Study Skills for Higher Education: Essay and Report on Foundation Year

This document comprises two projects: an individual essay and an individual report focused on study skills for higher education. The essay delves into the reasons for pursuing a university degree, highlighting the benefits of higher education and the development of essential skills such as academic writing, communication, and analytical abilities. It also includes a study plan with short-term and long-term goals. The report explores the significance of the foundation year for students from diverse backgrounds, emphasizing the challenges faced by learners and the role of study skills in overcoming them. The report discusses how the foundation year equips students with essential skills and knowledge, aiding their transition to degree programs and facilitating career aspirations. The essay and report provide comprehensive insights into academic preparation, skill development, and the importance of a solid foundation for success in higher education.

STUDY SKILLS FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION

Table of Contents
PROJECT 1: INDIVIDUAL ESSAY..............................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Reasons for studying a degree at University..........................................................................1
Core skills that can be developed along with their importance..............................................2
Study plan inclusive of short and long term goals.................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4
PROJECT 2: INDIVIDUAL REPORT...........................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5

PROJECT 1: INDIVIDUAL ESSAY
INTRODUCTION
In the present time, gaining admission in university renders personnel the opportunity to
enhance their existing level of knowledge by pursuing a course of their desired field of work.
The knowledgebase gained as a result of availing degree from the college aids a person to get a
job of own preference and choice. Further, people are rational beings who join college for their
own specific motive in life (Lai, Shum and Tian, 2016). The present essay has been penned to
provide the ample number of reasons owing to which a student seeks admission into a
University. Furthermore, it lays out a list of essential academic skills that must be present within
students. Lastly, a study plan is developed to incorporate long term as well as short term goals.
MAIN BODY
Reasons for studying a degree at University
The education provided to individuals in University assists them to have an accomplished
professional life. Every individual has a diverse point of view about this and according to the
report given on the basis of several surveys, it can definitely be said that there are many things
which attract students to get a degree from college. Obtaining a desirable degree from a good
University helps a student to unlock the benefit of many job opportunities. One more important
reason given by a number of people for studying at University is the chance to mastery the skills
and knowledge they have, so that dealing with complex situations in future can be easy.
University teaches the way of behaving and living proudly in the society. Also, several private as
well as government jobs are available for those who have completed their course from University
(Geitz, Joosten-ten Brinke and Kirschner, 2016). Another important rationale for students to
pursue graduation degree is to take admission in post graduation courses easily. Post graduation
degree can lead them to a better career.
It has also been admitted that a huge amount of students go to University for vocational
training given by the tutors. Some also attend it to attain a basic education. Studying at
University gives you enough time to develop new interests, acquire new skills and meet new
people. It makes a student grow more and make them more self reliant and independent. It boosts
confidence of a person. It can give new ideas to the students which can be helpful for the future
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researches and inventions. It also teaches to execute a task in a proper and efficient way. It can
teach them discipline (Nilson, 2013). The skills, knowledge and experience gained at the
university can drive an individual to the path of success and help them in achieving new heights.
Core skills that can be developed along with their importance
The core skills that can be learnt at University are broad. Academic writing, analytical
skills, note-taking, communication, paraphrasing and learning styles are some of the crucial
skills that one needs to possess to get a degree from college. To become a successful
entrepreneur, a great leader or to achieve something in some other field, one must have these set
of skills. The time period when one is pursuing the degree at the academic institution is the best
time to learn these skills. Academic writing can be helpful in sending mail draft to the seniors of
the organization. This can make a positive image of a person in front of other professionals. The
oral skills are necessary to work in a company as it shows how efficient you’re in putting your
point of view positively and it is also important for the presentations and speeches (Murphy and
Johnson, 2016). Paraphrasing is also an important skill that University instils within an
individual. It can be very beneficial when it comes to avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism can
immediately create a negative image of a person, so one must have the skill to paraphrase to
avoid adverse consequences in academic context. Next skill that college teaches personnel is
note-taking as one cannot remember the whole information that they have been told orally, thus
with the help of this skill, they can make notes of the main points. Analytical skills aids in
examining the data or information given to a student and working upon that efficiently. One must
have the desire to learning as it assists individuals to explore new things which can be useful in
future course of time.
Study plan inclusive of short and long term goals
A study plan is significant and relevant to be designed by a student so as to stipulate the
time duration of activities that will be executed by individual in order to achieve the stipulated
long and short term academic goals. This helps an individual to enhance the existing level of
skill set as well as raise the academic productivity (Saltman, 2012). With the help of a study
plan, personnel studying within the University can get a hold over skills such as paraphrasing,
note taking, communication, academic writing, analytical skills etc. In this regard, the study plan
prepared by a student pursuing degree course within a respective University is presented as
follows:-
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TIME GOAL (LONG OR SHORT)
June 30, 2019
10:00 AM
“To attend English speaking and improvement classes for 45 days
and take down notes on a certain topic for 1 hour daily.”
June 30, 2019
3:00 PM
“To do paraphrasing of 2 articles of more than 300 words daily to
raise the level of this skill within a fortnight.”
July 3, 2019
11:00 AM
“To read one unit of coursework every day and do academic writing
over it to gain expertise over this skill.”
CONCLUSION
The before mentioned aspects of essay demonstrate that students pursuing a degree
course in University take admission in it for a variety of reasons such as availing desired job
opportunities, enhancing existing level of knowledge, getting private or government job, doing
post graduation degree etc. Apart from this, it is acknowledged that note taking, learning styles,
communication, academic writing and paraphrasing are some of the most crucial skills that must
be present within students.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Geitz, G., Joosten-ten Brinke, D., and Kirschner, P. A., 2016. Changing learning behaviour: Self-
efficacy and goal orientation in PBL groups in higher education. International Journal
of Educational Research. 75. 146-158.
Lai, C., Shum, M., and Tian, Y., 2016. Enhancing learners’ self-directed use of technology for
language learning: the effectiveness of an online training platform. Computer Assisted
Language Learning. 29(1). 40-60.
Murphy, S. E., and Johnson, S. K., 2016. Leadership and leader developmental self‐efficacy:
Their role in enhancing leader development efforts. New directions for student
leadership. 2016(149). 73-84.
Nilson, L., 2013. Creating self-regulated learners: Strategies to strengthen students? self-
awareness and learning skills. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Saltman, D., 2012. Student-directed learning comes of age. The Education Digest. 77(7). 4.
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PROJECT 2: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Education is regarded as one of the most essential factors that shape the life of an
individual and assists one in getting elevated in the desired field of work. Foundation course
provides opportunity to learners through which they can enhance their existing skill set and
knowledge base in order to pursue further studies. This gives a route-map to the career to an
individual and assists them in attaining personal as well as professional goals in long term. The
following report includes the importance of foundation year, key challenges faced by learners
and ways in which study skills aid in dealing with the same.
MAIN BODY
Importance of foundation year for students pertaining to different participation backgrounds
Post the end of schooling time, a learner often has confusions regarding the perception
that pursuing foundation year would help them in elevating their career growth or not.
Foundation year renders learners with a supporting atmosphere through which they can gain
huge base of knowledge and skills that can be utilised in latter course of life. Within the confines
of United Kingdom, foundation course is associated with provision of initial sessions to
individuals, who are intending to pursue a degree course in university. It is more concerned with
career aspirations of student rather than review of their existing skill set in order to equip them
with desired skills, competencies and knowledge. When school leavers join foundation course,
they have a number of aspirations for which they intend to pursue a degree course in university.
This revives the ambition, passion and aspiration they had in school for future course of time.
When an individual is ready to get entry into degree coursework, foundation year serves as a
route-map by way of which they can easily get familiar with the curriculum and other important
activities of university. By gaining knowledge about an array of courses of graduation, students
can easily decide which degree they want to pursue as this is the base upon which the future in
terms of career of an individual is dependent. The selected degree course relevant to fulfil the
career enhancement and development needs of an individual acts as a stepping stone for students
to gain entry into graduation studies post higher education.
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Foundation year provides assistance to learners so that they can choose the right
qualification with the help of which they can effectively take part in degree course. To facilitate
this, array of subjects are taught by faculty during foundation year. This consists of IT, social
study, business management, mathematics, science, sports therapy and so on. Introduction of
these courses is given to students in order to generate their interests for some specific subjects
whereby they can gain credible vocational skills as well as knowledge base via teachers who
have expertise in their field of work. Foundation year also acts as an ideal choice for those
individuals who are apprehensive and confused about the choice between carrying out a
professional course and attending college for degree course after schooling. Prior to stepping into
a degree course, students can avail adequate and relevant knowledge about the field of studies in
which they possess interest, with the help of foundation course. This provides assistance to
learners in gaining context of their particular degree course as well as gaining or enhancing the
desired skills, knowledge and abilities to carry out learning for the same. Thereafter successful
execution of foundation year, individuals can easily gain access into graduate course of their
interest.
At times, it is seen that some people are not able to get higher education at the right age
but after a particular span of years intend to pursue the same. Such individuals are usually found
to be under confident, nervous and embarrassed in front of other people. Foundation course acts
as the best guide for them to get proper and relevant knowledge about the course and also
become familiar with other learners of age lesser than theirs. By pursuing foundation course,
such people can take advantage of the opportunity to get social with youngsters in order to
pursue higher education in an easy manner and also learn from them a number of things by way
of observation and analysis. If personnel possessing lack of adequate and relevant qualifications
seek to gain access to a graduation course then Universities look upon their work experience as
well as passion for the specific field in order to give them admission into University for degree
course. If the work experience of such personnel is not relevant or significant, they are advised to
undergo the course of foundation year prior to initiation of graduation degree course. This
renders aid to such learners in enhancing their learning skills as well as abilities along with inter
personal skills as all of them when integrated together are found to be the core to pursue
graduation in an effective and timely manner. Within the confines of United Kingdom, there are
ample number of universities that offer graduation degree along with a one year foundation
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course. A few examples of such colleges are University of Southampton, University of Surrey,
Middlesex University London, University of Nottingham and Durham University and many
more. This provides learners within domestic territory and overseas with opportunities to
enhance their communication skills, especially of English Language, learning skills and abilities
etc. With the help of the before mentioned skills, learners can easily interact with other
individuals at the same educational level so as to gain more knowledge. Foundation year consists
of three-term courses such as introduction of academic subjects, development of study skills and
English language preparation. This aids overseas learners to increase the confidence level in
order to avail studies with other learners of United Kingdom, with the help of reduction of skill
gap as well as language gap.
Key challenges facing foundation year students
As foundation year is taken as a stepping stone for school leavers, overseas students and
more, to get involvement with future course of graduation, such learners also face a number of
challenges during completion of foundation course. It includes high fees taken by universities
due to consistent increase in staff teaching and student learning costs, bullying and harassment,
bereavement, course concerns, lack of confidence due to skill and language gap, homesickness,
personnel issues and more. After schools, when learners take foundation course especially, while
belonging to diverse set of nations, the feeling of sadness, anger, homesickness, loneliness and
more disrupts their mindset. This affects their study abilities and also their percentage of further
studies because having such type of skills may cause barriers to emerge for learners while getting
familiar with others of same age but more proficient in studies. Foundation students also may
face harassment and bullying when they lack academic qualifications or knowledge. Bullying or
abusive comments is taken as offensive behaviour that may violate the dignity of learners in an
aggressive or subtle manner. This tends to undermine the confidence of them. Similarly, course
concerns also taken as challenge for foundation year students in UK whereby students may feel
under pressure most of the times due to exam phobia. In addition to this, mature students or
working-class learners possess a range of transferable skills like time-management,
communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork abilities and more, which are gained from work-
life experiences, may also lead to emergence of issues. It is related with skill gap between mature
students and teenage learners that lead to create conflicts among them and may affect
relationship among them as well.
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Study skills in higher education aid foundation year students overcome some challenges
Study skills obtained from higher education such as analytical skills, confidence, knowledge
and critical thinking skills provides assistance to individuals in overcoming the above mentioned
challenges such as communication gap, lack of confidence and learning abilities, skill gap, and
diverse set of cultural and national backgrounds. To deal with some of the challengers, skills
gained from higher education such as inter personal communication, presentation helps in
overcoming harassment and bullying by reporting about the same to senior faculties of
university. Further, by making use of adoptability, learners can learn the language as well as
culture of new location. This would also provide learners with the opportunities to eliminate all
kinds of gaps prevailing within students. In relation to communication gap which is found to be
the most dominant challenges out of all, the only solution is to make use of communication skills
in order to carry out conversation with individuals learning at same level and get familiar with
their thinking and views. This would further allow students to get over the feeling of home-
sickness which is another significant challenge observed to be witnessed by learners carrying out
foundation course prior to graduation degree. By incurring most time and efforts to get engaged
with people who belong diverse set of cultural and national backgrounds, learners are able to
feasibly deal with the language and national barriers. Also it helps in instilling a feeling of
cohesion among individuals studying at same platform and developing a habit of collaborative
working. International students can develop healthy relationship with others and hang out with
them in order to get over their home culture and develop a comprehensive understanding of the
new culture. This provides assistance to them in facing the challenges emerged during the tenure
of foundation course and embracing the new environment wholeheartedly in order to carry out
effective learning by gaining an edge over majority of the barriers that try to act as hurdle for
learners while they learn about new things and their field of interest. Further, they can also
enhance their knowledge, skill set and competence with the help of this, thereby getting elevated
in their career.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above stipulated assignment, it can be said that foundation year offered
by almost every college of United Kingdom acts as an assistance for the students while choosing
the most appropriate subject as well as their field of interest. Also, it is observed that foundation
course provides opportunities to individuals so that they can get knowledge base about the
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graduation course which they are seeking to pursue. Further, it also renders aid to students
whereby they can get over most of the hurdles that they face during the course such as
harassment, bullying, home sickness, linguistic, cultural and national barriers, skills gap etc.
When learners are able to get over such barriers, a feeling of confidence and self belief gets
instilled in them thereby motivating them to effectively carry out learning during foundation year
after higher education.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cherng, H. Y. S., and Halpin, P. F. 2016. The importance of minority teachers: Student
perceptions of minority versus white teachers. Educational Researcher. 45(7). 407-420.
Palaiologou, I. (Ed.). 2016. The early years foundation stage: Theory and practice. Sage.
Daniel, W. W. and Cross, C. L. 2018. Biostatistics: a foundation for analysis in the health
sciences. Wiley.
Howard, T. C. and Navarro, O. 2016. Critical race theory 20 years later: Where do we go from
here?. Urban Education. 51(3). 253-273.
Zee, M. and Koomen, H. M. 2016. Teacher self-efficacy and its effects on classroom processes,
student academic adjustment, and teacher well-being: A synthesis of 40 years of
research. Review of Educational research. 86(4). 981-1015.
Day, C., Gu, Q. and Sammons, P. 2016. The impact of leadership on student outcomes: How
successful school leaders use transformational and instructional strategies to make a
difference. Educational Administration Quarterly. 52(2). 221-258.
Kaur, R., Razee, H. and Seale, H. 2017. Setting the right foundations: improving the approach
used to teach concepts of hand hygiene to medical students. Journal of Hospital
Infection. 95(4). 355-358.
Powers, K., and Schloss, P. J. (Eds.). 2017. Organization and administration in higher
education. Taylor & Francis.
Hayter, C. S., Lubynsky, R. and Maroulis, S. 2017. Who is the academic entrepreneur? The role
of graduate students in the development of university spinoffs. The Journal of
Technology Transfer. 42(6). 1237-1254.
Ng'ambi, D. and et. al. 2016. Technology enhanced teaching and learning in South African
higher education–A rearview of a 20-year journey. British Journal of Educational
Technology. 47(5). 843-858.
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