Facilities at Bedford

Here at Bedford there has been a lot of money invested into new facilities over the last few years. We have relatively new accommodation, a fairly new sports hall and most recently a brand new Gateway Building and brand new Gym. 

I'm going to focus this blog on the Library, the new Gateway Building and the Gym but there are other facilities to check out too --> see http://www.beds.ac.uk/ for more info.

The Library
At Bedford there are a vast amount of books, journals and resources available to students,

but also an incredible wealth of online jounals and ebooks. There are plenty of computers, printers/scanners/photocopiers, group study areas and a silent floor (Level 2) for independent study. There are large TV screens that you can plug in to laptops/tablets, which are great for group work (and also watching Wimbledon! Shhh!). Our library is open 24/7 and manned by specialist staff during the day, who are always happy to help. The library offer a wide range of services to help students with academic study 
(http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/libraryservices) and each faculty has a Specialist Librarian assigned to them, who are available to help with more subject specific queries.

I have spent a lot of time in the library and it's a good atmosphere, even when you're pulling your hair out over an assignment! During term time I can guarantee I will see at least 10 people I know and will say 'Hi' to every time I go in.




The Gateway Building
This was finished earlier this year and provides LOTS more teaching and learning spaces.

On the ground floor there is the ESSENTIAL Costa Coffee, many social seating areas, areas to study (inc. TVs to plug laptops/tablets into), computers available for people to use and the main reception desk. Level 1&2 have social areas, isolated working areas of various sizes for private group work or individual study and many lecture/seminar rooms, most of which have multiple whiteboards which are good for group working!

See more photos here: Gateway




The Aspire Gym
This was finished just over a month ago and looks pretty swish! There are lots of weights

machines, cardiovascular machines, lots of free weights specialised strength and conditioning equipment including three lifting platforms and two squat racks. The gym has changing rooms with showers, hair-dryers and lockers for members to use. When you sign up, you are able to use the gym at both the Luton and Bedford campus.


Hopefully that gives you a small insight into some of the facilities at Bedford, but I would highly reccommend you having a look at the Website AND coming to an Open Day to see them for yourself!

Revision

So it's that time of year again... Exams! I thought I would give you an insight into my revision 'tactics' and you are more than welcome to use them! At school, when you come to an age that you need to be revising, teachers bang on about different ways to remember things. That's great but I know that I personally didn't find it that useful. Here are some things that I have used in the past, I not saying that this is the only way to revise, it's just what I found best for me.

1. I don't make a revision schedule - I could never stick to it because life is too changeable and it just made me feel bad when I didn't. I take it day by day, plan times that could be used for revision and then revise what ever subject I feel like doing (sometimes because it's the easiest, sometimes because I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing) at the time. 
2. I can't do the 30mins revision and 10min break - so I don't! I always felt like I was just getting into the flow of things and then the alarm would go off for a break, and then I found it harder to get going again after. I tend to revise for as long as I can, whether that's because I stop for dinner, training or because I've had enough. Some stints can be an hour, others have been 4 hours - but the 4 hour one didn't feel like it because I had found my rhythm.
3. I start my revision by learning the keywords (I study mostly science type subjects) - this way I know i have a basic knowledge and can then build everything else around it. Plus if there is an obscure question on the exam I will know the keywords and can make an intelligent guess if I don't know the answer.

Here are some techniques I have found particularly useful - you can do them the old fashioned way with coloured pens and paper but I want to introduce revision to the 21st Century! I have found some apps that have really helped with my revision, and because you still have to input the information yourself, it's just like writing it out.


Mind Maps:

There are plenty of mind mapping programmes out there that you can try, either free downloads or ones that you pay for. I personally use SimpleMind FREE which I downloaded from the app store (or here http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/). It syncs with my iPhone and iPad so I always have my revision with me on the go. This is quite good if you are waiting around and instead of checking Facebook/Twitter (which we all do) I open the mind map and have another look.

I like this because you can use colours, make connections and link things together and you can print it so there is always the option of sticking it to the wall or back of the bathroom door!





Flash cards:

Again there are lots of programmes out there but I use Flashcards by NKO which was FREE in the app store. I like this because it syncs with my iPad and iPhone, it's on my dropbox and you can create lots of different decks for different subjects. You can also invite friends to join the decks, so you can create them together and compete against each other!

It has the option to use it like regular flashcards or play games, such as true/false, match the pairs up, memory tasks, word searches, spellings, quizzes but you can also have it read the cards to you - which is great if you drive because you can plug in and do revision on the go!


Quizlet:


This is similar to Flashcards above and has all the games type features and sharing capabilities. I originally found it online at: https://quizlet.com and I created an account. You can also access decks created by others so for example, if you wanted to revise the bones of the body, you could search for this and use someone else's cards. Teachers can also set up accounts and use it as a starting base for their students revision and everyone could access the same decks and add to them - which is a great class revision homework type task!

Those are the main three things I tend to use but I also like to revise in a small group or pairs, where someone asks me questions or I describe the word on the card and they have to guess what it is. I also don't mind helping other people out by going over things they don't understand as if I can teach it to someone then I know that I know it!

1. Start early - the earlier you start the better prepared you will be. Even if you just make up your cards and haven't looked at them, you'll know the bits you will struggle with and so can spend more time of them.
2. Have a positive attitude - revision is not the most fun, especially as the weather gets nicer, but we all have to do it at some point in our lives so just get on with it. Taking a positive attitude towards it will just make it that little bit easier to start.
3. Be honest with yourself - if you're not doing enough it's ok to admit, but then you have to do something about it! If you are so stressed that you can't stop revising then maybe a tick list would be good for you - you could check off 3/5 topics a day and then stop.
4. Have an overview of the subject - I write a list of topic areas and the subheadings within those. This way I know what I need to revise, where I am and I know I won't have missed anything.
5. Talk - Revision and exams are stressful times! Talking to friends, family and teachers about how it is going, and being HONEST about it, will really help! If you are struggling that's ok to admit. Use the support network around you to help get you back on track. Keeping quiet won't help your revision and will increase your stress levels, and that won't help either!

Books, Badminton and Bike rides...

This week has been fairly relaxed after the stress of assignments and exams finishing last Friday. The main focus was on thinking about dissertation ideas, doing a bit of reading around and trying to come up with something that I am interested in – well enough to write 10,000 words on! I am due to meet my tutor later today to talk through some ideas, so I'll let you know how that all went at some point!

This is the Alexander Sports Hall (Students call it ASH) where
 the Uni Badminton teams train

Badminton has been a big feature of the week, combining training and matches I have played for at least 2 hours a day. The reason I love to play so much is because it’s a sport that can be played leisurely with friends or at high intensity and speed in competition! The Uni team this year is comprised of people who have not competed in badminton before and so training and matches has really improved their game play and tactical understanding. It’s really good to have people from different sporting backgrounds on the team too because it means training can be mixed up a bit to keep it interesting; people often bring new ideas to the table which means we have a laugh even when we are training hard.

Not even halfway!

Bike rides have been another key theme this week as I am currently training to cycle the circumference of the Isle of Wight for Charity (which is happening next Saturday – ahhh!!) and so I have been out practising for that! It has been a challenge but I feel pretty much ready for it now. I have found that for me the key is in the breathing, which sounds odd but has really helped improve my stamina and power output – especially uphill!

Pause for a Selfie!

As I said previously, it was an unusually quiet week, but plodding along has been a well-deserved rest! Next week is half term (although at Uni we don’t get half term) and I am working on a children’s camp, whilst still attending my sessions at Uni. So the plan for the blog next week will involve balancing life, Uni and Jobs and, hopefully, I’ll have some good stories to share from my Explorer Camp!