Buy a USB Flash Disk for your degree

Posted on December 19, 2006 by get a first class degree

When I started my degree, not many people had these but today I think the majority of Students use them.

My first 128 MB drive cost £25, and a 1 GB drive would have cost well over £100.
A year later I replaced the 128 MB with a 256 MB for the same price (£25).
At time of writing a 1 GB drive can be bought for a little over £10.
This price crash is typical of I.T. related equipment and illustrates why, in my opinion it is always better to go for the cheapest product that does the job.
A 1 GB card should be more than adequate for a degree student, but remember the following:

  • Do not pull the drive out without stopping it first, you may destroy it, and your work!
  • Flash drives are small and easily lost, make sure you back up before removing from the PC


Posted in Useful I.T. & Gadgets | Leave a comment

A Cheap WiFi Card may help with your degree

Posted on December 19, 2006 by get a first class degree

Many Universities (bars and cafés too) have WiFi access points which can be of great value to degree students on the move! Most laptops now have wireless functionality built into them, but if yours does not then you would be well advised to have a look at the Dabs value card produced by Edimax, which:

  • Is a very cheap (less than £15 inc. delivery)
  • Reliable (mine is fault free after almost 2 years)
  • Linux compatible (picked up by Ubuntu, no driver installation reqired, easier than configuration in Windows!)

It is a standard 54g card running at 54mbps, but should be more than adequate for 99% of degree students requirements.

DabsValue Edimax 802.11g 54Mbps PCMCIA

If you are sharing broadband in your house and want to network your desktop, there is also a PCI version available:

DabsValue Edimax 802.11g 54Mbps PCI card
Posted in Useful I.T. & Gadgets | 2 Comments

Get into a “Flow” if you want a First Class Degree

Posted on December 19, 2006 by get a first class degree

Getting into a flow, or into the “zone” as some people describe it is vitally important if you want to achieve a first class degree.

What myself and others are describing is state of mind, of sorts, where every thing clicks, ideas come flooding forward, you are on a roll, and you know it!

I never found a way to induce this state, you somehow arrive at this point after spending time researching, reading and trying to write degree assignments.

You can spend hours working on something and not really make progress, then suddenly it all clicks and your work starts to flow, almost like a domino effect as one idea / conclusion leads to another.
The important things are to:

  • Persist with your degree assignments until this happens to you
  • Don’t stop working when it does!
  • Write down your ideas in case you overlook them later on

I found being able to touch type really helped me arrive at this state as it allows you to concentrate fully on your degree work, it also helps you capitalise on on this state when it happens, as you are able to work a lot faster.

The fact that this state does occur is one reason why many people prefer to concentrate solidly on a single degree assignment until completion, as opposed to simultaneously working on many assignments. It takes time, a pre-occupation with your degree subject and a lot of thinking before this happens, but once it does you will achieve a massive amount in a short space of time.

Although what I have described may seem a little abstract, it is a real phenomenon I have both experienced and read about. Being able to get into this state of mind is invaluable if you want to achieve a first class degree.

Posted in Time and Efficiency | 1 Comment

Value of a First Class Degree

Posted on December 18, 2006 by get a first class degree

Recently a lot of people seem to question the value of a degree’s in general, but in particular the value of a first class degree, or upper second class degree (2:1).

According to an article on Times Online:

“UNDERGRADUATES who study for as little as 20 hours a week are more likely to be awarded a first-class degree at a newer university than those at older institutions, a survey says.

Scientists at Cambridge have to work 45 hours a week to obtain a top-class degree; those studying physics and chemistry at the University of Central Lancashire have to study 19 hours a week for a 2:1 or a first.

The Higher Education Policy Institute survey of 15,000 first-year and second-year undergraduates questions the true value of a degree, showing that some students work far harder than others, depending on the subject. Although tuition fees are now paid upfront in a loan by the Government, graduates must pay them off once they earn £15,000. Banks estimate that by 2009 a student’s debt will be approaching £30,000, which most will be paying off until their mid-thirties.

The survey, published today, shows that while, on average, students claim to be working 25.7 hours a week in lectures, seminars or private study, medics and dentists are apparently working ten hours a week more. Overall the study shows that undergraduates on courses in mass communications put in five hours fewer than the average each week.

The differences were more pronounced between subjects than between different universities, although those at older universities studied more.

Bahram Bekhradnia, of the institute, said: “If students are putting 32 hours a week into engineering and 21 hours a week into business studies, is a degree telling you the same thing about the universities and the experience the students have had? You can get a 2:1 with different amounts of effort.”

The authors say: “This report does not prove that the degree classification system is flawed, but it certainly raises questions that need to be addressed.” They note that 60.9 per cent of students of physical sciences at Plymouth University receive a 2:1 or first-class degree for working 20 hours a week.”

Personally I find it hard to believe that you can achieve a first class degree by investing just 20 hours per week. Furthermore, if 20 hours is an average, the implication is that some students will be working for less than 20 hours a week and still achieving a first class degree, even harder to believe!

So where does all this leave degree students?

Well if a first class degree is of less value in certain subjects, or from certain institutions, then you really don’t want to be be one of the people with a 2:2 or a 3rd do you!

I never went to university to get a degree, I went to get a first class degree. With such a high proportion of people now attending university most employers ask for a first class degree, or at least an upper second class degree (2:1), so you really cant afford to give your degree course anything less than your best shot.

Posted in Articles Degree Education | 3 Comments

Avoiding cheap loaders on your degree course

Posted on December 4, 2006 by get a first class degree

When writing the post on Avoiding Freeloaders I forgot to discuss another group, whom I have taken to calling cheap loaders!

A cheap loader will present themselves as being overtly helpful during the early stages of your degree course, offering assistance to other students, for instance sharing useful sources of information, revision notes etc.

There is nothing wrong with this in itself, most students cooperate in this way, however, the Cheap Loader is slightly different.

A Cheap Loader is a social engineer of sorts who seeks to trade low value resources and assistance for high value assistance and resources.

By offering lots of students low level assistance, they aim to create a sense of obligation in others, allowing them to recruit a smaller number of students to provide more valuable information such as access to degree assignments.

These people are almost impossible to identify until they ‘pop the question’ and ask for your work.

As with any working relationship on your degree course, ensure that:

  • There is balance
  • Everyone contributes equally
  • You never participate in plagiarism
  • You set your boundaries

If someone tries to manipulate you in this way be firm, offer similar information in return, but don’t give them access to your degree coursework, or worse still, end up doing degree work for them.

Posted in People At University | 1 Comment

Mozilla FireFox

Posted on November 27, 2006 by get a first class degree

Most people are aware of Mozilla FireFox, for those that are not, it is a web browser, an alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Why You Should Get It!

  • Its completely free
  • It is considered more secure than Internet Explorer
  • It has an in-line spell checker
  • It will warn you of phishing sites designed to fool you into giving away personal / bank details
  • There are lots of really useful plug ins available, such as download accelerator’s

FireFox is open source, meaning it is developed by a community of developers, as opposed to a commercial company. It is this ethos that promotes early patching (many people are working on FireFox). This is also the reason so many plug ins are available (people think of a useful plug in, create it, share it!!).

Used with Google toolbar it offers better protection against phishing sites and will give a very clear warning if you get sent to a spoof bank site for example.

Google tool bar includes a more powerful spell checker that will correct spelling mistakes in emails etc.

I have been using FireFox and Google Toolbar for several years and never looked back, it is a far more pleasant experience than using I.E. why not try it for yourself!

If you would prefer to download FireFox without the Google toolbar then visit:

Download Mozilla Firefox Now!!!

Posted in Free Software | Leave a comment

Students should consider buying a Laptop for a First Class Degree

Posted on November 26, 2006 by get a first class degree

A laptop is an expensive investment, and wont in itself get you a first class degree, you have to work hard for that! Before even looking at one (if you look, you’ll want!) you should consider whether you really need one. Laptops are very useful if:

  • You spend a lot of time travelling on trains
  • You frequently go home to visit parents
  • You like working outside, or in other areas where no computers are available

If you do not travel or do degree work in areas with no computer access, then there are far cheaper (and some free) alternatives discussed in the post on data storage and backup.

If you think a laptop would give you more working time for your degree course, consider the following before buying:

  • An entry level laptop will suffice for 95% of degree courses
  • Specifications increase at a rapid rate
  • Price versus specification fall at a rapid rate
  • Spares and repairs can be expensive compared to desktops
  • The keyboard on a laptop is slightly slower to use than that of a desktop
  • Thieves love laptops
  • Batteries don’t last for ever (two years before they stop charging properly)
  • Batteries are expensive to replace

Taking the above into consideration my advice would be:

  • Wait as long as you can before buying (falling prices)
  • Get an entry level machine, not an expensive one
  • Consider the cost of insuring it
  • Make sure you regularly backup in case of theft / failure
  • Buy a docking station with separate keyboard and monitor if it is going to be your main PC at home, it will be more comfortable and lot faster to use

At time of writing an entry level machine is around £350, that said, it is worth going to maybe £450 (including delivery) if you see one on special offer, but certainly no higher than this.

Research products and prices as much as you can, when looking at online stores don’t forget to check the feedback left by other customers, this can be really useful.

I have personally used the following brands:

Toshiba: Good build quality, decent design, can get good special offers

HP: Good build quality, decent design, can get good special offers

Acer: Poorer build quality, quite bulky, but very fast (good performance) for the money. Being budget machines already, you don’t tend to see many ‘bargains’ offered on Acer’s.

Dell: Generally to be avoided, poor build quality and prices for upgrades and servicing are absolutely scandalous. That said I have seen Dell selling end of line items off at silly prices. If you see one at a silly price, just make sure you deselect all servicing plans and do not pay for any upgrades, get your hardware upgrades elsewhere.

Fujitsu Siemens: I have one of these and swear by it, good build quality and reliable. Different models are used extensively where I work, and are also pretty good. Unfortunately I know two other people whose laptops have started falling to pieces, cases cracking around hinges, things coming loose etc.

The Fujitsu Siemens information illustrates the problem with recommending laptops. Everyone has their personal favourites and dislikes. Users of the same model machine can have very different experiences.

This is where the online sites with customer reviews really come in handy. If you read 20 posts, that’s 20 different machines reviewed. If you read a review in a PC magazine, it is likely they have just one machine to review. If that machine was supplied by the manufacturer directly to the magazine for review, you can be sure it received rigorous
testing before it was given to them.

I.T. Hardware Retailers

I have personally used the following national retailers:

PC World: If you see a good deal in the tabloids, then it may be worth a visit, but do not buy anything else whilst you are in there. PC world offer just enough items at a good price to support their advertising campaigns. Everything else in the shop will be an absolute rip off.

Do not be fooled by PC worlds advertising campaign stating they are both and online and high street retailer. Yes they have a Website, but the prices are not competitive with ‘true online retailers’.

I use two online retailers regularly, Dabs.com and Ebuyer.co.uk

Both of these companies offer better prices than you will find on the high street. Generally the service is good and the delivery prompt, however, things quickly unravel if you have a problem, particularly if you need to return an item.

Last time I tried it was impossible to speak to these companies over the phone. If you go through their help pages and send a mail with a standard subject line, you will get an automated mail, i.e. no-one will look at your problem.

In order to get a human to read your query, you need to add your own query title. Then you will be lucky to get more than a three word reply.

You will also lose your shipping fee if you need to return an item which is not faulty.

To avoid an infuriating debacle:

  • Make sure you know what you are ordering
  • Make sure you really want it!

Despite the trouble I have had with returns, these companies are still worth using, as 95% of the time everything goes smoothly and you save a lot of money.

Posted in Useful I.T. & Gadgets | 2 Comments

Time management on a degree course

Posted on November 26, 2006 by get a first class degree

There are many posts on this site which will help you save and manage time on your degree course, a list of which can be found at the bottom of the page.

The objective of time management is to get the maximum output from every hour of work you do, to “work smarter not harder”.

To manage time efficiently on your university degree you need to stay in control.

If you lose control, any planning and structure you established on your degree will quickly evaporate!

Losing control means:

  • Not knowing where you are in terms of skills / knowledge required to complete a degree assignment
  • Not knowing what degree assignments have to be completed
  • Not knowing how long it will take to complete each degree assignment
  • Not knowing how much time you have left on each degree assignment
  • Not being able to work to your schedule
  • Panicking close to university assignment deadlines

If you allow this to happen you will lurch from one crisis to the next.
You will hemorrhage time as your efficiency drops in the panic, and time lost on one degree assignment impacts the next, perpetuating the problem.

For example, you may spend an hour or two trying to understand something required for a late degree assignment. Had you identified this sooner, when you were in a position to ask for help, you may have achieved the same in 10 minutes by asking a university lecturer.

This is the overriding reason why you should always hand university degree work in at least one week early. If you get stuck on a problem, you can put that particular university assignment down and work on something else instead, knowing you have time to ask the relevant questions of university tutors or other degree students.

Working ahead means you are able to optimise your output against working time, i.e. you never waste time on a particular degree assignment “because it has to be done today”.

Working ahead of deadlines avoids compression of multiple tasks into short time frames which causes stress. Becoming stressed can make you work faster, harder, better, but it often results in more mistakes being made. Again, completing university work a week ahead of deadlines helps to alleviate stress, or in cases where stress is workload induced, as opposed to being driven by a deadline, you have time to double check your degree work when you are calmer.

To make the best use of your time at university always:

  • Start your university assignments early
  • Ask for advice on degree assignments at the earliest opportunity

If you are a serious degree student and ask for advice early on, then you will:

  • Be more likely to receive that advice from university lecturers
  • Have more time to apply the advice given by university lecturers
  • Have time to go back and seek further advice from university lecturers

To make better use of your time at university have a look at the following posts:

Learn to touch type before your degree starts
Learn to use your word processor for your degree course
Learn about referencing, writing reports and essays before going to university
Working to a schedule on your university degree course
Planning your university degree work
Prioritising your university degree work
You could also have a look at the post:

Students should consider buying a laptop for a first class degree

Posted in General Study Tips, Time and Efficiency | 1 Comment

Prioritising work for a First Class Degree

Posted on November 26, 2006 by get a first class degree

Correctly prioritising work for your university degree allows you to

  • Save time when working on degree assignments
  • Meet all university assignment deadlines

When prioritising work for your degree, consider

  • When does it need to be done
  • Do I have the skills / knowledge to complete this task
  • When will I gain new skills / knowledge for this task

Usually it is best to prioritise university assignments by deadline, however this does not always make best use of your time.

For every hour you work, consider “right now, am I making the best use of my time”

For example, if you have two university assignments with different deadlines, it may make sense to start the assignment due to be handed in later, if you are currently in a better position to work on this degree assignment than the one due in earlier.

This can be dangerous, do not:

  • Cut degree assignment deadlines to fine
  • Use this as an excuse to avoid difficult tasks at university

Make sure you do:

  • Briefly plan what you need to do to get up to speed on the university degree module required earlier
  • Act on that plan
  • As soon as you are able, revert to working on the degree assignment due in earlier

Being able to do this depends on the requirements identified in the post on Planning your university degree work, i.e. at all times knowing:

  • Where you are in terms of skills / knowledge required to complete degree assignment
  • What tasks have to be completed for your university degree
  • How long you think it will take to complete each task at university
  • How much time you have left on each task for your degree

The advantage of prioritising in this way is that you do not waste a disproportionate amount of time working on problems which you could ask a university tutor for support with.

Prioritising in this way is another reason why you should work ahead on your degree course as you can identify areas where you need support in time to get that support from university staff, or other degree students.

Getting stuck on a problem the day before a university assignment is due leaves you few options.

This way of working is not appropriate for everyone, it depends on how easily you are able to switch tasks, and how quickly you are able to get into “the flow” with a piece of university degree work.

I have added a separate post “Get into a flow if you want a first class degree” which should be considered when planning and prioritising work.

Posted in General Study Tips, Time and Efficiency | Leave a comment

Planning your work on a degree course

Posted on November 26, 2006 by get a first class degree

Planning your university degree work is essential in order to make the best use of your time and prioritise effectively. You will have to make decisions as to what to do when, it is important to get these decisions right. You will also need a degree of flexibility to deal with any problems that arise.

In order to work flexibly and prioritise properly you always need to know:

  • Where you are in terms of skills / knowledge required to complete a university assignment
  • What tasks have to be completed for your university degree
  • How long you think it will take to complete each university assignment
  • How much time you have left on each degree assignment

Get a single small wall calendar that shows the entire year at a glance.

  • Mark all your university assignment deadlines
  • Mark all your degree assignment deadlines again, this time one week early

Handing in university degree work one week early will save you time:

  • If you get stuck, you have time to ask questions of university lecturers, or other degree students, which is quicker than trying to work it out on your own the night before the assignment deadline
  • Getting university work proof read at an early stage saves time on corrections

Now would be a good time to get a Gmail (see post on Google mail) account. Google have a free calendar utility which can help you plan your university degree work, on which you can plot all your degree assignment deadlines, as well as your weekly timetable of university lectures. Adding a university timetable is easy, as the calendar allow you to repeat weekly / daily events automatically, including your lunch and break times if you are determined to stick to your work schedule!.

Over planning tasks up front is not effective on a degree course, there are too many variables, you need to be flexible in your approach. Spending hours on a detailed task based plan for university study is a waste of time, it will be obsolete within a few weeks.

The important thing is to constantly assess and re-assess (for the second time!):

  • Where you are in terms of skills / knowledge required to complete a task at university
  • What tasks have to be completed for your degree course
  • How long you think it will take to complete each task at university
  • How much time you have left on each degree assignment

Being constantly aware of these three things will allow you to effectively prioritise your work and put you one step closer to getting a first class degree!

Posted in General Study Tips, Time and Efficiency | 1 Comment