Time management

As a  student, ever feel like there isn't enough time in the day to fit all of your studies, along with your social life, your job and sleep? Here are some tips to help with your time management!

Usually there are two problems when referring to time management...
Firstly, having too much work to do in such little time.
Secondly, not getting much done in plenty of time.

People believe that there is a direct relationship between study time and success rate, however this is  a myth. Unfortunately, students believe that by sitting with a book open in front of them this counts as revision, this just provides a false sense of learning. Quality overrides quantity in the sense that you could 'work' all day and remember little whereas you could spend two hours doing solid revision and this could improve your knowledge. The first step to improve time management is to identity the cause or causes of your problem. This could be anything from: Lack of focus, procrastination, task hoping, travelling, other demands outside of university life to difficulties with prioritisation.

However, it is YOUR duty to identify the cause and improve your time management. Here are some pointers that can be used to aid your time management:

Set daily goals - However they must be reasonable and practical aims rather that ambitious and vague ones.
Create a routine- STICK TO IT!
Divide tasks up into small, manageable components
Tackle small tasks first then progress to more complicated one later on
Study briefly and regularly- Information is being remembered through repetition.
Give yourself rewards
Give yourself time off
Participate in exercise
Create a timetable - This allows you to organise your time effectively
Negotiate study periods with other house members
Record deadlines for each semester in a planner
Review time spent on different subjects
Create work patterns that match your body clock- If you work better at night, work at night etc..
Set daily study priorities
End your study period by setting a task for the following day- Recap of your work

Remember it takes time and discipline to create a routine and follow it so have patience! Be prepared to try different approaches and REMEMBER to take control of YOUR time!

BBC NEWS WALES! Nativity

Sharmin and I were given a task to create a broadcast based on the Nativity.
BBC WALES NEWS
Latest news tonight *theme music*

The virgin Mary is pregnant?!

Background story:
Mary and the Angel: About two thousand years ago, in the town of Nazareth, there lived a young woman named Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. One day an angel appeared before her and told her she had been chosen to have a special baby. The baby would be God's son and she must call him Jesus.

I need a car!
The Journey to Bethlehem: Soon after the angel's visit, Mary and Joseph were married. Mary was due to have her baby when they were told they had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem, which was where Joseph came from. This was because they had to pay a special tax. Mary had to ride on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Galilee.
Full house?
No Room at the Inn: At last Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem. It was crowded with other people who needed to pay their taxes. Mary was very tired and needed a place to stay. At each inn, the story was the same. There was no room for them. Eventually, one kind innkeeper said he had a stable where he kept his animals. They were welcome to stay there.
Mary threatens to sue condom factory!
Jesus is Born: And so it was that a few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son in that stable. She wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger full of hay.

That's all from us at the six o'clock news. I'm Phoebe Lewis and I'm Sharmin. Thank you for listening and join us same time tomorrow, Good Night!

Critical Thinking

What is Critical thinking?

Critical thinking involves paying close attention to detail,exploring, evaluating and comparing ideas and evidence. It involves asking questions like Why? What if? So What? What is next?

Critical thinking is an essential part of university. Lecturers expect students to critically analyse evidence, write critically and think critically for themselves.Critical thinking goes beyond basic recall of information and involves constructing arguments and creating ideas. There are 3 processes involved with critical thinking these include:

Analysing
Judging
Making decisions

Analysing: This is the first step to critical thinking. It involves examining detail to gain understanding. You must look carefully at information from a variety of different points of view.

Judging: The second stage of critical thinking involves forming ideas and opinions on a subject. It involves evaluation, inference and interpretation. Ever heard of the term "Never judge a book by its cover?" This process is involved in judging, we must read the text, re-read the text, form a judgement and find reasons to support our answer.

Making decisions: This is the final stage of critical thinking. Here you must make a choice and take action based on your understanding. It involves looking beyond the obvious, finding similarities and differences within a text.

What's the difference between prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping?

Prejudice 

Prejudice is usually a hostile or negative attitude towards a distinguishing group of people based solely on their membership in that group.

Discrimination 

Discrimination is the unjustified, negative or harmful action towards a member or a group simply because of his or her membership in that group.

Stereotype 

Stereotyping in the generalisation about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation amongst other members. 

Prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping are three major flaws within society, they segregate individuals based on their nationality, ethnicity, gender, disability, gender preference,religion and even occupation. Why do we feel the need to make others feel different, unwanted and worthless? We are all human, and we are all equal, therefore we should all be respected. I believe people should try and work towards reducing the amount of prejudice thoughts, discriminative acts and stereotyping others and hopefully society will become a safer, more pleasant community for all.

What is SEN?

SEN is when a child has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

For example: Behavioural or social disability
                      Reading and writing
                      Understanding things 
                      Concentration
                      Physical needs or impairment

Children have a learning difficulty if they:
(a) Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children the same age
(b) Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind, generally provided for children of the same school age within the area of the local education authority.

Special educational provision means:
(a) For children of two or over, educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the LEA, other than special schools, in the area
(b) For children under two, educational provision of any kind.

Fundamental Principles to consider with SEN

A child with special educational needs should have their needs met. The special educational needs of children will normally be met in mainstream schools or settings. The views of the child should be  taken into account. Parents have a vital role to play in supporting their child’s education. Children with special educational needs should be offered full access to a broad, balanced and relevant education, including an appropriate curriculum for the foundation stage and the National Curriculum.

With regards to SEN a term known as Inclusion is put in place. Inclusion is the process of identifying, understanding and breaking down barriers to participation and belonging. Here are some words associated with Inclusion:

1. Equality
2. Involvement
3. No discrimination/prejudice/racism
4. Acceptance
5. Conformity
6. Values
7. Human rights
8. Morals
9. Attitudes
10. Freedom
11. Participation

Multiple Intelligence

Dr Howard Gardener founded the multiple intelligence theory that was published in his book 'Frames of Mind' in 1983. Howard Gardener stated the reason for creating the list of intelligences was because it allows us to "make the case for plurality and intellect" (1993). There are two key elements to the theory: (1) Intelligence is NOT fixed and (2) there are many different forms of intelligence. Howard Gardener suggested we have several separate intellectual capacities, each of which deserves to be called and intelligence. The seven intelligences are:
Linguistic
Logical-Mathematical
Spatial
Musical
Bodily-kinaesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal

Linguistic intelligence: The individual expresses themselves through words both written and orally.  They learn best through listening, reading or discussion.  An example of this type of intelligence is a poet or an author.
Logical-mathematical intelligence: Based on reasoning and possess the ability to detect patterns and relationships. People with this intelligence like data which allows them to collect, organise, analyse, interpret, conclude and predict. An example of this type of intelligence is a scientist or mathematician.
Spatial intelligence:The individual can visualise easy, creating mental images and learn best through visual presentation such as pictures, videos, demonstrations and models. Through drawing, painting or sculpting their ideas are portrayed and often represent moods and emotions through art. An example of this type of intelligence is an architect.
Musical intelligence: The individual is sensitive to sound and associated with a well-developed sense of rhythm. They often sing, whistle or hum while participating in an activity.  An example of this type of intelligence is a musician.
Bodily- kinaesthetic intelligence: The individual processes information through the sensations of the body, they enjoy moving around, acting things out and touching people they are conversing with. They enjoy sporting activities of all kinds and can express emotion through dance. An example of this type of intelligence is an athlete.
Interpersonal intelligence: The individual enjoys working in groups, learn while interacting and co-operating with others and also can build and maintain relationships. An example of this type of intelligence is a teacher.
Intrapersonal intelligence:  The individual has an understanding of self, their abilities, beliefs and emotions.  These people are often highly self- motivated. An example of this type of intelligence is a philosopher.

What are the benefits of providing these intelligences?

•        Improvement of self-esteem and attitude towards learning 
•        Help students to recognise and value their strengths and talents
•         Increase motivation to learn 
•        Offers an alternative perspective of intelligence
•        Allows schools the opportunity to redefine intelligence and success 
•         Helps teachers understand and value various talents each individual child

Internet Detective

It is no lie that students use the Internet on a daily basis to help with their college or university work,  majority of the time completely irrelevant information is posted on the Internet daily providing incorrect and miss leading information to students.

Internet detective is a free Internet tutorial that helps students learn to discern the good, the bad and the ugly for online research.The tutorial looks at the critical thinking required when using the Internet for research and offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of web sites.

The tutorial covers 5 aspects:

• What's the Story? – Understanding the advanced Internet skills required for university and college work.
• The Good the Bad and the Ugly – To see why information quality is an issue on the web, especially for academic research. Learn how to avoid time wasting on Internet searching, scams and hoaxes.
• Detective Work – Get hints and tips that help to critically evaluate the information you find on the Internet.
• Get On the Case – Try out your Internet Detective skills with these practical exercises.
• Keep the Right Side of the Law – Be warned about plagiarism, copyright and citation.

University staff strongly disagree with the use of Wikipedia sites as information can be edited by anonymous people and most information is worthless and at best very poor quality. The aim of this tutorial is to provide a guide to aid students in their discovery to find meaningful and appropriate information that can be used in essays, assignments and dissertations.