective learner. Reading the lecture materials and additional reading are clearly the key to your courses, but we see great variation in the way that students use them.

My approach to studying was methodical. I would do the required reading, work through the lesson and make notes as I go along. If I don't make notes, I don't seem to engage with the material. Note taking was also useful for revision and, being in my own words, made more sense to me! I tried to make note taking more interesting and dynamic by using illustrations and charts rather than reams of text - a new approach for me.

Graduate

I started off with the textbooks. At the front of each lesson in the folders is a number of chapters that are offered as set reading, and I would start with that and do the reading first. Using a textbook, to me, was really like using your own notes, it was very interactive … I would use a high lighter and write through the margins and even write a summary at the beginning of the chapter if I thought it was necessary. I'd have a series of points on the front page of the chapter in the textbook..

Graduate

I will read through a lesson and the accompanying readings 2 - 3 times. I will often start with the readings, as I have found that the lessons conveniently summarize these. Once I have finished my reading I will then start to make notes on what I have read, summarizing both the readings and the material in the lessons. As I do this I will refer back to the readings and the notes continuously.

Student

My advice to someone trying to get through the range of lesson materials and readings is quite obvious. Read through the materials as thoroughly as possible a number of times. Although this will take some time on the first pass, after the second or third reading you will be in a position where it is very easy to make a concise set of notes quickly that captures all of the main points in the lesson. In the beginning I only read through the material once and then found that it took me a long time to make a thorough set of notes. However, I found that if I spent more time on reading and understanding the lessons in the beginning then the note taking actually became very easy.

Student

I am still going through the first year, so I am sure my learning style and process will develop through experience as it has been evolving continuously. However, I believe that key to success requires:

• Hard work and commitment
• Essential reading through lesson notes and text provided
• Asking questions/help when needed - through professors, discussion boards and other colleagues
• Having a study plan and keeping up with it
• Completing and submitting assignments

Student

In terms of study, I am slow and methodical, which works for me! I try to read everything once only, and actively highlight what I see as being significant. I also try to draw a one-sheet summary (Legal size paper) of each lesson, as a mind map (a technique that I hadn't used previously, but which was a tip from a student some years ago). This visual record really helps when it comes to exam revision - for the context, rather than the detail. I learn the detail by reviewing my highlights. And by the time of the exams my lesson notes and texts are peppered with post-it note bookmarks, as well!

Student

Be an active reader:

The bulk of learning at a distance is going to involve an interaction between you and a printed resource. Reading is therefore a key consideration. For most people the process of reading is going to be much more than staring at a text and hoping to soak up information. Some form of activity needs to take place to help you to form an understanding of what is being read and develop the ability to apply it. The term 'active reading' is applied quite widely and is associated with a range of actions that you may have used before, or which you may want to explore and refine to suit your preferred style of learning.

With such large volumes of text to work through, finding a comfortable method of returning to key topics is required. Highlighting these elements can take a number of forms:

• Physically marking texts - with highlighter pen or underlining
• Adding post-it notes or bookmarks to pages
• Transcribing or making notes from key passages or concepts from books
• Making lists or mind maps

Again it's going to involve exploring what works for you. Permanently marking texts may be fine, but what if you change your mind about what's important at a later date? Post-it notes and bookmarks can be too temporary - what if they fall out? Making detailed notes on everything that you read can take a long time. Some experimentation should reveal what works for you and importantly what you can hope to do in the time available.

Stage one of the reading process is usually all about familiarization, or getting an overview; really finding out what you need to know, and indeed whether the content of a text is relevant. Different methods of active reading will have a place at different times as your understanding of a topic develops. You might find that making a mind map is only possible once you've really got to grips with a subject and you derive these from your notes or understanding at the revision or consolidation phase.

The main thing that you need to realize right from the start is that you have to be active in your learning. It's not a passive learning experience, where you just sit and absorb lots of material through reading. Yes there is a lot of reading to be done, but in order for you to understand and assimilate the various concepts and theories you have to be much more active in the way you do that - so, lots of note taking, lots of opportunities to apply that back to your own understanding. Some of those are actually structured into the notes, but I think it's always worthwhile at the end of every lesson, to try and summarize for yourself what the key issues are, but also to think of them in the context of your own experience.

 

I know that I should highlight important points in the readings and lessons but I don't as I can't bear to spoil the text books! However one thing I've started to do is to make photocopies of the readings, as it is easier to travel with these than with the text books themselves and I have no such qualms about running a highlighter through these. … I try and use diagrams as much as possible in my notes, as a picture does paint a thousand words. When making notes, I make them with a view that these will be my only source of material for revision purposes. Therefore the notes should be legible but also as complete as possible. Hopefully by doing this I will reduce the time taken for revision by not having to refer to multiple sources of information before the exam.

 

Whatever approach you take to reading, key themes that keep reappearing include:

• Being able to link together information from a range of sources, i.e. cross-referencing.
• To have a summary or overview to organize the various sources associated with each lesson.

Consider the relevance of what you are reading:

An ability to evaluate the relevance of what is presented to you is essential given the volume and range of materials available. Think about where a particular reading fits into your learning and always look for real world examples.

I guess a second thing to think about is a way of qualifying the material that you are reading, that some things are more important than others, that some things are very pertinent to the core learning of the particular module that you are studying. So think about the objectives of the module, think about the dominant theme in each of the lessons, and try and evaluate to what extent the reading that you are undertaking contributes to your knowledge, and more importantly, contributes to the way in which that knowledge is assessed on that course. ... So find some way of initially qualifying the value of a particular resource.

 

Simon Croom, SCMI Executive Director

As you are reading through the materials, inevitably it will trigger memories and associations with things from your own experiences. A great way to do well on the course is to try and capture that information as you go along.

 

 

The main objective for anyone who is studying should be to understand and learn the subjects provided. Sometimes, especially at the beginning, you might have to do some learning without understanding how it fits to the rest exactly, but afterwards every subject starts fitting together. My strong belief in USD helped me to go through this stage. And we always have the professors or SCMI staff to help us with any problems we have.

 

Develop an effective system of organizing your learning resources

Don't lose your notes. Create your own journal - it's never too late to start (but if you can, start on day one!). Get some organization into your learning be it with spiral bound note books, loose leafs inserted into the study note folders, or, if you follow an electronic route, be safe and keep backups!

Be able to link different elements of your learning, e.g. include a reference to where your notes came from. Produce summaries that provide context or an overview from which you can refer back to the source material, or your notes from reading. This can be critical to enabling efficient revision.

Although the exams aren't the sole reason for being on the MBA, keep them in mind and make sure you have a strategy for using or converting your notes for the revision phase. Essentially, be organized, cross-reference and don't waste time searching for resources when you should be revising.

You also need to be aware of updates and new resources. During the course of a module you can expect to see announcements of revisions to notes or to the existence of new materials via messages on Web CT. Document these ASAP or you will forget about them.

OK, I guess the key thing with note taking is to realize that you are going to be using your notes some time in the future, whether it's in a few weeks or even quite a few months time, or possibly when you get to your dissertation. So, it's vital that you not only capture the information within the notes pertaining to the subject matter that you are studying, but also that you have some means of referencing the source from which you gained that material.

 

Simon Croom, SCMI Executive Director

Be a critical thinker

You can develop your critical thinking/analysis skills by relating the theory that you learn to the real world, and by critically evaluating what is valid. Your own experiences are incredibly important in this process and you can also relate what you are studying to the real world, to case studies or to articles in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review or the Economist.

Critical thinking is fundamental. What we are trying to do is empower our students to not just be aware of the vast array of tools and concepts that are out there, but to be able to apply them to the real world. It's very important for students to understand critically where the limits of theory are.

 

Simon Croom, Executive Director SCMI

Check your understanding

It is vital that you regularly check your understanding as you work through the lessons. Try to develop a mechanism to do this. Again, try to make it a routine part of your learning process.

While doing exercises, work with your class colleagues and look at what's happening on Web CT. There are often discussions relating to individual papers and course materials.

I personally tend to get a bit bogged down in the detail of the module as I go along - I'm definitely in this for the content and the learning! So, it's always a relief when the classes comes along, and I step back to get that important overview of the whole subject. I find this essential for effective revision, but also in terms of any potential application in the workplace.

 

student

One of the best ways to understand theory is to apply it, to understand not just that this is a tool and this is how the tool works, but, when it can be used, how it can be used, which you can only really get from trying them out in practice.

 

What we've tried to do within the materials is to try to give you lots of opportunities to test your understanding, both of the theory and of its application. So, there will be self-assessed exercises, online tests, but also course papers. One of the great advantages of our approach to testing your understanding is that you will get an objective response to what you have thought.

 

Consider your courses as providing the opportunity for a shared learning experience

A key learning skill for learners is the need to be inquisitive, to keep on asking questions and responding to the questions that other people ask.

One of the things about all courses is that there should be a shared learning experience. I've mentioned the fact that applying the theory to your own experiences is a vital way of understanding that theory. By sharing that with others through online discussions, through face-to-face syndicate group work, allows you to learn from other people's experience. We often say that on the MS that there is as much to be learned from your fellow students as there is from our faculty.

 

I was very motivated by the other people. Although they weren't there all the time we developed some very good virtual ways of working with each other. But, I think one of the key things that I learnt was not to panic unduly, to compare with other people or even let people know if you are falling slightly behind and not be afraid to sort of re-engage with the process.