How to maximise your grades when studying in an Australian university
How to maximise your grades when studying in an Australian university
Students coming from another country who decide to study in Australia are often surprised at Australia's academic system. Many things are the same in colleges and universities around the world, but Australia has some unique rules, customs and cultural practices which affect tertiary study. If you want to get the best possible grades while studying in Australia you will need to work hard but you will also need to know the unique things about Australian universities.
Perfecting your English
If English is not your first language, you should try and focus on improving your written and spoken English as much as possible while you study in Australia. Not only will this help you socialise and make friends, but regardless of what subject you're studying it will also lead to a direct improvement in your grades.
For written assignments, the need to improve your English is obvious: markers will grade your essay or your report partly on how good your English expression is. Not only will a certain percentage of the grade for an assignment be allotted to expression, but the way the assignment is written will also influence the overall impression the marker receives of your work. So if your essay is filled with typographical errors or bad grammar you will not only lose marks for bad writing but will probably lose extra marks as the marker will have a negative impression of your work and this may influence their grading of your paper more generally.
For spoken assignments (oral presentations) it is even more crucial that you develop your English proficiency. Markers are even more susceptible to being influenced by your English abilities in a spoken assignment.
The best way to improve your spoken English is to spend time talking to native speakers of English. This doesn't have to be formal practice; socialising and chatting casually with people whose first language is English will have a great impact on your skills.
Written English is harder to master and requires practice and feedback. For this reason one of the best things you can do is to submit drafts of your written assignments to your professor before the assignment is due (normally at least a week in advance to give them time to give you feedback). Another good way to improve is to read examples of good English writing. A reputable magazine or newspaper is a good place to find straightforward, formal, grammatically correct English.
Technical subjects
If you are doing a very technical, mathematics based course like physics or economics, you will also need to make sure your maths is very good. But it's important to remember that even in exams where you are answering maths problems, you must use clear, correct English to outline what steps you are taking in solving a problem. Ultimately, the only way to truly master these kinds of subjects is to practice and study the material closely. A study group can be a great help as studying in pairs or small groups means you can work through difficult problems without stalling. If everyone is stuck on a problem, the website WolframAlpha.com contains a powerful problem solving engine powered by the Mathematica programming language. This should only be used to figure out where you are going wrong with a problem; if you rely on it for your answers you will not learn anything and you will find yourself struggling when it comes to final exams.
Humanities subjects
For humanities based subjects (law, history, marketing, etc.) English expression is paramount but you can also study by reading more widely than the prescribed texts. This means that in addition to the textbook and online readings prescribed for a subject, you also search the Internet and the library's resources for additional, relevant sources. This will give you an advantage over other students in the class who are merely reading what they have to.
Finally, it is useful to remember that lecturers, tutors and professors are human beings and as such they are not completely rational in their marking. This means that although it may seem unfair, they may favour students whom they like or students who have made themselves known and have become friendly with the teacher. This is generally only a subconscious bias as it is improper to mark a student more favourably just because you like them. But it does happen and it is therefore advantageous to be polite and affable with your teachers and to ask and answer questions in class; this way they will remember you and may give you slightly more marks when they grade your assignments. Malaysia Top Places to Visit with Malaysia Package Tours Finding Nemo at the London Aquarium To Buy Or Not To Buy A Franchise Golfing Placing Tips: Getting Is More Crucial Than Traveling Watch Bangladesh Vs South Africa Cricket World Cup 19th March Live Stream Enjoy Your River Rafting Tour Packages in Rishikesh with us Spain Trip And Shopping In Spain Watch Pakistan Vs Australia Cricket World Cup 2011 Live Streaming Stay-And-Play Deals for Your Next Las Vegas Golf Trip Watch Australia Vs Pakistan Cricket World Cup 19th March Live Stream Kobe 6 Grinch Christmas Shoes Your final destination is the day of reckoning! Applying for an Australian Visa and Getting the Right Help