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Third Edition

Stella Cottrell

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Acknowledgements v/7/

Introducing The Study Skills Handbook 1

How to use The Study Skills Handbook 2 Where to begin 3 Seven approaches to learning 4 What do I want from university? 6

1 Preparing for university 7

Applying to university 8 Am I ready for Higher Education? 9 What to expect in Higher Education 10 Independent study 12 Independent learning: taking control 13 Skills and personal development 14 The student's year 75 What is expected f rom you? 16 Anxieties and resources 17 Managing anxieties 18 What are my personal resources? 20 Eight things you can do before starting at

university 21 Joining up and induction 23 Review 24

2 Identifying your skills 25

Five study-skills components 26 Skills and qualities you have now 27 Current skills and qualities 29 Turning personal skills into academic skills 30 Study skills: priorities, stage 1 31 Study skills: priorities, stage 2 32 Study skills: action plan 33 Monitor ing skills development 34 Personal profiles 35 Transferable and soft employment skills 36 Turning academic skills into transferable and soft

employment skills 37 Recording achievement 38 Developing a portfol io 39 Review 40

3 Intelligence and learning 41

'Am I intelligent enough for university?' 42 Nine different views of intelligence 43 What is 'learning'? 48 Six conditions for learning 50 Optimal learning 53 Review 54

4 The CR-E-A-M strategy for learning -Creative, Reflective, Effective, Active, Motivated 55

Finding your creative streak 56 Be a professor - and other ideas 57 Creative learning 58 What is my learning style? 59 Reflective learning 61 How well am I doing? 62 Reflective learning journals 63 Virtue versus effectiveness 64 Effective learning 66 Settling down to study 67 When, how and where? 68 Organising space for study 69 Managing your t ime 70 Effective diary-keeping 71 Ten time-saving suggestions 73 Study t ime 74 Where does the t ime go? 75 Time circle 76 Time management 77 Priority organiser 78 Working backwards f rom deadlines 79 Combining work and study effectively 80 Effective management of work-based projects 81 Effective management of study-release time 82 Active learning 83 Emphasis on action! 84 Active learning strategies 85 Motivated learning 86 What do I aim to achieve at university? 87 Using desired outcomes to guide study strategy 88 Achieving desired outcomes 90 The C R E A M strategy 91 Review 92

5 Working with others 93

Studying wi th others 94 Ways of working wi th others 95 Talking and listening skills 96 Making your point 97 Making the group work 98 Being an effective group member 99 Dealing wi th difficult moments in the group 7 00 Prejudice, unfairness and discrimination 707 Dealing wi th unfair discrimination 7 02 Coping wi th unfair discrimination 103 How well do I contribute to seminars and

groups? 704 Study support networks 7 05

Contents

Sharing work wi thout cheating 7 06 Making a presentation or giving a talk 7 07 How effective am I in giving a talk? 7 09 Being aware of your audience 7 70 Review 7 7 0

6 Research skills 711

Identifying the task 7 72 Making the most of the library 7 7 3 Finding information in the library 714 Identifying and selecting relevant information 7 75 Am I a smart reader? 716 Improving reading comprehension 719 Improving reading speed 720 Strategies for speeding up your reading 727 Making notes 722 Note-making styles 723 Shortcuts in note-making 725 Making notes wi th confidence 726 Recording and using information 727 Plagiarism 728 Detecting plagiarism and copying 729 References 7 30 Giving references 73 7 Wri t ing out references 732 Getting the most out of lectures 7 33 Lecture notes: cover sheet 734 How helpful are your notes 735 Problem-solving 736 Practicals and laboratory work 7 37 Review 738

7 E-learning, technology and personalised learning 7 39

Using computers for effective study 740 Basic health and safety when using a

computer 74 7 What computer skills do I need? 742 Organisational skills for studying on the

computer 744 ICT and e-learning: key terminology 746 Making the most of the internet 747 Searching online 748 Conducting an online search 749 Narrowing or extending your online search 750 Advanced online searches 757 Academic resources online 752 What is e-learning? 753 E-learning: gett ing started 754 E-learning and personalised learning 755 Personalised e-learning: portals and VLE 756 E-learning: wikis, blogs, podcasts 757 Using e-communications for study 758 Personalising your own study 759 More about personalising your study 760 Managing an e-project 7 67 Managing e-communications for projects 762 Managing an e-project: planner 763 Review 7 66

8 Writing for university 7 67

How good am I at managing wri t ing tasks? 7 68 Writ ing for the fearful 7 69 Developing your wri t ing 7 70 Anxieties about wri t ing 7 70 Similarities between academic wr i t ing and other

activities 7 77 Overcoming writer's block 7 72 Tricks for gett ing started 7 73 Students' solutions to wri t ing blocks 7 74 Essays and other academic wri t ing 7 75 A seven-point procedure for wr i t ing

assignments 7 76 Analysing the tit le 7 78 Academic keywords used in titles 7 79 Devising your own essay tit le 780 Common features of all academic wri t ing 787 Structuring your wri t ing 7 82 Organising information: planning your

wr i t ing 783 Structuring an essay 784 Planning your wri t ing assignment 785 Planning stages 786 Concept pyramids organise ideas 787 Essay plans as pyramids 789 Writ ing drafts 7 97 Paragraphs 7 92 Checking your paragraphs 7 94 Linking ideas together 7 95 Editing your draft 7 96 Editing final drafts 7 97 Presenting your wri t ing 7 98 Lecturers'preferences 7 99 Review 200

9 Developing your writing 207

Stylistic conventions for academic wr i t ing 202 Being precise 204 Using facts, opinions or arguments 204 Writ ing for different subjects 205 Alternatives to the scientific model 207 Polar opposites in academic approaches 208 Different styles 209 Descriptive wri t ing 27 0 Argumentative/analytical wr i t ing 27 7 Framework for an argumentative essay 272 Evaluative/analytical wr i t ing 27 3 Framework for a 'compare and contrast' essay 275 Using personal experience 27 6 What gets good marks? 27 7 Using feedback f rom tutors 278 What is an essay like? 27 9 Review 224

10 Confidence with numbers 225

What do I need to know? 226 Build your confidence wi th numbers 227 Can you trust numbers? 229

Contents

Questioning numbers and statistics 230 Fractions 231 More about fractions 232 Using fractions 233 Understanding percentages 234 Calculating percentages f rom fractions 235 Rounding up and down 236 What are 'averages'? 237 Calculating averages: the mean ('equal

share') 238 Calculating averages: the median ('middle

number') 239 Calculating averages: the mode ('most

frequent') 240 Comparing means, medians and modes 240 Five-number summaries and quartiles 241 Using five-number summaries 242 Using tables, charts and graphs 243 Interpreting graphs 244 Interpreting tables 245 Interpreting charts 246 Technical terms 247 Review 248

11 Projects, dissertations, reports and case studies 251

12

Develop a detective-like mind 276 Critical thinking when reading 277 Critical analytical thinking 284

Critical thinking when wri t ing 285 Critical analytical wr i t ing vs. descriptive

wri t ing 286 Identifying critical and descriptive wr i t ing 287 Feedback on the activities 289 Review 292

13 Memory 293

Individual memory styles 294 Check your memory style 295 Improve your memory 296 Using the brain 297 The triune brain 298 Stages of the memory process 300 Suggestions for multiple encoding 302 Memory thrives on organisation 305 Pyramids, pattern notes and pictures 306 'Chunking' information 307 Review 308

14 Revision and exams 309

What does revision involve? 310 Effective revision 311 Revision strategies 313 Revision and exam preparation 314 Revision: seven-point action plan 315 Advance preparation for the exam 316 Exams 317 In the exam 318 Doing well in exams 319 Exam strategy 320 Dealing wi th stress 321 Managing stress 322 Review 324

15 Planning your next move 325

Study skills achievements 326 Evaluating achievement 332 Planning your future 333 Personal development already undertaken 334 Planning towards a career 335 Career readiness 336 Lifelong learning 339 Where next? Skills for success 340 Clarifying personal targets 343 Action plan for personal development planning

goals 344

What now? 345

References 346

Appendix 1 Quick multiplier 347

Appendix 2 Online research tools 348

Index 349

What is a project? 252 What is a dissertation? 253 Independent study: benefits, challenges,

risks 254 Managing projects and other independent

study 255 Choosing the tit le 256 Developing a research strategy 257 Designing questionnaires 259 Interview techniques 267 Presenting and analysing the data 262 Characteristics of reports 263 Structuring reports 264 Writ ing the report: opening sections 265 Writ ing the report: the body of the report 266 Writ ing the report: conclusions,

recommendations, abstracts 267 Reports: layout, presentation and style 268 Project and dissertation checklist 269 Dissertation action plan 270 Case studies 272 Writ ing a case study 273 Review 274

Critical analytical th ink ing 275

Contents