How long do you dedicate to your study time?

Aspiring · 7 February 2009 at 8:27AM

I was reading (yesterday) that it is recommended that for each 1 hour of input, you should put in 2-3 hrs of private study time.

How much tutored time do you get and how much do you invest in private study time?

Do you have a strictly planned time when you study or is it more ad hoc?

TIA

bestpud · 7 February 2009 at 9:59AM

We are told each module (or quarter of the course) should involve roughly 10 hours work, so altogether it adds up to a full time job iyswim?

We usually have two/three hours in lectures/seminars per module per week and one-to-one tutorials are often voluntary.

Personally I find it easier to have set sessions or the work takes over my life entirely! But I think you really have to get there and judge it for yourself.

My advice would be to spend a few weeks finding your feet and always be prepared to alter your plans, or working style as you go along.

If something doesn't work for you then make a note of it (personal reflection is always good imo) and find another way. There is no time for flogging dead horses!

And try not to worry what other people are doing in the library! Nearly everyone is sat there thinking everyone but them knows what they are doing! :rotfl:

squirrelchops · 7 February 2009 at 11:13AM

Hi, my Uni says that the lecture time is 20% of learning so the other 80% should be independent study time.
So 2 hours lecture = 8 hours study. Multiply this for all my modules in the first year and 12hours lecture = 48 hours study per week!!!

How we were supposed to fit in this level of study when we were in Uni 4 days per week then add on travelling and part time work goodness only knows.

Realistically my study time would be probably focused on the set reading ahead of the lecture so probably 2-3hours per module therfore 12-15hours study a week in my first year.

However when it came to writing an assignment I worked out that for one essay the total time I spent from research to finish was about 50hours work. I got an A for this so was worth it. Unfortunately we had about 3 to hand in at the same time and I only spent about 6hours on another for which I got a C grade so should have planned my time better!!

My advice is just make sure you attend every lecture. I have never been able to understand those who didn't as I wouldn't have understood the material if I hadn't have attended the lectures. Also one tutor had a lot of failed assignments. She looked at attendance in relation to these fails and nearly every person who failed repeatedly did not turn up for lectures.

If you find yourself struggling do go and get help. There is nothing worse than feeling like you are hitting you head against a brick wall. Also try not to get distracted by other things......I am a sucker for coming on here when I should be working....................on that note had better go as have a 5000word case study to write!!!!!

NB: I was just thinking and actually I am sure we had longer lecture time as vividly recall another student working out our individual study time worked out at about 100 hours a week or something absurd. Also if my maths is wrong sorry...good job i am not doing a maths degree then eh!!!

MrsManda · 7 February 2009 at 1:09PM

I think it depends on what kind of degree you are doing, how difficult you find your modules, how many assignments you get and how you are taught.

I'm doing a science degree and this term we only have 15 hours of lectures (plus 3hrs of labs every fortnight) - much less than last term

I find a couple of the modules relatively easy and thus simply review the notes I've written during the lectures to check I understand it all. This takes about an hour a week if that. However for the modules I find difficult I usually find myself doing at least an hour per hour taught going through the notes and another hour or so going through practice questions. For essay assignments I easily spend 10 hours researching and writing per assignment. I commute two hours a day on the train so load my laptop with the research papers and lecture slides I need to review so I can get some of the reading done during that time.

I am lucky in that I don't need to get a term-time job which does mean I actually get time to see my husband on top of studying and all the commuting.
Once you get into your course you will be able to judge how much time you need outside of lectures to understand the work.

atypical · 7 February 2009 at 2:56PM

I have 16 hours of lectures and what works out at roughly 6 hours of practicals a week totalling 22 hours. Of those practicals 4 hours of them require outside work e.g. reports, online tests, prep work.

Of my lectures I'd say I spend around 30 minutes reviewing my notes. That makes 8 hours of lecture reviewing plus I'd approximate 4 hours of outside practical work (more likely to be longer, silly group reports!) making 12 hours 'private study'. That excludes random coursework pieces.

That makes a grand total of 34 hours a week.

currynchips · 7 February 2009 at 3:21PM

Depends on what you have got due in too.
I have 8 hours lecture/sem/practical timetabled this term. Week to week I probably put in 12 extra hours, but this week I think it's nearer 20-25 because of exam/presentation/assignment.
I imagine many yr1 students get away with doing 1-2hrs per week(in certain subjects), despite missings lectures anyway.
Personally I'd prefer to have a lot more actual class time.

melancholly · 7 February 2009 at 4:12PM

squirrelchops wrote: »

Hi, my Uni says that the lecture time is 20% of learning so the other 80% should be independent study time.
So 2 hours lecture = 8 hours study. Multiply this for all my modules in the first year and 12hours lecture = 48 hours study per week!!!

How we were supposed to fit in this level of study when we were in Uni 4 days per week then add on travelling and part time work goodness only knows.

but you can do a lot of that additional work in holidays - it doesn't all have to be done immediately after the lecture! i certainly used christmas holidays to catch up and do a bit of the reading for the next lot of lectures.

and as someone doing about 50 hours a week at work, plus travel time, keeping weekends free, i don't think it's as bad as you do!

but i do entirely agree with you about attending lectures and asking for help. the best thing to do is use every resource made available to you at uni.

Mike1989 · 7 February 2009 at 5:07PM

Currently I spend 6 to 9 hours in actual lectures and seminars. In uni three days a week for three modules. As for what I do at home, depends, but I spend 6 hours tops a week when there is no assignments. We get set reading from one book which is sometimes a couple of chapters. I do that reading and it can take me an hour to two hours each. If I'm not sure about it, didn't understand, I'll re-read it and if I have an interest or want to double check something I'll read another source.

If there are assignments coming up (presentations, essays, exams) I will do two or three times that on average. But even that depends, can be more or less depending on the topic.

But normal weeks: 5-6 hours
Assignments coming up/due: 15-18 hours

Queen_of_NO_MATTER_WHAT · 7 February 2009 at 9:30PM

I'm a first year law student and have 8 to 9 hours of lectures/seminars per week. I try to treat uni as a I would a full time job (well as close as possible), I get there for around 9ish and leave around 4ish, although on a Monday I have lectures until 7pm. I go in on my 'days off' (days where I don't have any classes), spend most of that time in the library and give myself a cig break every 1 1/2hrs or so and have about 3/4hr ish for lunch. That way my evenings and weekends are mine and I hopefully avoid the place where I am writing an essay or case study until 4am the day it is due!

This is just what works well for me but it took some getting used to!

Smidster · 8 February 2009 at 2:23PM

This is one of my great bugbears of university life.

The people I am living with, who clearly love their subjects unlike me, seem to do nothing but work work work.

I on the other hand, after going to lectures/seminars etc, find it really difficult to do more than 2-3hrs of private study. Guess it doesn't help that I am really struggling with the material and also have no interest in the course but to see people being physically able to put in that kind of effort it something I do admire.

How long do you dedicate to your study time?

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