Chapter Two Developing your skills What is a skill? – A skill is to be able to perform a learned activity well and at will. – A skill is a learned ability rather than an outcome achieved through luck or chance.

What are study skills? 1.Self management skills for study 2.Academic skills 3.People skills for studying with others 4.Task management skills

1- Self management skills Self management skills is an essentials skills. In higher education it is needed to enable students to cope with the responsibilities of taking charge of their studies and to engage fully in the learning process.

2- Academic skills These are: A) Basic research skills: – Finding information – Reading – Using multiple sources – Making notes – Organizational skills – Using numerical data

B) Thinking skills: – Decision making – Memory skills – Critical thinking – Creative problem – understanding

C) Understanding academic conventions - Higher education - Your academic discipline - Foundation concepts - Knowledge - Evidence - Sound methodologies - Specialist terminology - Academic integrity - Ethical awareness

D) Written and other communications skills - Precision - Structure - Style and formal - Audience awareness - Citing and referencing - Subject discipline

3- People skills for studying with others Many academic tasks are undertaken in social context with other students. This calls for such skills as: – Taking an active part – Contributing constructively – Peer feedback – Making presentations – Collaborative team working and group work – Supporting others

4- Task management skills Task management in itself requires skills such as: – Producing set items – Managing a process – Meeting given requirements – Following the appropriate protocols – Using specialist equipment and resources – Project management

Developing skills: five study skills component These are: 1- Self awareness and self evaluation To develop a skill you need first to know: – Where are you starting from? – What are your current strengths and weaknesses? – What do you want to achieve? – What do you need to improve? – What are you going to improve? – What are your resources? – What could obstruct your goals?

2- Task awareness: knowing what is required In an academic context, this means finding out what is expected of you and what your lecturers are looking for??

3- Strategy, method and organization It is easier to study and saves your time if you have a method for working and you are well organized. A skilled students uses strategies and with practice these become automatic.

4- Confidence and sense of entitlement If you are to succeed as a student, you have to believe that such success is possible for you

5- Familiarity, practice and habit All skills improve through practice, feedback and monitoring. The way to study well and easily, becomes a habit. If you have been away from study or not used to managing so much scheduled time, you may find that you need to build good study habits. For example, some of AOU students join AOU after 5 or 10 years of finishing high schools, so they find it a bit hard to cope at the beginning of their university life.

Summary This chapter has introduced you to : What a skill is… What the study skills are… Five study components… See CB p. 50

Chapter four The C.R.E.A.M strategy for learning What do those letters stand for?  C: creative  R: Reflective  E: Effective  A: active  M: motivated Creative: Have the confidence to use your individual strategies and styles, applying imagination to your learning. Reflective: analyze and evaluate your own performance and draw lessons from it.

Effective: organize your space, time, priorities, state of mind and resources. Active: be personally involved and doing things, physically and mentally. Motivated: keep yourself on track using short- and long- term ‘goals’. Approaches that foster creativity:  You find what you are looking for.  There is more than one right answer.

Attitudes that prevent creativity Never say:  It’s a waste of time.  It’s childish.  I am not creative.

Reflective Learning As a student of higher education, you are responsible for your own progress. There are methods that help you develop yourself. One of them is writing things down. This will help you clarify your thoughts. For example: 1.Write down things you find difficult. 2.Write down things you find about yourself. 3.Write down ideas that arise from your studies.

Effective Learning Effective study depends on having your state of mind, space, time and materials organized in the ways that best suit your learning. Ineffective Learning: Ineffective study is the opposite of effective study. A student needs to avoid ineffective learning through the following points: 1.Never work when you are tired. 2.Never read without questioning what you read. 3.Never learn things off by heart without really understanding them. 4.Always ask for help when you need it.

Active Learning An active learning exists when a university student is involved in what he/she is learning. There are many characteristics of active learning. Here are some: 1.You look for ways of being more involved in what you are learning. 2.You look for links between different things that you discover. 3.You take charge of your learning and manage it like a project.

Inactive learning or passive learning. Passive learning is the opposite of active learning. Some characteristics of passive learning are: 1.You wait for directions and information to be fed to you. 2.You repeat information without understanding. 3.You may become bored and tired easily.

Motivated Learning Motivated learning is to keep yourself on track using short – and long – term goals. Motivation affects a student’s success. A student will need clear motivation to keep him/herself going even through tough times. How do you motivate yourself? 1.Keep setting yourself new goals and challenges. 2.Reward yourself if you achieve a short – term goal. 3.Always aim for more. Make your next set of goals a little more challenging.

Summary This chapter has encouraged you to consider and to develop attitudes and approaches that make learning more interesting for you. The C.R.E.A.M strategy encourages you to consider your own attitudes and motivation. Try to apply it in your new university life.

Chapter Six Core research skills: reading, note taking and managing information What is research? Research is finding out information. For academic study, there are different methods of researching a topic depending on the subject discipline, level of study, source materials and the assignment.

As you progress through your degree, you build your research skills, making more advanced searches, reading greater amounts and the most important is working with information to make it meaningful in the context of your course and assignments. – Remember you need to master the three important skills: – Skimming – Scanning – note taking

Managing information for academic study 1)Defining the task 2)Using material of suitable quality and content 3)Knowing where to look 4)Using the right tools 5)Using the most appropriate search methods 6)Applying effective reading and note making strategies 7)Storing for academic use 8)Sharing information for group assignments

Identifying and selecting relevant information Reading selectively: – Select the latest information – Select the most relevant information – Select by reliability – Select by amount Making notes: – There are many ways of making notes: – Jot down a few words – Use abbreviations – Use sticky notes

Read the following useful common abbreviations  E.g. = for example  i.e. = that is  Etc. = and the rest  NB = important notice  P = page  Info = information

Useful common symbols  And (+)  More than (>)  Smaller than (<)  Equal (=)

Plagiarism What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is the use of the work of others without acknowledgment of your source of information or inspiration.

How to avoid plagiarism Write all your notes in your own words. Note down exactly where you read the information you put in your notes. In your assignment, cite the sources of ideas and information. At the end of your work, write a full list of references.

Avoid accidental plagiarism Some students plagiarize without recognizing that they did that. To avoid plagiarism you need to: – Put your pen or keyboard out of reach. – Read a passage without taking notes. – Stop reading and cover up the page. – Sum up what you have read either by reading it aloud or record yourself.

References A reference is the source of your ideas and information. In academic writing, it is essential to acknowledge the source of your ideas and information. At the end of your assignment, provide a full list of your references.

Check out some ideas for referencing – Don’t number the items – Begin each source on a new line – List alphabetically by author’s name – Don’t include in your references materials that you have not used for your assignment

Summary This chapter has introduced you to: What a research is. How you collect information in an academic way. (note taking) What plagiarism is. What accidental plagiarism is. What a reference is. How to reference your assignment.

Chapter Ten: Working with others Collaborative study The challenge of collaborative working: In collaborative study tasks, you gain a chance to hone skills that are valuable to being part of a research team. These skills include: – Awareness and understanding of group dynamics – To know how others think and feel – To motivate each other.

Making a group work To start with you need to: – Create a supportive group atmosphere – Allocate tasks and group roles – Enable good discussion

Speaking and listening skills To be a good listener you need to always ask your self the following: – Do you take in what other people say? – Do you give other people room to speak? – Do you let other people finish before you start? – Do you use encouraging non- verbal signals? – Do you consider the speakers’ feelings?

Speaking in a group If you are anxious at the idea of speaking out in a group, the following notes may help: Before the group – Make a decision to speak at least once during the group meeting – Get to know other group members

During the group : – Sit next to someone you find reassuring – Write down what you want to say – Take your time when speaking – Make eye contact with at least one person in your group – Be brief – be clear – Speak up so everyone can hear you – Act confident even if you don’t feel it

Making a presentation or giving a talk Choose a subject that is focused on audience needs. Make a few main points (no details) Select a few concrete examples which are easy for the audience to visualize Structure the talk very clearly Repeat only the main points Prepare a strong closing summary

Using audiovisual aids (power point) if you are using audiovisual aids, the following steps will help you: – Use large text – Each slide should be 2 to 3 minutes – Avoid animation and sound effects – If you use video clips, keep these very short (2 -3 minutes)

Remember you need to: Practice your talk Time yourself Be confident Be in the room before everybody else

Summary This chapter has given you the opportunity to: – Develop your communication skills – Build your confidence in participating in discussions – Understand what makes groups work – Help you how to be an effective team member – Show you how presentations are done