Getting Started with UniSkills

Once you are enrolled as an Edge Hill student you will have access to thousands of resources including books, eBooks (an electronic book you can access and read online) and eJournals (an electronic journal article covering the latest research you can access and read online) via Discover More . You will also be given a reading list which will contain books, journals and digital resources that your tutors have highlighted as essential and/or recommended reading. You will find a copy of your reading list within your module handbook and can also access your reading list online when you start your course.

There are lots of guides, toolkits and videos available to help you access and make the most of these resources on our Finding Academic Information webpages. These pages are primarily used by our current students, who are already working within their subject discipline, so don’t worry if they don’t quite make sense to you right now.

Effective note taking is a good skill to develop at university as it will help you to make sense of what you are learning and help you to remember it later. However, it is important to remember that it is a skill that develops with practice. There are no set rules for how you make your notes, other than they need to work for you.

Try out some of the methods below:

• Lists can work well if you are someone who prefers a linear bulleted list of key points.
• You may want to consider a more structured notetaking approach, such as the Cornell method.
• A mind map can allow you to visualise your ideas, identify links and most importantly recognise the gaps in your knowledge.
• You can even try using a note taking app such as Evernote or OneNote.

Whichever method you choose make your notes actively, rather than highlighting text or copying information out word for word, so it sticks in your mind and you can check your own understanding. Think about the points being raised, what are they telling you? The more questions you ask, the more it will impact on the quality of the notes you make. If you would like to know more about note taking you can also visit our UniSkills Getting Organised webpages for more tips.

Writing at university will probably feel different to other writing experiences you have had however it is important to realise that writing at university is a skill you will develop over time. Your tutors understand this, and you are not expected to be a fully formed academic writer at the start of your course.

The information and resources available on our Academic Reading and Writing webpages will help you to develop and enhance your own style of writing, whatever your subject or level of study. Again, these pages are used by our current students, who have experience of writing at university, so do not worry if there appears a lot to think about when it comes to your academic writing. You can explore the different stages of the academic writing process in our Planning Your Assignment online toolkit.

At university you will become part of a learning community where you will develop, discuss and share new or long-standing ideas – this is what studying is all about. However, when sharing or presenting these ideas, it is important you acknowledge where they have come from through a practice called ‘referencing’.

Referencing is the acknowledgment of all the original sources of information that have been used in your work. Whether you have quoted academic sources directly or paraphrased (summarised in your own words) you will need to learn how to cite each source according to the referencing style used on your course. These sources can include books, journal articles and webpages. Referencing is a skill you will develop throughout your time at university, no one is expecting you to be a referencing pro just yet.

As well as accurately acknowledging where information comes from, referencing is also a way to demonstrate all the reading and research you’ve carried out on your topic, which in turn may boost your marks.

There are various referencing styles, and your tutor will let you know which one they want you to use and give you plenty of help. At Edge Hill, Harvard is the most commonly used referencing style, so if you would like to know more about this style (and referencing in general) why not work your way through our Harvard Referencing online toolkit or visit our referencing webpages?

We would love to reassure you that university is an easy breezy academic experience, but the truth is to develop your knowledge, skills and be able to face new challenges, there will be times when you encounter setbacks or disappointments. This is all an important part of learning – we grow through what we go through.

Nurturing your academic resilience can help you to face the challenges you encounter. From receiving a disappointing mark to feeling out of place in your seminars, recognising that you have the potential to succeed despite the adversity you face is paramount.

We have created an Academic Resilience online toolkit for you to work through at your own time and pace, to discover more about how you can improve and enhance your own academic resilience.

Once you are enrolled at Edge Hill University our experienced Academic Skills Advisers can help you to develop your academic skills. UniSkills support is available all year round and accessible both on and off campus:

• 1-2-1 appointments are available on a wide range of topics including academic reading, writing and referencing, developing an effective search strategy, finding high quality information and preparing your assignment for submission. Once you are enrolled, all our appointments are available to self-book online.
• UniSkills workshops are an opportunity to dive more deeply into a specific skill that will support you on your academic journey. They provide an informal and safe space where you will be supported alongside other students, from a variety of subjects and years, in a small group setting. There are no limits on how many workshops you attend and they too can all be booked online.
• Ask Us – we have lots of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) available to search within the online knowledge base Ask Us, and if you do have a question that no one has asked before you can click straight through to the Catalyst Helpdesk who will either provide you with an answer or refer you on to UniSkills for further support.
• UniSkills Webpages are aimed at our existing students, who are currently studying within their academic disciplines, but there is lots of information, including guides, videos and toolkits you can freely look through to further prepare your academic skills for studying at Edge Hill University.