1. 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

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

3. Lectures and Seminars How are lectures and seminars different?
What will you be expected to ‘do’?
How can you prepare?
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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

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

11. 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

12. Thank you