For successful study to take place you need to prepare carefully. This includes emotional, psychological, physical and environmental preparation. In other words you need to adopt a constructive attitude with high levels of motivation, maintain your health and create a working space conducive to learning. This chapter provides advice on how to go about preparing yourself, and others around you, for study.

MAINTAINING HEALTH

You need to make sure that you maintain your health at levels suitable to aid your studies. This is not to say that people with poor health cannot study – of course they can. However, you need to make sure that your health does not have an adverse influence on your studies. As an adult you know the importance of diet, exercise and sleep. Don’t let your studies take over your life so much that you neglect these activities – they are so important to your physical wellbeing.

You will be required to do a lot of reading during your studies, so remember to have your eyes tested on a regular basis. You may also need to have your hearing checked so that you can get the most out of lectures. If you have problems with your eyesight or hearing which will affect your studies, make contact with the Disability Officer at your college or university. This person will be able to help you by arranging for note-takers to accompany you to lectures, or by providing equipment such as dictating machines or text magnifiers (see Chapter 18).

CREATING A WORKING ENVIRONMENT

If you intend to study at home you need to create a working environment that will help, rather than hinder, your studies. This means that you need to have furniture and equipment that is comfortable and suits your style of working, and you will need to find a quiet space free from distractions. This can be hard for adults with family commitments, but it is advisable to try to establish some ground rules at the start of your studies so that you can avoid problems later on.

We don’t all have the luxury of being able to afford new office equipment. However, if you follow the health and safety considerations listed in the box below, you will create a more comfortable and productive working environment. Well designed furniture that suits your body size can reduce pain and injury, increase productivity and improve your mood and morale. Suitable furniture can also help to eliminate awkward posture.

If possible you should use your working environment only for studying and for important paperwork. Items that are used for leisure, such as televisions or radios, should be kept away from your working environment. You need to be able to make a clear distinction between work and leisure time

and if you have a separate working space you will find this much easier to do.

BUILDING AND IMPROVING MOTIVATION

My personal experience suggests that adult learners, in general, tend to be more motivated than younger students in their studies. This is probably because adults have invested more in the learning process, not just in financial terms, but also in the way that returning to learning influences their lives, their attitudes, their families, their employment prospects and their psychological wellbeing. For many adults, returning to education is a huge decision that cannot be taken lightly. Once they have decided that this is the right option for them, they are determined to do well and show that they are capable of succeeding. These attitudes serve to keep motivation levels high.

Table 3. Methods for dealing with poor motivation

However, when I conducted some research with adult learners it was found that some adults experienced profound dips in these levels of motivation. Often, this was not through their making, but was instead due to outside influences over which adults felt they had very little control. Table 3 lists these influences, along with suggestions, from adult learners, for coping with the situation.

Most people experience dips in their motivation levels at points during their lives. It is natural and nothing to be concerned about. However, where your studies are concerned, there are a few tips you can take note of to help keep your levels of motivation high:

• Make sure that you choose a subject in which you feel you have a high level of interest.
• Think about your learning style and try to choose a course and learning provider that will not clash with this style.
• Before you begin your course, write down your reasons for returning to learning. Keep the list in a prominent place and refer back to it when you feel your motivation levels dropping.
• Set yourself clear aims and objectives. What do you hope to achieve from the course? How do you intend to meet your goals?
• If you find that you are experiencing personal and family problems, don’t ignore them as they may escalate. Tackle them as soon as they occur.
• Utilise available help at your college or university, such as student support groups, counsellors and study support (see Chapter 18).

PREPARING A STUDY PLAN

A study plan is a strategy you use to help you achieve the most from your studies. It should help your studies to become more efficient, effective and successful. Creating a study plan is a very individual process – the guidelines listed below will help at the start of your course, but as your studies progress, you may find that you adapt your study plan to suit your individual style and needs.

Setting your Goals

A goal is a clear statement that describes what you will be able to do at the end of your studies. This will include specific behaviour and a clear outcome. Most course information should contain a list of the ‘course outcomes’. Read these through and see if they match your own stated goals. If there is a mismatch, you need to think about whether the course is right for you.

Listing your Study Tasks

As you read the information about your course, you will begin to form an idea of what actions or tasks you will be required to undertake. Make a list of these tasks. This could include tasks such as memorising information, learning facts, reading books, analysing books, writing assignments, and so on.

Listing Potential Study Problems

Go through your list of study tasks and note any that you think will create problems. You could mark them in order of difficulty. Include in this list any other problems you think you may have with your study, such as lack of interest or your family making demands on your time.

Rectifying Study Problems

Work through your list of study problems and decide what action you are going to take to rectify each problem. For some problems it is perfectly acceptable to decide that the situation will be rectified over time as your course progresses. For example, many students find that their powers of argument and persuasion improve as they complete more assignments. For some of the other problems you might find it enough to decide to read the rest of this book or to visit the Study Support Unit at your college or university. Keep your list of problems and refer back to it at the end of your course. You will be surprised how many of the difficulties were very easy to overcome or, in fact, were not problems at all.

Identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses

Some adults find it useful to identify their strengths and weaknesses before beginning their studies. Again, this helps you to work out what problems you might face on your course and think about coping strategies before the problems escalate. It is useful to think about your strengths as it helps you to feel positive about your ability to complete the course. You can also refer back to this list at the end of your course to see how your strengths and weaknesses have changed.

Developing a Semester/Term Plan

Using your course materials and other information supplied by your tutor, find out what tasks you will need to complete by the end of the semester or term. Enter any important dates onto a wall calendar so that you don’t miss any deadlines (see Chapter 3). List everything you will need to have done, including any study tasks you will want to have developed and any study problems you intend to have improved upon. At the end of the semester, refer to your list to see whether you have completed everything you hoped, or whether there is still room for improvement.

Developing a Weekly Plan

For many courses you will need to be quite specific about the tasks you have to complete each week. Some people find it useful to complete a weekly plan every week, whereas others find that this is a waste of time. It might be useful to complete a weekly plan for the first four weeks until you get into a routine. However, it is important to make sure that you don’t spend more time producing plans than you do on your studies. In your weekly plan you could include all your lectures and seminars, any background reading you hope to achieve and any other study tasks (see Chapter 3).