A Student’s Experience with Achieve

Before attending University, I had no experience of using online textbooks. At secondary school, we had to fight over physical copies of books, which were often decorated with random scribbles, ripped pages and notes from previous students. This all changed however when I started studying BSc Natural Sciences (Biology and Psychology) at Durham University last year. Within this course, I study a mixture of related modules ranging from biological psychology to genetics and statistics. I presumed we would be given a long list of books to find, and I would have to hope a copy was still available, that was if I ever worked out how the library worked! However, this was not the case, to my surprise in our first introductory lecture I was given a Macmillan Achieve account to use to support my biology-based modules instead. I must admit at first, I was unsure about using a digital learning platform to access my textbooks, but after having used it all of first year, I firmly believe that Achieve helped me navigate the chaos that was the leap between sixth form and University education. After finishing my first year and reflecting on this experience, I now prefer to use online platforms textbooks over physical resources such as textbooks and within this blog post I will explain why this is the case.

1. Customisability:

One of my favourite things about the Achieve platform is the integrated textbook. Unlike all the physical textbooks I had previously used, Achieve allowed me to customise my textbook in a way that made learning a lot easier for me. I often struggle with maintaining my attention whilst reading long chapters full of complicated Biology concepts, so the fact I could customise the way my textbooks looked was a massive game changer for me. Being able to change text size, line spacing and background colour was something I took advantage of, and I immediately found I was able to concentrate for longer and so consequently read more pages at any given time. Not only this but the late-night study sessions became a lot easier, as I was able to turn my textbooks from a white paged book to a less blinding black background.

2. Textbook to Audiobook:

The jump from sixth form to first year can be massively overwhelming for many students, not only are you in a new place surrounded by new people, but you must navigate the increase in workload. In my case, this came in the form of having fewer contact hours and a lot more independent work hours, which were often crammed full of reading and independent research. I did not always have the time to sit down and read a book for hours at a time and for this reason, one of the features I found to be most useful, was the “read aloud feature” which allowed me to turn each of my textbooks into an audiobook. As I am sure every student can agree, trying to balance a degree, sport and maintaining a social life can be a challenging task but the read aloud feature made this a lot easier for me to do. I was able to complete each of my readings before my lecture, as if I was listening to a podcast alongside other things on my to-do list, such as washing or cleaning my room.

3. Integrated Videos:

I’m sure many University students can agree that often we are told to search a concept up on YouTube if we don’t understand it following a lecture, but often lecturers don’t realise that it can take some time to find a relevant video which is a) at University level and b) explaining the concept they were actually talking about (this is especially hard if you come out of a lecture not quite sure what to search for). This is where I found Achieve to be especially helpful, not only does it function as a textbook, but most chapters are accompanied with explanatory videos explaining the concept. I remember last year we had a series of lectures on DNA repair and the various enzymes involved in this complex process. This was one of the very first lectures of my first year at University, so not only was I still coming to grips with the jump from A level to University, but additionally, as a visual learner, I was naturally feeling overwhelmed as I had suddenly gone from needing to know about the 2 enzymes mentioned during A level biology to about 20 more within the first 10 minutes of this lecture series. This is where Achieve really helped me. I was able to find the chapter relating to this lecture and to my relief there was a video linked underneath which explained the function of each enzyme my lecturer had mentioned, and how they collectively worked together to repair DNA.

4. Chapter/Concept Relevant Quizzes:

Lastly, an additional feature of the Achieve platform that I found helpful was the presence of chapter and concept specific multiple-choice questions. By participating in these quick quizzes, I was able to have quick refreshers in relevant material before attending my weekly labs, where lecture content is applied experimentally. Additionally, doing these quizzes allowed me to identify specific weaknesses in my understanding of various concepts or lectures. This was especially valuable as exam season approached, and I found myself in need of an efficient study tool to prepare. The instant feedback that these multiple-choice quizzes gave me allowed me to target and guide my revision before my exams. Consequently, I was able to go into my exams feeling confident that I had a good understanding of all my course content, even if initially I was struggling with certain areas.

Overall, Achieve massively helped me in my first year, so much so that I ended my first year of university with a first-class honour. Not only did Achieve give me access to customisable and easy to access textbooks but also additional complimentary material, such as videos and quizzes. These features allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of topics I had previously struggled to understand by breaking down topics into easy-to-understand chapters and also helped me save a lot of time, so that I could focus on enjoying my first year rather than being overwhelmed with work!