100 Activities for Teaching Study Skills

by Catherine Dawson

Overview

100 Activities for Teaching Study Skills is a sourcebook of activities for study skills tutors, teachers and support staff. This practical, user-friendly guide is designed to complement your existing study skills materials, and provide innovative and imaginative ways for you to motivate and engage your students. Activities include:

• Study preparation and time management
• Reading, writing and listening
• Independent study and group-work
• Dissertations, reports and projects
• Critical and creative thinking
• Revision, examinations and tests.

All activities contain clear guidance about the purpose, level and type of activity, along with a range of discussion notes that signpost key issues and research insights. Students are encouraged to reflect on and develop their study skills, while connecting them to subject content and the process of learning, so that they become more motivated, enhance their learning and increase their chances of success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526441317
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	11/28/2018
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	8.27(w) x 11.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr Catherine Dawson is a freelance researcher and writer, specializing in study skills, research methods and digital research methods. She writes books aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students, and at university educators. She also writes online courses in study skills, research methods and digital research methods.

Catherine studied at university in the United Kingdom for an undergraduate degree in Combined Humanities, a master’s degree in Social Research and a Ph D researching the learning choices of adults returning to education. She has worked as a research assistant, research associate and educator at various UK universities and as a research and training officer in both the public and private sectors. Over the years she has developed and taught research methods courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students and has designed and delivered bespoke research methods courses to employees in the private sector.

Table of Contents

SECTION 1: STUDY PREPARATION
Activity 1: Bringing learning to life
Activity 2: Becoming a reflective learner
Activity 3: Learning to learn
Activity 4: Recognising, analysing and critiquing learning styles
Activity 5: Developing metacognition
Activity 6: Improving concentration and memory
Activity 7: Recognising and overcoming imposter syndrome
Activity 8: Fostering collaborative learning and interaction
SECTION 2: ORGANISATION AND TIME MANAGEMENT
Activity 9: Making the right learning choices
Activity 10: Preparing a study plan
Activity 11: Managing time
Activity 12: Completing coursework and meeting deadlines
Activity 13: Organising study
Activity 14: Overcoming organisation problems
Activity 15: Maximising productivity
SECTION 3: READING
Activity 16: Developing academic reading
Activity 17: Establishing academic reading groups
Activity 18: Producing a personal reading strategy
Activity 19: Adopting different reading styles
Activity 20: Searching for literature
Activity 21: Organising and citing reading
Activity 22: Reading and critiquing research reports and papers
SECTION 4: WRITING
Activity 23: Improving spelling, punctuation and grammar
Activity 24: Developing academic writing skills
Activity 25: Establishing academic writing circles
Activity 26: Structuring essays and assignments
Activity 27: Editing and proofreading
Activity 28: Overcoming writer’s block
Activity 29: Getting the most from tutor feedback
SECTION 5: LISTENING, OBSERVING AND NOTE-TAKING
Activity 30: Becoming an active listener
Activity 31: Improving listening skills
Activity 32: Using audio devises
Activity 33: Improving observation skills
Activity 34: Getting the most out of lectures and seminars
Activity 35: Taking notes effectively
Activity 36: Editing and organising notes
SECTION 6: SCIENCE AND MATHS
Activity 37: Reading scientific material
Activity 38: Knowing about the scientific method
Activity 39: Maths for unconfident adults
Activity 40: Undertaking experiments
Activity 41: Producing scientific reports and papers
Activity 42: Interpreting and critiquing data
Activity 43: Using data visualisation tools
SECTION 7: INDEPENDENT STUDY
Activity 44: Planning independent study
Activity 45: Getting the most from the library
Activity 46: Conducting online research
Activity 47: Using primary and secondary sources
Activity 48: Evaluating sources
Activity 49: Organising, managing and storing information
Activity 50: Finding truth and fact in mass information
SECTION 8: GROUP-WORK
Activity 51: Establishing study groups
Activity 52: Getting the most out of group-work
Activity 53: Producing group assignments
Activity 54: Introducing online study groups
Activity 55: Using online tools for collaborative study
Activity 56: Surviving virtual group-work
SECTION 9: IT, ASSISTIVE LEARNING AND E-LEARNING
Activity 57: Gaining confidence with IT for academic study
Activity 58: Making the most of IT facilities and support
Activity 59: Using software for research
Activity 60: Getting the most out of online learning
Activity 61: Making the most of assistive technology
Activity 62: Introducing data mining
Activity 63: Finding and using datasets
Activity 64: Knowing about data protection
SECTION 10: DISSERTATIONS, REPORTS AND PROJECTS
Activity 65: Planning and managing personal projects
Activity 66: Using statistics, facts, arguments and opinions
Activity 67: Producing an effective argument
Activity 68: Citing, referencing and producing a bibliography
Activity 69: Producing successful written work
Activity 70: Making oral presentations
Activity 71: Producing a dissertation
SECTION 11: RESEARCH AND ENQUIRY
Activity 72: Producing a research proposal
Activity 73: Undertaking a literature review
Activity 74: Choosing research topics and methods
Activity 75: Improving interview techniques
Activity 76: Designing questionnaires
Activity 77: Running focus groups
Activity 78: Introducing data analysis techniques
SECTION 12: CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING
Activity 79: Developing thoughts and imagination
Activity 80: Reflecting, thinking and making connections
Activity 81: Learning how to question
Activity 82: Solving problems
Activity 83: Hypothesising and theorising
Activity 84: Reasoning inductively and deductively
Activity 85: Analysing and critiquing
Activity 86: Applying learning
SECTION 13: REVISION, EXAMINATIONS AND TESTS
Activity 87: Understanding the reasons for assessment
Activity 88: knowing about the different types of assessment
Activity 89: Revising effectively
Activity 90: Preparing for an exam
Activity 91: Taking an exam
Activity 92: Improving exam marks
Activity 93: Coping with stress
SECTION 14: ETHICS AND INTEGRITY
Activity 94: knowing about plagiarism
Activity 95: Recognising and avoiding academic malpractice
Activity 96: Recognising ethical issues and dilemmas when using the internet
Activity 97: Recognising subjectivity and objectivity
Activity 98: Detecting and avoiding bias
Activity 99: Collaborating and cooperating ethically
Activity 100: Undertaking ethical research

Editorial Reviews

Whether you are getting started or are an experienced learning developer and lecturer, Dawson’s comprehensive study skills resource book will inspire and engage. Supported by adaptable student handouts, the activities are clearly explained, structured and varied, incorporating self-study, one-to-one and group delivery, with scope to stand alone or be embedded and tailored to meet curriculum and student needs. This versatile book will encourage you as a tutor to reflect and reconsider study skills teaching through a range of different topics, contexts and progressively across different levels of study, helping you to scaffold and support the student journey in participatory, imaginative and interactive ways.

Dr Amanda Tinker