(no subject)
Surprisingly enough I wasn't too tired when I got up, despite only having had four hours sleep. I am paying for it now though! I was pleased we only had classes in the morning though.
Feedback, reflection and academic progress
This was more useul than I thought it would be - and generally I found the study skill sessions this year a lot more useful than last year, as I now have something to relate them to. This first session dealt with the feedback forms we recieve, how to interpret them, and more generally our academic progress. There was a very useful 2-way discussion about how we felt about the feedback forms.
Marianne also mentioned some useful techniques for reflecting on your work, such as Learning Journals - and that is something I might give a go.
Editing Skills
This session was taken by one of the new tutors in the department, and I was very impressed. This was by far the most useful study skills session I have ever attended, and as editing is a real problem for me, I really hope I can use some of these techniques. I was also very impressed with her teaching style, again this was better than we had recieved in the study skills sessions last year.
Round Up and Evaluation
I was pleasantly surprised when people did actually speak up about the dreadful teaching of the PIR sessions, we could so easily have sat there in silence, but as soon as one person started it all came out - and the staff did seem to be listening to what was said. There were also useful suggestions about the timetable (spacing the breaks better) and the heat in the rooms (it can't be turned off, but fans could perhaps be provided).
Getting home
Because![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ninox was kind enough to give Joe and me a lift to Shrewsbury we were able to have a unhurried lunch before setting off, and avoid the very busy trains out of Aberystwyth. The drive from Aber to Shrewsbury is just as lovely as the train route (unsurprisingley, as they are very close in places), and we passed through a few places I would like to visit - so I really hope that next year I will have passed my driving test and have a car. I would really love to explore the area a little more (perhaps a holiday there is in order?). Of course the company in the car made the journey very pleasant too.
The train journeys home worked out quite well. My ticket wasn't 'train specific', so it didn't matter that I was in Shrewsbury before I was due to leave Aber. This year I had company all the way to Leeds, which I had not had before. There was a little rush in the middle, as I decided to go from Oxford Road to Piccadilly, as there were more trains to Leeds from there, which did mean abandoning Joe in the middle of Piccadilly station as I ran for the Leeds train (and made it with seconds to spare). The result of this was that I got home over 3 hours earlier than I had planned to, which was wonderful. Especially as the weather deteriorated quite rapidly after I got home - I was really glad not to be out in that weather.
Having had some time now to reflect on the whole week, I am very pleased that I went to Aberystwyth. I have seen old friends and made new ones, and have come back with a renewed enthusiasm for my course. I am really going to try to get to the next April study school, as I want to get through the course as soon as possible, so that I can get a better job - something I need for the sake of my physical and mental health.
Feedback, reflection and academic progress
This was more useul than I thought it would be - and generally I found the study skill sessions this year a lot more useful than last year, as I now have something to relate them to. This first session dealt with the feedback forms we recieve, how to interpret them, and more generally our academic progress. There was a very useful 2-way discussion about how we felt about the feedback forms.
Marianne also mentioned some useful techniques for reflecting on your work, such as Learning Journals - and that is something I might give a go.
Editing Skills
This session was taken by one of the new tutors in the department, and I was very impressed. This was by far the most useful study skills session I have ever attended, and as editing is a real problem for me, I really hope I can use some of these techniques. I was also very impressed with her teaching style, again this was better than we had recieved in the study skills sessions last year.
Round Up and Evaluation
I was pleasantly surprised when people did actually speak up about the dreadful teaching of the PIR sessions, we could so easily have sat there in silence, but as soon as one person started it all came out - and the staff did seem to be listening to what was said. There were also useful suggestions about the timetable (spacing the breaks better) and the heat in the rooms (it can't be turned off, but fans could perhaps be provided).
Getting home
Because
ninox was kind enough to give Joe and me a lift to Shrewsbury we were able to have a unhurried lunch before setting off, and avoid the very busy trains out of Aberystwyth. The drive from Aber to Shrewsbury is just as lovely as the train route (unsurprisingley, as they are very close in places), and we passed through a few places I would like to visit - so I really hope that next year I will have passed my driving test and have a car. I would really love to explore the area a little more (perhaps a holiday there is in order?). Of course the company in the car made the journey very pleasant too. The train journeys home worked out quite well. My ticket wasn't 'train specific', so it didn't matter that I was in Shrewsbury before I was due to leave Aber. This year I had company all the way to Leeds, which I had not had before. There was a little rush in the middle, as I decided to go from Oxford Road to Piccadilly, as there were more trains to Leeds from there, which did mean abandoning Joe in the middle of Piccadilly station as I ran for the Leeds train (and made it with seconds to spare). The result of this was that I got home over 3 hours earlier than I had planned to, which was wonderful. Especially as the weather deteriorated quite rapidly after I got home - I was really glad not to be out in that weather.
Having had some time now to reflect on the whole week, I am very pleased that I went to Aberystwyth. I have seen old friends and made new ones, and have come back with a renewed enthusiasm for my course. I am really going to try to get to the next April study school, as I want to get through the course as soon as possible, so that I can get a better job - something I need for the sake of my physical and mental health.