1. Academic skills today… Analysing information Brainstorming Developing an outline © The Learning Centre 2007

2. Analysing information What is analysis? What steps do you go through to analyse something? For which types of tasks at uni will you need to analyse information? In what ways could your analysis be different for each task?

3. Analysing information With a partner, discuss the table and answer the following questions: –W–What kinds of analytical categories are presented? –W–Where did the categories come from? –W–What steps do you think the author went through to create this analytical text? –W–What is the purpose of this text? –H–How has this purpose affected the analysis? © The Learning Centre 2007

4. Analysing information Consider the essay questions with a partner: –W–What sort of essay is expected for each question? –W–Which information from the table would be relevant for each question? –W–What analytical categories could you use / create for each question? –H–How will the categories relate to the structure? © The Learning Centre 2007

5. Analysing information Read text a. and text b. What analytical framework is used in each text? How does the analytical framework in each text relate to the structure? © The Learning Centre 2007

6. Brainstorming What is brainstorming? What methods of brainstorming are you aware of? What’s the purpose of brainstorming? At what stage in preparing for a task could you brainstorm?

7. Developing an outline What is the purpose of an outline? What could be included in an outline? At what stage in the process of preparing a paper might you develop an outline? What is the relationship between the assignment question and your outline? What is the relationship between your analysis and your outline?

8. Essay task Consider your three sources and your assignment question for the essay task… –B–Begin by brainstorming, using any methods you prefer – Develop some appropriate analytical categories – Relate thes e categories to the structure for the type of essay expected – Develop an outline, showing the contents of each paragraph © The Learning Centre 2007