Hi there, Ollie here. I’ve just completed the second year of my Psychology with Business Management degree; here are my reflections on how my study has changed since first year. It hasn’t changed enormously, however there are a few differences.

First, I’d say there’s more work in general. Second year counts towards the overall degree mark, and since the consequences of each mark are more significant, it’s more important to get the best marks you can in second (and third) year.

There isn’t more reading, but the readings are more ‘heavy’ and in-depth, so they take much longer. Re-watching lectures online also takes longer because I have to stop and rewind them more often.

Instead of mainly using the recommended articles for assessments, I have done more independent research, using the Library’s subject guide for Psychology. In addition to Google Scholar, I have found the website PsycARTICLES very useful for finding articles to review before writing essays and reports.

There has been more group work. Last term in Psychology we did group quizzes every week (which, on the whole, went well) and I am currently working on a group report for Business Management. It has occasionally been as challenging as people said it would be, but overall I’ve really enjoyed it. The work is shared so even a big report becomes a manageable workload for each person – as the proverb goes, many hands make light work. The lesson I’ve learnt is to make sure each task is assigned to a person, so everyone is accountable to something. I’ve found Facebook group chat to be the most useful way of communicating and organising meetings, as it’s fast and familiar.

My studying habits have changed. I have learnt to block my time and spend an afternoon focusing and completing something. I’ve also used more checklists, which have helped to prioritise the most important tasks. I also review the literature before starting to write essays or reports (as opposed to alongside it, like I did last year) because this way you can make more informed decisions from the very beginning the writing process.

Overall, I feel more confident in my knowledge of Psychology and Business Management, which I think comes naturally with taking a deeper dive into the subject. I’ve learnt that the more I work, the more fun it becomes.