Taking time to plan out your term and the courses you have each semester is an extremely valuable practice that will help you manage and make the most of your time.
Listed below are some tips and tricks when it comes to planning your term. Let's assume that the course is an on-campus course with about 12 weeks of lectures.
In general, for an average student to get an average mark, expect to spend 12-15 hr/week (for each course). This might be 10-12 for some courses and perhaps as low as 8-10 for some. You need to think through each course and its design to figure out what you should expect to put in!
The split will depend on the course but assume:
3 hrs of lectures of relatively heavy science or math based material
3 hrs of pre/post lecture prep or review (1 hr of review of each hour of lecture)
6 additional hrs for assignments, projects, additional review, etc.
And, there might be some labs and tutorials as well - might be 15 hours for a 'heavy' course!
Considering the term as a whole (12 weeks), for each course this translates into:
36 hours for lectures
36 hours for pre/post lecture prep or review
72 additional hours for assignments, projects, additional review, etc.
Total hours for the course is about = 144
Total hours outside of lecture = 108 (144-36)
Not all courses have this pattern, but you can see this as a general approach for figuring out each course. You should also consider the following:
Map out ALL of the deliverables and special events (e.g., mid terms) - know due dates, when you should start, and the rough effort required. Have a big map for the term - showing all of the courses on one page.
Know your instructor’s assumptions. If necessary, you might have to discuss effort vs marks and make sure that things are balanced when it comes to time taken to complete assignments.
Try to determine how many hours you need for assignments for each course and how many hours you need for other assessments per week leading up to midterms and finals.
During the term, some courses will be heavier and lighter than others. There might also be times when there are conflicts and not enough hours in a week. If there are not enough hours, the tasks can be moved earlier - assuming it is known what is needed and that the necessary material has been explained in class or is understandable enough from readings.
It is suggested that the planning and time analysis start with the end of term and move backwards to the start of term. If the planning and time allocation is limited by the available hours, the activity will identify the latest start time for the activity - in order to avoid extra effort or the infamous all-nighter.
Contingency planning should also be done to account for stuff that will happen during the term that eats up time. It is logical to include some slack periods throughout the term and start activities before their latest start time.
Plan out your days, weeks and semester. Ensure to schedule lecture time, time to complete homework, study as well as time to get up and take a break from your desk.
All of these points apply to on-campus courses or if the course is online!
