Study Skills for Higher Education: Individual Essay (Review Articles)

Brief
Level:
Foundation Year 0 (Level
0)
Year 2 Level 4
Year 3 Level 5
Year 4 Level 6
Foundation Year
Module Title: Study Skills for Higher Education
Project title: Study Skills for Higher Education
Project number:
Weighting: Individual Essay (Review Articles) Reflective writing – 30%
Individual Essay – 70%
Date given out: December 2020
Submission date: Individual Essay (Review Articles) – 30%:
Individual Essay – 70
Method of submission:  Online only Online and paper
copy
Special instructions for
submission (if any):
Date for results and
feedback
(please note the final
1

grade is subject to the
main assessment Board)
Learning outcomes
assessed:
1. Set short term and long range goals and to design an appropriate
plan of study;
2. Identify techniques for building comprehension and retention;
1. 3.Acquire knowledge of learning strategies and techniques to
improve memory retention and understanding how people learn;
4. Use of library information and media services
The penalty to be applied to late course work, which will include course work where the
work is graded on a pass/fail basis and it is possible to give a numerical mark, will be 5 per
cent (of the eligible marks) per day, for up to seven days, after which a mark of 0 will be
recorded.
2

TASK DESCRIPTION – Project 1 (30%)
Assessment 1 - Individual essay (1000 words maximum)
Read the article below and do further research to answer the questions that follow:
Listening skills in an academic context
Students need good listening skills to interpret what people are saying in
various academic situations. For example, they need to be able to understand the content of a
lecture at the speed it is delivered. Presentations also require good listening skills, as do
seminars, where students are expected to understand and build on the contributions of others.
Other events include tutorials, discussions, meetings with tutors and supervisors, group
projects, and informal social interactions. In addition, students need good listening skills to
interact with administration staff in the local context. In short, students exchange, discuss and
apply critical thinking to a considerable amount of knowledge in oral/aural settings.
What are the challenges?
A lecture, for example, can present many linguistic challenges. These include speed of
delivery, accent, academic and specialist vocabulary. There is also grammatical complexity
such as false starts, long sentences, and complex noun phrases. An extract from a university
medical lecture on stroke contains the following examples:
 False starts and repetitions: an honour– honorary
 Unnecessary words: So if I’d like to just go, go...
 Long sequences with a number of items, including run-on sentences with multiple
clauses which pile up layers of information: Furthermore, it’s the third commonest
cause of death, with a third of strokes being fatal; one in six people in the world
will have a stroke in their lifetime, it’s unlikely to get through life without knowing
somebody, a first-degree relative or very close friend, who will not have a stroke.
 Technical terms which can be difficult to hear, understand, pronounce, and
spell: hemicraniectomy, thrombolysis
 Words with dependent prepositions which express specific relational meanings: the
impact on, of, of stroke on people
 Embedded references to items mentioned before/after in the text: as I’ve said
 Complex / convoluted structures such as noun phrases: the very exciting acute
treatment which has now emerged over the past ten years as I’ve said with
thrombolysis and hemicraniectomy
 Abbreviations and acronyms: AIDS, EU, TB
There are other challenges too, including culture, dealing with the content of the lecture, the
cognitive processing of numbers and statistics, working out detail from the main points, and
visual challenges such as the use of PowerPoint slides. Students also need to know why they
are listening, and be able to make a record of the content for future use.
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Chazal, E. (2014) ‘Prepare English Language students for academic listening’, British
Council, 24 February. Available at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/prepare-
english-language-students-academic-listening (Accessed 12 March 2021).
Questions:
1. Discuss three of the listening challenges mentioned in the article above.
2. Suggest three strategies teachers can use to help students improve their listening
skills.
3. Describe some listening challenges you have experienced and the strategies that
have helped you become a better listener.
MARKING CRITERIA – PROJECT 1
Marks will be awarded for answering the following questions and your ability to provide
a well-written essay with references. You are advised to support your discussion with
at least six sources published during the last ten years.
Assessment Criteria Applied - This assessment addresses the
following learning outcomes:
Marks available
Discuss three of the listening challenges mentioned in the article
above.
25
Suggest three strategies teachers can use to help students improve
their listening skills.
25
Describe some listening challenges you have experienced and the
strategies that have helped you become a better listener.
20
Essay style and academic writing 15
Referencing 15
Essay Structure:
Ensure that the essay has the following structure and contains the details outlined:
 Cover page: essay title, student ID, name of course and university
 Introduction
 Main body – consisting of well-written paragraphs
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