Academic study skills
Appropriate study skills are an important element in achieving academic success. Studying at a Finnish university may differ considerably from studying in some other country, and international students may discover that they need to adapt their study habits to be able to meet the academic requirements.
Academic freedom is one of the basic values of the Finnish university system. It emphasises independent study and opens up many possibilities to students. In most cases, students may choose what to study and when to study. Some lectures, for example, may not be compulsory. However, the practical sessions are usually always obligatory. Academic freedom goes hand in hand with academic responsibility – it is up to students themselves to plan, schedule and complete their studies.
Adapting to the ethical guidelines for studying at the University of Eastern Finland is an important and essential study skill and is related to the student’s responsibility for studying. Students must be familiar with the ethical guidelines to be able to act in an equal, responsible, and ethical way in the academic community. Managing ethical skills not only contributes to student success but also contributes to student’s well-being and trust of the community at large. Please read more about students obligations and familiarize yourself with the ethical guidelines and examples for teaching and studying.
University studies are characterized by the fact that the study units are extensive and may also be conceptually challenging. In that case, mere mechanical knowledge is not necessarily enough. New and different study strategies may be needed and may help develop criticality, reflection and persistence. There should be enough time for learning. University studies include that the student can reasonably discuss and justify things. The use of learning materials in other languages is also part of academic studies.
The duration of a course may vary from a few days to several months. Courses can last for one semester or they may start and finish at any time of the semester. Some courses are intensive with up to many hours of lectures and/or laboratory exercises per day. The other courses are less intensive with only a couple of hours a week.
An important competence for university students is also to learn the skills of learning. This means awareness of one’s own learning, the ability to vary and adapt learning strategies as well as the ability to assess what kind of learning works best in each situation.
To support students’ academic study skills, some courses are offered:
- University Study Skills (8031003, 1 cp) course develops students’ academic study skills. The course gives an overview of academic studying at the University of Eastern Finland
- University Computing Skills (8031006, 2 cp) course helps students to effectively work for example with the text processing, spreadsheet and presentation programs in the university environment
- Information skills and sources courses are offered to learn the most important subject-specific scholarly information sources and basic skills in systematic information retrieval.