Just a general question for you current students

**karansaraf** · 03-01-2006, 12:30 AM

Hey,

I was just wondering the following things:

-For students currently doing courses where the majority of your time is spent in lectures (ie. not students at Universities where PBL is a main feature a la Manchester, Liverpool etc. and not students at Oxbridge.)

So, you go to your lectures, and you make your notes on what they tell you etc. Now, I know this isn't school, and the tutors/lecturers don't check up on your or anything, but are you left to your own devices to make sure your notes are up to date/accurate, or are there assignments you have to do that you have to hand in to be marked so that they know you're not just wasting yours and their time?

-For students currently doing PBL courses a la Manchester, Liverpool etc.

Ok, so you go to your PBL groups, get presented with your case, get given your aims and you go away to do your research. Then you come back and discuss what you've done and make notes on what other people thought that you didn't. Is that it? Or are there assignments you do and hand in so that the "facilitators" know that you're keeping up with work? Also, in comparison to PBL sessions, how many lectures do you have?

Basically, I just want to know the degree of "freedom" you have to do your work, or do you have assignments/projects that you have to give in to be marked and so that the University knows you're doing what you're supposed to.

Thanks a lot

PS: It would help if you could mention which University you're currently at, and what year you are in. Thanks again.

**Cymro** · 03-01-2006, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by karansaraf

So, you go to your lectures, and you make your notes on what they tell you etc. Now, I know this isn't school, and the tutors/lecturers don't check up on your or anything, but are you left to your own devices to make sure your notes are up to date/accurate, or are there assignments you have to do that you have to hand in to be marked so that they know you're not just wasting yours and their time?

At university the onus is on the student to learn rather than on the faculty to teach. Lectures are not "lessons"; they are there to guide and reinforce your own study. At Cardiff, attendance at lectures is not compulsary, although the faculty would take a dim view if it became aware of a student who was not making a satisfactory effort to attend. Nobody "checks up" on you, but you obviously have to do well in all of the modules which are approximately assessed by one final paper at the end of the year and a piece of coursework or supplementary exam earlier in the year.

I know of many individuals who never attended lectures in the pre-clinical years, only attending practical classes and tutorials that were registered.

Cymro.

**yeliab_cram** · 03-01-2006, 01:02 AM

Originally Posted by karansaraf

So, you go to your lectures, and you make your notes on what they tell you etc. Now, I know this isn't school, and the tutors/lecturers don't check up on your or anything, but are you left to your own devices to make sure your notes are up to date/accurate, or are there assignments you have to do that you have to hand in to be marked so that they know you're not just wasting yours and their time?

the lectures are often numerous and cover a huge ammount of information in a short time. It is upto you to know the stuff by the time of the exam. This often means learning from a few textbooks and making your own notes when needed. Missing medic lectures is far from the end of the world, as they are so numerous and often lacking in detail.

There are assignments, but these vary greatly and are not usually to make sure you've been a good little boy! as said above: the owness is on you - its all about self directed learning - fun!

**WAMS** · 03-01-2006, 01:10 AM

I always say that you don't have to go to lectures if you don't want to. No one usually checks up. Some tutorials are registered, so it's best you go to them...

Anything that has to be marked, needs to be done and handed in. However, your lecture notes and extra reading is your's to do during your own time... no one will check up on you. However, if you don't do any, it'll make revision that bit more difficult!

This is where some people fall down at uni - they get there, get drunk, and do no work as their teachers/parents haven't been on their backs like at school. They then fail or scrape by or drop out.

My advice - just try your best - don't work too hard.... get a life, join in with student activities and try and keep on top of the work.

However this is easier said than done! My plan was to do quite a lot of work over Christmas, but I start back tomorrow (booo!) and have done hardly any. Oh well...

**yeliab_cram** · 03-01-2006, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by WAMS

My advice - just try your best - don't work too hard.... get a life, join in with student activities and try and keep on top of the work.

Amen to that!

**Whizz** · 03-01-2006, 11:48 PM

Basically, you can do as much or as little as you like.

Our course isn't very PBL oriented, hence, yes - we have many lectures. In fact, the majority of our learning is done this way. There is rarely anything which has compulsory attendence except Labs which you have to sign in for and even tutorials are not all compulsory - you have to turn up to about 70%. Even then, they only check attendence if you fail finals and they look at your records to see why.

As someone said before, theres more to uni then textbooks. Have fun. Your training to be a doc - your life will be consumed by exams. Lifes too short to revise all the time.

What do they call the person who graduated bottom of the class at medical school?

Doctor

**Dan1979** · 04-01-2006, 02:04 PM

One small point about lectures - many (non-clinical?) lecturers will pitch their presentations at a level far higher than what a med student will need to understand, so you may need to do your own learning about what is actually required for exams out of class.

As others have said, the onus of learning is on you at university, irrespective of the course style.