This edition of Mainly for Students is the first of a two-part alphabetical guide to your studies – first, from A to M, Paul Collins covers pedagogical issues, while N to Z will cover property matters
A: A-levels & BTECs
What A-levels and BTECs did you gain to get on the course? Were they in any way relevant to the property business? Some may have obvious connections like geography, economics, construction and the built environment, or business studies, but what about subjects like English literature, psychology, or health and social care?
English requires above all an ability to interpret and critique a book or play’s plot, structure, narrative style and meaning – a key skill that could be applied to property-based legal documents at one end and marketing documentation at the other. Psychology could aid the understanding of client personality types, buyer behavioural characteristics and styles of negotiation. Health and social care could provide a great basis for exploring further health and wellbeing impacts of property and locational characteristics. I think that I could find a subject link or transferable skill to almost any subject, if challenged.
B: Brainstorming for questions rather than answers
Brainstorming is often associated with trying to come up with lots of ideas in a free-flow, non-judgmental environment, in the hope that one or a combination of them might help solve a problem. Hal Gregersen of MIT, however, has suggested an alternative that you might find useful: brainstorming for questions rather than answers.
His view is that it “makes it easier to push past cognitive biases and venture into uncharted territory” but he acknowledges that “lingering in a questioning mode doesn’t come naturally to most people, because we are conditioned from an early age to just keep the answers coming”.
Have a more detailed look at Better brainstorming
Gregersen’s approach echoes 18th century French philosopher Voltaire, who said (in less gender-neutral times): “Judge a man by his questions, not his answers.”
So, when you get your next piece of coursework, really interrogate it for all of the questions that might be associated with it, before trying to come up with possible answers. On a related front, research suggests that asking questions improves your emotional intelligence.
C: Critical thinking
The ability to think critically is an essential characteristic of undergraduate, but even more so postgraduate education. Critical thinking does not just mean being critical of somebody or something. It is much more about having an open mind and not taking things for granted because they appear to be right or because someone of perceived credibility has proclaimed a particular point of view. It is about interrogating the credibility of arguments and the evidence base of claims made.
D: Degree classifications, module credits and assessment weightings
Find out and make sure you understand the underlying weightings and metrics that will determine your degree classification. Is it just on final year or does second year count and what are the weightings? Do the same for modules in terms of credit point values and the weightings attached to each piece of assessment. You may find that effort put into some assessments or components of assessments may not reward you with the outcome you desire. Setting up a spreadsheet with all the weightings is a useful thing to do.
E: Extra-curricular
Many students strive to gain a 2:1 and some a first in their final year. Some miss the 60% threshold for a variety of reasons and get a 2:2. Many students these days see this as a failure that will lead to them not getting a job they want. This can be the case, but if you have other extracurricular experiences and qualities that employers find of value, they can override what might be perceived as the disappointing degree class.
Things like acting as course representative at course committees or open-day student ambassador, placement or summer holiday surveying-related experience, university club and society commitments or charity volunteering activities will help rebalance the academic score.
F: Failure and making mistakes
Failure is what most students fear, but it is normal from time to time and is often how we learn. It may be worth remembering Irish writer Samuel Beckett’s words from his 1983 novella Worstward Ho: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Michael Jordan, one of the world’s best ever basketball players, said: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Tom Bloxham is a very successful developer and CEO of Urban Splash. His TED lecture on his mistakes is worth a watch at My Lucky Mistakes Tom Bloxham MBE at TEDxManchester
G: Group work
Group work is the bête noire of many students, yet it is a common feature of property courses. If you have to undertake group work, the following might help:
- Commit to forward planning and project co-ordination, and elect a team leader, deputy and record keeper.
- Agree the way individuals and the group will work – including the standards of commitment expected – ideally with a pre-agreed dispute resolution process should things go pear-shaped. What really upsets more than anything else is team members who don’t turn up for meetings and don’t communicate. Repeated incidents of this kind can lead to conflict, frustration and stress.
- Accept the reality of difference and work with the strengths of individuals, recognising that we all have weaknesses. Above all, be inclusive and make sure everyone is given the opportunity to speak and contribute.
- Make sure that tasks are fairly and appropriately allocated and set out in a written confirmation of what is to be done, by whom and by when – making clear where one task depends on another and where the overlaps are.
- At the very least, meetings need a record of decisions made and actions to be carried out.
- Make sure the overall work is edited to read in a consistent (and professional) style.
- And finally, don’t forget that “Diversity Inclusion and Teamworking” is an RICS level 1 mandatory competency for the APC: RICS Requirements and Competencies guide
H: Hands-on learning
Hands-on learning, or “learning by doing”, is simply learning by undertaking tasks or projects that are based on the work in lectures and seminars. In doing so, most students – and practitioners – learn more deeply, retaining knowledge and associated skills.
Take every opportunity to learn by doing, no matter whether it is part of a formally assessed task, a classroom workshop or a gaming exercise. As Chinese philosopher Confucius put it some 2,500 years ago: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Hands-on learning can enhance your appetite for and level of engagement in more passive means of learning and is thought to enhance critical thinking abilities.
I: Improved success by growth mindset
Carol Dweck is someone whose writing you should explore. She is one of the world’s leading researchers and writers in how students (or anyone) can foster a positive mindset towards improved success. Her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is a worthwhile read.
The difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is explained as follows: “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They also believe that talent alone creates success — without effort. They’re wrong. In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work — brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”
J: Juggling tasks
Many students find it hard to work on more than one task at a time, but this is something you will find you will be required to do in the workplace. A useful tool is the Eisenhower matrix, based on the work of US president Dwight Eisenhower. The matrix (see below) separates tasks that are both urgent and important; not urgent but important; not important but urgent; and neither urgent nor important.
K: Knowledge and Bloom’s taxonomy
Knowledge is what you go to university for – or is it? Knowledge by itself is the lowest level of learning outcomes according to Bloom’s Taxonomy (see below). Do you understand what you know? This taxonomy is fundamentally the basis of the way that many pieces of coursework and projects are assessed. Depending on the task set, the higher up the triangle you are able to go, the higher the chances of getting a good grade.
L: Leaving things to the last minute
If there is one very common shortcoming among students, it is not making an early start on work – especially if the deadline is a month or more away. Yet the days and weeks pass quickly and before you know it, it feels like you have no time to do anything – or at least properly. McGee’s First Law states: “It is amazing how long it takes to complete something you are not working on.”
Develop a plan at the outset with achievable milestones and established priorities along the way to check progress. Acknowledge there will be slippage, but don’t make that an excuse for not getting on with tasks. Then start the work and, little by little, it will get done, leaving time for revision and reflection on the final product. Remember the three Ps: planning, prioritising and performing. And the old adage: failing to plan is planning to fail.
M: Make it count
The last entry is short. Whatever you do, put in the effort, be persistent and purposeful, don’t fail to plan, learn by your mistakes and whatever you do, believe in a growth mindset – and make it count.
Paul Collins is a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and Mainly for Students editor. He welcomes suggestions for the column and can be contacted at paul.collins@ntu.ac.uk
