What it means to be an independent learner

Studying at university involves a lot more independent (self) study than in secondary school.

You will probably find that your time is a little less structured, than what you are used to. There will be timetabled lectures and seminars which you will be expected to attend on a weekly basis. If you are doing an Arts based subject such as History, Classics or English you may have lectures/seminars for 10 hours (or less) a week. In the rest of your time, you will be expected to do some of your own independent reading and research. This also gives you time to work on your assignments and prepare for exams, class tests or presentations. If you are doing a Science based subject eg. Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science there will be labs for you to attend which might last for a morning (e.g. 9-12pm) or an afternoon (e.g. 2-5pm).

This means that you might need a little bit of support and guidance to manage the transition from having a very full time table when you were at school and college, to studying at University. There are lots of resources to help you with this.

You will be able to access your personal timetable through MySaint and it is located in the ‘Events’ tab. For further information see: Timetabling information | Current Students | University of St Andrews (st-andrews.ac.uk) We recommend that you check your time table regularly so that you are aware of any changes or updates.

The following titles in the Palgrave Pocket Study Skills series are also available as e-books through the University Library:

The University of Kent have an accessible and informative resource to help you to understand what it means to be an Independent Learner:

See: Independent Learning – Help – University of Kent

University of Kent, (2022) Independent learning & critical thinking. Available at: https://www.kent.ac.uk/guides/independent-learning-and-critical-thinking/independent-learning [Accessed: 10/06/22]

What else can you do in your free time?

There are many different societies that you can join at St Andrews. See: Societies (yourunion.net) Joining a Society gives you an opportunity to meet people with similar interests to you.
You might like to learn a new skill or take up a new sport. For example maybe you want to take up stand up comedy or learn how to play snooker or pool. You might like to meet people who enjoy photography, cooking or watching Musicals.
You also need to give yourself time for personal care. This includes things like eating, sleeping, cleaning, shopping and doing laundry. For many students, going to University can be the first time that you are living away from home so you might need to learn some new skills.

Some questions to help you to manage your time:

One very important thing to think about is: How are you going to make sure that you get to where you need to be, at the right time?

Do you use the alarm function on your mobile phone/tablet?
Do you keep a diary/personal calendar?
Do you like using electronic tools, or is a paper based diary better for you?
Have you tried using the calendar function on your email account? e.g. with Gmail there is: https://calendar.google.com/calendar , Microsoft has: https://outlook.live.com/calendar/ , or for Apple users there is: https://www.icloud.com/calendar

Other things to consider:

Would you prefer to set aside one day per week to do some tasks like grocery shopping or laundry?
If you have one very busy day, make sure you build in some rest and recovery time.
Would it help to set aside 10 or 15 minutes per day to go for a walk? Or to do some other kind of exercise like yoga or jogging?
Make sure you make some time for a hobby or interest. This might mean that you go to bed in time to read a few chapters of a book beforehand, or that you practice playing a musical instrument one afternoon per week. For other people having some protected time to play a video game, or do some baking is really important for their wellbeing.

You can find out about some useful information about developing time management strategies and look into some downloadable apps that can also help with this skill. See: Time Management & Organsation | Current Students | University of St Andrews (st-andrews.ac.uk)