- UniSkills
- Time Management
- Note Taking
- Assignment Planning
- Finding Resources
- Academic Writing
- Dissertations
- Referencing
- Proofreading
- Presentations
- Online Submission
- Apps
- Digital Footprint
- Exam Preparation
- Workshops
- Student Advisors
- 1-2-1 Appointments
- Students at St James (Manchester)
UniSkills
UniSkills is a package of workshops, online resources and face to face support to help you develop a range of essential academic skills to enable you to produce high quality University assignments.
Whatever your subject or level of study, UniSkills has something to offer. Whether you’re just starting your very first assignment and want to learn about planning and structure, or are writing your final dissertation and need help with referencing, we can help you to boost your UniSkills! Use the tabs to find out more information about the resources, guides and workshops available.
Keep up-to-date with UniSkills by following Learning Services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on our blog.
Time Management
It is important to manage your time at University if you want to meet your academic deadlines and still have a life. The resources on this page have been designed to help improve your time management skills and make being organised that little bit easier.
Guides:
- Evaluating Your Use of Time: Begin by finding out how you currently use your time and identify gaps you could be using more productively.
- Planning Your Time: Discover the importance of having a plan. Use the Weekly Planner Template to plot your tasks and keep on top of what you need to complete and by when.
- Prioritising Your Time: Making a plan is only half the battle, you also need to know how to prioritise the tasks you need to complete. Use the Priority Graph Template to determine if all tasks need to be completed and by when.
- Getting Organised: Find out top tips that will save you time and help you feel more in control of your studies. Use the To Do List Template to plot out specific tasks to complete each week.
- Dealing with Distractions: Do you know what your distractions are? Find out if your distractions are aiding procrastination and how you can deal with them better.
- Using the Pomodoro Technique: Still struggling with managing your study time? Try the Pomodoro Technique, which promises to focus your studying to complete tasks in short, structured and timed study sessions.
- The Crux of Time Management – This is a comprehensive article on time management written by Felix Bast – Professor at the Central University of Punjab.
Online Courses:
- Learn time management skills and techniques with LinkedIn Learning
- BBC Study Skills – Find out how to make the most of your study time
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Note Taking
Making notes at University will help you to make sense of what you are learning and to remember it later. Note making is a skill that grows with practice and during your studies you will have the opportunity to develop this skill further. There are lots of useful apps available that can help you to take effective notes in lectures and seminars, such as Evernote and OneNote.
Online Toolkits:
- Launch our online interactive toolkit for Note Taking
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Assignment Planning
Planning should be a crucial part of your overall approach to academic writing. By planning your assignments thoroughly, you ensure that your work has a consistent, balanced structure and your arguments follow a logical flow with respect to the assignment question. The resources on this page will introduce you to useful techniques to help you with your plan and provide you with practical advice about essay structure.
Online Toolkits:
- Launch our online interactive toolkit for Planning Your Assignment
- Watch the Understanding your Learning Outcomes video
Guides:
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Finding Resources
The University library contains over 370,000 books and ebooks which can be found by searching the library catalogue. When you have chosen a book, make a note of the location and the shelfmark including any letters (e.g. 006.696 MEN). Use these details to find the book on the shelf. If all copies of the book you require are out on loan you can choose ‘reserve this item’. As soon as a copy is available you’ll receive an email to your University email account.
You can also access your reading list online. Your reading list will contain books, journals and digital resources that your tutors have recommended.
Staff and students also have access to a wide range of online electronic resources including e-books, e-journals, journal databases and subject-specific resources. You can access high quality academic materials online by searching Discover More or visiting the ‘My Library‘ tab in Learning Edge for specialist subject resources. Access to online resources is provided using your staff or student log-in.
Online Toolkit:
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Finding Academic Information
Guides:
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Academic Writing
Writing at university may seem different to other writing experiences you’ve had, however it is important to realise that it is a process which you develop over time (and not overnight!). Using the resources on these pages can help you to improve your understanding of what is meant by key terms (such as ‘academic writing’ and ‘critical analysis’) and assist you to develop and enhance your own style of writing, whatever your subject or level of study.
Online Toolkits:
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Critical Thinking
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Proofreading
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Reflective Writing
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Punctuation
Guides:
- What is academic writing?
- Critical Analysis Explained
- Essay Analysis – a self-help checklist
- Proofreading Tips
- Read our ‘Top Tips’ punctuation guides to help you avoid some of the common mistakes made using punctuation – don’t forget punctuation errors can cost you marks! Apostrophes // Capital Letters // Commas // Full Stops // Hyphens, Dashes and Brackets // Question Marks, Colons and Semi-Colons
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Dissertations
A dissertation differs from an essay at undergraduate level in that it will focus on a subject that you choose for yourself. However, while original thinking may be expected, it is unlikely that your dissertation will be based on a completely new topic. You are more likely to take an original perspective on an existing topic. Read through all module guidelines carefully and start thinking early about your choices for possible themes or topics. Importantly, the topic you choose should be something which you find interesting!
Here you will find a range of resources to help you with planning and writing your dissertation, however you should also discuss your ideas with your tutor who will be able to give you further advice.
Online Toolkit:
- Launch our online interactive toolkit for Dissertations.
Guides:
- Dissertations – Choosing a topic
- Dissertations – Introductions, conclusions and literature reviews
- Guide to using online survey tools
- Dissertations – A professional finish formatting and managing large documents in Word.
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Referencing
Referencing the sources of information you use is an essential part of academic writing and your research so it’s important to get it right. Referencing is the acknowledgment of all the sources that have been cited in your assignment, whether you have quoted them directly or paraphrased. Accurate referencing in your assignment helps to direct your readers to the information you have used and enables you to show that you have researched your topic thoroughly
Online Toolkit:
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Harvard Referencing
Guides:
- 2014 Harvard referencing guide
- Pre 2014 Harvard guide is still available if you need it
- Guide to using RefWorks (you could also take a look at the research web pages to find out more about RefWorks)
- Remember, there are some subjects which use other styles of referencing, please check with your tutor for more information
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Proofreading
When you’ve spent a long time writing your assignment we understand the last thing you want to do is spend even more time looking at it, but valuable marks can be retained through development of your proofreading skills.
We all make mistakes, and your brain can easily trick you into missing obvious errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar when you’ve become accustomed to your writing. Therefore, it is important to set aside time at the end of the writing and editing process to have a break…then come back to your work with fresh eyes to complete your proofreading.
Once you get in the swing of proofreading you will become familiar with the mistakes you make, and a good way to recognise and record these for your next assignment is to use a proofreading checklist.
Top Tools for Proofreading
Top Techniques for Proofreading
Guides:
Online Toolkits:
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Proofreading
- Launch our online interactive learning package for Punctuation
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Presentations
During your time at University, you may be expected to deliver a presentation which will form part of your course assessment. For many students, standing up and delivering a presentation to a group can be a challenging experience, but by giving yourself plenty of time for preparation and practice, you can learn how to deliver with confidence and make an impact with your chosen topic. Use the resources on this page to help you learn how to design and deliver a clear, informative and visually appealing presentation
Online Toolkits:
- Launch our online interactive toolkit for Powerful Presentations
Online Courses:
- Learn presentation skills with LinkedIn Learning
Guides:
- PowerPoint 2016 – Getting Started
- Open Learning guide from CIA Training
- Download practice files for CIA Training Guide
Workshops:
- Attend one of our workshops that run throughout the academic year
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
- Book a 1-2-1 appointment
Online Submission
We know that when a deadline is approaching, submitting your final piece of work can be stressful enough without unexpected hitches, so try not to leave your submission till the last minute. Remember to give yourself space to breathe by preparing in advance and following the hints and tips below. If done correctly, this will ensure that the final moments before you click ‘Submit’ will be as worry-free as possible
Online Toolkits:
- Launch our online interactive toolkit: the Turnitin toolkit
- Launch our online interactive toolkit: the Blackboard Assignment tool
Guides:
Help and Tips for Turnitin Submissions:
Before You Begin
Plenty of Time
Final Submission
Technical Difficulties
Online Support:
- Ask Us: If you have a more general issue around the online submission process and Learning Edge consult the Ask Us service and see if your question can be answered there. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, you can simply type in your question and we will discuss it with you in real time using our live chat facility.
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
Apps
The following are just some of the apps that we may be useful whilst studying.
Remember that apps are provided by 3rd parties and not associated with or supported by Edge Hill University. The following apps should used at your own discretion.
Go Conqr is a social learning platform. It allows you to create Mind Maps, Flashcards, Quizzes, Slides and Notes to help you learn more easily. The GoConqr app is fully integrated with your web account, so your learning resources are always at hand. Users can follow study and discussion groups as well as individual users, giving them access to further relevant learning resources.
2Do is a list and calendar based time-management app. It can be used to create multiple tasks, checklists and projects. The user can set reminders for tasks, which can be re-ordered, filtered or focused according to the user’s changing needs. Photos, files etc. can be attached to tasks. 2Do allows you to keep track of your upcoming tasks
Any.do is similar to 2Do – a list and calendar based time-management app which can be used to create multiple tasks, checklists and projects. Any.do offers more options in terms of file attachments and sorting. However it does not have some features present in 2Do (i.e. repeat and multiple alerts only available in the paid-for upgrade).
Trello is a project management tool allowing users to create workboards for projects and designate workflows. Tasks can be assigned to other users to facilitate group project work. Syncing allows all users to keep up-to-date on outstanding tasks and those completed by themselves or others.
Wunderlist is a list-based time-management app. It is simpler than 2Do & Any.do, which means it is easier to use but doesn’t offer some of the other apps’ features. Tasks can be added with attached notes and files. Reminders can be set and task-lists can be shared. Wunderlist features a “smart” feature where it reacts to trigger words such as “tomorrow” when scheduling reminders etc.
Evernote allows the creation of notes in multiple formats (checklists, sketches, photos, scans, audio, video, PDF’s & web clippings). Tasks can be synced across all devices and shared with other users. Documents can be annotated, and worked on by multiple users. Evernote allows all your notes to be kept in one place.
OneNote is similar to Evernote. Notes can be filed into notebooks and stored in multiple formats. Frequently used notes can be pinned for easy access. Note format and structure is very flexible, and as with Evernote tasks can be synced across devices and shared with others. A ‘convert to shape’ feature simplifies hand-drawn notes.
Instapaper allows the user to save and store web articles, which can later be read offline. Saved content can be adjusted for ease of reading, and sorted and filed to allow the user to keep track of their documents. The appearance of the article (font size, line spacing etc. can be adjusted for the readers convenience).
Pocket is similar to Instapaper. Saved articles can be tagged to allow for easy searching and Pocket recommends stories based on the user’s interests. Like Instapaper, Pocket has a text-to-speech function for users who prefer spoken word to text learning.
Digital Footprint
It is important to be aware of your presence online, and to create a positive image of yourself for future employers to see. Our online toolkit will help you to consider how to use a variety of digital tools effectively to achieve this, as well as looking at the importance of online etiquette and online security.
Online Toolkit:
- Launch our online interactive toolkit for Your Digital Footprint.
Face to Face Support:
- You can visit the Catalyst help desk (Ormskirk) or the help desks at Aintree and St James (Manchester)
Exam Preparation
Exams are an integral part of the university experience, and with the pressure of wanting to perform your best, you might notice healthy habits start to fall by the wayside. While caffeine-fuelled all-nighters are a last resort for some, they can often be counterproductive and wreak havoc with your sleeping pattern. As well as booking onto one of our Effective Exam Preparation workshops we propose the following to get your mind and body in tiptop shape for when it counts most…
You are what you eat
Get your ZZZ
Plan of action
Two’s company
Test the water
Work it out
Finally…
Guides:
Workshops
Our Uniskills workshops run throughout the academic year and cover a range of key academic skills including effective exam preparation, finding academic print and digital resources, academic writing, presentation skills and much more!
Workshops are open to students across all levels of study and you are welcome to attend as many as you like. The workshops are based in Catalyst and most run over the lunchtime period.
Check out the latest schedule and book your place online
Student Advisors
The role of a Student Advisor is to provide help, support and guidance to other students on a peer to peer basis. The team are all current second year, third year or Masters students and between them they bring a great variety of subject knowledge from their individual disciplines together with a wealth of experience from studying at Edge Hill, using all of that to support other students on their own University journey.
The support they provide revolves around getting the most out of your Library, locating and using physical and virtual resources for your studies. They can help you to develop a range of introductory academic skills and can introduce you to more specialised support where necessary. They can help with:
- Searching the Library Catalogue for books and eBooks
- Using Discover More to find online journal articles and other online resources
- Navigating Learning Edge/Blackboard and your subject specific ‘My Library’ Tab
- Harvard referencing
- Finding and accessing UniSkills academic support material
During term-time you can book a 15 minute appointment with a Student Advisor, between 11am and 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Keep up-to-date with our Student Advisors by following Learning Services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on our blog.
1-2-1 Appointments
We offer 1-2-1 appointments in Catalyst (Ormskirk campus) to help you develop your academic skills.
- Book a 30 minute appointment for support with Academic Writing/Referencing
- Book a 60 minute appointment for support with Information Skills (Search Skills and Finding Resources)
You can self-book 1 appointment per month. This limit allows us to distribute the support we offer fairly across the taught student population.
It may be helpful to bring along:
- an example of some work you have been set
- an outline of the assessment criteria
- a timetable of submission dates
- any work you have already written
- feedback you have received from your tutor
We can:
- provide advice and guidance in relation to planning, finding academic sources, writing and referencing at University
- signpost you to online guides and further resources to support you after the appointment
- signpost you to other support services across the University
We can’t:
- advise you on the content of your work as we are not subject specialists
- offer a proofreading service, re-write parts of your assignment for you, or offer a quick fix for an imminent deadline
If you can’t find a suitable date/time then please just get in touch.
Students at St James (Manchester)
We offer 1-2-1 appointments for students studying at St James (Manchester) to help you develop your academic skills.
- Book a 45 minute appointment for support with your academic skills (academic writing/information skills)
If you can’t find a suitable date or time please email your details to uniskills@edgehill.ac.uk and support can be provided over the telephone and/or via email.
You can self-book 1 appointment every 30 days.
It may be helpful to bring along:
- an example of some work you have been set
- an outline of the assessment criteria
- a timetable of submission dates
- any work you have already written
- feedback you have received from your tutor
We can:
- provide advice and guidance in relation to planning, finding academic sources, writing and referencing at University
- signpost you to online guides and further resources to support you after the appointment
- signpost you to other support services across the University
We can’t:
- advise you on the content of your work as we are not subject specialists
- offer a proofreading service, re-write parts of your assignment for you, or offer a quick fix for an imminent deadline