Get Ready
Welcome to the Study Skills programme. This programme is designed to help you acquire new skills and to develop those you already have, so that you are able to achieve your potential in your course of study.
The study skills programme will help you to study independently and to work towards achieving your potential in your course of study
There are eight modules to work through below and each has a series of activities for you to complete, as well as a variety of videos and podcasts. Whether you are working towards your GCSEs, A levels, a vocational qualification, or an apprenticeship, this programme will support you to develop a range of independent study skills.
You’ll get the most out of this programme if you are able to use a PC or a Mac to access the resources. Just download the ‘Welcome and Introduction’ resource below to get started.
Welcome to the first module of the programme. Here, we will introduce you to a number of key skills, essential to becoming an expert learner. Whether you are already confident with studying or you are just starting out, there will be something for you in this section. Watch, listen and take part throughout this module to get the best possible experience. Just download the ‘Becoming an Expert Learner’ resource below to get started.
When you’re studying, reading needs to be purposeful, as it is a key part of gaining knowledge as you work towards your qualifications. In this section, we’ll look at how you change your reading style for different purposes and what to do with what you read. We’ll also consider some key questions to ask about a text. Just download the ‘Reading Skills’ resource below to get started, and the accompanying ‘Mind-map’ template which you can use for one activity.
Welcome to the writing module. In this section, we’ll take you through the basics and then give you some ideas about how to move your writing to the next level. When it comes to writing, clarity is always the most important thing, and we will introduce you to a range of strategies to help you write clearly. We will cover everything from sentence structure, to spelling, punctuation and grammar, to planning, drafting and editing your work. Just download the ‘Writing Skills’ resource below to get started.
Welcome to the note-taking module. Taking effective notes is such an important skill, and in this module we will cover: a guide to active listening; the Cornell note-taking method and common abbreviations to use when taking notes. The module will end with an activity to bring all your note-taking skills together. Just download the ‘note-taking’ resource below to get started.
Welcome to the Research Skills module. In this module, we will introduce some sources of information which you might want to use for your research, including books, websites, journals, images and newspapers. We will then evaluate the pros and cons of these different sources. Throughout, we will give you some top tips on how to avoid plagiarism, how to write a bibliography and how to reference the sources you use. In the final task, you can have a go at carrying out a research task of your own.
Just download the ‘Research Skills’ resource below to get started, and the accompanying ‘Mr Hanson’s Descriptive Writing’ resource which you can use for one activity.
We use critical thinking skills every day. There are five things we do all the time that contribute to thinking critically: observation, inference, analysis, communication and problem solving. This module is about how to transfer these skills to your studies and how to become more aware of when you are using them. We will also consider how to identify bias and how to use some important skills in analysis and evaluation in order to become an expert critical thinker.
Just download the ‘Critical Thinking’ resource below to get started.
more modules coming soon!
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