The study skills handbook

Cover
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introducing The Study Skills Handbook
How to use The Study Skills Handbook
Where to begin?
Seven approaches to learning
A new beginning …
Part A Self-efficacy: Managing your Success as a Student
	Chapter 1 Success as a student: Take charge of your success
		Make the experience work for you
		Your vision of success as a student
		Success as a student: what lecturers say
		What is expected from you?
		Success as a student: where am I now?
		How is higher level study different?
		Understanding higher level study
		Teaching: what to expect in Higher Education
		Independent study: benefits, challenges, risks
		What kind of study skills do you need?
		Self-efficacy skills: managing yourself for study
		Academic Skills
		People Skills and Task Management Skills
		Developing skills: five study skills components
		Study skills: priorities, stage 1
		Study skills: priorities, stage 2
		Study skills action plan
		Review
	Chapter 2 Gaining the most from your course: Engage. Enjoy. Excel.
		Ten golden rules
		Effective use of tutorials and personal tutors
		Be well informed: find out …
		Gaining from scheduled learning: purpose and value
		‘Flip your learning’: advance preparation for class
		Engagement during class: more than just ‘turning up’
		Make effective notes during taught sessions
		Practicals, studio and lab work
		Self-evaluation: making good use of taught sessions
		Engage fully with your course outside of class time
		Engage with technology-enhanced learning
		Making sense of difficult material
		Make course material your own
		Get under the skin of your subject area
		Gaining the most from your course: review
	Chapter 3 Employability and preparing for your future
		Planning towards your future
		Your personal development so far
		Developing work and career readiness
		Recognising your skills and qualities
		Your personal skills profile
		Skills Audit: Current skills and qualities
		Preparing for work with employers
		Articulating your abilities to employers
		Translating academic skills into employment skills
		Building your CV whilst a student
		Recording your achievements
		Taking further qualifications and training
		Enterprise and self-employment
		Review
	Chapter 4 Successful study: Intelligence, strategy and personalised learning
		‘Intelligence’ – or ‘intelligent study’?
		What is intelligence?
		What is ‘learning’?
		Six conditions for learning
		Optimal learning
		Recognise what kind of learner you are
		Identify your personal learning formula
		What’s your personal learning formula?
		Learning preferences and habits
		Personalise your learning
		Using technology to personalise learning
		Personalised use of technology for study
		Study strategy – individual or social?
		Review
	Chapter 5 The C·R·E·A·M strategy for learning
		Finding your creative streak
		Be a professor – and other ideas
		Creative learning
		Creative problem-solving
		Creative problem-solving: stages in problem-solving
		Creative problem-solving: identify the task
		Creative problem-solving: apply strategy
		Reflective learning
		How well am I doing?
		Reflective learning journals
		Virtue versus effectiveness
		Effective and efficient study
		Effective, well-organised study
		Effective management of grades and personal performance
		Use technologies effectively
		Combining work and study effectively
		Effective management of work-based projects
		Effective management of study leave
		Active learning
		Emphasis on action!
		Active learning strategies
		MotivationYour
		Keeping motivated
		Clarity of purpose: what I want from my study
		Using your goals to guide your study strategy
		Using your goals to guide your study strategy
		Motivation: managing the challenge
		Achieving my goals
		Integrating C·R·E·A·M strategies into my study
		Review
	Chapter 6 Time management as a student
		How well do I manage my time now?
		Why time management matters
		What students say
		10 steps to effective time management
		How much study time is required?
		Map and monitor your use of study time
		Expected average weekly study requirements
		Monitor use of independent study time
		Where does all my time go?
		Time circle: How I use my time now
		Set your priorities
		Effective planning and diary-keeping
		Make your planning work for you
		Make great checklists and ‘To do’ lists
		Plan backwards from deadlines
		Use study blocks and breaks effectively
		Apply varied time management techniques
		Apply time management techniques: online study
		Ten time-saving strategies
		Manage procrastination and distraction
		Getting down to study
		Identifying and managing distractions
		Staying on task
		Activate your time management strategies
		Review
	Chapter 7 Managing stress and well-being
		Acknowledging your anxieties
		Manage anxiety
		Staying the course: commit to completing
		Achieving key ‘milestones’
		Surviving the first day and first week
		Managing the first few weeks
		Nurture your well-being
		Digital you: safety, security and well-being
		How do other students manage?
		Resilience as a student
		Dealing with stress
		Strategies for managing stress and well-being
		Enjoying some calm time
		Review1
PART B Academic, People and Task Management Skills
	Chapter 8 Working with others: Collaborative study
		Studying collaboratively
		Collaborative working: what students say
		Self-evaluation: studying with other people
		Making a group work
		Being effective in group discussion
		Speaking and listening skills
		Speaking up
		Dealing with difficult moments in the group
		Giving and receiving feedback and criticism
		Being fair to everyone in the group
		Study groups
		Sharing work without cheating
		Communicating as a group
		How well do I contribute to seminars and groups?
		Group projects
		Managing group projects: Record and share information
		Making presentations and giving talks
		Preparing your talk
		Be aware of your audience
		Practising and evaluating your presentation
		Assessing whether your presentation is ready
		Giving your talk
		How effective am I at talks/presentations?
		Review
	Chapter 9 Developing cultural competence: Learning in diverse and international contexts
		Cultural competence: What can I do?
		Self-evaluation: Cultural competence
		Challenges and opportunities for study, work, life
		Personal benefits of inter-cultural awareness
		Making, and not making, cultural assumptions
		Dimensions of difference – and similarity
		Appreciating different cultures and languages
		Being part of a welcoming, inclusive group
		How different are the ways we do things?
		How different are our experiences of study?
		Effective inter-cultural group work
		Capture the inter-cultural learning
		Different styles of communicating
		Case studies
		Review
	Chapter 10 Effective reading and note-making
		Identifying and selecting relevant material when reading
		Am I a smart reader?
		Increase your understanding of what you read
		Is it worth re-reading material you don’t understand?
		Develop your expert ‘reader voice’
		Annotating texts when reading
		Example of an annotated text
		Good annotating
		Increasing your reading speed
		Strategies for increasing your reading speed
		Making notes
		Note-making styles
		Pattern notes: an example
		Shortcuts in note-making
		Making notes with confidence
		Self-evaluation How useful are your notes?
		Review
	Chapter 11 Researching and managing information for study
		Managing information for academic study
		Defining your research task
		Making the most of the library
		Finding information: getting started
		Conducting effective online searches for study
		Narrowing or extending your online search
		Advanced online searches
		Using material of suitable quality and content
		Whittling down information
		Reading, recording and using information
		Tools for storing, retrieving and sharing information
		Understanding plagiarism
		Recognising plagiarism and copying
		Making citations and references
		Citing your sources: in-text citations
		Writing out your references
		Review
	Chapter 12 Critical thinking
		What characterises critical thinking?
		Develop a detective-like mind
		Critical questioning
		Critical thinking when reading
		Questioning numbers and statistics?
		Critical analytical thinking
		Critical thinking when writing
		Critical analytical writing vs. descriptive writing
		Identifying critical and descriptive writing
		Critical thinking when listening
		Review
	Chapter 13 Writing at university level
		How good am I at managing writing tasks?
		Getting started on a written assignment
		Developing your own writing process
		Don’t get overwhelmed: draw on your existing expertise
		Overcoming writer’s block
		Tricks for getting started
		Students’ solutions to writing blocks
		Common features of all academic writing
		A seven-step procedure for writing assignments
		Analyse the question
		Academic keywords used in titles
		Structuring your writing
		Organising information: planning your writing
		Planning in stages
		Concept pyramids organise ideas
		Concept pyramid example: Contrast birds and mammals
		Use pyramids to plan assignments
		Drafting and re-drafting your writing
		Writing strong paragraphs
		Planning your paragraphs
		Checking your paragraphs
		Linking ideas together
		Editing and proof-reading your drafts
		Presenting your writing in assignments
		Presenting work to meet course requirements
		Review
	Chapter 14 Developing your acadmic writing
		Stylistic conventions for academic writing
		Being precise
		Using facts, opinions or arguments
		Writing for different subjects
		‘Scientific’ approaches
		Polar oppositesin academic approaches
		Different writing styles
		Descriptive writing style
		Argumentative style
		Evaluative/comparative style
		Reflective Writing: Using personal experience
		Reflective writing
		What gets good grades for written assignments?
		Using feedback from tutors
		Evaluate written assignments for yourself
		Review
	Chapter 15 Writing essays
		What is an essay?
		Devising your own essay title
		Structuring your essay
		Planning your essay spatially
		Using concept pyramids to organise material
		Frameworks to structure thinking and writing
		Framework to plan ‘For or Against?’ style essays
		Framework to plan: ‘To what extent …?’ essays
		Frameworks for ‘compare and contrast’ essays
		Reflective essays
		Framework: Reflective essays
		What is an essay like?
		Critical comparison of two essays
		Review
	Chapter 16 Managing assignments: Research projects, reports, case studies and dissertations
		Understanding and defining the task
		Defining the task: what is a project?
		Dissertations and final year research projects
		Projects and dissertations: clarifying your process
		Projects and dissertations: managing the process
		Developing your research proposal
		Choosing a topic
		Specifying your title and thesis statement
		Formulating your hypothesis
		Conducting a literature review
		Research design and methods
		Designing questionnaires
		Checklist for evaluating your questionnaire
		Interview techniques
		Presenting and analysing the data
		Characteristics of reports
		Reports and dissertations: structure and content
		Writing the report: the opening sections
		Writing the report: the body of the report
		Writing the report: conclusions, recommendations and abstracts
		Writing the report: layout, presentation and style
		Project or dissertation report: checklist
		Case studies
		Writing up a case study
		Review
	Chapter 17 Devising your revision and exam strategy
		Planning and preparing your exams strategy
		Revising for exams
		Tactics to use in your exam prep strategy
		Revision pitfalls – and how to avoid them
		Revision and exam preparation
		Revision: seven-point action plan
		Countdown towards the exams
		Exam details
		In the exam
		Top tips for different kinds of exam
		Doing well in exams
		Exam day strategy: checklist
		Review
	Chapter 18 Memory
		Individual memory styles
		Check your memory style
		Memorisation techniques
		Help your brain to remember
		The triune brain
		Work with the memory process
		Use multiple encoding to reinforce memory
		Stages of the memory process
		Work with the memory process
		Memory thrives on organisation
		Pyramids, pattern notes and pictures
		‘Chunking’ information
		Review
Appendix: Further resources
Answers to activities
References and bibliography
Index
Notes