Study Advice for FND

Hello! | Angela Davidson | January 15th, 2005

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

My name is Angela Davidson and I have just subscribed to this discussion list (finally) although I enrolled on the Masters last term. This is one of my resolutions for 2005 - to get down to some serious studying! I'm finding it hard to get motivated and to find time to concentrate on the FND module so any shared experiences/tips/ideas would be welcome.

I'd like to introduce myself. I work part-time at Coventry University where I teach students from Foundation to Postgraduate Level. I was involved in setting up the Foundation Programme and also act as a personal tutor on it. Last October I went to Beijing to visit one of our partnership colleges and advise on English provision there. It was a fascinating experience, especially as we managed to fit in visits to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City as well as doing some work.

I also try to spend some time with my family. My husband, John, works for Kodak Health Imaging, my 15 year old daughter, Lydia, is doing her GCSE exams this year and we have a lively Border Collie called Buffy who thinks she is human!

Best wishes,

Angela Davidson

Re: Hello! | Kevin McLeod | January 15th, 2005

Hello and Happy New Year 2

Like Angela I have finally got round to sending a message to the discussion group. My name is Kevin McLeod and I too am working through the FND module. Although I signed up last year I'm not setting the heather on fire with my work rate. I must admit that some units are more interesting than others and I get more motivated doing them. I also find it very useful to talk with a colleague who is doing the course to share ideas and opinions.

I would say you should try to set aside a set time each week that everybody knows is your study time and stick to it as it is very easy to find excuses to do other things. Must admit I don't always follow my own advice.

I work in Madrid for the British Council and deal mainly with 5-9 year olds. (I only teach 2 classes a week). I hope to get the FND module finished by Easter as my wife is expecting our first child the start of April which is sure to have a big impact on my studying time.

Cheers,

Kevin McLeod
Madrid, Spain

Re: Hello! | Maria Leedham | January 15th, 2005

Hi Angela and welcome!

My name's Maria and I live in Oxford so we may well meet at a Study Day. I've just finished MAP and am beginning the dissertation so I'm at the other end of the MSc and can see light now!

While I maintain my status as expert procrastinator, I have a couple of tips for studying:

• When you get to the 7 th or 8 th task, the pathway one, make sure you build in some slack. That way you won't miss deadlines so much. Think carefully about which terms in the year are busiest and plan to do less at those times.

• Grab the odd half hour here and there. Don't feel you can only study when you have a 3-hour block of free time free. You can read an article and make notes in spare bits of time in the day. And that way your mind might mull it over in between study sessions - a real benefit of doing a longer-term course.

• Build in free time to your week. This doesn't mean it's your only free time. It means it's definite sacred free time when you shouldn't even think about studying. e.g. Saturday evening is definitely chill-out time.

• Think about where study and work can overlap. Can you write about a course you have to plan anyway? Then you can gain feedback from tutors plus use the material for work. The two intertwine and build on each other - again, a benefit of studying while working.

Best wishes,

Maria Leedham

PS: Is your daughter a big fan of Buffy the vampire slayer by any chance? We (husband, two of my three sons and I) are just rewatching the whole seven series. And there's a lecturer at Oxford Brookes where I work who publishes in the online Buffy journal of Slayology!

Study Advice for FND | Jerry Talandis Jr. | January 30th, 2005

Angela wrote a few weeks ago:

I'm finding it hard to get motivated and to find time to concentrate onthe FND module so any shared experiences/tips/ideas would be welcome.

Well, I've long since finished FND, but since I'm making this discussion list the focus of my dissertation, I can point out a previous incarnations of this discussion. Check out some of the threads in the FND section of this archive.

My technique for improving motivation was to post something to this list. The act of speaking up in public always got (gets) my energy flowing. I'm doing it right now, in fact! I get busy in my daily life, studies start to slide, guilt and pressure start to build, and avoidance/procrastination increase. It's a negative mental cycle that is effectively broken by engaging in public discourse.

Good luck Angela and everyone else!

Jerry

Japan

Re: Study Advice for FND | Paul Raper | January 30, 2005

Hi Jerry,

I couldn't agree with you more in your assessment. We recently had a study day here in Switzerland and that too raised my motivation a fantastic amount.

I would have to say that according to Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, my motivation is also driven by having found, what for me any way is my point of self actualization. That said, it would be a pretty lonely and boring experience without the ability to communicate with others.

As some will know I'm going through a very personally difficult time, and so if I disappear for moments it's not through lack of interest. I still love this programme and the people on it who have for their own parts been extremely supportive. That is also another factor that drive my motivation.

Keep it up Angela, we won't let you down.

;-)

Paul

Re: Study Advice for FND | Yvonne Beaudry | January 30, 2005

Angela,

I lost your original message, I remember it was on motivation but not the details, so I hope this helps.

It ' s hard to offer much directly related to this course, I ' ve had high motivation so far, in fact it seems like this course was waiting for me to discover it for a long time. A few years ago I took a full-time Japanese language course and had a very bad time with motivation so I do understand. Luckily we have a lot more flexibility here.

Can you relate the units to something you are interested in? I did my EMT unit on web site design (of English schools) and although I later changed my mind, did a fair amount of work on a MET unit project on background music. Music and user interface interest me so the research was just more reading on something I like anyway.

I ' m OK for time but I do get easily distracted. If I ' m in a slump I go to an unusual place to study, usually a coffee shop I ' ve never been before. I ' ve had some rather expensive cups of coffee but got a lot done.

Finally, just start writing. If you find the reading too much or not interesting, just start on a portfolio assignment. After the initial reading, I spent a few weeks writing without opening the module at all and when I went back to it, everything was so much more useful and relevant.

I should say I have yet to get my feedback on FND (any day now) so maybe I am giving you horrible advice! Let me know how it goes.

Yvonne