Developing your study skills

Spend a bit of time taking stock while you're studying so you identify your strengths and what you find difficult. Being aware of what you’re good at and where you need to develop your skills can be the first step to boosting your confidence, enabling you to plan to improve your performance as a student.

All students are expected to develop study skills such as

• organisational skills (e.g. planning and scheduling how to complete an assignment)
• communication skills (e.g. reading and understanding different sources, and writing in a style that is appropriate to the task)
• numeracy skills (e.g. constructing graphs and applying statistical techniques).

Make sure you know which study skills are required for your course – they do vary between subject areas. So if you move from, say, sociology to science you’ll need to give yourself time to develop the particular skills required.

Understanding which skills are needed for a particular task is important in every course. If you find there is a specific skill that you need to develop – such as understanding graphs or making notes as you read – then make a decision to improve that skill and set aside the time to do so.

Learning outcomes

You’ll find that study skills are included in the learning outcomes for your course to help you focus on developing them. Your course learning outcomes outline the key intellectual, practical and professional skills you should gain on the course. These skills are usually categorised into four groups.

• Knowledge and understanding - gaining specific knowledge related to a particular subject (e.g. facts and concepts in scientific areas)
• Cognitive skills - thinking skills, such as problem solving and analysis
• Practical and professional skills - skills related to a vocational area (e.g. web design or lesson planning)
• Key skills - skills gained as a result of study, such as communication skills and time management.