How to takes notes and build your academic skills Study Skills Workshops 2016 How to takes notes and build your academic skills As coming in hand out the Listening Skills Audit for completing

By the end, you should understand… About lectures and seminars Before: how to prepare During: note-taking and active listening skills Afterwards: getting organised

Lectures and Seminars How are lectures and seminars different? What will you be expected to ‘do’? How can you prepare? http://www.howjsay.com/ Ask students in pairs or small groups to discuss their experiences so far of lectures and seminars. – How are they different? What are the advantages and disadvantages/ Feedback - Lectures and seminars as a ‘process’, not just a one-off moment that it is unrelated Differences from college: At university, academics, researchers AND students are involved in questioning current ideas and creating & discovering new knowledge – undergraduates are expected to question what they hear and read, to think critically about the evidence for particular theories or points of view, to develop their own ideas and arguments. What should you do before a lecture/seminar? Pre-reading, checking difficult vocabulary from lecture notes- demonstrate www.howjsay.com

Before: be prepared Where? When? Be on time! Check studentcentral for any updates or lecture notes available before session What is the topic? Do some basic reading What are the learning outcomes? Where will you sit? Turn of your mobile! Ask permission to record

During: note-taking strategies Cornell-method Mind-mapping Linear Others? Essentials: lecturer, subject, date, highlight key info, keep handouts together – could colour code ASK – develop own abbreviations Try out different techniques – adapt for different lectures Watch TED talk and divide students into 3 groups to test out different approaches to taking notes – feedback on methods http://www.ted.com/talks/greg_gage_how_to_control_someone_else_s_arm_with_your_brain

During: active listening What is it? Understanding Respect Interest Skills audit...how did you do? Listening is different to hearing - it suggests you are paying attention and trying to interpret messages. Being able to listen and absorb information is a core skill in a range of interpersonal and educational situations - it underpins a communication system which assumes that you are trying to understand messages from the person who is speaking. It also assumes that you have respect for the speaker and are interested in what they have to say. Making someone feel that they have a contribution to make and that their contribution is valued is very important in interpersonal relations. Hand out feedback on scores from Listening Audit. How can listening skills be improved? Feedback

After: getting organised Clarify points you didn't understand Rewrite, highlight or consolidate your notes Link the content of the lecture back to the learning outcomes Follow up references and action points Organise your files in folders – colour code? Refer to websites, text books, peers, lecturer if needed Use checkboxes to highlight follow up actions – can colour code using traffic light system

Be realistic! Be realistic about how much time any task will take Look at the time available – what could you do in 5 minutes? 30 minutes? 3 hours? When will you have a break? *could use mobile timer function for this! Allocate tasks to times according to required level of brain activity – eg. Can still make use of times when the brain is less alert for less concentrated tasks Avoid procrastination

Listing and prioritising Distinguish between important and urgent! Get into a routine if it helps you Schedule in time for ‘admin’ Plan around your energy levels Make sure you have a good place to study

Academic Study Kit http://student.brighton.ac.uk/ask Remind students of resources on ASK

Effective Reading and Research strategies 24th October Session title Week commencing Effective Reading and Research strategies 24th October Tips for planning your assignment and managing your time 31st October Structuring, referencing and writing assignments 7th November Critical thinking for assignments to get a better grade 14th November Next sessions

Thank you