Study Skills :A Student Surviva lGuide

Kathryn L . Allen

Preface

xiForeword by Clare Isacke

xiiiIntroduction by Kathryn Allen

xvList of contributors

xvi i

SECTION ONE : PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

I

Chapter 1 Effective Organisation and Time Management

3by Professor Steve Webb and Professor Bob Ot tIntroduction

3

Organising your work

4

Maintaining a good lab book

4

Keeping your computer files in order

6

Handling reference papers

7

Why keep a diary?

8Organising your time

9

An overview of the planning phases

9

Daily planning

1 0

Planning experiments

1 1Project planning

1 2

Long-term planning

1 4

A general project plan

1 4

Stress and the work/life balance

1 6Checklist

1 7Finding out more

1 7

Chapter 2 Personal and Interpersonal Skills

1 9by Mr Neil WatfordIntroduction

1 9

Self-awareness

1 9Assertiveness

2 1

Using self-talk to develop assertiveness

2 2

Effective listening

2 3

Giving and receiving feedback

2 4Giving feedback

2 4Receiving feedback

2 5Relationships and team working

2 5Peers and colleagues

2 5Getting the most out of team meetings

2 6

Your relationship with your supervisor

2 7

Networking

29

Teaching small groups

30Teaching skills

30Group dynamics - how the group works

32Checklist

32

Finding out more

3 2

SECTION TWO : FINDING AND USING INFORMATION

35

Chapter 3 Information Retrieval

3 7by Barry JenkinsIntroduction

3 7

Information sources

3 7Primary and secondary sources

3 7Textbooks and e-books

3 8Journals and e -journals

3 9Open access journals

4 0Journal quality

4 1Copyright

4 1Unpublished ( ` grey') material

4 2

Bibliographic databases

4 3How to search bibliographic databases effectively

4 8

Current awareness services

4 9.The Internet

5 0The invisible web

5 1Discussion lists and newsgroups

5 1Evaluating information on the Internet

52

Managing your references

52

Bibliographic management software

52Checklist

5 3

Chapter 4 Critical Reading

5 5Dr Stan VenittIntroduction

5 5Peer-review

5 5What is critical reading?

5 6Why is critical reading important?

5 7The structure/organisation of a paper

5 8Variations on the organisation of a paper

5 9How to read critically

5 9Abstract

6 0Introduction

6 0Results

6 0Discussion

6 1Materials and methods/Experimental

61

Authors and acknowledgments

6 1Bibliography

6 2

Evaluating your own work

62

Reading techniques

6 3Checklist

64

Finding out more

64

SECTION THREE: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

6 5

Chapter 5 Oral and Poster Presentations

67

by Dr Maggie FlowerIntroduction

67

Giving a research seminar

67

Preparing your seminar

67

Know your audience

6 8

Content

6 8

Use of maths and equations

6 9

Length

6 9

Two common questions

7 0

Visual aids

7 0Practising your presentation

7 2

Presenting your seminar

7 4Controlling nerves

7 4Before and during your presentation

7 4Delivering your presentation

7 6Answering questions at the end of your presentation

7 7

Preparing a poster presentation

7 8Preparation

7 8Structure and design

7 8

Checklist

8 1

Finding out more

8 1

Chapter 6 Writing a Paper

83

by DrJeff Bamber

Introduction

8 3

What is a scientific paper?

8 3

Impact of the web

8 4

Getting started

8 5

Organisation

8 5

Know your audience

8 5

Background reading

8 5

Standard format of a paper

8 6

How long should a paper be?

8 6

Giving your paper a title

87

Listing the authors and their addresses

8 7Citing the literature

8 8Preparing the abstract

8 8Writing the introduction

8 9Aims and objectives

8 9Method of investigation and the main findings

90Writing the materials and methods/experimental section

90Presenting the results

9 1Use of tables and figures

9 1Use of statistics

92Writing the discussion

93Writing the conclusion

93What to do if the writing stalls

94Style and formatting conventions

94Using language

94Choosing a journal to publish your paper in

96The peer-review process

97

Scientific fraud

9 7

Dedicated organisations to tackle fraud

9 8

Avoiding `innocent ' fraud

9 8

Checklist

9 9Finding out more

9 9

Chapter 7 Writing and Defending Your Thesis

10 1by Dr Stan Venit tIntroduction

10 1What is a thesis?

10 1The purpose Of a thesis

10 2Have a plan

10 2Getting started

10 3Liaising with your supervisor

10 3Use of statistics

10 4Know your audience

104Background reading

104The structure of your thesis

105Length

105The order of writing

10 6Writing your thesis

10 6Statistics packages and image file formats

10 9Graphics Interchange Format ( .GIF)

10 9Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG, JPEG)

10 9Portable Network Graphics ( .PNG)

11 0Tag Image File Format (.TIFF, .TIF)

11 0Windows Bitmap ( .BMP)

110

Written style

110Formal language

11 1Spelling and grammar

11 1Active versus passive voice

11 1The oral examination

112Preparation

11 2What to expect

113The outcome

11 3Checklist

114A quick guide to writing annual progress reports

11 5Finding out more

11 6

Index

119