World University Rankings by Subject 2011 - Arts & Humanities

Rank Title
1 Harvard University
2 University of Oxford
3 University of Cambridge
4 University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
5 Yale University
6 Columbia University
7 University of Toronto
8 Stanford University
9 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
10 University of Chicago

Study Tips


Check out WLU's Study Skills Program - resources and workshops are offered on a variety of topics, including Time Management & Procrastination and Preparing for Midterms.

If you have difficulties in handling more personal issues, such as anxiety or gaining self-confidence, or even more serious issues, you may want to contact Counselling Services.



The following is a collection of tips for studying mathematics. These have been gathered from a number of sources (texts, websites, personal experience) over a number of years.

General:

Keys to success include desire and discipline. You must want success and you must discipline yourself to do what it takes to get success.
Keys to success include motivation and time management (rewording of the above).
Everything that you learn increases your value.
If you need help, get it! Find out what resources are available to you.
Math is cummulative - what you learn today will be used tomorrow.
Take responsibility for your education.
No two students will learn in the same way. Discover what it takes for you to learn math.
Don't expect to understand every new topic the first time you see it. Learning mathematics takes time, patience and repetition. "All mathematics is easy, once you understand it."
You must practice speaking a foreign language regularly in order to become fluent in it. Mathematics is like a language - you must practice it regularly and become fluent.
If you memorize procedures without understanding, you will soon forget the procedures.
Being a full time student is a full time job. For each in class hour of instruction, two to four hours of studying (including doing homework) should be completed.
Account for how you spend every half hour of your time for one entire week. Add up your totals for sleep, study, work, recreation, and social activities. Does the amount of time allocated to each seem appropriate?
The ability to concentrate depends on adequate sleep, decent nutrition and the physical well-being that comes with exercise.
Lectures:

Read the related sections of your text before it is discussed in the lecture. Even if you do not totally understand what you've read, hearing it in class will now be the second time you've seen the material.
When taking notes, leave space. Later you can go back, adding details, extra notes from text, examples, etc.
If lecture notes are provided (such as via a course website), make use of them. Read them before the class and then you'll actually have a chance to listen to your instructor during the lecture.
Attending a lecture is more than just showing up and taking notes. Be attentive. Each is an hour of your time - why not make proper use of it?
Ask questions in class. This will keep the lecture more active and interesting, and will also ease your comfort in approaching your instructor outside of class.
If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out what was discussed.
After each class, rewrite - or at least reread - your notes, filling in details and/or making corrections as you do so.

Homework/Studying:

Don't simply work problems to get answers. Try to understand the big picture - how does this relate to what we did last? where would we go next?
Research shows that we remember only 10% of what we read, 20% of what we see, but a full 90% of what we say and do. So, whenever possible say and do.
Find a group of students (3-5) to work with outside of class. Explaining concepts out loud will deepen your understanding. But remember that working a problem with help is not the same as working a problem on your own.
Mathematics is personal - make sure that you can do it.
Check your answers with those provided in the back of the text or solution manual only after having worked through the problem yourself. But do get in the habit of checking your work to gain confidence in your abilities.
You work a problem and get the wrong answer. You rework the problem and you get the right answer. Be sure to go over your first solution and find out where you went wrong. This is a great learning tool and will help you avoid making the same mistakes again.
Working one hour per day every day is better than working 7 hours in one day.
Keep reviewing. After doing the current work, go back a section or two and try to rework a few problems. You will be amazed at how much your knowledge will improve with regular review (and you'll be able to avoid those all night cram sessions!).
At the end of each week, take note of the progress that's been made. What do you now know that you didn't know on Monday?
Don't use excuses to avoid studying. Use them to take half hour breaks from studying, about every hour or two.
Eliminate obvious visual distractions when you study. This includes magazines and texts from another class.
Tests:

Cramming for a test only creates text anxiety. Keep up with homework and there's no need to cram. Start studying several days before the exam and get a good sleep the night before.
Scan the test and pick out the problems that are the easiest for you. Do these first to gain confidence and jump start your thinking.
Use the marks allocation to judge the amount of time that should be spent on each question.
When you've completed a question you are confident about, place a check mark beside it. Place a question mark beside problems that you want to go back and have another look at if time permits.
When a test is returned, rework all problems checking to see what you did correct, what you did wrong. Consult model solutions and get help on anything you still don't understand.

Getting Back On The Study Track
Sometimes students find that the focus of their lives has shifted away from study and that they have fallen behind and want to refocus. Here are 10 simple tips to help get back on track with study.

1. Understand how much time you have and allocate it appropriately
There are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. Allocating those 24 hours and 7 days effectively will get you back on track. Each of the next nine topics describe what needs to be done with your time to get you back on track and to study effectively.

2. Go to all lectures, tutorials and practicals
Just going to lectures is likely to keep your study life on track and prevent you from getting too entangled with non-study activities. You may be thinking “I do not have to go to lectures because I can get the information off the web, or from the text book, or from a friend”, however often this does not work. When you go to lectures you organise your life so that it is focussed on study. When you do not go to lectures you are often organising your life so that it is focussed on things other than study. Going to a lecture begins the process of learning long before exam time, and lecturers have a tendency to emphasise what they think is important and this is not always clear in their lecture notes. Also hand up all practical reports and practice assignments. In some subjects, there are many small assignments for which you do not get many marks. These are not as important for grades but they are important for learning.

3. Do not overcommit yourself
You may have interests that take time and effort from study. For example, sports, hobbies, politics, clubs, social life, art, crafts etc. These activities in the correct amount can support study, or they can detract from study if you do them too much. Adjust your commitments to support study. There should be 35 hours (or more) available for full time study. It is similar to a full time job. Some students get deceived by the contact hours which are less than 35 hours and then think that they can fill all that extra time with other activities. However, the non contact time is needed to do the assignments, reading and learning. Do not overload your enrolment if you are having trouble keeping up with your study. A normal full-time commitment at this university is 12 units.

4. Do not let employment interfere with study
It is important to not let work interfere with your study.

Ask yourself the following questions:

After the time you spend at work, is there enough time to sleep and study effectively?
How many hours do you work a week?
Take into account the time it takes to get to work and the fact that most people can not study for 2 hours after work – they need to wind down.
Is your job the best one to support study?
Are you working because you need to? – In which case, you must keep doing it.
Are you working because you want to or want to spend the money on something? If you are failing because you do not have enough time to study, then perhaps you need to reduce or stop working. Sometimes it helps to reduce work hours during exam times, if your employer will allow it. So ask if you can reduce your work hours and explain why to your employer. Ninety five percent of employers are quite reasonable if they understand that you will fail if you do not find more time to study.
5. Be realistic about the effect of unexpected events
Are there demands on your life that you can not control and that make it difficult to study?

Are you:

Needing to work to live, pay off debts etc?
Managing an illness (yours or others)?
Affected by a family matter?
Grieving over the death of someone?
Required to do things other than study?
Then:

you may be better off reducing your study commitments
or
reduce your expectations for grades
6. Study in an effective and efficient way
Many students study until they can not study any more. Time sitting at your desk trying to study but not studying is wasted time, it is psychologically exhausting. It is much better to get up have a break and then return when your mind is clear. It is even more efficient to stop studying while it is going well, because it is much easier to return to study that was going well. During the short break, do things that refresh you: go outside, do something physical, dance, walk, play a musical instrument, whatever gives you a break from study. Then return to your study.

Very few people can study for more that thirty to fifty minutes with full concentration. Have a short break, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, then continue to study. Take a break again — keep this rhythm going. People can study for a long time like this.

For more information see the Managing Stress and being a Successful Student.

7. Take care of yourself - so that you can study effectively
Study is most productive when alternated with proper relaxation. Relaxation then becomes a valuable support for study. This balance between study and non-study is best maintained by having a number of non-study activities in your life. Doing too many non-study activities, you will not do well at university, because too much of your time and effort will go into them rather than study [see section 4 & 5]. With too few non-study activities, you may get so stressed that you will not be able to study effectively. Non-study activities can include sport, hobbies, part-time job, relationship, friends, partying, movies, clubbing, walking, sleeping, pets, friends, gardening, sports, hobbies, music etc. All these in the right amount will give you a useful break from study. If you rest and relax, you can return to study refreshed after time off and can have something to look forward to when you are studying. Rest is most efficient when it is worry and guilt free.

For more information see the Managing Stress and being a Successful Student.

8. Get enough sleep so you can study effectively
When you are sleep-deprived, it is very difficult to be motivated to study or concentrate properly. You can do many things when sleep-deprived such as surf the internet, chatting online, speak to friends, play sports, and work (sometimes). Although you can do these things, it may create the illusion that you can get by on little sleep. However, it is very difficult to effectively study when sleep-deprived. When students have too many non-study activities, they often manage by reducing sleep. On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, it is best to go to bed at the same time and get up eight hours later. Once you set the alarm, lights should be out eight hours before the alarm goes off. It helps to leave at least 30 minutes for the transition from waking activity to sleep. In this time, you should not do things that will wake you up. It is a time to calm down. Many sleep problems are caused by trying to sleep and trying to think at the same time, which is impossible. The simplest solution to this problem is to commit eight hours to rest and do your thinking after you wake up.

For more information see Sleep - Improve it!.

9. After falling behind - set realistics study goals
It is better to pass one or two subjects than to attempt all of your subjects and fail them all. It is also better to aim for a pass than to aim for a high grade and not hand in the assignment. It helps to prioritise study or assignments.

Ask yourself:

Which is the most important?
What will be easiest to finish?
What one should I start with?
Once you have clear priorities, there are two ways to proceed.

Do one assignment or subject until it is finished putting others aside until you have finished the first assignment. It can sometimes help to put the books associated with other topics away so you do not think about them, until you are ready to do them.
Only study one subject at a time. For example, for half a day, study only one subject and do not to think about any other subject during that time. Then for the next half day, study another subject and only think about that subject during that period of time.
10. Negotiate with academics to hand in late assignments
You may need to negotiate with lecturers to hand assignments in late. Academics are often willing to do this so seek their help.