Get A First Class Degree

Some time ago I wrote about the increasing trade in fake degrees. Since that time I have seen a couple more sites offering this ’service’ which I thought were really funny..

One allows you to “design your own” fake degree certificate on-line… now what possible use could that be? Surely a fake degree certificate is supposed to look like an original degree certificate…. if it does not then how is it a fake?

Another more amusing site claimed that you could avoid several years of hard work and expense by buying a fake degree certificate from:

NON-ACCREDITTED and NON-EXISTANT colleges and universities

Now I did not use upper case there… that is how it is written on the site… they go on to say that:

Our easy-to-use on-line system means that you can have a degree sitting in front of you in minutes! Yes, a VALUELESS qualification in science, the arts, or business really can be yours…

Again stressing the point that this fake degree certificate is valueless… before moving onto the disclaimer:

Please note that this is a glib statement that cannot be substantiated and is not guaranteed….. accepts no responsibility for any humiliation or redundancy that may result.

That site was not actually that bad, at least they are honest.. however I also read that there are companies offering good quality forged degree and A level certificates on-line for just £165.

Supposedly the man behind the site has been questioned by police but never successfully prosecuted.

It is worrying that fake certificates are becoming more readily available, however I still do not thing they are much use. It is very easy to verify whether someone attended University, after all how do you invent three years of your life?

Ethics aside, I think fake degree’s are a complete waste of time and money… I don’t think they would fool an employer and if they do, the fact that you lied will always be hanging over you….

I recently read that almost 14,000 students have been caught trying to cheat their way to a degree.

Information released under the freedom of information revealed the statistics which show that whilst most students try to cheat at coursework, 1,000 were found to be cheating in exams.

The most popular method of cheating in exams seemed to be the use of crib sheets taken in by the student.

Out of the fourteen thousand students caught cheating, just seventy seven were expelled from 60 Universities.

A total of 114 Universities took part in the survey of which the University of Greenwich reported the most severe problems with cheating, reporting that a total of 601 students were caught.

Whether this is because Greenwich University have a lot of cheats, or whether it is because they are better at catching them is no clear!

Of the 601 students cheating at Greenwich, 50 of them were caught in exams. The next Universities on the list were:

• University of East London with 515 cheats
• Wolverhampton with 360 cheats
• Sheffield Hallam with 344 cheats
• Sunderland with 321 cheats

I would imagine most of these were cases of plagiarism; certainly that was what people seemed to get caught for when I was at University.

Plagiarising work is not easy (not that I ever tried it). Universities routinely look ro matching text on the internet, and now, Universities are sharing databases of all past assignments to detect whether a particular piece of work has been plagiarised.

Even if you are using an old piece of work that only existed in hard copy a few years before at a different University, there is every chance it has been scanned and is now available to your own University.

I always viewed plagiarism as being more difficult than the work itself, in my opinion you are far better off just getting on with your studies and trying to learn something!

Online degree’s are growing in popularity, particularly in America.

The idea is not new, in the UK the Open University has been engaged in distance learning for many years.

The question is, what are these degree’s worth.

There is constant discussion as to whether degree’s taken at the ‘new’ Universities are as valuable as those taken at ‘ancient’ Universities, but there is little discussion regarding the online options available to Students.

The kind of people that online degree’s appeal to are those with parental or work commitments that prohibit them from attending University full time (the same people wh have used the Open University for decades).

Many Universities now offer part time courses, which would be my preferred option, allowing flexibility regarding attendance times whilst still encompassing an element of face to face contact and assessment. In the US where online degree’s are more popular

Universities offering part time courses seem to distance themselves from ‘distance learning’ due to concerns regarding assessment. It is not clear to me whether this is because there are genuine issues around assessment of distance learning courses, or whether these Universities are playing on their advantage over 100% distance / online providers (that being facilities and infrastructure).

Certainly it is not in the interests of existing Universities to compete with providers of distance leaning.

So where does this leave prospective part time students? Unfortunately most information is specific to the Us, but here are some snippets I have found referring to the value of onlin degree’s

Is a clicks-and-mortar degree the same as a degree from a bricks-and-mortar school? It depends on whom you ask. The American Federation of Teachers said “no” at its July 2000 convention, passing a resolution that, while acknowledging distance learning’s “great potential,” called for all undergraduate-degree programs to have some face-to-face coursework. Meanwhile, the six regional U.S. organizations that accredit American colleges and universities are developing guidelines for evaluating distance-education schools and programs that differ from traditional higher-education accrediting standards.

Another comment read:

Potential employers wanted to know I had been able to hold a full-time job in one state while going to school in another. When I explained that the courses were online, I was met with befuddlement. “I got the feeling that they didn not understand the concept,”

This is not encouraging!

I think that in the UK, for the moment the only organisation worthy of consideration is the Open University, though I think their courses are overpriced, at least they are a widely recognised / known organisation.

The Open University themselves claim:

The OU is very popular with employers. They know that OU students:

• Get the most up-to-date knowledge
• Continue working while they study, and apply what they learn immediately
• Prove they have the skills and determination to succeed

Whilst I would not expect them to say anything else, I do think they are telling the truth.

I know that the Open University are working on new I.T. solutions that will allow them to put more resources online for students, so in the UK at least it is possible to take a worthwhile degree online.

Students in other countries will have to be far more careful when selecting an online degree.

I have never been good at revising. There is no substitute for knowing your subject, and to know your subject you must attend all lectures and complete all tasks and exercises!

It is much easier to ‘revise’ the day you are taught something, even if your exams are a long way off. Once you properly understand something, you will find it comes back easily during revision. After lectures, review what you have been taught, think about it properly and make sure you understand the topic fully.

By the time you come to revise, you should already have condensed notes compiled during the module. When taking notes for revision, be as brief as possible including:

• A short description of topic
• Bullet point key points
• Include URLs / references to text books (title, page number etc)
• Only insert comments where they add value, do not duplicate information from other texts

This should allow you to quickly run through your notes and check your understanding, whilst providing good sources of detailed information in areas you need to revise further. Your revision notes should not contain detailed content, but serve as a reminder / check list of the things you need to know.

Do not procrastinate when it comes to revision, you need to start early, building incrementally on what you have learned. Cramming before an exam should serve only as a memory jogger, making sure you do not overlook anything in the exam. You should not be trying to learn anything new at this point!

I have also added a shortlist of General Revision Tips For Your Degree Course

A of media coverage is given to the question of whether a degree has lost its value in both in terms of standards and the number of students taking courses. My own view is that a degree has more value than ever before, and that standards have not slipped, rather they have evolved in line with social economic and technological changes.

Today having a degree has become a basic requirement, made mandatory by most employers for quite basic roles. Consequently many more students go into higher education, and it is true that a degree will not give you the competitive advantage it would have thirty years ago.

Because of this it is necessary to get a first class degree if you are to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Beyond that you should consider a Masters degree, particularly if you are steering yourself toward a specific career, to which you first degree does not lend itself.

In terms of standards I think comparisons between today’s education system and that of thirty years ago are misleading.

A simple example would be some notebooks I saw in a museum a while back. I was amazed at how neat the handwriting was compared to my own, which is terrible At that point I immediately thought how standards have slipped!

Taking time to think about it, I realised that I rarely write by hand, I can touch type at a good speed and so good handwriting is of little value to me. If handwriting were important to me I would have practiced that instead of learning to touch type.

Similarly, my fathers mathematics was / is better than my own. Again, good mathematics are of less value to me than they were to my fathers generation, I have a calculator

Now I know there is no substitute for having good mathematical ability, but getting away with a calculator allows me to spend time learning other things my father knows little or nothing about.

There are many new degree subjects available today, computer science for example, which simply did not exist thirty years ago.

Priorities have changed, industry has changed, the economy has changed and so have the skills required to be successful.

I don’t think standards have necessarily slipped, they have changed. Changed for the better in some areas, for the worse in others, but ultimately are more appropriate for today’s environment.

This sounds completely mercenary and to a point it is, but when attending University you may have to compete for available resources.

• There are rarely enough books for every student in the library
• Lecturers have a limited amount of time available to spend with students
• Specialist equipment may be in limited supply

With this in mind students need to make sure that they are not left behind due to any of the above constraints.

Try and reserve books from your reading list online. Try and get hold of the reading list ahead of the course starting. Consider buying second hand books on E-bay or Amazon if you would like your own copy, they can often be bought very cheaply.

Book as much time with lecturers and tutors as possible. Time with these people is the most valuable resource on your course, you can learn a vast amount in these sessions, not so much in terms of information absorbed, but in terms of ideas for further study / direction. Lecturers are a good sounding board for testing your ideas, whether something works or not, whether an idea you have is worth pursuing.

If technical equipment is in limited supply, make sure you get to practical sessions early. If necessary ask if you can use laboratories at different times when there are no classes.

University is competitive, it is not a rat race, but neither are all things equal.

• Some students make better uses of resources than others
• Some students get more time and information from lecturers than others
• Some students always get the reading list from the library, whilst others often find all the copies gone and and don’t bother to reserve them

Make sure you do not get pushed aside in any of these key areas.

When studying for a degree no one is going to hold your hand.

Unlike school, no one is going to make you get up in the morning, no one is going to tell you to attend lectures, it is down to you as a student to motivate and discipline and organise yourself.

Failure to do this is the single biggest reason people fail their degree courses, it is essential that you get to grips with this aspect of your study early on.

Plan and manage your time effectively:

• Get a wall planner to give an overview of your commitments and deadlines. These are really useful tools, being able to visualise your deadlines in this way really helps you plan your time.
• Get a diary and list your day to day activities, appointments with lecturers etc.
• Keep a list of things to do, perhaps books you need to take out / return, questions you need to ask… anything at all. It is better to make a quick note of these things than risk forgetting to do something.

As far as possible set deadlines for yourself on tasks and stick to them.

It is important to work consistently from the beginning of your course to the end, do not laze around early in the semester and think you can do all your work in the last week… you will fail.

I once saw someone in the last weeks of my degree course come in for an exam having stayed up all night revising. They had been awake for over 20 hours when they went into the exam. They were talking about how they were going to get cracking on their dissertation in the afternoon, like they were really on top of their game. There were only a couple of weeks left to go before our dissertations were due in. I had already handed mine in with weeks to spare.

I do not know if that person passed their course, but why punish yourself by being an idiot!

It is EASIER to plan ahead and manage your work. You can actually do LESS work this way as you have time to ask for support as opposed to struggle through problems on your own.

To learn how to study as a distance learner, first read all introductory informaiton on your course, this shoudl provide you with most of the informaiton you need.

Spend as much time as is necessary making sure you understand all the resources available to you, it is vitally important that you do this.

The main disadvantage of distance learning is the lack of interaction with other students. To overcome this, again find out what resources are available to you, for instance, does your course make use of IRC chanels (internet chatrooms) ?

Establish relationships with your tutors and fellow students as early as possible, again this is vitally important.

If your distance course does not already make use of it, sign up with a company that allows you to make IP phone calls. If you are not aware, IP telephony allows you to make calls free of charge over the Internet. As most distance courses are now online, it is also a convenient way to converse with other students, for example, if you are using a laptop wirelessly all you need to do is plug a headset into your laptop and you can talk whilst you work. Collaborating effectively in this way will prove a massive benefit.

You really need to form some kind of community with your fellow students and lecturers, look for these facilities when choosing your course, or identify alternatives yourself, in conjuntion with other students.

Aside from this, most elements of a distance learning course, or online course are the same as an attended course, so reading the other study tips contained in this site will be of benefit to you.

Another area you need to be more concious of than a student attending a course is time management, you will be responsible for organising your own time and structuring your day. Daily structure is vital for successful study.

You will need a higher level of motivation to complete a distance learning course also, establish a schedule and make sure you stick to it!

If you have to follow a reading list, make sure you order the books in good time. Some online courses may offer to ‘remote loan’ library books, prioritise this, make sure you receive your books in good time.

Consider buying your own copies of books, second hand books on Amazon or Ebay are very cheap and can be resold when you are finished.

See if your course has a second hand book store where previous students sell their books on to new students, again this is common across many establishements.

Make sure you fully understand what is required of you on your course, then, check in with your tutors as often as possible.

View time spent with your tutors online or otherwise as a valuable resource… compete for it if necessary!

One question often asked by students is how do you know what to study for an exam?

If you are asking this question the night before your exam you are probably too late! Plan for your exam revision well in advance of the actual date!!

The best source of information on what is likely to come up in an exam is past exam papers. Often questions in exams are recycled from previous years. Even if the same questions are not asked directly, they are often related or grouped around important topics.

Past exam papers are a good indicator of common themes or subjects that are likely to provide sources for questions in an exam. Take these “themes” as indicators of important areas you should study for.

Another way to find out what you should study for an exam is to ask your lecturers! Most of the time they will not tell you anything, but some may offer some clues. They will usually go as far as advising on the essential elements…. in a round about way.

They key to knowing what to study in an exam really lies in attending your lectures and taking good notes. This will allow you to identify important topics which are likely to become the source of exam questions. Taking effective notes will also increase your efficiency when it comes to studying for an exam. Use a system such as the Cornell note taking system throughtout your course, this will dramatically increase your productivity when it comes to revision.

Another source of informaiton on what you should study for an exam can come from students who studied that course the year before. If you are friendly with students in the following year, then speak to them about it, although they will often not remember…

The fact is, exams are designed so that you DO NOT KNOW what questions will be asked, that is the point of them, so all you really have to go on are the four things I identify here:

• Past exam papers
• Lecturers
• Your own notes
• Students who took the exam the previous year

Do not rely on the above, they are at best indicators of what you should study for your exam.

The first time I used past exam papers I was very successful, all the themes form previous years came up in my exam… I thought I had hit the jackpot!

The next exam I took, I did the same thing, I used past exam papers, none of the questions were repeated, my exam was totally different.

There is no substitute for knowing your subject, attending lectures, taking good notes. When the chips are down this is what will get you the marks.

You should really only use things like past exam papers only to ascertain the level of difficulty / standard required, and only use information from Lecturers or past students to try and ensure you have missed anything out of your revision.

A quick post on how to approach your assignments with a view to getting a first class result.

• Start work as soon as the assignment is set, do not wait for the hand in date to approach, get ahead so you have more time to refine and get feedback on your work
• Read and re-read the assignment brief, make sure you fully understand what is being asked
• Speak to your lecturer to check your understanding of the brief
• Try and find out what your lecturer is looking for, remember all assignments are designed to lead you down a particular learning path / line of thinking. There will be topics / issues you are expected to cover, i.e. are considered mandatory
• Once you have covered all the mandatory topics, expand your research and push beyond what your lecturer has taught
• Contrast and balance different view points and arguments
• If your view differs from what you have been taught, then introduce your view as an alternative, not as the answer or truth
• Make sure your conclusions are robust, again, if you introduce your own arguments make sure they are balanced with the core arguments presented by your lecturer, never imply that you are right and what you have been taught is wrong!
• Only introduce your view if you can support it with a strong argument and supporting evidence / references
• Add as many good references as you can find to support all arguments
• Add a bibliography of everything else you have read which is relevant
• Format your document properly with appropriate headings, sub headings, table of contents and page numbers depending on the format requested by your lecturer
• Make sure you spell check it properly, be aware that even English (British) spell checkers contain some American spelling’s, particularly words where Americans use ‘z’ as opposed to ’s’
• Be aware your spell checker will sometimes correct to the wrong word, i.e. the correct spelling, but of a word that you did not intend to use
• Get your assignment proof read, correct it, get it proof read again. Continue with this process until you have a highly polished piece of work that is the best you can deliver

Do this with every assignment from the very beginning of your course. Earlier modules which do not carry as much weight toward your final mark should be used as training for the later more important modules.

Many students do not put effort into earlier modules, which they do not believe will contribute toward their final mark. This is a big mistake. You need to use lower level modules to learn the standard, to learn how to get a first class mark.

Trying to learn how to get a first class mark on more challenging modules which are critical to your degree is not a good idea.

The first assignments I wrote were torn to pieces by proof readers. I took lessons learned forward to later modules. Because I gained an understanding of what was expected early on, and continued to improve with every assignment, my dissertation was far easier.

My dissertation was not torn to pieces by the proof readers!