GET AHEAD UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2014 Welcome to Birkbeck Sara Steinke

Aims of the workshop Find out what you can expect in your first year at Birkbeck – and what is expected of you Explore how you might be feeling about studying/returning to education Think about the qualities that you bring to your studies Consider what is meant by academic skills – including a self-evaluation of your academic skills

Who we are BBK welcomes people trying to fit study into a busy life BBK understands the needs of adult learners No such thing as a typical BBK student BBK is here to support you Two sides to BBK as an Higher Education institution – teaching and research

Our approach to education George Birkbeck founding father – started college in 1824 Education changes lives – not always in ways that are predictable, but in many different kinds of ways BBK recognises that education is a social as well as intellectual process – essential to the ways in which we teach and think about the student experience

The first year – 3 terms Autumn Monday 29 September 2014 – Friday 12 December 2014 Spring Monday 5 January 2015 – Friday 20 March 2015 Summer Monday 20 April 2015 – Friday 3 July 2015

Support services Birkbeck Students Union (including Advice Centre and Counselling Service) Birkbeck Careers Service IT Services Disability and Dyslexia Support International Office Learning support and academic skills Library Services Nursery

Our expectations Keep contact details up to date Be an autonomous learner Attend lectures and seminars and be on time Stick to deadlines (especially for course work) Get organised Be prepared to work with other students Develop academic skills and thinking Be ready to accept new challenges

Contact details Ensure that your details are up to date on the My Birkbeck profile Check correspondence regularly

Autonomous learner Take on the responsibility to ask questions and to ask for help Take appropriate action if experiencing any difficulties (e.g. using College services, MyBirkbeck website) Only few hours are scheduled as directly taught sessions – be prepared to spend most of your time studying on your own without clear directio n

Attendance and time keeping Expectation is that you attend all sessions; some courses have a percentage attendance rate Erratic attendance and late coming detrimental to learning; expectation is that students are committed to the course

Dreaded deadlines Non-negotiable for handing-in of course work (unless you have mitigating circumstances) Allow sufficient time for your assignment; note deadlines down in calendar Seek help on producing academic work or if struggling with your IT skills

Being organised Absolutely crucial to succeeding as a student How much time can you dedicate to study? Draw up a realistic schedule Prioritise – identify what needs to be done Have a study timetable and use a diary Organise your study space – have system in place for organising study material

Working with others You are not alone Studying with peers helps you perform better Group work common in many subject areas, including group assignments

Academic thinking and skills Reading and researching theories and studies Understanding and expressing ideas in your own words Applying to theory to ‘real’ world problems or issues Analysing information Thinking critically Formulating your own thoughts (copying directly from others is called plagiarism) Presenting your final judgement These skills can be learned!

Accept new challenges “The student is perforce required to venture into new places, strange places, anxiety provoking places. This is a part of the point of higher education. If there was no anxiety, it is difficult to believe that we could be in the presence of a higher education.” (Barnett 2007: 147) “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lit.” (Plutarch c46-127AD)

Working with Moodle Some Birkbeck courses use a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Moodle Shows course material, reading/learning material, course work tasks and discussion groups Check regularly for news and announcements

Reflect on your feelings about studying YESNO 1 I am not sure that I will be able to find enough time for study 2 I am looking forward to the challenge of studying again 3 I have not written an essay for a long time and am anxious about putting pen to paper 4 I am looking forward to meeting new people 5 I am worried about not completing/deferring/taking a break from my studies 6 I enjoy discussing problems with other people

Turning personal qualities into academic skills PeopleActivitiesPersonal qualities - ability to get on with people from different backgrounds - managing change and transition - ability to recognise my own needs and ask for help - teamwork- setting priorities- ability to learn from mistakes - speaking clearly and to the point - organising work to meet deadlines - ability to set my own goals - ability to see and understand other people’s points of view - classifying and organising information - maintaining a high level of motivation

Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook C - Creative have the confidence to use your individual strategies and styles, apply imagination to your learning R - Reflective sit with your experience, analyse and evaluate your own performance and draw lessons from it E - Effective organise your space, time, priorities, state of mind and resources to the maximum benefit A - Active be personally involved, do things, physically and mentally in order to make sense of what you learn M - Motivated be aware of your desired outcomes using short and long-term 'goals'

Useful reading Stella Cottrell (2008) The Study Skills Handbook (third edition) – chapter 1 ‘Preparing for university’; chapter 2 ‘Identifying your skills’; chapter 3 ‘Intelligence and learning’; chapter 4 ‘The C.R.E.A.M. Strategy for learning’ Andrew Northedge (2007) The Good Study Guide – chapter 1 ‘Investing in yourself’; Chapter 2 ‘Taking control of your studies’

What are academic skills? Complex, interrelated, transferrable Crucial to being an efficient and successful learner Go hand in hand with academic content

Time management and organisation see workshop 14 August Do you:  have strategies to help you plan and organise your time?  know how much time you have available for your studies?  know what makes studying more effective for you (i.e. when and where you study best)?  keep a diary or calendar so you know when to attend lectures and when assignments are due?

Reading see workshop 28 August Can you:  select and use different reading strategies (e.g. skim, scan, in-depth)?  think about what you need to find out before you start reading (are you reading to verify facts, to understand a subject in general or to analyse a particular argument)?  critically evaluate reading?  deal with new vocabulary?

Note making see workshop 28 August Can you:  make effective notes when reading?  make effective notes when listening (e.g. during lectures)?  use more than one note making technique?  do you have a way of organising your notes?

Critical thinking see workshop 20 August Can you:  distinguish between fact and opinion?  draw conclusions based on evidence?  account for different points of view and detect bias?  see the wider picture?  do you know the difference between description, analysis and evaluation?

Writing see workshop 1 September Can you:  express your ideas clearly in written form?  make an outline of what you are going to write?  write in clear sentences and paragraphs?  link your ideas in a logical order?  use correct grammar?  develop your own argument?  identify your audience and write in an appropriate register?

Expressing yourself in public Can you:  use strategies to engage and influence your audience?  express agreement and disagreement while considering other points of view?  summarise a discussion?  structure an argument properly for presentations?  use PowerPoint to tell your story effectively?

Quoting and referencing Do you know:  when you need to quote directly?  when you need to reference?  what it means to plagiarise?  what the difference between in text references and footnotes/endnotes is?  how to construct a reference list?  what a style guide is?

Library and IT skills Can you:  use the library catalogue and online database efficiently and effectively?  undertake research, both primary and secondary?  produce documents (essays, dissertations, reports) using Word and Excel?  use Moodle (VLE)

Where to get help Books on different academic skills in Birkbeck Library: Academic Development Workshops on academic skills: Centre for Learning and Professional Development: Interactive tutorials on academic skills : Library induction tutorial: Library information: IT Services workshops and information: Learning Support Officers in every School

Recap of the workshop Do you have an idea of what you can expect in your first year at Birkbeck – and what is expected of you? Have you identified your feelings about – and the qualities that you bring to – your studies? Are you clear about what is meant by academic skills? What has the audit of your academic skills revealed about your academic skills?