Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence: A Comprehensive Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of essential academic skills, including note-taking, referencing, and presentation skills. It delves into the importance of effective note-taking for memory and learning, highlighting the benefits of organized notes and increased concentration. The paper emphasizes the significance of using reliable sources of information and distinguishes between reliable and unreliable sources, providing examples of each. It also explores the crucial role of referencing and paraphrasing in academic writing, explaining how these techniques enhance understanding and avoid plagiarism. The essay outlines the steps for correct paraphrasing and defines plagiarism, offering practical strategies for students to avoid it. Finally, it discusses the importance of presentation skills in boosting confidence and improving communication. The conclusion summarizes the key takeaways, reinforcing the vital role of these skills in enhancing student learning and knowledge acquisition.

Academic Skills and Studying with
Confidence
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
What is note taking and how it is important in study?................................................................3
Importance of making use of sources of information..................................................................4
Importance of referencing and paraphrasing in study.................................................................4
Define plagiarism.........................................................................................................................5
Presentation skills........................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
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INTRODUCTION
Academic skills are made us of core skills such as: presentation, referencing, academic, note
taking and others that can make students able in becoming effective learner (Rabiner, Godwin
and Dodge,2016). This study is going to show reasons and ways of note taking. It will also
discuss importance of making use of reliable sources for gathering information and increasing
learning. Having ability to paraphrase and reference also makes students able in increasing
learning and sharpen memory for the long run. Lastly, it will discuss some steps by which people
or students can avoid plagiarism and can improve their image by making using of content in their
own words.
What is note taking and how it is important in study?
Note taking: Note taking refers practice of recording information from different sources and all
platforms from students gather information and increase knowledge.
Importance in study: Note taking is one of the best ways of increasing memory and learning
anything in an effective manner. It is the main skill that students require at academic level for
increasing their learning and getting higher scores. In regards to importance and usefulness it can
be said that it can help students in improving memory or memory recollection. Students keep all
things whatever they have written in notes for the long run (Rusdiansyah, 2019).
Purpose: There are 2 main purposes or reasons of note taking such as it increases concentration
level. When students write something then they only focus on writing and content whatever they
write. Other main purpose and reason is it helps students in making sense of text and
understanding them in their own language.
Benefits of taking good quality of note: One of the main benefits is good quality of notes keeps
students alert and avoids feelings of drowsiness. Good quality of notes helps students in
engaging their mind, sharpen their mind. They can organize information as per their own and
easier manner.
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Importance of making use of sources of information
For increasing knowledge and learning, students require having some reliable and appropriate
sources. Sources refer modes and platforms from where, students can gather information and it is
also important for them to make use of appropriate resources.
Reliable and unreliable sources: There are some sources that can be considered as reliable
sources because they have been reviewed and written by experts in their field. Whereas, some
sources can be considered unreliable because on some platforms and those sources, information
are being published hypothetically such as Wikipedia. In these sources, authors do not have
much and depth knowledge about the field. Some examples of reliable sources are: Google news,
The new York time, Newsela and others (Maxwell and et.al., 2017). It is important for students
to select some relevant and reliable sources like books and journals and others. It can help
students out in increasing learning and accomplishing goals. Unreliable sources can distract
students can make them confused. It can enhance the process of learning and can create a
network of educated people.
Importance of referencing and paraphrasing in study
There is requirement for students to use quotes that are referenced, paraphrases and indirect
quotes. One of the main reasons of paraphrasing and referencing is to help students in
understanding sources in a manner by which they can write it in their own words and can
improves their learning. Sometimes students find problems in understanding study materials that
have been published on reliable sources but with the help of paraphrasing they can make it in
their own words and they find easier in learning things (Stevens and Vaughn, 2020). So, it can be
said that paraphrasing plays a vital role in increasing learning. By referencing also, they can
make other person know that students have learned and paraphrased from reliable source.
Ways of paraphrasing correctly: There are some steps by which students can paraphrase their
study materials that they have gathered from sources in an effective manner such as:
 Reading passage several times for understanding meaning in detailed manner.
 Noting down highlighted and main points.
 After reading it several times, try to note down version of text without looking at the
original.
 Comparing written paragraph with the original for knowing the mistakes and accordingly
reading it again and again.
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Define plagiarism
What is plagiarism: It is an unethical practice that is being done by people of presenting
someone else’s work or ideas as people’s own without their consent and making any changes.
When students represent their work by copying of another work, ideas, thoughts and expressions
without their consent and without making appropriate changes. It affects image of person who
steal or pass off ideas of others (Jereb and et.al., 2018). So, it is important for students to avoid
plagiarism and make notes in their own words by paraphrasing.
Ways of avoiding: There are several ways and steps by which students can protect themselves
against poor image and lawsuit against plagiarism or can avoid it. One of the best ways of
avoiding plagiarism is paraphrasing and it is a skill that students should posses at academic level.
Crediting an original author in an in text citation. By making use of some plagiarism checker
apps before submission of project. By making quotes or making use of some idea from source,,
students can integrate them in their own words (Ahmad, 2019).
Presentation skills
After making notes and paraphrasing it is also important for students of having presentation skill.
This ability boosts their confidence when other people and teachers understand them. It can also
help them out in improving communication skill and getting ideas to people in an effective
manner. It also makes other people or listener aware that students or writers have great
knowledge about the topic (Tailab and Marsh, 2020). An ineffective presentation can affect
image and whole study materials also if it is being written in an effective manner. It helps in
connecting with people and creating innovative ideas and also increasing learning.
CONCLUSION
It has been summarized from the above study that note taking, presentation and paraphrasing
skills play a vital role in increasing learning and knowledge for students. It has discussed some
ways of paraphrasing as well as note taking. It has further, discussed importance of avoiding
plagiarism as it helps students in improving image.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ahmad, F., 2019. CUT AND COPY OK; BUT NO PASTE-DEALING WITH THE MENACE
OF PLAGIARISM. Journal Of Medical Sciences. 27(3). pp.159-160.
Jereb, E. and et.al., 2018. Factors influencing plagiarism in higher education: A comparison of
German and Slovene students. PloS one. 13(8). p.e0202252.
Maxwell, S. and et.al., 2017. The impact of school climate and school identification on academic
achievement: Multilevel modeling with student and teacher data. Frontiers in
psychology. 8. p.2069.
Rabiner, D.L., Godwin, J. and Dodge, K.A., 2016. Predicting academic achievement and
attainment: The contribution of early academic skills, attention difficulties, and social
competence. School Psychology Review. 45(2). pp.250-267.
Rusdiansyah, R., 2019. Note-Taking as a Technique in Teaching Reading
Comprehension. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning,
Linguistics and Literature. 7(2).
Stevens, E.A. and Vaughn, S., 2020. Using Paraphrasing and Text Structure Instruction to
Support Main Idea Generation. TEACHING Exceptional Children,
p.0040059920958738.
Tailab, M.M.K. and Marsh, N.Y., 2020. Use of Self-Assessment of Video Recording to Raise
Students’ Awareness of Development of Their Oral Presentation Skills. Higher
Education Studies. 10(1). pp.1-16.
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