Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence: Note-taking, Reliable Sources, Referencing, Plagiarism, and Presentation Skills

This report discusses the importance of note-taking, reliable sources, referencing, plagiarism, and presentation skills for students. It explains the processes involved in effective note-taking, the difference between reliable and unreliable sources of information, referencing and paraphrasing techniques, and how to avoid plagiarism. It also evaluates the main factors related to presentation skills. BMM 3113 Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence.

BMM 3113 Academic
Skills and Studying with
Confidence

Table of Contents
Introduction:.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Discussion of note-taking and why its important for students:...................................................3
Explanation about the source of information and its importance:..............................................4
Explanation of referencing as well as paraphrasing style and its importance:............................5
Description of plagiarism and how to avoid it:...........................................................................5
Evaluation of presentation skills and the main factors related to it:...........................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Referencing .....................................................................................................................................7

Introduction:
Academic skills is defined as a skills that are required for doing effecting writing as well
as supports the students to adopt best strategies for performing projects in the most accurate
manner. The report will include the explanation of note-taking and why its important for students
to perform effective note-taking. The report will highlight about the difference between reliable
and non-reliable source of information. In addition to this, the report will be able to explain about
referencing and paraphrasing techniques and will discuss about importance for students. The
report will also involve the explanation about plagiarism and will discuss about measures to
avoid plagiarism. Furthermore, the report will also consider the main factors of presentation
skills.
MAIN BODY
Discussion of note-taking and why its important for students:
The process of note taking is considered as the systematic practice of writing down pieces
of information taught by teachers. In addition to this, the note-taking is also termed as the
process which includes reviewing as well as deeply understanding ideas from lectures in the
class or through reading a book (Ochoa, & Dominguez (2020). The effective note-taking strategy
involves the following key processes to follow by students are:
Taking notes: This stage includes creating the notes from the lectures in a way that meets with
the objectives of note-taking.

Notes processing: This stage includes evaluating necessary information by underlying the main
points of the information in notes.
Connecting thinking: This stage involves thinking beyond notes by connecting with new
approaches.
Applying learning: This stage includes applying the notes in preparing for exams or projects.
The following are the importance of note-taking:
 The note-taking strategy supports the students to stay alert in its studies by avoiding
feelings of distraction(Fatemi, & Saito(2020).
 The note-taking process also helps students to make best use of their mind by engaging
in careful listening.
 The learning through note-taking also assists students to put emphasis on correct
organisation of information which leads students to effectively link classroom learnings
with textbook readings.
Explanation about the source of information and its importance:
The source of information is classifies into two types such as reliable as well as
unreliable source of information:
Reliable information:
The reliable data is the one which shows clearly from where the information is sourced.
Along with it, the information is considered as reliable when it have verifiable as well as
evidential links. The reliable information is also free from use of offensive language as well as
does not evoke biased feelings. Moreover, the reliable source of information always represents
the name of the author in their source(Nga and et.al (2019).
Unreliable information:
In the unreliable source, the information doesn't reflect about the source of information as
well as evidence. In addition to this, the information sourced from unreliable sources often
contains biased feelings as well as offensive language. Moreover, the unreliable data doesn't
show the clear view points of authors and thus lacks professionalism.
Importance of information sourced form reliable resources:
 The reliable information support the students communicate effectively with teachers and
with other students as the information is trustworthy as well as unbiased.

 The information sourced from reliable sources helps students to avoid the risk of
plagiarism as the information is properly citated with correct source of evidence.
Examples:
Reliable source: The information which is sourced from scholarly articles as well as from
credible books(Kyle (2020).
Unreliable source: The information which is collected from social media websites such as
Facebook or You-tube.
Explanation of referencing as well as paraphrasing style and its importance:
Referencing: The referencing style is followed by students in order to consider the contribution
of writers as well as researchers while doing research projects. The referencing style helps
students to avoid chances of plagiarism as well as also assists readers to gain more insights about
the view points of readers.
Paraphrasing: The paraphrasing style is considered as the way which includes rewriting the
information in own words after fully understanding the source. The paraphrasing style helps the
students to gain a better understandings about their topic as well as also gives students
opportunity to improve thinking process(Kocatepe (2021).
The Harvard style referencing process:
The Harvard referencing style undertakes use of author-date system for doing in-text
citations. The in-text citations followed in this style mainly includes author's last name as well as
year of publications enclosed in the brackets. The reference list of Harvard style includes the
name of the author, name of research as well as year of publication in a systematic alphabetically
order.
Description of plagiarism and how to avoid it:
Plagiarism:
This unethical practice of academic writing industry refers to imitating someone ideas
and information without acknowledging their efforts or asking about their consent. The
following are the ways that can help students to avoid plagiarism are:
 In order to avoid plagiarism, the student must not copy as it is information from the
source. The students should describe clearly the information of authors with correct
referencing of source(Sangalang (2019).
 The technique of paraphrasing can save students in avoiding the risk of plagiarism.

 Th usage of plagiarism checker software can also avoid the risk of plagiarism in the
timely manner.
Evaluation of presentation skills and the main factors related to it:
The presentation skills are the skills centred towards in delivering proper as well as
immersive presentations to the teachers as well as to different audiences. The important factors
of presentation skills are:
Audience analysis:
The proper analysis of present audience before giving presentation supports the speaker
to deliver presentation in the most effective manner.
Personal appearance:
The way in which the speaker is dressed out as well as his manner of talking also impacts
the presentation of speaker.
Use of visuals:
The adoption of effective visual techniques while giving presentation helps speaker to
keep audience engaged in its presentation(Yuldasheva (2020).
Conclusion
It has been analysed that academic writing skills are crucial for students in order to
provide information with less chances of plagiarism. This report was able to explain about the
importance of note-taking strategy as well as also analysed about the reliable and unreliable
source of information. In addition to this, the report has included that referencing and
paraphrasing technique is critical for minimising the risk of plagiarism. Moreover, the report has
also highlighted about the plagiarism and the ways that can be taken to avoid plagiarism. The
report has also involved the factors for performing effective presentations.

Referencing
Books and journal
Fatemi, G., & Saito, E. (2020). Unintentional plagiarism and academic integrity: The challenges
and needs of postgraduate international students in Australia. Journal of Further and
Higher Education, 44(10), 1305-1319.
Kocatepe, M. (2021). Reconceptualising the notion of finding information: How undergraduate
students construct information as they read-to-write in an academic writing
class. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 54, 101042.
Kyle, K. (2020). The relationship between features of source text use and integrated writing
quality. Assessing Writing, 45, 100467.
Nga and et.al (2019). A 3-step teaching approach for a blended learning of ‘understanding and
avoiding unintentional plagiarism’. Nurse education in practice, 41, 102643.
Ochoa, X., & Dominguez, F. (2020). Controlled evaluation of a multimodal system to improve
oral presentation skills in a real learning setting. British Journal of Educational
Technology, 51(5), 1615-1630.
Sangalang, G. (2019). Efficiency of Note-Taking Skills of Students Using Mobile
Phones. Ascendens Asia Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Abstracts, 3(2D).
Yuldasheva, M. (2020). SOME IDEAS FOR DEVELOPING NOTE-TAKING SKILLS OF EFL
STUDENTS. Theoretical & Applied Science, (1), 601-603.