Preparing for class

Good preparation entails consciously working on your own learning

There are many different forms of teaching at a university. Most students are familiar with lectures and group tuition, while others also have laboratory teaching, clinical training and theoretical exercises. They all require preparation. Preparation is also required for group work, supervision, project work and so on.

As a student, you spend a lot of time preparing, but there is no single way to prepare. Good preparation depends on the course and your learning style. Therefore, it’s a good idea to try out different methods and continuously consider how you can prepare well and effectively and enhance your learning process.

What influences your preparation?

Students who find it challenging to prepare sometimes discover that other aspects of their student life are getting in the way of good preparation.

Consider whether you need to understand.

Factors that can affect your preparation
Structure your time	How do you structure your preparation? What does your weekly schedule/study day look like?
Reading strategy	What reading techniques do you use? Do you need others or more?
Note-taking technique	What note-taking techniques do you use? Do you need others or more?
Motivation	What motivates you in your studies? What motivates you in a particular course?
Resources	Who can help you in your preparation? Study group, teacher, friends, girl/boyfriend, family, student counsellor, etc
Digital noise	How do your devices and notifications affect your concentration and preparation?

Before class

To be specific and focused in your preparation, you can start by asking yourself:

What’s the purpose of this course/teaching? (Your objective)
What is in the teaching schedule? (Expectations)
How does the topic being taught relate to other topics in the course? (Overview)

Besides this, you can consider what digital tools can help you in your preparation.

Make a good reading strategy

Preparing for class often involves reading a lot of literature, and this may seem daunting given the time available. Especially because simply reading the texts is not always enough. Therefore, you need a reading strategy.

How do you make a good reading strategy?
Acquaint yourself with the topic	Start by familiarising yourself with the topic before actually reading the texts. This preliminary work will give you a better understanding of the topic and make it easier for you to read the texts and complete any assignments. For example, ask yourself what you already know about the topic make a quick Google search on the topic/highlighted concepts/theorists read about the topic in a reference work watch videos about the topic online
Find the right reading technique	First of all, you have to find a technique that matches the purpose of your reading and the type of text at hand. Find inspiration for selecting a good reading t echnique.

Preparatory notes

If you take notes before class and while reading the texts, you will:

Gain insight into anything you don't understand
Have an opportunity to ask questions during the lesson or in your study group
Have a better outset for being able to participate actively in class

Prioritise your preparation

Consider what is important to prioritise in your preparation:

Do you need to prioritise selected texts or assignments?
Should you read up on the parts you don't fully understand?
Should you skim read all the literature and perhaps then go deeper into specific parts?

It's about creating a good and realistic learning process for yourself.

During and after teaching sessions

Your learning process takes place not only during class, but also afterwards. Therefore, here are some suggestions on how you can get the most out of those parts of the process.

Active participation

Apart from being well prepared for class, your learning will also benefit from participating actively in teaching activities.

How can you participate actively?
Listen and get involved	Close your computer (or at least social media) and try to engage with the topic being reviewed by actively listening and participating in learning activities.
Take notes along the way	Taking notes activates more parts of your brain, and makes it easier for you to process information. Also, note down questions about the topic while it is being presented. Read more about taking notes during teaching sessions.
Engage in dialogue	Based on what you did not understand when preparing for class, and the questions you wrote down during class, engage in dialogue with your fellow students and your teacher during or after the class.

Process the material after class

There are different ways to process your learning after class to help you remember what you learned during class. This post-processing also serves as part of your preparation for the next teaching session, where you will build further on a topic or on your knowledge.

How can you process what you have learned?
Sum-up for yourself	Spend five minutes to sum up what you have learned and ask yourself whether you actually understood what was presented in class: Are some points still unclear?
Sum-up in your study group	Talk to your study group about any questions, and about any aspects that may still be unclear. You can also summarise the main points of the teaching session to get each other's different perspectives on the topic, or discover any misunderstandings.
Continue work on the topic	After class, spend time working on the topic, or any part of the topic that you found particularly interesting or hard to understand. For example, search for YouTube videos on the topic or use reference works to get a different perspective on the topic.