Study Skills For Higher Education - Challenges, Strategies and Actions

This report covers listening challenges, strategies which teachers can use to improve these challenges and some listening challenges which have been experienced and the strategies which will help in becoming a better person. It also identifies six skills that students require to be successful at university and discusses why they are also important in the workplace. Additionally, it provides recommendations to improve the content of your CV.

Study Skills For
Higher Education

Table of Contents
Assessment-1...................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Three listening challenges...........................................................................................................1
Three strategies which teachers can use to improve their listening skills...................................2
Listening challenges which have been experienced and actions taken for improving them.......2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4
Assessment-2..................................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................5
Identify six skills that students require to be successful at university and discuss why they are
also important in the workplace. ....................................................................................................5
Provide six recommendations that could help students improve the content of their CVs.............7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

Assessment-1
INTRODUCTION
Higher education is that phase in the students life where they take their remaining
education after leaving from school. The students have to chose that field in which they are
interested and want to carry their future in that only(Vierula and et. al., 2020). Students have
take admission in the Universities and develop many new skills and knowledge which is
important for them in achieving success. For getting any dream job which the individual also
wants will also require certain degree. When the students take the degree then they learn new
things and develop new relations. This report will cover listening challenges, strategies which
teachers can use to improve these challenges and some listening challenges which have been
experienced and the strategies which will help in becoming a better person.
MAIN BODY
Three listening challenges
There are many listening challenges which the students have to face during their lectures and
those challenges have been discussed below-
 False starts and repetitions- During the time of lecture, the most common difficulty
which the student faces is that of false start or wrongly started topic. This means that if
the teacher start their lectures in a wrong way then at that time students will take all the
information in a wrong way. At some point of time there are repetitions of words also
which makes it difficult for the students to grab the things which are spoken by a teacher.
 Technical terms- Technical terms are those words which are difficult to understand by
the students and which is the main reason why students gets confused. It has been seen
that sometimes teachers during their lecture spoke those words which are difficult to
understand by the students or which are new for them(Seli and Dembo, 2019). When
such things happens then the students have to face the problem of not able to understand
the topic in an easy way.
 Unnecessary words- There are some teachers who always speaks unnecessary words
which are least required and this is the reason why their lectures becomes boring and less
interesting. Teachers use some words which are not important and which at some point of
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time makes it confusing for the students. If the topic will not be understood by the
students then they will not be able to get good grades in their exam.
Three strategies which teachers can use to improve their listening skills
There are different strategies which teachers can use for removing this listening barrier which are
discussed below-
 Minimize distractions- The most important thing which teachers have to do is to make
sure that they work on minimizing the distractions. Students are unable to focus on the
things because in the class there are certain distractions which exists(Farrukh, Lee and
Shahzad, 2019). Listening challenge will be faced by students and teachers both if there
will be distractions and instead of focusing on the studies they will focus on other things.
If such things will be removed then students and teachers both will not face any
difficulty.
 Interruption- The most common problem which exists in the class and which requires to
be paid attention by the teachers and students both. Students while going with the lectures
makes any type of noise which makes some interruptions in the class and whatever topic
the teacher is going with stays in a disrupted way. So this is also the major barrier which
exist in the class and which needs to be removed by the teacher that students does not
make any such problem.
 Prioritize listening over speaking- It is very important in the classroom that the teacher
and student both are speaking before speaking any words(Moradimokhles and Hwang,
2020). There are some people who always speaks before listening to what the other
person wants to say and if that will not be clearly understood by the teacher then they
might provide wrong information to students.
Listening challenges which have been experienced and actions taken for improving them
While taking the classes in University there were many difficulties which I have faced and which
had made it difficult for me to understand the things properly and those problems have been
discussed below-
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 Problem of interpretation- The main problem which I faced in the classes was that of
making any interpretation of what the teacher have spoken. I found it really difficult to
make the interpretation of what the teacher have spoken(Dunn and Kennedy, 2019). This
is the issue which I am facing in which I am unable to make analysis of the things which
have been spoken by my teachers. Inability to concentrate- The other problem which I face is not able to develop my
concentration on what is being taught and this creates the problem of listening to things
properly. The main reason for this is that I take less interest in taking any class and if this
problem is reduced then this challenge will not create any problem to me(Pugsley, 2018).
Actions taken for improving listening-
After facing this issue I have taken certain measures which will help me in improving my
listening barrier and that includes to work on the distractions which I face while sitting in the
class. I get distracted easily so because of this problem I am not able to develop my
concentration and also the problem of not making right interpretation is the other thing. If I will
be able to raise questions in the class and will make full concentration on what the teacher is
saying then at that time I would be able to score good in the class.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is important to take the degree because
higher education helps the students in providing right direction and helps them in identifying that
in which field they have to make their career. Perspective of students gets changed and they learn
a lot more things including new ideas and knowledge.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dunn, T.J. and Kennedy, M., 2019. Technology Enhanced Learning in higher education;
motivations, engagement and academic achievement. Computers & Education. 137.
pp.104-113.
Farrukh, M., Lee, J.W.C. and Shahzad, I.A., 2019. Intrapreneurial behavior in higher education
institutes of Pakistan: The role of leadership styles and psychological
empowerment. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education.
Moradimokhles, H. and Hwang, G.J., 2020. The effect of online vs. blended learning in
developing English language skills by nursing student: an experimental
study. Interactive Learning Environments, pp.1-10.
Pugsley, L., 2018. The university challenge: Higher education markets and social stratification.
Routledge.
Seli, H. and Dembo, M.H., 2019. Motivation and learning strategies for college success: A focus
on self-regulated learning. Routledge.
Vierula, J. and et. al., 2020. The assessment of learning skills in nursing student selection: A
scoping review. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 45(4). pp.496-512.
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Assessment-2
INTRODUCTION
Quality of workforce of any nation is determined by the educated human resources
possessed by them. Education provide an individual an opportunity to develop and eventually the
emergence of a civilised society that make world a better place to live (Scott and et. al., 2019) .
Here we limit the study to skills developed by enrolling into higher education and how it help to
acquire a desire career, increased access to job opportunities and be prepared to be a specialised
in its future career. These skills comes from academic experiences and developed through
internships are called soft or transferable skills. Besides career benefits higher education also
helps an individuals personal growth and improved self respect , a path to be a professional,
more satisfaction in life, positive Return on investment, more networking opportunities,
increased wages leads to economic stability. In the upcoming paragraphs we will discuss a few
skills that a student can acquire while pursing higher education which may also help to be
successful at university along with its importance in workplace. At last, to be representative at
the time of applying for a job the first thing is an individual's CV and some methods are
suggested to improve its effectiveness.
MAIN BODY
Identify six skills that students require to be successful at university and discuss why they
are also important in the workplace.
There are numerous skills that helps to perform best in accordance to university curriculum so
that the eduction which is imparted to students will help them when they go beyond the
boundaries of educational institutions especially while doing a job. The six of which are
extremely critical are elaborated below:
Communication skills: Communication is a reaction to other individuals of universities
which include lecturers, professors and students in form of written or spoken form. To give
proper and precise reaction the ultimate listening skills are required which facilitate other modes
of communication like writing, reading and speaking. This skills help an individual not only to
interact and grasp knowledge in universities but also in work environment, it help to articulate
thoughts so that the information the individual want to convey with other individuals regrading
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the tasks of job, can be clear and effective (Malkawi, E., Alhadrami and Aljabri, 2019). Good
listener often efficient in building strong relationships as they understand others emotions which
help to solve conflicts in uncertain conditions. The employers also look for individuals who have
strong presentation and public specking skills which is nothing but the extension of
communication to deal in bulk.
Budgeting and money management: Money is a very important to manage in this
materialistic world where for any sort of activities from minor to major it requires bucks and
little overspending can put a person in miserable situation. In universities a student spend money
on tuition fees, travel, food, hobbies, clothes and many more so in order to keep a check on
money so the the student may not get out of money it is necessary to make a budget about its
spending and sources of earning or savings on daily, weekly or monthly basis (Telling , 2018) .
When a person acquire this skill at university it became its habit to have control over the
expenses which directly reflects in its working in an organisation not directly but he always
indulged in major or minor activities that help to save money and assets of company and such
employees are preferred by firms who are responsible and trustworthy.
Time management: It is a skill that a person can acquire with experience and cannot be
learned with bookish knowledge (Czerniawski, Guberman and MacPhail, 2017) . The time is a
critical factor that determine the success or decline of a person in society and once it is passed it
cannot be retained. When students pursue higher education there are lot of co-curriculum
activities or have a part time job and the skill to divide this workload in accordance with timeline
need effective time management skill. Even if you are not doing a part time job or activity but
still focus on mere study may also help to meet deadlines which also foster time management
skill in students. Employees also give preferences and value to employees who manage works
according to timeline provided and perform multiple task within as it help to growth of company
and its position high among competitors and consumers.
Critical thinking and problem solving: In day to day activities we are encountered with
decisions which are very complex and disturbing to made so here we realise the need of critical
thinking about the decision to be made to sort the problem arises out of these. While seeking
knowledge in universities we also come up with such circumstances like an essay question or a
mathematical problem which require critical analysis and more research which ultimately help to
polish the other skills and previous knowledge gained (Boyle, Ramsay and Struan, A., 2019) .
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The employers also want this ability in their employees so that when there is a situation when
operations fails to run smoothly such employees can take initiative so that the situation can be
overcame.
Team work skills: Team work help to divide the workload which result in smooth
functioning and each one get a chance to show his effort and also intermingling of ideas lead to
development of team and they eventually grow and mature in such set-ups. In universities
different tasks are allocated to students to improve this skill as it is base to humanity. The
employees efficient team workers as it helps to stabilize the political environment of company
and improve work environment, foster mutual respect and bring out the best of other.
Leadership skills: In order to give direction to individuals which are either inexperienced
or new the leadership skills helps to attain the predetermined goal set by organisation (Aricò and
Lancaster, 2018) . Universities fosters this skill in students so that in future the firms can get the
employees which can lead them to hit the top.
Thus, these skills when developed by individual while studying in universities can help to
get skilled workforce with the ability to convert threats into opportunities.
Provide six recommendations that could help students improve the content of their CVs
Its a technique to sell the skills and experience that a individual possess by showing the company
that this individual is best person for the job role (Hendriarto and et. al., 2021) . The
employers, first encounter is with a persons CV so to make first impression positive it is of
extreme necessity that it accurate, precise and self explanatory. Some recommendations are
given below to improve the content of CV.
Relevance to job profile :
 The very first thing is to add information which is in line with the job role and any excess
must be trimmed and for this the person must know what is enough in reference to job
tasks. This increase the interest of employer in the profile and in order to do so some
essential research about company, its operations and requirement well in advance helps to
be precise and accurate. It help to show the skills whether soft or hard in context to job role and also elaborate an
instance in which it help to sort things from previous roles and how skills possess by
person is relevant to current job profile and show enthusiasm in language used.
Representable and add related keywords:
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Here the outlook is checked so that it appear interesting so that the employer read it.
 This involve breaking up of paragraphs into bullet points , remove cliches and keep it
short and strong
 . Unnecessary visual or images may hinder the sight to written contents and keep the
necessary simple formatting like underline, bold italic or font style and size to look
impressive2021).
 Wide white spaces enables to reader to read where to focus and also it helps to employees
to bring focus on target information. Also effective keywords related to job profile which are new and technical instead of old
boring and simple one must be used in CV for boosting the relevance of content.
Include personal statement:
 In order to really improve the content of CV it is necessary to add a personal statement
that highlighting level of experience, personal and professional capabilities, excellence
skills (Fung, 2017) .
 It may also include instance of a skill when you use it in past job roles for benefit, your
commitment and medication for work, the way you maintain professional attitude and
approachable temperament.
 If a person itself is not able to collect about its own capabilities then help can be sought
from friends or family and it really works. Overall this section of CV give a lot of opportunities to improve upon content and chance
to be attractive.
Add something exciting and quantify them : If someone add simple academic data to
CV means that in all other factors like participation in youth programmes whether cultural or
political, extra curricular activities etc will let the same person lack behind.
 Such data give huge platform to improve content of CV as any gap between study and job
can be filled with volunteering, paid promotions or travelling etc (Heng, 2018).
 Diploma and certificates from distance learning can also be elaborated if any one of these
are in accordance to job profile as at present many supporting courses are available that
helps to boost the speed of performance in workplaces(England, 2020). Supporting your information with data and figures will help to make an outstanding
impression on the reader.
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Easy catch for contact information: Most often the content and the section which include this
content if often neglected but it should be given enough preference.
 For instance, when the employers is going through the CV at one point his extinct say
that the CV has the potential to serve the firm and it require some additional information
to further check or may want to interview on call but in CV the contact information is
not much effective and the next second he feel the previous employees is better which
may cease the chances of getting an opportunity to get job. So to avoid such instances the contact information must be given preferences and
planned in such a way that it is visible and accurate in CV.
Take a break:
 This is aimed to check the efficiency of content of CV rather than improving it and is
performed when a lot of formatting, editing of words paragraphs and changes are made to
CV and it is not productive to check its preciseness at that moment (Succi and Canovi,
2020). Instead of editing it further a break will give a sense of relive and checking it after
a few hours or on next day with a fresh start.
 This will help to retain accuracy,preciseness and inculcate new ideas to CV which
increase the chances of acceptance by the employer.
If above recommendations are considered while making a CV it will help to effectiveness and
preciseness of content of CV.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the skills which are polished during higher
education not only helps to gain in-depth knowledge of concept but also helps in their upcoming
professional life. The six main skills are elaborated that ensure good grades in universities and
critical factors in determining growth while working in actual environment. Effective
communication helps to create a peaceful and calm workplace whereas money management help
one to get a stability in economic context and is the significance of maturity. Good leadership
skills with effective time management tactics helps to problem solving through critical thinking.
So, we can say that yet these skills are developed independently but still in real working
sceneries they are linked to each other. From the recommendation given to improve content of
CV in order to make an impression on employers it can be said that to make CV presentable we
need to remove unnecessary information, clean up all the stuff that is visually not attractive.
Further the extra works other than academic are provided by quantifying them and at last give a
space to relax eyes and give a fresh look to get all bugs out of CV. Thus, higher education
prepare individual who can think in different dimensions and have the capability to mould their
skills as per needs for the benefit of organisation in which they are working.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Scott, F.J. And et. al., 2019. Empowering students by enhancing their employability skills.
Journal of Further and Higher Education.43(5).pp.692-707.
Malkawi, E., Alhadrami, S. and Aljabri, A., 2019. Building an Interactive Mobile Application to
Enhance Students' Problem Solving Skills in Higher Education Physics. In CSEDU (2)
(pp. 550-555).
Telling, K., 2018. Selling the liberal arts degree in England: Unique students, generic skills and
mass higher education. Sociology.52(6). pp.1290-1306.
Czerniawski, G., Guberman, A. and MacPhail, A., 2017. The professional developmental needs
of higher education-based teacher educators: an international comparative needs
analysis. European Journal of Teacher Education.40(1). pp.127-140.
Boyle, J., Ramsay, S. and Struan, A., 2019. The Academic Writing Skills Programme: A model
for technology-enhanced, blended delivery of an academic writing programme. Journal
of University Teaching and Learning Practice. 16(4). p.4..
Aricò, F.R. and Lancaster, S.J., 2018. Facilitating active learning and enhancing student self-
assessment skills. International Review of Economics Education. 29.pp.6-13.
Hendriarto, P. and et. al., 2021. Understanding the Implications of Research Skills Development
Framework for Indonesian Academic Outcomes Improvement. Jurnal Iqra': Kajian Ilmu
Pendidikan. 6(2). pp.51-60.
Fung, D., 2017. A connected curriculum for higher education (p. 182). Ucl Press.
England, L., 2020. Crafting professionals in UK higher education: Craft work logics and skills
for professional practice (Doctoral dissertation, King's College London).
Succi, C. and Canovi, M., 2020. Soft skills to enhance graduate employability: comparing
students and employers’ perceptions. Studies in Higher Education. 45(9). pp.1834-1847.
Heng, T.T., 2018. Different is not deficient: Contradicting stereotypes of Chinese international
students in US higher education. Studies in higher education.43(1) pp.22-36.
Ramberg, U., Edgren, G. and Wahlgren, M., 2021. Capturing progression of formal knowledge
and employability skills by monitoring case discussions in class. Teaching in Higher
Education.26(2).pp.246-264.
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