This is a report of a project undertaken by Dr Sarah Pittaway from Library Services. She explores:
- What is reasonable to expect of level 4 students in terms of study skills when they arrive at University? The project found that there are wide variations in expectations of the study skills of students before they come to University: ‘students lack basic academic writing skills’ vs ‘students are expected to have a basic understanding of academic writing’; ‘student lack research skills, including searching for material’ and ‘students are expected to be reasonably internet savvy and able to search’.
- What study skills are students expected to develop through level 4 and what are the most effective ways of developing this? Some courses focus on textbooks, others on Resource Lists, there is variation in introducing journal articles and making this explicit in marking matrices.
- What should we expect of students at level 5 in terms of referencing? Should they be more or less ‘perfect’?
- General agreement that at level 6, students should demonstrate ‘independence’ but some students struggle with this. How can independence be taught and facilitated?
Read the full report