How to study 2.0

Type				Team Size
Me, Myself and I	Group Collaboration	The Academic System	Software	1	2-10	11-30	30+

In short: In this entry, we discuss what it means to study and how to do so successfully. This entry is based on several people’s experience studying and teaching at university. It holds special relevance for Bachelor’s students just finding their way into their studies but can be applied to Master’s and PhDs as well.

Being a student is a competence

When you first arrive at university, chances are you will feel challenged and overwhelmed, at least in certain moments. How this went for some of the people working on this Wiki and what we have found to help us, you can read in this article. Gradually, you will get used to the pace and expectations of academic life, if you work on developing certain skills. These may enable you to unfold your potential and be successful in your studies. These skills include: (1) becoming clear on what it means to study, (2) learning how to work and write scientifically, (3) open-mindedness to look beyond your field of study, (4) finding a peer group in your program.

(1) Becoming clear on what it means to study
This process should ideally start before you arrive at university, but you continue to develop this clarity while you are already studying. Ask yourself why you chose your study program, what motivated you to go into this field and what you want to learn during your degree. Gaining clarity on why you are studying and what you want to achieve with it can motivate you and keep you on a good path. Being able to draw on your sources of motivation is especially crucial in times of doubt or difficulties. This is not to say that your plan what to do with your degree cannot change but rather it is meant as a reflexive process throughout your studies. You will also need to get clear on what lies within your own possibilities, so you can commit to your studies in a way that is sustainable for you to keep up for multiple years. For some, this might mean to reduce course workload and not sign up for 30 CP each semester, for others it might mean finding a hobby that balances out stressful periods.

(2) Learning how to work and write scientifically
Being able to work and write scientifically is the key skill to develop when studying at a university. Of course, there will be plenty of courses in your study program that aim at you developing this skill, but you will still have to work on it on your own. Working on this skill from the start of your studies, will make assignments and the general work you put into your studies go more smoothly. To improve your academic writing skills, it can be wise to simply write as much as you can, for example to just journal at a certain part of your day or write short diary-like entries on what you have learned from your courses each week. Another good approach here would be to read other people’s work as much as you can, this can be in the form of proof-reading your peers’ work to learn from their mistakes or to read a lot of scientific papers to get a feeling what academic writing looks like. The Writing Center (Schreibzentrum) at Leuphana furthermore is a good resource all things concerning writing. They regularly offer events, workshops, and even consultation for students to improve writing.

(3) Open-mindedness to look beyond your field of study
Ideally, you are enthusiastic about the field of study you chose and excited to learn more about it. This enthusiasm however should not lead to focussing solely on the topics and issues in your field of study. Looking beyond your field of growing expertise is important to stay connected to the overall context and overarching themes that are important beyond narrow disciplines or courses. In our world the problems we are facing today are interconnected and can seldom be approached by looking at them through a singular, disciplinary perspective. This is why interdisciplinarity, i.e. the integration of multiple scientific disciplines, and transdisciplinarity, i.e. the integration of scientific and non-scientific knowledge and perspectives, now play such a big role in research (read more about these concepts here). Therefore, being able to take on and consider perspectives beyond your own field of study or discipline can be considered an essential skill of any student or researcher.

(4) Finding a peer group in your program
This is a very practical step in becoming a successful student. Finding like-minded people in your study program should be one of the first things you approach when starting your studies. Having support from peers and supporting them during your shared time at uni will help you greatly, especially during critical times like exam phases or your thesis. You will be able to solve many issues that come up during your studies (and often much quicker) with the right peer group, saving you and your lecturers and supervisors lots of time and additional work. A typical example of this is talking through an idea for a thesis with your peers, which helps incorporate their feedback and may help you develop your ideas further. This could help you refine your ideas and make them more coherent before presenting them to a (potential) supervisor.

If the above mentioned steps or skills are not worked on, it may be difficult to study and, more importantly, stay motivated to do so as time goes on. Not working on your academic skills, not making an effort to find peers to get through university with, lacking a look beyond your studies or not having any clarity on why you chose this path can lead to not getting the most out of your hard work. A lack of commitment to one’s studies is a recurring problem that can be witnessed in students. Therefore, it is important to develop a sense of what you can do, where your limits are, what can keep you on track and how you can adjust for your personal circumstances without neglecting your studies. Know that you have chosen to take advantage of the privilege of being able to study at a university and that you probably did work hard for it already. Now it is important to find a way in which you can make the most out of this privilege.

General etiquette

Starting your studies at a university is like entering a new world. Welcome! Like every world, there are some general rules and etiquette you should follow to make your own and everyone else’s experience more pleasurable.

Lectures and seminars

In lectures and seminars, having paid attention during the lectures is what will make studying for the exam or writing a seminar paper at the end of the term much easier. From a lecturer’s perspective it is also only possible to make the lecture or seminar fun, helpful and engaging, when enough students attend and actively participate. This in turn will make it easier for the students (you!) to enjoy the lecture or seminar and really learn the material that is taught. Attendance and attention are the foundation of successful lectures and seminars, so: Show up! You made the decision to study and signed yourself up for that particular course, so you should attend every lecture or seminar, unless you absolutely can’t make it. This will benefit you and your peers. Pay attention! It can be really hard for some of us to keep our attention for the whole length of a seminar or lecture, for a multitude of reasons, some harder to improve upon than others. Still, you should do your best to focus on what is being taught and the exercises you may be doing. If you find yourself often absorbed by your laptop screen a few minutes into the course, it can be helpful to install software to keep you from getting distracted. Website blockers for example can be helpful if you find yourself browsing the web often. They can be enabled for the time of the lecture to prevent getting distracted. Seminars are focused on enabling discourse on the topic being taught. Developing a deeper understanding of the topic and its relation to the broader context of your own world only works when the discourse is respectful and productive. We all need to take care of the language we use in these settings (e.g. no discriminating language) and how we frame our perspective. The ’Talking Behavior’ section of the Gender First Aid Kit Article lists a lot of useful reflexive questions to ask yourself in the context of discussions during group work, seminars or uni in general. Some examples are:

• Am I contributing to the whole group in a balanced way?
• Do I presuppose experience or knowledge that not all people have?
• Is my language inclusive and respectful?
• How do I respond to criticism? Do I feel the direct urge to comment on it or can I just listen to it first?
• How do I voice criticism towards others?

Communication with lecturers/university personnel and problem solving

During your time at uni you will not only have to communicate effectively with your peers but also with lecturers, professors, supervisors, tutors and other university personnel. Some lecturers have to deal with unmanageable floods of emails that could be avoided by taking some preventative measures:

1. Stay informed and attend your courses. Most of the time, all you need to know about a course will be discussed in the respective lecture or seminar. Attending these will already eliminate many potential questions and problems. In case of unclarity concerning the lecture’s content, it is best to ask questions during the lecture when the topic is discussed. Raising your question in this specific context will make it easier for your lecturer to understand your question, as well as help other students who may have the same question. Moreover, regularly checking your emails or additional communication channels is important. This way you stay informed about any additional infos about the course, specific preparation, or administrative issues raised by the lecturer.

2. Know where to find important information. Many courses use online resources like a Moodle course, a discord channel or have uploaded schedules, reading lists and other info. Talking to peers who take the same course will also often be very helpful already. These resources are designed to help you find answers to questions that may come up or in case you missed a lecture. They should always be consulted before sending an email or going to a lecturer’s consultation hour.

3. Stay organized and have some kind of structure. This will help you avoid losing track of your courses, assignments, and important dates. There are multiple ways to organize and structure oneself at uni. Some people may prefer using a physical planner, while others organize themselves in an online calendar. It will require some effort to find out what works best for you. As a start, we can recommend getting familiar with Notion In case you and your peers cannot answer your question or solve your issue with the resources provided to you, reach out to your lecturer in a timely manner. This can either be done via email or by booking a consultation hour. Which way to go depends on the lecturer’s preferred way of communication (if they have voiced this preference), the extent and the urgency of your concern. Please be considerate of the lecturer’s time. This is to say to please provide enough context in your email to avoid going back and forth and come prepared to consultations (What is your concern? What do you need from the lecturer? What outcome are you hoping for?).

Use the resources available to you

Besides the resources provided to you in specific seminars and lectures, universities and the respective Studenten-/Studierendenwerk usually offer a variety of additional helpful resources. It is useful to inform yourself about these at the beginning of your studies. At Leuphana, these range from this wiki and other helpful blogs to Moodle course material, free offers from the writing center and career service, equipment rental, and group work rooms on campus available for booking. A lot of students may not know of these resources or choose not to use them, even though they can be really helpful. Some helpful resources are linked below. General Resources for Leuphana Students:

• Psychologische Beratungsstelle
• Gleichstellungsbüro
• MIZ
• Writing Center
• Career Service
• Methods wiki
• Studierendenservice
• AStA
• Rahmenprüfungsordnung

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The author of this entry is Melissa Figiel. Edited by Oskar Lemke.