Table Of ContentStudy Skills for S
T
International Students U
D
Kathleen McMillan & Jonathan Weyers Y
S
K
Are you an international student studying in the UK for the first time?
Are you seeking support on the best way to approach your studies? I
L
Could your grades improve with a better understanding of the UK higher
L
education system? S
if so, Study Skills for International Students will help you succeed in all areas of F
university life, providing practical support and guidance to help you: O
R
I
• adapt to life in the uK N
• understand the standards of uK higher education T
• Find out what lecturers and academic supervisors expect E
R
• Develop new learning skills for a different learning culture
N
• Develop your critical thinking skills and improve your academic writing
A
• learn how to cite and reference sources correctly
T
• succeed in course assessments and exams I
O
N
Written in a simple, accessible style by authors with a wealth of experience in student A
support, this book will help you make the most of your ability and succeed in your studies,
L
featuring ‘cultural awareness’ tips, a glossary to help you understand the academic
language used in the uK and information to help you understand teaching and S R
T O
assessment methods and succeed in all assignments.
U F
Providing all the need-to-know information, this book will act as a quick-reference guide L
D
helping you navigate your way through social and academic life in the uK. A
E
N
N
Dr Kathleen McMillan and Dr Jonathan Weyers are senior lecturers within the O S
T
university of Dundee’s academic achievement teaching unit and academic affairs office I T
S T
respectively. they have each been teaching for over 30 years specialising in supporting N
A
home and overseas students in developing their academic skills across the arts, humanities,
N E
medicine, sciences and engineering. D
&M
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STUDY SKILLS
FOR
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
We work with leading authors to develop the strongest
educational materials in study skills, bringing cutting-edge
thinking and best learning practice to a global market.
Under a range of well-known imprints, including Prentice Hall,
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To find out more about the complete range of our
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STUDY SKILLS
FOR
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
Kathleen McMillan and
Jonathan Weyers
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
England
and Associated Companies throughout the world
Visit us on the World Wide Web at:
www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published 2011
© Pearson Education Limited 2011
The rights of Kathleen McMillan and Jonathan Weyers to be identified as authors
of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply
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Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites.
ISBN 978-0-273-73115-3
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McMillan, Kathleen.
Study skills for international students / Kathleen McMillan and Jonathan Weyers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-273-73115-3 (pbk.)
1. Study skills. 2. Students, Foreign – Great Britain. 3. College student orientation –
Great Britain. I. Weyers, Jonathan. II. Title.
LB2395.M4443 2011
378.1′70281—dc22
2010026567
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11
Typeset in 9/12pt ITC Interstate Light by 35
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Henry Ling Ltd. at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, Dorset
Contents
About the authors viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Using this book 1
Toolkit A: Adapting to a new educational experience 7
2 Understanding the UK educational system 9
3 Preparing for university in the United Kingdom 21
4 Adjusting to another culture 32
5 Starting out 43
6 Campus orientation 50
7 Getting organised 54
Toolkit B: Managing yourself in the UK 61
8 Graduate skills and attributes 63
9 Time management 70
10 Budgeting and banking 79
11 Social life at university 87
12 Maintaining a good work–life balance 93
Toolkit C: Developing your learning skills for the UK
context 103
13 Studying independently 105
14 Lectures 114
15 Listening skills 122
16 Note-taking in lectures 128
17 Co-operative learning 135
18 Participating in a team 141
19 Laboratory sessions and field visits 148
20 Tutorials 155
21 Thinking critically 161
22 The library as a resource 170
v
23 Analysing and evaluating information 178
24 Effective academic reading 186
25 Note-making from texts 199
26 Using technology for learning 211
Toolkit D: Improving your academic writing 221
27 English as an academic language 223
28 Tackling writing assignments 232
29 Academic writing format 241
30 Planning writing assignments 246
31 Citing and listing references 253
32 Plagiarism and copyright infringement 267
33 Reviewing, editing and proof-reading 275
34 Presentation of assignments 283
Toolkit E: Performing well in course assessments 295
35 Assessment at university 297
36 Multiple-choice and short-answer questions 304
37 Numerical questions 310
38 Essay-style assessments 315
39 Tutorial assessment 323
40 Assessments of practical and laboratory work 327
41 Choosing a dissertation or project topic 332
42 Planning a dissertation or project 343
43 Conducting research for a dissertation or project 351
44 Report writing 364
45 Literature surveys 372
46 Poster presentations 377
47 Spoken presentations 383
48 Exploiting feedback 392
Toolkit F: Succeeding in exams 397
49 Physical and mental preparation 399
50 Creating a revision timetable 408
51 Active learning 414
52 Memory tips and techniques 419
53 Focusing your revision 429
54 Study buddies 436
vi
55 Exam strategies 440
56 Combating exam nerves 447
57 Improving your exam performance 452
Appendix: student resources 458
References and further reading 462
Glossary of key terms 464
Index 484
vii
About the authors
Kathleen McMillanis Academic Skills Advisor and Senior Lecturer, University of
Dundee.
Jonathan Weyersis Director of Quality Assurance, University of Dundee.
This book represents a synthesis based on over 60 years of combined teaching
experience. Between us, we’ve taught at all levels – including middle school, upper
school, further education, undergraduate, postgraduate and within academic staff
development. We’ve supported students in a wide range of topics – from biology to
dentistry; architecture to orthopaedic surgery; history to social work, information
and communication technology to English as a foreign language.
We’ve taken a special interest in the needs of international students and have tutored
many individual students on a one-to-one basis and led classes for groups from many
countries. One of us (KMM) has carried out research on the academic needs of
students of different ethnic origins and has extensive experience organising and
delivering academic induction activities for both international and home-based
undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Over the years, we’ve presented hundreds of tutorials and lectures and run many
workshops and practicals using a range of techniques, including team-teaching
alongside colleagues and one-to-one tuition. Above all, we’ve spoken to countless
students, both individually and in focus groups, consulted with fellow academics about
core skills that underpin a wide range of disciplines, and have observed at close
quarters our own children going through the university system. We have read widely
and tested many ideas. This book is a distillation of all the best tips and techniques
we’ve come across or have developed ourselves.
viii
Preface
Welcome to Study Skills for International Students. We’re delighted that you’ve chosen
this book and we’d like to think it’s because it promises insight into the UK university
experience and gives you plenty of useful tips to help you settle into the rhythms of
university life and learning in a new country.
Whatever your age, experience and background, learning at a UK university marks
an exciting new phase in your life – a time of anticipation and of new challenges.
Very quickly you’ll be faced with sorting out your life as a student, attending your
first lectures or seminars, getting logged on to the university computer system,
email and e-learning tools. There will be a lot of information to gather, filter and make
into some sort of sense. Meantime you’ll be meeting new people of different ages and
outlooks who are in exactly the same position. It’s a stimulating but demanding time.
For many, there will be a need to become immersed in another language community
and understand the jargon of UK higher education. Learning at university in the UK
builds on one basic notion: that students, regardless of age or experience, are good at
organising themselves and so will quickly conform to the standards that the university
community expects. As professional academics we know that this is not achieved quite
as quickly as everyone – staff, students (and their families) – might wish, partly because
there is so much to learn how to do.
This book is about helping you as an international student gain and develop the skills,
attributes and knowledge that universities require. Of course, you will already have
some of these skills – from school, from college, from employment and even just from
life in general – but this book takes you further. In Toolkits A and B, we begin with
some tips and insights about what coming to university in the UK involves and then
take you through the very first days when you’re coming to terms with your new
environment and deciding how you’re going to organise your new life.
Then we move into the kinds of things that you’ll need to be able to do as your
course gets underway. This all comes into Toolkit C: ‘Developing your learning skills
for the UK context’ – useful tips on practical things such as listening and taking
notes in lectures, using the library, engaging with e-learning and thinking critically.
As your course gathers pace, you’ll find that you’re having to tackle all sorts of
writing assignments and in Toolkit D, ‘Improving your academic writing’, you’ll find
valuable suggestions to guide you from planning to submission, so that your writing
is well-developed and meets the expected academic requirements.
As you work your way through your first semester, you’ll find that you encounter
all sorts of different kinds of assessment – in lab practicals, in debates, in tests and
other written submissions. Toolkit E, ‘Performing well in course assessments’, gives
you some insights as to how these assessments work and how you can gain the best
marks possible. Finally, we come to Toolkit F, ‘Succeeding in exams’, which gives you
tried-and-tested tips from revision technique to coping with exam nerves.
ix
