Skip to main content

1. How I made lectures work in my favour

As you may have assumed, I am a student. What you might not know is that I'm doing a B.com Accounting course in hope to be a chartered accountant. I do not find the course easy at all. I think a lot of my fellow students would agree with me when I say this course requires hard work, dedication and that it's not for the faint-hearted.

Textbooks
Why is that? Well, I've reached a level where 4, 5 or more new chapters are covered every single week throughout the whole semester - depending on the course outlines for the semester/year. Considering how thick the textbooks we use are, the length and complexity of the chapters, you can imagine the fast pace at which we're required to learn.


Legislation and Standards Handbooks
Lecturers have always mentioned pre-reading - something I had rarely attempted to do until recently...well until 3 months ago. It was challenging because it was my first time doing it and I had to figure out ways to pre-read 4/5 chapters effectively and early enough before the lectures.

Now, I discovered some things during those few months:
1. Pre-reading helped me follow the lecture and not get lost

2. Not being lost increased my chances of being able to comprehend what the lecturer said

3. Being able to comprehend what was being lectured meant I was listening attentively

4. Listening attentively made me aware of - and not miss out on - some important points that the lecturer raised; points that were not be in the textbook

5. Completing the class exercises done during the lecture with the lecturer helped to save all that time I would have used in trying to figure out how to do the exercise on my own; which would be the case If I left the exercises for my study time. Moreover, doing the exercises during the lecture helped to get questions answered there and then when I had questions on the exercises.

See how lectures can work in our favor? I've realized that I cannot afford to procrastinate the understanding of the coursework until test and exam period. Being stressed and cramming during the exam period - it does not work for me. Besides that, I realize that I am studying material that will be implemented when in the working world. I cannot afford to cram information that will be temporarily stored in my mind; information that I will have to study again because of having forgotten it.

So, what works for you, worked for you, or think might work when it comes to making use of lectures effectively and eliminating procrastination of understanding coursework? Feel free to share on the comments section below.

You can also follow the blog on twitter:  https://twitter.com/student_blog and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Student-talk-blog-For-learners-and-students-496094020519505/

Well that's it from me...for now :D. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.
Till next time :).


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

7. Employability: a qualification alone might not be enough - part 1

When I entered university for the first time, graduate attributes were the last thing on my mind. I did not even know what a graduate attribute was. I entered university with the mentality of getting the degree, proceed further to obtain a higher qualification so that I could complete my training and get a permanent job. Apparently, that is not all that is required to be an employable graduate. I only heard about graduate attributes during my second year at university from Mr Rodrique E. George, my then lecturer of the ‘Intensive Reading and Writing’ module. Graduate attributes are the qualities, skills and knowledge that we as students must develop while at university. Some graduate attributes include: the ability to use knowledge to solve problems; the ability to use and apply information effectively; the ability to interact with people from different backgrounds and being able to understand their views, to name a few. There are characteristics and skills that stem from gra

24. Experience versus qualification

This is a topic I feel very strongly about, especially now that I have entered the working world and see the need for both experience and qualification. Qualification I believe that a qualification, be it a diploma or a degree, is merely a resource to assist one in whichever field they intend to work in, for that particular occupation/(s). The concern I have is when we spend years to obtain a qualification that we don't even know how we will use it, or even worse - obtain knowledge that may not be used at all! Obtaining a qualification is good for getting knowledge, a foundation, a background of the field of work and/ or area of expertise one intends to be in. I realized that through the B.com Accounting degree I obtained. However, it is not enough alone, and that's where the need for experience comes in. Experience I feel that experience is better than a qualification. Let me tell you why: A person with experience obtains knowledge, the actual knowledge required for th

34. Exploitation at work

When entering into the working world, especially as a student or learner who neither had been exposed to the work environment nor has a mentor to guide them, exploitation may be an inevitable thing to happen: you might accept it before you even recognise it. It’s your first time working. You have this notion that you must impress your boss, to not be problematic, because it’s your first job and you also need a positive reference for future jobs, right? But what happens in an event that you find yourself doing jobs that are not in line with your job-description or what you expected to do? What do you do? Let me give you an example: You are employed to work as a trainee accountant at a small accounting firm to become a Professional Accountant (SA). The training is for 3 years. During your first year, you’re tasked with the following, along with very few accounting jobs: Making filter coffee for the boss Answering the phone when the secretary is not around (twice a