Starting your Surrey learning journey

Self-awareness is a good starting point as developing a greater understanding of yourself as a learner can offer valuable insights to help you to navigate your unique learning journey. Being self-aware is an aspect of taking ownership of your learning, as you are responsible for honestly recognising and reflecting on your successes and strengths, while identifying areas you wish to enhance to help you achieve your learning aspirations.

It’s important not to focus only on negatives, as your reflections should provide a well-rounded picture of your authentic ‘learning self’.

To do this, consider how you learn. For example, what times of the day do you study best, do you prefer to work in the morning or afternoon? You may also feel that you are more confident in one area which can help you to develop skills in another setting. For example, appreciating that you feel at ease when sharing ideas with people you know can help you to develop your confidence when contributing to larger group discussions where you feel less assured.

Being a self-aware learner will also help you to connect with, and support, other students. Having a better understanding of your own developmental needs will enable you to not only share your story but to understand and learn from others’ experiences. Meeting new people may feel a little daunting at first, so to help you overcome these concerns, you may wish to explore opportunities to become a more active learner when networking or team working (see our guide on making the most of your university learning experience).

Becoming a self-aware learner will help you to:

• Contribute to your own and others’ learning development by making connections with others
• Develop a positive and optimistic mindset about the possibilities and opportunities for change or enhancement
• See your progress towards your learning aspirations on your journey.

Becoming a critical thinker is a key aspect of developing your learning self. Like self-awareness, it does not mean focussing on the negative aspects of a piece of research or point of view. Instead, positively questioning your thinking about a topic or text, exploring more deeply your understanding of subject, and challenging your own ideas and your knowledge of yourself, will allow you to be open to and embrace different perspectives, become a creative problem solver and be able to confidently express your opinions once you have critiqued and analysed the evidence. It can help you to think more creatively about a topic and where you stand (your viewpoint) in relation to the different perspectives.

In essence, critical thinking means not taking things at ‘face value’ but asking questions such as, ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’, and, most importantly, ‘why’. Critical thinking can help you to navigate through the evidence you will be expected to engage with as part of your studies, so it is important to think critically when you research, read, make notes, write and reflect on your learning.

Employing critical thinking in your learning means:

• Developing a deeper and more meaningful understanding of your subject or a topic
• Being open to different viewpoints and being willing to change your own perspective
• Gauging the reliability of information by questioning the content.

The ability to draw on your experiences and critically think about and analyse a situation will help you to be more effective when problem solving. Problems can often be seen as difficulties, but, as a learner, the challenge of finding solutions on how to answer an assignment question, knowing when to seek advice, or even deciding what would be the best way to achieve your study-life balance, can be motivating.

It’s always good to challenge your thinking about a topic by undertaking some further research, where you could discover different perspectives about an issue, theory or concept. Discussing ideas with other students, perhaps as part of a group you are working with, or with your tutor, or staff in teams such as Academic Skills and Development, can help develop your thinking and approach to finding a solution.

Taking a positive approach to problem solving will enable you to adapt quickly to new situations, as you will be able to build on your experiences as you become a more confident learner. This is again about taking control of, and responsibility for, your own learning and is thus integral to your progress on your journey. It is always worth setting aside some time to think about an issue, so scheduling independent study time (or thinking time) is always beneficial (see our guide on planning and organising your time).

To develop your problem-solving abilities:

• Think about how you have adapted and succeeded in the past and how you can apply this to new situations
• Connect with others to explore how they have been successful in similar situations. Could you adopt the same strategies?
• Set aside time to think through the problem to find an effective solution.

Finally, taking ownership and responsibility for your development will increase your confidence as an independent learner. By regularly reviewing and reflecting on your progress (self-awareness), you will increasingly find that you are directing and taking control of your learning journey. As you adjust to university life, you may find that you need to re-evaluate how you approach your studies as being in control of your learning means you can design your own work patterns.

The onus will be on you to organise the times you chose to study independently, whilst also regulating this, ensuring you maintain a healthy study balance with your other life commitments. It also means taking the initiative to ask questions and clarify anything you are unsure about. By increasingly looking at ways to become a self-directed independent learner, the more your confidence will grow in your new learning environment.

However, it is only natural that at times you may question your ability to be successful when working independently. Being self-aware will mean you are better able to recognise when this happens, so you can identify when you need to reach out for advice.

To become a more independent learner:

• Consider how you can best organise your workload effectively to balance your study and life commitments
• Recognise when you need some advice or guidance, and actively reach out for support
• Reflect and review your unique learning journey frequently to recognise your progress and achievements.