trans:it science
UNIT 3: TIME MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE
STUDENTS
1. Time Matters
Efficient management of time is one of the key elements for managing
independent study in higher education.
Balancing and prioritising the things you have to do, and completing work
targets on time, is essential for making you feel in control of your life.
It is also important for academic success. Zeegers et al (2008, p.13) cite a
study of college students in the USA that suggested the effective management
of time for short term planning, and having a disciplined attitude to time
keeping, were important determinants of high academic achievement.
As you saw in Unit 2, science students tend to have fuller, more structured
timetables, compared to non-science students. You will have set times for
lectures, tutorials, practical sessions, and, if applicable, for field trips or work
observation off campus. On average, you can expect to have around 20 to 25
hours of formal teaching contact time per week in your first year (see the
example time table in Unit 2).
The problems students encounter tend to
concern managing their time for independent study and for non-academic
related activity.
Section 3, ‘Time Management’, in the main trans:it workbook, goes into detail
about managing time generally and includes a self-assessment exercise, time
management techniques, and case studies. However, a time prioritisation
exercise is offered on the next page, as science students are often faced with
decisions about the choices shown in this exercise. Two case new studies are
also included in this resource.
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Exercise: Prioritise
Science students have competing tasks and deadlines to manage and will
often be forced to decide which to do first.
This exercise aims to get you thinking about how to prioritise tasks: how to
make decisions and compare things that may all be important for different
reasons.
Read through this list of tasks and imagine that you need to put them in
priority order to plan your workload for the week ahead.
Number the tasks below, with 1 the highest priority, and 8 the lowest.
Task
Priority
Preparing your part of a group presentation to be given at the end
of this week which will account for 30% of your marks in the
module.
Reading a really interesting article in preparation for your lecture on
the subject at the beginning of the week ahead.
Reading an article that’s short but not very interesting in
preparation for your seminar on the subject in the middle of the
week.
Writing a short lab report (1000 words), due at the end of the week.
Working on designing a webpage that isn’t actually part of your
course, but you discussed it with your tutor and she said she’d be
interested to see it.
Doing some revision for your exams at the beginning of next term.
Planning your research for an assignment due in three weeks that
will count for 50% of your marks in the module.
Typing up a scheduled financial statement for the university Mature
Students Society of which you are the Treasurer.
(Source: University of Reading 2011)
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Your tutor will discuss your responses to this exercise with you. Alternatively,
you can check out our responses to it yourself in the online tutor guidance
notes for this Section and Unit.
2. Procrastination and Perfectionism
The two ‘Ps’ of procrastination and perfectionism are separate but often
closely related traits.
Procrastination
Perfectionism
You keep putting off starting a
You spend far too long on a task
task.
because you want to get it
‘perfect’, even though you know
‘perfection’ is an impossible goal to
attain for mere mortals.
You find reasons for not getting
started, or you engage in
distraction or time-wasting
exercises to defer starting an
unpleasant task.
This can lead to procrastination, as
you would rather defer a task than
submit something less than perfect in
your eyes!
What can you do about it?
There are two exercises in Unit 3 of the main trans:it resource for students to
help you deal with these two aspects of time management.
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For additional help overcoming procrastination, go to the LearnHigher ‘Time
Management’ online resources at:
http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/Students/Time-management.html
The Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies at Brunel University,
which has many science and technology students, has produced a useful
online ‘Managing your Time Successfully’ self-assessment exercise, at:
http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/mb/3142
3. Case Studies
Please read the following two case studies.
They present typical time
management scenarios for new higher education students. As you read, think
about how you might resolve the situations described if you were the students
concerned
Case Study 1: Jay
Jay is in her first year on a science degree course. She is the first in her
family to study in higher education, so she feels under a lot of pressure to do
well. But she is falling behind with her course work, and this making her feel
depressed and anxious about the future.
The problem is that she is spending too much time on her reading at the
expense of writing up her lab reports and completing her essays on time.
Jay has an extensive reading list of ‘recommended reading’, although her
tutors have said that she should read selectively. Her practice has been to
download and print off academic journal articles from the Internet and to
read these in detail. However, this has proven to be quite expensive in
printing costs, so she has started to try and read online. But Jay finds this
difficult, as her attention span when reading online is quite limited.
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What advice would you give Jay to help her manage this problem?
Case Study 2: Zak
Zak is enjoying his time on his science degree course. He is interested in his
chosen science subject and wants to do well. He has also taken full
advantage of the social activities at the university and also found many new
online social networks that interest him. As a result, he spends a lot of his
time online chatting with students all over the world, and meeting other
students socially on campus.
However, his social activities are having a negative impact on his course work.
He is not reading as widely as he should, and tries to cut corners by reading
secondary sources on the Internet, instead of the articles and chapters from
his recommended reading lists. Subsequently, his assignment results are
below average and he is worried about his first year results. Yet, his social life
is also very important to him.
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What advice would you give Zak to help him manage this situation?
(adapted from Shahabudin (2010, pp: 225-237)
Your tutor will discuss these case studies with you. However, you can check
out our responses to them via the online tutor guidance notes for this Section
and Unit.
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4. Time Management Tips from Successful Science Students
“Organise your notes and
“Briefly review course materials
handouts, so you don’t waste time
regularly – it keeps them longer in
searching for them.”
your mind.”
“Count the hours spent on study in
“Find a place for study that can be
a good or typical week for you, so
safely left and returned to.”
that you can identify what is
realistic for you.”
“Limit your blocks of study to no
“After two hours – take a break and
more than two hours on any one
do something else for a while;
topic – stops you getting bored.”
keeps your mind fresh”.
“Don’t under-estimate the time to
“List your tasks according to their
write an assignment.. It ALWAYS
priority…do the most important
takes longer than you think it will
tasks first.
do”.
(Students quoted in Zeegers 2008, p.18)
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4. Useful Additional Online Sources
The University of Reading have an excellent site aimed at new undergraduate
students. The section on time management is excellent. Available at:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/NewtoUniversity/stamanagingyourstudies.aspx
The University of Bradford have two colourful posters you can download to
help you prioritise and plan your time:
1. “Manage Your Time” poster
http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/management/external/els/pdf/manageyourt
imeA3.pdf
2. “Get a Grip on Time” poster
http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/management/external/els/pdf/getagripA3.p
df
Napier University also has an interesting 15 minute self-assessment time
management exercise for new undergraduate students:
http://www2.napier.ac.uk/getready/managing_studies/time.html
Brunel University study skills website includes science students talking about
their undergraduate time management experiences. You can find it at:
http://people.brunel.ac.uk/files/ask/time/player.html
The University of Guelph, Canada, has two useful time management planners
that you can print out: a master planner, and a weekly planner.
http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/assistance/learning_services/undergraduate
s/services_by_topic/time_management.cfm
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References
Shahabudin, K. (2010). ‘'Friend or foe? The impact of new technologies on
student time management at university'. in P. Hartley, J. Hilsdon, C. Keenan,
S. Sinfield & M. Verity (eds.), Learning Development in Higher Education,
Palgrave Macmillan.
University of Reading (2011). Managing Your Studies. Available at
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/NewtoUniversity/stamanagingyourstudies.aspx [Accessed 2 May 2012].
Zeegers, P., Deller-Evans, K., Egege, S. and Klinger, C. (2008). Essential
Skills for Science and Technology. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
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