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Slide Notes

The study tips contained in this presentation have been drawn from my 8 year experience of teaching and assessing over 1500 Management of Projects students here at The University of Manchester.

I am also indebted to Mike Courtney and Xiangping Du of the University of Hertfordshire, whose book "Study Skills for Chinese Students" I wholeheartedly recommend to all Management of Projects students.
It is available from Amazon via this link
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Skills-Chinese-Students-Sage/dp/1446294501
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MOP Top Ten Study Tips

Published on Sep 13, 2016

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

MOP Top Ten Study Tips

Dr Fiona Saunders
The study tips contained in this presentation have been drawn from my 8 year experience of teaching and assessing over 1500 Management of Projects students here at The University of Manchester.

I am also indebted to Mike Courtney and Xiangping Du of the University of Hertfordshire, whose book "Study Skills for Chinese Students" I wholeheartedly recommend to all Management of Projects students.
It is available from Amazon via this link
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Skills-Chinese-Students-Sage/dp/1446294501
Photo by D.H. Parks

1. Work on your academic english skills

  • Practise writing academic english
  • Practise listening to academic english
  • Work hard to understand the different english accents you may hear
  • Talk, talk and talk more (IN ENGLISH) to your tutors and fellow students
Photo by D.H. Parks

2. Understand the UK's education philosophy

  • Evidence is privileged above the opinion of a single scholar
  • Don't only rely on one "famous scholar" or even your MOP tutors - they may be wrong!
  • Arguments are built up from many different sources of information and perspectives - not by simply repeating the same point over and over again
Photo by D.H. Parks

3. Reading for Gist

  • The "gist" of a text is the general sense of it
  • Do not try to read and translate every word of a text as you will quickly fall behind
  • Instead try to understand roughly what the text means - the gist
  • Only dive into the detail of the text if its directly relevant
Photo by D.H. Parks

4. Improve your spoken English by:

  • taking all available English classes at the University Language Centre
  • making some British friends - or at least mix with students from different nationalities
  • listening to as much English language TV, radio, and video as possible
  • disciplining yourself to write down and learn new words
Photo by D.H. Parks

5. Assignment writing tips:

  • be precise
  • avoid slang or the shortened form of words (e.g. cos instead of because, didn't instead of did not)
  • write in the 3rd person using the passive voice
  • avoid cliches or emotive language
  • KISS - Keep it [sentences] Short and Simple
Photo by D.H. Parks

6. Understand the assignment task

  • Read the coursework brief carefully & do what it says
  • Understand the words used, e.g.
  • EXPLAIN -"make clear, give reasons for, interpret"
  • EXPLORE - "discover more about;look carefully for; investigate"
  • ILLUSTRATE - "show the meaning of something by giving related examples" (Courtney & Du, 2015)
Photo by D.H. Parks

7. Tips for effective paragraphs

  • All essays/reports should be structured into paragraphs
  • Remember PEEEL where
  • P=main point of paragraph
  • E=example
  • E=evidence
  • E=explanation and evaluation
  • L=link to next paragraph
Photo by D.H. Parks

8. Never cheat, collude or plagiarise

9. How to read academic articles better

  • Scan - to gain overview of a topic
  • Skim - gather maximum information in shortest time
  • Question the text - what, why, who, when, where
  • Read the most useful parts and make notes of main points
  • Review the text and your notes to fix it in your mind
Photo by D.H. Parks

10. Your tutor doesn't know everything!

  • Tutors can be wrong
  • Tutors will actively encourage discussion and critiquing of their subjects
  • Tutors want you to critically evaluate what you read or hear
  • "We are all postmodernists now - there is no complete objective truth or reality" Richard Rohr
Photo by D.H. Parks