UoM General Chat

[Greatness]

Argh! I don't know whether or not I should write out any notes! lol
I mean in lectures I try to listen and annotate the slides and write down any examples or whatever that aren't on the slides, but I don't really know what I should do after them... I tried writing some summary notes, but I essentially copy what's on the slides... haha feels so pointless. Also when I review the lecture I normally go through the lecture slides since there are the examples there and I don't include them in my summaries.
Fair to say, I still don't know how to study properly >.> only method I've done so far is cram during swotvac - write summary notes i.e. copy most of the lecture slides then do tute/exam questions lol which worked out fairly average.

How do you guys operate? What's your method to study?

[litaluta]

Hi!

sorry I have some questions and I hope I'm in the right place for answers

well,I am 2013 bachelor of science student,and want to study dentistry in the future.

for semester one I want to take chemistry 1, biology of cells and organisms,mind,brain and behavior 1, and Spanish 1.

do you thing it will be good? I am not bad at maths but I do not like it that much,that is why I did not choose calculus (but I know all the materials they gonna teach, from my college ). And also between Mind,brain and behavior 1 and Foundations of computing I am not sure which one is more useful and also easier to be good at!


 

[Starlight]

Argh! I don't know whether or not I should write out any notes! lol
I mean in lectures I try to listen and annotate the slides and write down any examples or whatever that aren't on the slides, but I don't really know what I should do after them... I tried writing some summary notes, but I essentially copy what's on the slides... haha feels so pointless. Also when I review the lecture I normally go through the lecture slides since there are the examples there and I don't include them in my summaries.
Fair to say, I still don't know how to study properly >.> only method I've done so far is cram during swotvac - write summary notes i.e. copy most of the lecture slides then do tute/exam questions lol which worked out fairly average.

How do you guys operate? What's your method to study?

Yeah it's hard to develop a good system and stick to it. Summaries of lecture notes aren't entirely pointless- I guess I just try to simplify them as much as possible. Some examples include:

- avoiding complicated words other than the sort of jargon you are expected to know or using mnemonics
- making some sort of song with a catchy rhythm

It's also important to be willing to look up other resources like recommended textbooks as well as prescribed textbooks when you need to. Other resources include tutorial workbooks and writing tutorial notes (for example they might show you how to solve a math problem in a simpler way that you may like to note).

The assessments that are given to students before exams are often useful to use as part of your study. This way you know what topics in lectures you need to look at again.

Honestly though when it comes to exam time I just consult my tutors/ lecturers on topics that i've found hard to cover, work with a study group, do practice exams, and memorize lecture notes. The last one (memorizing) is a bit tricky though because it depends on your course,  sometimes there are subjects that revolve around application-type problems so understanding math formulas by knowing how to apply them correctly obviously helps. With chemistry I had to resort to memorizing some things (like organic structures) and completing all the textbook questions, prac exam questions, tutorial questions and the online worksheets.

[VivaTequila]

I didn't like calculus. I got a 37 in Methods, and I only passed calculus 1 with a 58. If you don't want maths, then don't pick it with your degree - it won't help you much.

Chemistry 1 and 2 are great
Bio 1 and 2 are great
Spanish 1 is a great breadth, I love learning languages, and ask me any questions you have about cross crediting with a Diploma of Languages

And yeah, I've never done psych but I've heard people love it.

[Starlight]

Hi!

sorry I have some questions and I hope I'm in the right place for answers

well,I am 2013 bachelor of science student,and want to study dentistry in the future.

for semester one I want to take chemistry 1, biology of cells and organisms,mind,brain and behavior 1, and Spanish 1.

do you thing it will be good? I am not bad at maths but I do not like it that much,that is why I did not choose calculus (but I know all the materials they gonna teach, from my college ). And also between Mind,brain and behavior 1 and Foundations of computing I am not sure which one is more useful and also easier to be good at!

Check out subject reviews & ratings in the University of Melbourne board. I wrote some reviews on biology, chemistry 2, and mind, brain and behaviour 2.

Taking arts subjects as breadths can sometimes be tricky (i.e. they are marked on a bell-curve) and of course languages would probably require committing the most hours in comparison to other breadth subjects (e.g. some university breadth subjects). The assessments (e.g. essays) are quite important in those kinds of subjects, where they can contribute to up to 70% of your mark.

I didn't do psych in vce or pick up MBB1 but I found MBB2 okay: There's an essay that contributes to 35% so if you H1 that, it's quite likely you will H1 the subject. I just made sure to check with my tutor about some ambiguous instructions of the assignment and did a fair amount of research on the topic. For Mind, brain and behaviour and biology they have a discussion board so there's a lot of resources the staff give to students. I think you would be fine in coping with MBB1 for that reason, although when it comes to exams the subject does require rote learning (i.e. memorizing slabs of info).

[litaluta]

Thanks guys for the answers!

The thing about Spanish is that I really love to learn it.So I guess It would be okay...but I will rethink about it to be sure my average mark will not hurt : d

By the way,can I change my subjects after my classes start? (sry if I ask silly questions : d)

[mark_alec]

By the way,can I change my subjects after my classes start? (sry if I ask silly questions : d)

Yes, you can change courses up until the census date (typically around week 4 of semester).

[Russ]

You can drop classes without any questions up to that date, but I think if you try to pick up a new class after week 2 then you need approval?

[Starlight]

Thanks guys for the answers!

The thing about Spanish is that I really love to learn it.So I guess It would be okay...but I will rethink about it to be sure my average mark will not hurt : d

By the way,can I change my subjects after my classes start? (sry if I ask silly questions : d)

You can as Russ and mark_alec have stated, however sometimes they are already full so you may need to talk to the student centre.

[dilks]

Mind,brain and behavior 1 and Foundations of computing I am not sure which one is more useful and also easier to be good at!

For foundations of computing, can you be more specific about what you would consider useful? As for how easy it is to be good at: If you already know how to program in another language (in foundations of computing you learn Python) then the subject will be a breeze. If you haven't, you might have to work a bit harder, but Python is a really easy language to learn, and the assignments have bonus marks in them such that if you attempt all questions (including bonus questions) if you get some wrong you might still get the max possible mark for assignments! In my opinion that is very generous.

[golden]

Thanks guys for the answers!

The thing about Spanish is that I really love to learn it.So I guess It would be okay...but I will rethink about it to be sure my average mark will not hurt : d

By the way,can I change my subjects after my classes start? (sry if I ask silly questions : d)

I was able to change into a different subject during the 'start' of week 4, but I think you can't change after week 4. I had to get an approval from the subject co-ordinator so I had to arrange a time to meet him at a place, then get his signature, then go to the appropriate student centre corresponding to that subject field (you can get the form online or by talking to the student centre). But make sure you know what assessment tasks are due in and when, because when I changed there was an assessment task (essay) that was due in two days later; watched the relevant lectures quickly, wrote up the report, submitted it in an hour before it was due. So this means also look to see whether or not they offer lecture capture. I applied for an extension, but I don't think it was approved considering the person who I talked to told me it might have been too late.

[jinny1]

Is it Orientation week or something?? There's like a whole bunch of what seems to be high school kids gathered in groups.. And there are people in costumes..

[VivaTequila]

It might've been O-Day for the UMEP students. I heard that it was happening sometime this week.

[Russ]

VCESS is having a themed trivia competition

[jinny1]

I swear Russ knows everything lol