As we head towards the end of Michaelmas Term the anticipation of some down time over the break is very welcome. It is important that we encourage students to see the holidays similarly: yes, to do some work, but also to recharge and come back for Lent Term refreshed and ready for their studies. Students will have a variety of ‘demands’ over the break: some will be planning to try and catch up on reading and problem sets that they didn’t manage to do during the term; others may want to do very little but rest and party; many will be in London and away from their families, possibly for the first time. So what can teachers tell their students in terms of academic advice for the holidays and what support systems at LSE can they signpost their students to? Taking some time towards the end of term to talk in classes about managing work-life balance over the holidays can be a useful way of ensuring that students both take a break and also do a reasonable amount of independent study.
One useful activity – and something that will help them address course readings effectively – is to review the term’s work in a productive manner. Several of our posts on the blog this term have suggested possible approaches. Mind mapping is a great task to do at the end of term and also for students to do over the holidays for all their courses, as it helps them to get a visual map of course themes, authors and key arguments. One of our resources on academic literacies suggested ways of supporting students to read academic texts effectively. Something a colleague used to do in her studies was to make a post-it note of the reading, and use this as a reminder of the paper instead of always going back to the paper. We all have an approach, and sharing with students what worked for you and getting them to talk with each other and share different approaches can be a productive activity in a small group teaching session.
For problem set classes students can be encouraged to review the areas they were not so strong on over the term and repeat the problem sets (without the answers) again and see how they are doing. Some teachers may have noted a few common topics or problem types that students found trickier and can suggest that they review these areas before Lent Term begins. Again teachers and students sharing their own approaches can be useful.
Apart from discussing with students some approaches to managing a sensible amount of study over the holidays, it is also key to ensure that they do have a break, and that those staying in London and away from home know about what the School provides by way of services and events. The Christmas holiday page on the LSE website has lots of information under three tabs: campus information, staying in London and events.
