Study Skills

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Study Skills Essay Writing

• KIHMS ABG Diploma
• Shaun Theobald
• The Student Learning Advisory Service
• 17th October 2008

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The Student Learning Advisory Service

• SLAS Administrator/Receptionist VALUE
  Administrator Manager
• Alison Foley Joy Gould
  Allia Wilson
• 
  
• Angela Koch
  Shaun Theobald

?Student Learning Advisors?
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What we do

• Academic advice and guidance
• Practical advice on study skills
• Long-term learning development
• Typical topics we support
• Academic writing (essays assignments reports)
• Effective reading
• Note-taking retrieving information
• Managing the work-load
• Organisation time-management

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How to access academic advice and guidance

• Call in and see us9-5 Mon-Fri
• Ask for a 11 appointment
• Access our resources
• Books to borrow free leaflets to take away
• Contact us by e-mail learning_at_kent.ac.uk
• Consult our website
• http//www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning
• Down-load material explore links
• Come to our workshops
• http//www.kent.ac.uk/student/skills

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Aims of this workshop

• To reflect on the experience of returning to
  study
• To draw from your strengths as mature students
• To consider how this experience can be combined
  with successful study
• To outline ways of managing your learning and
  study effectively
• To outline some specific topics, tools and
  techniques in study skills
• E.g. essay writing time management effective
  reading

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Consolidate existing strengths

• Build on experience
• Time management
• Organisation
• Life experience
• Professionalism
• Decision-making
• Analytical thinking
• Handling information

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Independent study

• Clearly, there are many demands on your time
• study
• family commitments
• full-time/part-time work
• travel time
• Many decisions (Is this article worth reading?,
  When should I start that essay?) are guided
• But ultimately rest with you

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Time and task management

• Essential tips for academic time management -
• Draw up schedules
• Keep all your diary and schedule information
  together
• Remember the golden rules of time-management
  schedules priorities using gap-time
  effectively targets
• Plan your work SMART targets
• Revise and review your plans

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Using the Library

• Organise library use and research skills
• Use micro literature reviews
• Use the Academic Liaison Librarians
• Work collaboratively?
• Shared copies of journal articles
• Sharing short-loan resources
• Constructive/relevant mix of texts journals and
  electronic/multi-media material

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Managing reading

• Be selective
• Seek guidance
• Use reading lists
• Remember to read for different purposesskim
  scan read for detail
• Read actively
• Look for topic sentences evidence
• Work with paragraph structure

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Activity

• Extracts from-
• McLeod,J (1998) An Introduction to Counselling.
  2nd ed. Buckingham, Open University Press
• Klein,A Day,M (2006) Training in evaluation
  skills for drug treatment and drug prevention
  professionals in the Commonwealth Caribbean How
  do non-governmental and statutory services
  compare? Drugs education, prevention and policy
  , 13 (1) February, pp.33-43
• Where are the topic sentences? The evidence?
  (Supporting sentences? Evaluation of evidence?
  Links?)

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Academic writing

• Seek help where needed
• Clarifying initial concepts/processes
• Follow guide-lines
• Follow style sheets/reference requirements
• KIHMS Harvard
• http//www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/ai/styleguides.html
• Remember the importance of structure, clarity and
  focus on the question

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Academic writing

• Remember the fundamental rules of academic
  writing
• independent evaluation
• evaluation supported by informed reading and
  preparation
• evidence always provided
• citations references always provided

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Essay structure

• Introduction
• Explanation of the question
• Outline of your argument
• Scope/evidence
• Development/argument
• 5-point paragraphs
• (Signpost statements)
• Conclusion
• Summary of argument
• Overall judgement
• (Possible development?)

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The 5-point paragraph

• Topic sentence
• Supporting sentences
• Evidence
• Evaluation/discussion of evidence
• Link/transition gt
• (MnemonicSTEEL)
• Use for
• Planning
• Writing to the word-limit
• Editing

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The essay-writing process

• 1.Deconstruct/interpret the title
• Drives the whole process
• Key instructions/words/terms/concepts
• 2.Define research/reading
• Title-defined targets
• 3.Active reading
• 4.Planning
• 5.Early drafts
• GAP IN TIMEthen
• 6.Final editing process

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Activity

• Discuss this essay title, outline an effective
  strategy for answering the question-
• To what extent has drug-use become normalised
  among young people?
• Adapted from SSPSSR SO535 Youth and crime
  (Criminology, Level H)
• Examination, May 2005

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Dealing with lectures/seminars

• Be systematic
• If you have to miss a lecture/seminar (due to e.g
  unexpected family commitments) try and catch up
  with a friends notes etc.
• Stay alert and active
• Notes template?
• Explore different note-taking techniques
• Be organised file away lecture notes review
  notes immediately after a lecture

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GOOD LUCK

• for all your studies!
• The Student Learning Advisory Service