With a student body of 40,000+ students, Utah Valley University has an extremely varied population. With that level of variety comes different study habits, note-taking habits, and preferences in study rooms. And UVU’s campus, as professed by students, has no shortage of study rooms or classes and classrooms to take notes in.
The study rooms on UVU’s campus range from the glass-walled, affectionately dubbed ‘fishbowl’ rooms in the Clarke building to the solo study pods located in the halls of the university. And anyone walking through those same hallways and buildings could attest to the usage of the study areas across UVU’s campus.
However, a beloved study spot by many are the study rooms in the Fulton Library on campus. Whether the studying takes place on the first or second floors in the open spaces with clear conversations, or in the quiet solitude of the upper floors, many students had great things to say about their time spent studying in the library.
One of those students is April Uriona Montes, a junior majoring in Social Work, who expressed her desire to be referred to as April during the interview. She said that her favorite way to study was by picking a study room, and when asked which study rooms she preferred using, she answered, “the study rooms in the library are my favorite.”
Another student who likes to utilize the study rooms in the library is Julia Henika, a senior majoring in Forensic Science, and who has been featured in other articles by the Review. Henika expressed that her favorite ways to study were “notetaking, reviewing notes, and discussing topics with others.” She further elaborated that when she discusses topics with others, she books study rooms for them. And when asked which study rooms on campus were her favorite, the opinion she expressed echoed April’s, saying, “I love the study rooms in the library!”
While students like Henika enjoy using the study rooms for group study, there are plenty of people who prefer to use the study rooms to study solo. One of these students is Psychology major Iris Tuminez, who is now entering her junior year at UVU. When asked about her favorite way to study, she said that she likes to study “by myself in a quiet environment because I feel like I can focus better.”
Nonetheless, Tuminez still highlights the library study rooms as her favorite, saying “I really enjoy the study rooms in the library!” She elaborated on this preference, stating, “I like that the environment is usually pretty quiet and that it gives me some space to do my own thing so that I can focus better.”
At this point in the conversation, Tuminez has shown her enjoyment of studying in solitude, but when asked, she expressed that she didn’t really have a preference regarding locations inside the library. She said that she does usually spend time studying by windows, explaining, “the sunlight comes in and it helps me feel more awake.”
Among all these preferences in studying comes diverse notetaking habits. April laughed when asked about her notetaking habits, saying: “I just use a notebook and a pencil.” Henika also revealed that she writes out her notes physically. “I tend to write out my notes” she explained and then followed up with how she uses notes during her pre-exam or test studying, saying that she’ll “review them and highlight right before any exams or tests.”
Tuminez also takes notes in class, but she prefers to do so electronically. “In class I take notes on my computer, then after class I go back through them and sometimes put it in my own words or add concepts that I didn’t write down.” When asked how these notetaking habits affect her studying, she shrugged. “When I study I usually look for concepts I missed [in my notes] and I make sure to highlight them so I can go over them more.”
And if one was to roam the halls of UVU, these study and notetaking habits would be clearly exhibited by visiting the study rooms specifically highlighted or those that weren’t, like the ones in the Scott C. Keller building. Also, among other conversations in the halls and just outside of study rooms, other study and notetaking habits crop up.
Some people prefer to turn music on when they study or use the Pomodoro Technique of taking scheduled breaks during their study time. Others will record their class and transcribe it in their study rooms to ensure that they are retaining all the information that is being taught. And while their majors do determine what they study, as was found in the similarities between Henika and April in their study and notetaking, these habits can be universally used.
Whether or not a student enters UVU knowing exactly how to study, or what study and notetaking might work best for them, there is always an option to observe and learn from others. There are numerous software tools available when it comes to taking notes, and plenty of study styles to utilize. And these study styles don’t even need to occur in a study room.
UVU has chairs in the hallways to use, study pods, isolated building locations and more for academic focused students to take advantage of when it comes to studying. There are also group study spots in specific study rooms and areas where students who prefer to study with others can head to.
