Personally, I have found independent study very useful as a module overall. I found it difficult to get into the module at first but found once we got started on various projects it became interesting. It was useful to participate in activities such as questionnaires and literature reviews which is something I am not used to doing in my study of English Language so far.
However i believe that some of the ways in which the lectures were conducted could have been done in a more engaging way, but i did appreciate being left to conduct the projects in my own time.
Overall I feel that the skills I have gained from the Independent Study module will help as I continue my study of English Language.
Frazer:
Independent study has been unbelievably useful. From writing
literature reviews, to learning how to conduct thorough research, all skill throughout
the unit were applicable to all other modules on the Language course.
However, I do feel that while independent study has helped
my overall studying, I still feel that structuring of academic essays is still
a personal weakness. I believe that if this would have been covered in
Independent study, I would feel much more comfortable with it.
Despite some tedious elements, this module significantly aided
tasks set in other modules. The skills learnt from this module will now be
implemented in future modules.
Hannah:
Though I didn’t necessarily enjoy all the content of this
module, I found it incredibly useful for all of my studying in the first year.
The lessons we did on referencing was invaluable for me. I found when completing
assignments for my module outside my main discipline, I was one step ahead of
some of my classmates, as they hadn’t had the same referencing teaching. I also
enjoyed completing the corpus investigation, it was refreshing to have more
practical lessons using computers. I would like to do more modules like this
over the next two years of my degree as I enjoy the research and database
element to it.
Jennifer:
The tasks in Independent Study helped me to focus on the
research question and systematically evaluate my findings.
In terms of my questionnaire I asked a group of Mothers
about their child’s progression in the early stages of acquiring language. I
hope to progress by not using so many leading questions and doing different
plans to come to the best outcome.
I found the corpus investigation very helpful to my data
analysis and will build on the feedback I received this year for next. I have
learned that statistical data can be expressed in differing ways and I will use
this knowledge next year.
Jodie:
The skills learnt in Independent study proved to be extremely useful within many aspects of my first year at university, and will continue to assist me as I continue my education.
Each task taught me new skills throughout the Independent Study module, however in my opinion, the corpus investigation proved to be the more interesting, yet challenging of the tasks. On the other hand, I do feel that I could improve the quality of my literature review writing, which in turn will improve my general essay structure in all future assignments.
With the skills learnt and adapted in Independent study, I hope I can contribute my strengths to the group work to come in the first semester.
