Going to Tutorials [Title Change]

Shards

How about we make this a thread for all the newbies(inc. me)? to talk get to know each other, exchange advice etc! So is anybody else doing Arts and if so what subjects? Whats the ratio to D4 head to normal people? And do you HAVE to go to tutorials?

Stepherunie

Not a newbie but I'd say you'd be a bit mad not to go to tutorials - you get your essays assigned there as far as I know and it helps to cover the material and you can go over things you didn't understand so well.

Dave!

I didn't really benefit from tutorials to be honest. They're supposed to be informal discussions, but that rarely happened -- it was more like a miniature lecture.

Your essays are usually on Blackboard, too.

They do give out good notes, mind.

I'd say if you wanted get all A+'s then go to all your tutorials and all your lectures, but you can get by just fine if you go rarely (at least in 1st year).

snickerpuss

Yeah i went to sod all tutorials in first year and i didn't really miss that much. Though i did fail english....maybe you should go...

boneless

I think tutorials are not to be missed... you can pick up some good pointers at them and your attendance is monitored... it can mean the difference between having the holidays off or repeating exams...

BKtje

go to the first few weeks and you'll get the general gist of what they give you and you can then decide if you want to go. Tutorials differt greatly from subject to subject regarding what happens in them. Some you get marks assigned to go, others are pointless and some are in between.

Red Alert

tutorials are nearly more important than lectures - it's very easy to grab that crucial 1pc between pass and fail when you've seen the question/a similar one done for you.

i'd really advise everyone to go to all their lectures, tutorials, practicals etc. I always managed to make it in despite how tired/hung over/pissed off i was and it really does make the difference. I probably didn't learn a lot in them but i could tell afterwards whether the stuff was important or not.

Jonny Arson

Shards wrote:

How about we make this a thread for all the newbies(inc. me)? to talk get to know each other, exchange advice etc! So is anybody else doing Arts and if so what subjects? Whats the ratio to D4 head to normal people? And do you HAVE to go to tutorials?

Well what subjects do you plan to do yourself? I've done Geography (fantastic!), Information Studies (bit dull yet compelling in a weird way), Archaeology (very interesting, great department) and Sociology (tough subject, shit department). Ah D4 heads, loads of them and hard to avoid but they'll all stick together for 3 years so ignore them, join loads of clubs/socs because Arts is so big and informal it's hard to really get to know people. Tutorials - GO TO ALL OF YOUR TUTORIALS. Ignore anyone saying they aren't important because they are. You'll learn more in 10 tutorials than 40 lectures and your attendance can count to your end of year grade. Also go to all of your lecture if possible, at least 80% of lectures. You only have about 13/14 hours in Arts anyway so attending lectures shouldn't be that much of chore- also do all of your coursework, IF YOU DONT YOUR COURSEWORK YOU WILL FAIL as it regularly accounts for 50% of your module grade.

Best of luck in UCD!

fish-head

I really don't understand all this 'D4 Head' rubbish. I mean for chrissakes, we're not in school anymore. Grow up.

Feral Mutant

Getting back to the original topic

Shards wrote:

How about we make this a thread for all the newbies(inc. me)? to talk get to know each other, exchange advice etc!

I'm doing Engineering Undenominated. So, I've probably seen everyone else who does engineering at the thing today. Hello all *waves*.

Raphael

Theoretical Physics. And as far as I know, the only ones you can afford to skip are lectures.

jimi_t

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Sociology (tough subject, shit department).

Really? It's me Major (with English) so I'd be interested in your views on it.

Sangre

Feckin' freshers. Had to queue for ages for lunch because of them.

Kept getting asked was I a fresher. No, I've finished college. Alas, what a devastating blow to my ego.

Raphael

On the bright side, you could have gone to the SU tent and gotten free pigs and condoms if people thought you were a fresher.

Dave!

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Tutorials - GO TO ALL OF YOUR TUTORIALS. Ignore anyone saying they aren't important because they are. You'll learn more in 10 tutorials than 40 lectures and your attendance can count to your end of year grade.

Ignore this, cos it's bullsh*t. Some tutorials are helpful, others aren't. Go to the first few, as BKDzrrr said, and get a feel for them. You'll soon see what you're likely to be doing in them, and how helpful they'll be, and then you can decide how often you need to go. If you miss an essay title, you can email your tutor, or check Blackboard, or ask someone else who was in. Easy. I rarely went to tutorials, and did alright. Your lecturer will tell you what topics to cover for the exams, so once you know them, you can do some autonomous learning Sometimes the tutor will give you some hints on what the exam is like, but you'll usually get a heads up about that.

Obviously if attendance contributes to a % of your grade then it might be handy to go and get the marks (that wasn't the case for any of mine as it so happens).

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Also go to all of your lecture if possible, at least 80% of lectures. You only have about 13/14 hours in Arts anyway so attending lectures shouldn't be that much of chore

I'd agree about going to lectures. I find that if I miss 1 lecture it's hard to keep track of where I am in the course, so I went to most of mine. Of course laziness sometimes dictates that I won't go to some lectures Some of the lecturers put everything on Blackboard, and others don't put anything on (bloody Russian revolution lecturer didn't put anything up or give out any hand-outs!!!:mad: ) -- you'll find that out in the first few lectures.

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

also do all of your coursework, IF YOU DONT YOUR COURSEWORK YOU WILL FAIL as it regularly accounts for 50% of your module grade.

Yeah definitely do as much coursework as possible. Most of mine counted for ~50% of my overall mark, so it would really f*ck you over if you didn't do it. It's not that much, about 2 essays per module, sometimes a bit more. I'm a lazy sh*te though, so I always find myself finishing the essay on the day it should be submitted Ahh well...
Oh and handing it in late loses you f*ck all marks, which is handy. I think if you give it in a week late you go down a grade (eg. A+ goes to A... or maybe it's A+ goes to B+... can't remember, lol, either way it's not too much). If you give it in a day late it's the same as giving it in up to a week late, so if you're late, take the extra few days and don't just throw anything together.

fish-head wrote:

I really don't understand all this 'D4 Head' rubbish. I mean for chrissakes, we're not in school anymore. Grow up.

Really really agreed.......

Blush_01

DaveMcG wrote:

Ignore this, cos it's bullsh*t. Some tutorials are helpful, others aren't. Go to the first few, as BKDzrrr said, and get a feel for them. You'll soon see what you're likely to be doing in them, and how helpful they'll be, and then you can decide how often you need to go. If you miss an essay title, you can email your tutor, or check Blackboard, or ask someone else who was in. Easy. I rarely went to tutorials, and did alright. Your lecturer will tell you what topics to cover for the exams, so once you know them, you can do some autonomous learning Sometimes the tutor will give you some hints on what the exam is like, but you'll usually get a heads up about that.

It is a VERY BAD IDEA to miss tutorials. The way things are going, tutorial attendance is now more important than lecture attendance. And if you find your tutorial is like a mini-lecture I can guarantee it's for one reason only - because nobody is really talking, so discussion isn't happening organically, and a tutor lecturing to you is much better than everyone sitting there in silence for an hour wishing someone would say something.

Also keep in mind that your tutor marks your essays for that course. It's very basic - if a tutor sees you on a regular basis and you contribute to the tutorial in a positive way, as well as receiving tutorial marks the tutor will also see you and your work in a positive light. Just this year someone in my class was bumped up from a 2:1 to a 1:2 based on seminar attendance in an essay that brought them up to a 1:2 overall, whereas another person who the seminar leader didn't remember, but who received a comparable mark, was told that if they had been more active in class, they would have been brought up a grade. Seminars and tutorials aren't that very different really. I've heard tutors ask lecturers if they should even bother correcting late essays from students they've never seen in tutorials, and the response was if you want to, do, but don't go out of your way. If you put in visible effort, you'll benefit from it.

DaveMcG wrote:

Obviously if attendance contributes to a % of your grade then it might be handy to go and get the marks (that wasn't the case for any of mine as it so happens).

As above, attendance marks are an even bigger factor for modularised Arts students than before. Some departments/schools still don't care, but most do.

DaveMcG wrote:

I'd agree about going to lectures. I find that if I miss 1 lecture it's hard to keep track of where I am in the course, so I went to most of mine. Of course laziness sometimes dictates that I won't go to some lectures Some of the lecturers put everything on Blackboard, and others don't put anything on (bloody Russian revolution lecturer didn't put anything up or give out any hand-outs!!!:mad: ) -- you'll find that out in the first few lectures.

Ok, lots of lecturers, especially in Arts, cling to their luddite existence like a life buoy. Blackboard is something you write on with chalk and clean with spit on a tissue, not something technological to many. Granted things are improving with relation to Blackboard and its usage on an annual basis, but if you're studying English (amongst others), don't hold your breath, you'll be more likely to see MNG at beers. Handouts in class, photocopies in the SU photocopying centre (be very nice to the ladies there by the way, it's worth it, they're nice in return!) - although the notes there are sometimes hit and miss, due to the fact that lecturers put them in there themselves - and information on the notice boards in your School can be really important.

DaveMcG wrote:

Yeah definitely do as much coursework as possible. Most of mine counted for ~50% of my overall mark, so it would really f*ck you over if you didn't do it. It's not that much, about 2 essays per module, sometimes a bit more. I'm a lazy sh*te though, so I always find myself finishing the essay on the day it should be submitted Ahh well...
Oh and handing it in late loses you f*ck all marks, which is handy. I think if you give it in a week late you go down a grade (eg. A+ goes to A... or maybe it's A+ goes to B+... can't remember, lol, either way it's not too much). If you give it in a day late it's the same as giving it in up to a week late, so if you're late, take the extra few days and don't just throw anything together.

There's no reason to be late with essays, even if you have loads of stuff due on the same day. Yet, you inevitably will - we all have good intentions, at least most of the time, and we all end up going out instead of writing that stupid essay. At the same time, it's a good habit to get into in first year to get your work in on time. Even if it doesn't happen as much in second year, getting back to it in third year is less of a chore (mentally as much as anything else) if you've managed it before.

If you're really stuck and have a valid (heavy emphasis on the valid by the way) excuse for not having your work done on time, try to get an extension. I don't know who you have to talk to about that now, it used to be the course leader and I assume it's pretty much the same, but lots of things have changed. Last resort though, and they won't be given out like sweeties.


Re: D4 nonsense

DaveMcG wrote:

Really really agreed.......

Seconded or thirdeded or fourthededed or whatever it is at this stage. It's all crap. Don't judge other people, get to know them if you can. If you don't work, move on. If not, you're bound to learn something about yourself - and usually have a bit of fun doing it. Don't cut off huge chunks of the student population just because of a ridiculous stereotype. Live and let live et al.

irlrobins

No offense to DaveMcG, but I'd take the advice of someone who has graduated over someone who hasn't. I think tutorials are often more important than lectures. Miss a lecture, you can get someone's notes. But tutorials/practicals allow you the opportunity to discuss the lecture's content and if you don't understand something, get clarification.

Interesting how the people who said tutorials are not important had repeats to do.... draw your own conclusions from that.

Dave!

Blush_01 wrote:

It is a VERY BAD IDEA to miss tutorials. The way things are going, tutorial attendance is now more important than lecture attendance. And if you find your tutorial is like a mini-lecture I can guarantee it's for one reason only - because nobody is really talking, so discussion isn't happening organically, and a tutor lecturing to you is much better than everyone sitting there in silence for an hour wishing someone would say something.

I know the reason for it, but it doesn't change the fact that most of them were mini-lectures. If I had a question for my tutor, I'd ask them, and if I didn't, then I'd take more notes. I suspect that most people were doing the same.

Blush_01 wrote:

Also keep in mind that your tutor marks your essays for that course. It's very basic - if a tutor sees you on a regular basis and you contribute to the tutorial in a positive way, as well as receiving tutorial marks the tutor will also see you and your work in a positive light. Just this year someone in my class was bumped up from a 2:1 to a 1:2 based on seminar attendance in an essay that brought them up to a 1:2 overall, whereas another person who the seminar leader didn't remember, but who received a comparable mark, was told that if they had been more active in class, they would have been brought up a grade. Seminars and tutorials aren't that very different really. I've heard tutors ask lecturers if they should even bother correcting late essays from students they've never seen in tutorials, and the response was if you want to, do, but don't go out of your way. If you put in visible effort, you'll benefit from it.

Yeah true enough if you make an impression on your tutor then you're likely to do better in essays, but that doesn't mean you have to attend every tutorial. You can make an impression by contacting them by email, or talking to them in the tutors' office, or by being enthusiastic in the few tutorials you attend.

irlrobins wrote:

No offense to DaveMcG, but I'd take the advice of someone who has graduated over someone who hasn't. I think tutorials are often more important than lectures. Miss a lecture, you can get someone's notes. But tutorials/practicals allow you the opportunity to discuss the lecture's content and if you don't understand something, get clarification.

Well with all due respect I passed this year just fine, having attended few tutorials. I don't think it's relevent that I'm not a graduate, I've still had a lot of tutorials to attend, within the modularised system that graduates aren't familiar with.

irlrobins wrote:

Interesting how the people who said tutorials are not important had repeats to do.... draw your own conclusions from that.

Zane failed his exams and is just finished repeating 1st year -- and he was advocating 100% attendance in tutorials.

I failed no exams, and am advocating chillaxing a bit.

Draw your own conclusions there.....

Mr.Nice Guy

I would agree that missing tutorials is a really bad idea. I didn't attend any of my politics tutorials from last January onwards and I have no doubt that it contributed to my bad summer mark which saw me fail.

I've learned my lesson on that front and I don't intend to miss any tutorials in my final year.

I can see Dave's point when I remember how tutorials operated when I was in first year but they do gain greater significance in 2nd year where they expect more from you.

Just my two cents.

Chinafoot

Yup, going to have to jump on the "go to tutorials" bandwagon - particularly for Arts. Your essays are assigned to you in your tutorials and usually your tutorials count towards ~25% of that subject. A portion of that 25% will come not from your essays but from your attendance and your participation in the tutorials. It may not be much but it can be difference between a pass and a fail.

For subjects like History and English tutorials are very important. The courses are so huge that tutorials can't possibly cover every topic, therefore you can be pretty sure that the topics chosen to be discussed in your tutorials will be very relevant for your exams.

As for making an impression with your tutor through email or going to the tutor's room.. to be honest the only impression you'll make will still be as the one who never turns up to tutorials.

If your tutorials seem like "mini lectures" then talk! You can be guaranteed, particularly in first year, that people will be sitting there with plenty to say but are too afraid to say it. Once one person starts the ball rolling you'll be surprised how many people will find their voices.

It's an hour out of your week. Definitely worth it.


As for the D4 head thing, well it's a bit of a joke. You'll see plenty of it but you to be honest you'll see that stereotypical cliquey-ness with plenty of other groups in UCD. Like Blush said, don't cut yourself off from people as you'll be the one missing out.

boneless

D4 is soooo 2005 ....

Take everyone as you find them... I even got to like peachy and she's such a ... you know... Balbriggan type!!


Only jokin' Steph.... don't hit me on the left side!!!

Chakar

Like everyone says from the President of UCD to ordinary students like us the tutorials and lectures have to be attended.

To be honest university is very different to school and the onus is on you to do the work.Nobody cares if you do it or not except maybe the parents.

Pythia

I find tutorials are excellent if you are doing more number based subjects, like I do. We get homework, we go over last week's homework and we go over where we went wrong, etc. I wouldn't have done half as well if I didn't go to my tutorials.

vetmedpostgrad

Hi, tutorials are handy for picking up hints and extra useful information, particularly for exams. Quite often, the tutorial is a more relaxed and open discussion board, and allows for an interchange of ideas.

If you find yourself struggling to remember aspects or ideas from lectures, tutorials may be an excellent solution. If you find that your doing quite well, it isnt any harm to go to a few tutorials, at least then you'll get a feel for whether or not they will be of benefit to you.

As regards lectures, I think it is essential to get to as many of them as you possibly can. While you can't attend every single one, being realistic, you should try to get the notes and READ over them before the next lecture, or else you may feel left behind.

Sangre

DaveMcG wrote:

Zane failed his exams and is just finished repeating 1st year -- and he was advocating 100% attendance in tutorials.

I failed no exams, and am advocating chillaxing a bit.

Draw your own conclusions there.....

You ever think thats exactly why he now has a 100% attendance policy?


Just go to lectures and tutorials, you have hardly any hours. Don't live up to the Arts student bum stereotype.

Dave!

Perhaps, but I didn't go to alot of tutorials and I passed just fine.

Go to whatever you think you will benefit from.

Rnger

Feral Mutant wrote:

Getting back to the original topicI'm doing Engineering Undenominated. So, I've probably seen everyone else who does engineering at the thing today. Hello all *waves*.

Hi *punch*


have to say i much prefer d4 heads over nerds...

irlrobins

But what if the D4 is a nerd?

Sangre

Then he isn't a d4...duuuuurph!

irlrobins

Agh! I was so close......

beanyb

Definitely go to your tutorials! I dont know about other departments but with mine (history and politics) they're incredibly important both for passing the year and even further in the long run.

If you plan to apply for a post-grad or an erasmus you may need recommendations from your departments. Quite often, the only knowledge the lecturer writing your recommendation will have of you is whatever was on your tutorial card and your exam results. If you havent attended tutorials and havent done essays, they're not going to give you a good recommendation!

Also, one of my friends last year rarely came to college. I'd say one or two lectures every couple of weeks at most. She did it cleverly though because she still went to the majority of her tutorials. So when it came down to it and she had a borderline grade for passing they looked at her tutorial card and because she'd been there, she passed. Another friend had gone to the majority of lectures but no tutorials for the entire 2nd semester. He too had a borderline grade, but didnt get bumped up because he had a poor tutorial record.