The importance of reviewing and reflecting upon your learning throughout your studies - advice from Professor Martin Anthony.
Any successful approach to learning must include the activities of reflection and review. Without these, you will not be able to determine where improvements are needed, how to go about improving your understanding, and whether or not you have been successful.
It requires you to continually engage in dialogue with a number of different people.
Yourself!
You are the key person to your learning and the only person who can really say how you are progressing. For example, questions you can ask yourself include:
❏ “To what extent did I understand the underlying concepts in a particular reading passage?”
❏ “How successful was I in remembering and applying the given procedure in an assignment?”
❏ “Was the subsequent discussion in the class enough to clear up any misconceptions or problems I had with the homework topics?”
Ask yourself these questions throughout your studies, for example: as you do the reading, attempt homeworks, review lecturer feedback, and so on. If you leave these important questions until the last minute, you may not have given yourself enough time to address any problems they uncover.
Lecturers and teachers
All your course lecturers and class teachers will provide office hours for students to discuss the course (including reading and homework assignments) with them outside of the lecture and class rooms.
Moreover, in some departments you may also be available to see other class teachers than your own in their office hours, particularly for the larger first year courses.
If you are having problems with a subject, do not hesitate to go to an office hour to discuss this - that is exactly what office hours are intended for!
Your peers
Study with others in your courses, and discuss what you are learning.
You will find that discussing particular concepts with, or explaining them to, others can dramatically enhance your understanding of them, and give you insights into your own particular ways of thinking and learning.
Guidance about how to work effectively in a group can be found on our Working effectively in a group| page
Your years at the School will give you plenty of opportunities to engage in self-reflection and review of your progress. Make sure that you actively participate in these. You will not get anything from your education unless you put some effort into it!
Professor Martin Anthony provides some final advice on your studies at LSE.