Essential Study Skills

Höfundur: Tom Burns (Útgáfa: 5)
Essential Study Skills

Kaup valmöguleikar

"If you′re looking to be that top student, this book is a must!" – five-star student review Packed with study tips, activities, templates and quotes from students, this is your essential guide to university, showing you step-by-step how to study effectively and make the best of your time at university. Whether you are going to university straight from school, as a mature, or as an overseas student studying in the UK for the first time, you′ll find out how to: Sail through those tricky first weeks Get the most out of lectures by understanding how you learn Learn techniques for academic writing and research Effectively work with others in groups, seminars and workshops Write assignments and pass exams with flying colours Build your CV and plan your next steps after graduation.

New to this edition is content on how to thrive at university, learn and research digitally, and how to develop your employability skills. Student Success is a series of essential guides for students of all levels. From how to think critically and write great essays to boosting your employability and managing your wellbeing, the Student Success series helps you study smarter and get the best from your time at university.

Nánar um bókina

Útgefandi
SAGE Publications, Ltd. (UK)
ISBN
9781529785623
Print ISBN
9781529778519
Format
ePub
Útgáfa
5
Höfundar
Tom Burns
Tungumál
English
Útgefið
2022-04-29
Prent takmörkun á líftíma
100
Prent takmörkun
30
Afritunar takmörkun
30

Kaflar

  • List of Figures
  • About the Authors
  • Acknowledgments
  • Companion Social Media Site
  • Part One The Starter Kit
  • 1 Introduction
  • Introduction and welcome
  • What is university for?
  • University is changing
  • Introducing us
  • Introducing the book itself
  • It takes time
  • Get out of your comfort zone
  • Using this book
  • Reflect on it: Keep a diary, blog or vlog
  • Social media support
  • Coming to university: Hopes and fears
  • Activity: Quick quiz: Get ready to study
  • Six steps to successful study
  • The six steps
  • Six steps to success
  • Study techniques can be learned – good students are made, not born
  • Overview is vital – everybody needs the big picture
  • Creativity is essential – and can be developed
  • Communicate effectively – have something to say
  • Emotions rule – how to survive and thrive
  • Review – without reflection there is no learning
  • Summary
  • Further reading
  • Activity: The successful student checklist
  • 2 How to Learn, How to Study
  • Introduction
  • Activity: Past learning experiences
  • What is learning?
  • Active learning
  • Creative and multimodal learning
  • Make learning different
  • The playful university
  • The study apron
  • Build on the visual
  • Hear it, say it
  • Activity: Learn how to learn
  • Studying: When, where and how
  • When should I study?
  • Organisation and time management
  • Where to study
  • Make the space work for you
  • How to study
  • The lecture
  • The seminar or workshop
  • The tutorial
  • Blended learning
  • The virtual learning environment
  • Independent and interdependent learning
  • A beginner’s guide to taking control of your studies
  • Summary
  • Activity: The time sponge
  • Further reading
  • Activity: 1) Write a learning contract and 2) Fill in your timetables
  • 3 How to Survive and Thrive
  • Introduction
  • Introducing positive thinking
  • Feel the fear… and do it anyway
  • Why do we experience fear?
  • Promote your wellbeing: Reframe fear
  • The positive student
  • Keep going: Say it, write it, do it
  • Get help if you need it
  • The counselor says
  • Personal and/or academic tutor
  • Subject librarian (academic liaison librarian)
  • Learning and writing development
  • Student union
  • Student support services
  • And finally
  • Activity: Positive things to do at university
  • Part Two The Survival Kit
  • 4 How to Enjoy Academic Reading
  • Introduction
  • Reading: Engaging with key ideas and people
  • The problem with reading
  • Activity: A beginner’s guide to reading
  • An active reading strategy: QOOQRRR
  • QOOQRRR in more detail
  • Question
  • Overview – course
  • Overview – text
  • Question: Why am I reading this now?
  • Read – actively and interactively
  • Re-read – make notes
  • Review notes
  • Get ready to read
  • A quick note on plagiarism
  • Activity: Make reading fun
  • Summary
  • 5 How to Make the Best Notes
  • Introduction
  • Activity: Brainstorm: What’s the point of making notes?
  • Notemaking is active learning
  • A beginner’s guide to ideal notes
  • Linear notes
  • The problem with linear notes
  • Cornell notes
  • Concept maps
  • Mindmaps
  • Pattern notes
  • Patterns are best
  • A beginner’s guide to pattern notes
  • The revision cycle
  • Big notemaking tips
  • Summary
  • Further reading
  • Activity: First lecture questions
  • 6 How to Be Analytical and Critical
  • Introduction
  • Critical thinking
  • It’s all about critical thinking
  • Activity: Practising critical thinking
  • What if…
  • Critical questions for reading and writing
  • Reading tips
  • Writing tips
  • First break the question down
  • Use the paragraph questions
  • Flawed logic
  • Summary
  • 7 How to Be Reflective
  • Introduction
  • Reflective learning
  • Without reflection there is no learning
  • The reflective learning diary
  • A beginner’s guide to reflective learning
  • Reflective learning prompts
  • Reflection on practice learning
  • Policy and practice
  • Assessing experiential learning
  • Gibbs, Kolb and Schon
  • Gibbs’ reflective cycle
  • Kolb’s cycle
  • Schon’s model of experiential learning
  • How honest should I be?
  • Tips on reflection
  • And finally – your projects
  • Summary
  • Activity: Get blogging
  • 8 How to Get On in Groups
  • Introduction
  • Building a group identity
  • How we do it
  • Unconscious bias
  • Study groups and personal learning networks
  • Thriving in assessed group work
  • What is group work?
  • Building a compassionate pedagogy
  • Why group work?
  • Advantages and disadvantages of group work
  • How to ‘do’ group work
  • Activity: Take control of group work
  • A business-like approach to group work
  • Belbin’s group roles
  • Adair’s processes
  • A beginner’s guide to group work
  • Summary
  • Further reading
  • Activity: Use the ten steps to success approach – with an observer
  • 9 How to Become an Excellent Digital Scholar
  • Introduction
  • Covid-19 changed everything: We are all digital now
  • Being a digital student
  • The right hardware
  • Great software
  • Save it
  • Virtual or augmented reality
  • Social media
  • YouTube if you want to
  • Become a digital success: Work out loud
  • Virtual learning environments
  • Blog to learn
  • Twitter for learning
  • Do a free MOOC
  • Using your digital devices for research
  • Using your library e-resources
  • Bookmarking
  • Evaluate your online sources
  • Digital assessments and coursework
  • Prevent plagiarism
  • Summary
  • Activity tips: How to make the digital work for you
  • Part Three The Big Assessment Toolkit: Assessments – How to Excel
  • 10 University Assessment and How to Succeed
  • Introduction
  • Understanding and passing your course
  • Take control
  • Understanding assessment
  • Formative and summative assessment
  • Formative assessment is developmental
  • Summative assessment is final
  • Feedback/forward
  • Activity: Dealing positively with feedback/forward
  • Understanding assignment formats
  • The essay
  • The reflective essay
  • The patchwork assessment
  • The report
  • The dissertation
  • The presentation
  • The portfolio
  • The project – or problem based learning
  • The exam
  • The digital artefact
  • The literature review
  • The reading record
  • The annotated bibliography
  • Ten steps to assignment success
  • Prepare
  • Targeted research and active reading
  • Write – read – write
  • Settle on a first draft
  • Leave it!
  • Review, revise and edit: Struggle to write
  • Proofread
  • Hand it in – celebrate
  • Getting it back: Think first
  • Getting it back: What the tutor said
  • Activity: Talk yourself through an assignment question
  • Overcoming writing blocks
  • Some positive writing strategies
  • Activity: Free writing for assignments
  • Summary
  • Further reading
  • Activity: Rich writing
  • 11 How to Reference and Avoid Plagiarism
  • Introduction
  • Reading, referencing and preventing plagiarism
  • It is all about referencing
  • Activity: Some reasons for plagiarising
  • Summary
  • Activity: Use your index cards or online referencing tools
  • 12 How to Write Great Essays
  • Introduction
  • What is an essay?
  • The legal precedent
  • Why write essays?
  • The essay explained
  • The ‘body’ as argument – the paragraph as dialogue
  • The introduction
  • The conclusion
  • References
  • The five paragraph essay
  • How to prepare and write an essay
  • A beginner’s guide to essay writing
  • It starts with the question
  • Activity: Thinking around an essay question
  • More ways to think about the question
  • Activity: Thinking about ‘instruction words’
  • SWOT it: Using feedback/forward
  • SWOT
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Summary
  • Activity: Use the essay checklist
  • 13 How to Produce Excellent Reports
  • Introduction
  • What is a report?
  • The ideal report
  • Why write reports
  • Professional development
  • Research projects and dissertations
  • The audience or reader
  • How to approach reports
  • Get creative
  • Take logical steps
  • Question yourself
  • What’s my paradigm: Choosing your methodology and data gathering method
  • Transparency, justification, creativity and analysis
  • Writing it up
  • Getting students started: How we do it
  • Summary
  • Activity: Different reports, their implications and the questions to ask
  • 14 How to Devise and Deliver Excellent Presentations
  • Introduction
  • What is a presentation?
  • It’s a talk
  • It’s an act
  • It’s interactive
  • It’s a scholarly convention
  • Why do we set presentations?
  • The elevator pitch
  • How to succeed in presentations: The four Ps
  • Plan
  • Prepare
  • Practise, practise, practise
  • Present: Performance tips and tricks
  • Activity: Get creative with your presentations
  • Group presentations: Essential things to do
  • Seminars and workshops
  • The seminar
  • Workshops
  • Summary
  • Coda
  • Activity: Use the presentation checklist
  • 15 How to Revise for and Pass Exams
  • Introduction
  • What are exams and why do we set them?
  • ‘How long should the answer be? I’m dyslexic and write slowly.’
  • ‘I’ve got a really bad memory: How can you learn a whole year’s work in three weeks?’
  • ‘I know I’m unusual but… I really love exams and hate coursework.’
  • ‘What if I fail? It will all have been wasted!’
  • How to develop your memory
  • Short- and long-term memory
  • Activity: How we learned in primary school
  • Learning does not happen by accident
  • The revision cycle
  • Take control: See it, hear it, say it, do it
  • Make revision games
  • How to pass exams: SQP4
  • Survey
  • Question
  • Predict
  • Plan
  • Prepare
  • Practise those exams
  • Examination day!
  • Use the paper – use your time
  • Think smart – think positive
  • Relaxation
  • The night before
  • Judgement day
  • What examiners like to see
  • After the exam
  • Summary
  • Further reading
  • Activity: Use the exams checklist
  • Part Four The Employability Kit
  • 16 Employability
  • Introduction
  • Improve your prospects – build your CV
  • Think CV
  • How to write a bad application
  • What employers want
  • Going on to further study
  • Making the most of university
  • A Dean of Students’ open letter to new students
  • What the graduate said
  • What the head of department says
  • What the peer-learning programme leader says
  • What the student ambassador leaders say
  • What the lecturer says
  • What the surprised academic said
  • And finally – a message from the careers service
  • Employability modules and transferable skills
  • Transferable soft skills
  • Activity: Are you reflecting?
  • Recognition, entrepreneurship and knowledge exchange
  • HEAR
  • The anchor institution and knowledge exchange
  • Summary
  • Activity: What to do right now
  • Bibliography and Further Reading
  • Index