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HUJI Students | en.vp-director

HUJI Students

HUJI Students

The Hebrew University is committed to academic excellence at all times and is investing substantial resources in assuring that its high standards of teaching and research will not be compromised by the pandemic.  

The world has had to contend with many plagues since Plato founded the first university in Greece in the year 387 BCE… Ever since then, the purpose of academia has been to enable researchers and student to enrich human knowledge through critical analysis of texts, group discussions and active participation during classes.

This mission has been greatly challenged since the breakout of the pandemic, when most academic institutions around the world were forced to adopt distance learning and a digital experience of group discussions and active participation.

The past academic year has opened with distance teaching and learning, through Zoom, while gradually transitioning to on- campus teaching and studying. Attendance in classrooms, teaching labs and practical or clinical training has been limited to those with a green pass only (granted to those who have been vaccinated with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, or who are recovering/recovered from COVID-19). Entry to the campus has also been allowed to those who do not have a green pass, by presenting an up-to-date negative result on a COVID-19 test. Due to the fact that most of our students and population are vaccinated, teaching will take place on- campus for the most part (subject to the government regulations) while integrating pre-recorded classes and other digital components if needed. The Hebrew University will continue to make great efforts to improve the learning experience by expanding the infrastructure, providing special training seminars to all of the academic faculty, increasing the use of alternative methods of evaluation, combining distance learning with in-classroom learning, etc. As long as the Ministry of Health’s guidelines require us to do so, we will continue to offer virtual programs, which include synchronous and asynchronous components to accommodate students in Jerusalem and around the globe.

 

Tips for effective online studying

Just wake up, brush your teeth, get dressed, drink a cup of coffee and… off to study: turn on your computer and begin learning. Sounds easy, right? Well, it isn’t! We know that it isn’t easy at all to sit for many hours in front of the computer screen and learn about macromolecules or Ancient Hebrew punctuation or anything else. It’s completely different than what you were used to and requires a different way of getting organized. Here are some useful tips for studying online:

  1. Organizing your time
  • Draw up a weekly study schedule and divide it up by days and hours
  • For each class, define specific hours for doing homework and studying
  • Mark the dates when all assignments are due on a calendar
  1. Finding support and help
  • Check whether you’re missing information from the professor or the teaching staff, and reques the information in time
  • Turn to your fellow students through existing online forums on the courses’ Moodle websites and through other means of communication, such as WhattsApp or Facebook
  1. When you sit down to study
  • Study according to the amount of time you decided in advance and take breaks
  • Organize in advance everything you require in order to study
  • Create a pleasant study environment and take away all potential sources of distraction
  • It’s important to adapt guilt-free study habits. This short film will give you advice on how to do this
  1. Effective revising of the material you learned

          Here are some very efficient learning strategies that we have gathered for you (as well as some that you should avoid…):

To do:

  • Explain the reading material to yourselves or to a friend – instead of summarizing the text, jot down the main questions that arise from each section and try to quiz yourselves
  • Summarize the key points of each lesson – do this preferably during a taped class and focus on understanding the main points and the connection between them. For additional tips, watch this short film here.
  • Test yourself – Practice answering questions, including simple knowledge questions, comprehension questions and practice questions. If you don’t know the answer, try to provide a partial answer before you look up the full answer.
  • Space out the practice sessions – Practicing the material too often and too much is only effective in the short-run, whereas longer intervals between these sessions are very effective, also in the long-term. Well-spaced learning enables you to study less and succeed more, but requires advanced planning. Here is a short film where you can learn how to accomplish this using index cards or an app.

Don’t do:

  • Don’t practice the material when it is in front of you. This is an easy way to study but doesn’t really work.
  • Don’t review the material only by reading.
  • Don’t summarize the material when it is in front of you.
  • Don’t review the material by marking and highlighting the text.
  • Don’t study by going over problems that have already been solved (or tests that have already been corrected).
  1. Breaks and sleep
  • It’s important to take breaks while studying, in order to ‘charge your batteries’ and change your environment.
  • Physical exercise is a great activity during a study break.
  • Make sure you sleep enough. Lack of sleep harms your emotional balance, your ability to concentrate and your ability to study and remember.

In conclusion: The secret to success is to plan your time and your studying in a way that enables you to space out your studies; test yourself in order to check for problems and fix them; take breaks and sleep enough. Set goals that are attainable, invest efforts but don’t exhaust yourself, ask friends, help friends, make sure you know whom you can turn to for help and don’t hesitate to do so.

Recommended clips and blogs:

Tips for University Students Studying Online at Home: Times Higher Education

My #1 Method for Stopping Procrastination [YouTube]

How to Study Effectively for School or College [Top 6 Science-Based Study Skills] [YouTube]

The Most Powerful Way to Remember What You Study [YouTube]

How to Take Notes in Class: The 5 Best Methods [YouTube]

12 Tips to Crush Your Final Exams [Blog]

How to Choose the Right Way to Study for You: Advice for Students [Blog]

Good luck!

Exams and grades

Here are current directives relevant to course requirements and exams:

In the coming academic year, teaching will take place for the most part in the classrooms (subject to the government regulations), integrating pre-recorded classes and other digital components. In general, remote participation in classes that are held in campus will not be available, except for specific courses that are marked as remote-learning. In smart classrooms, lessons will be recorded and made available for watching after the class ends (with the teacher's consent)