Part I: Successful Study 1. Starting Out: University Study and You What is University Learning All About? Learning: How Do You Go About it? Learning in Lectures Learning to Listen - Barriers to effective listening - Techniques for effective listening - Effective listening in lectures Taking Good Notes in Lectures - How many notes should you take? - Hints for better note taking in lectures - Editing your notes - Sharing notes - Recording lectures - Using lecture handouts Learning in Tutorials, Seminars, and Workshops - What is the difference between a tutorial and a seminar? - Getting the most out of tutorials and seminars - What is a workshop? - Joining facilitated study groups Classroom Etiquette Learning and Listening 2. Clocking In: Managing Your Time * Studying Outside Formal Classes - Planning your study time - Monitoring yourself - Drawing up a personal study timetable - Planning your semester - Chunking - Back-planning Juggling Competing Demands - Setting priorities - Co-curricular activities - Planning your week - Finding time for yourself - Give yourself a break - Long- vs short-distance studying - Watch out for procrastination Studying at Night - Studying productively at night 3. Reading Up: Strategic Reading * Approaches to Reading Practising Reading - Improving reading speed - Skimming texts - Reading for different purposes - Getting started on your reading - Reading to find information - Reading to remember - Taking notes to help you remember - Taking reading notes for tests and exams - Reading for assignments Making Notes for Essays and Other Assignments - Some practical suggestions for making and storing research notes 4. Thinking Through: Critical Thinking * What is Critical Thinking? - Putting information in context - Determining purpose - Look who''s talking - The implied audience - Identifying the thesis Considering the Evidence - Where does the evidence come from? - How reliable is the evidence? - How relevant is the evidence? - How current is the evidence? - Is there enough evidence to support the claim? - Are there biases in the selection (or omission) of evidence? - Conflicting and confirming evidence: watch out for your own biases! Looking at the Argument - Thinking about theory - Structuring the argument 5. Teaming Up: Working in Groups Why use Groups for Student and in the Workplace? What Does Group Work Offer Individuals? What Kinds of Tasks are Appropriate for Groups Rather than Individuals? What Makes a Group Effective? How Can You Make Your Group Effective? - Group development - Getting acquainted - Understanding the project - Allocating roles - Organizing your time Maintaining an Effective Group - Group roles Supportive Behaviour within the Group Problems With Working in Groups Collaborative Writing of a Group Project Making A Group Presentation 6. Facing Up: Coping with Tests and Exams Why Have Exams? Types of Exams Preparing For An Exam - Review throughout the term - Find out about the exam - Find a suitable study space - Keep to a study schedule - Get started and maintain a positive attitude - Concentrate on understanding, not memorizing - Vary your revision practices - Practise answering exam questions - Seek help if you need it - Maintain regular patterns - Watch what you eat! - Dress appropriately - Pack your bag - Get to the right exam in the right place at the right time Writing Exams: A Guide - Check that you have all pages, questions, and answer sheets - Read the instructions carefully before beginning - Work out a timetable - Read the questions carefully before beginning - Plan your answers - Begin with the answers you know best - Answer the questions asked - Attempt all required questions - Grab the marker''s attention - Emphasize important points - Support generalizations - Write legibly and comprehensively - Leave space for additions - Keep calm! - Proofread completed answers Specific Advice for Multiple-Choice Exams Specific Advice for Oral Exams Specific Advice for Open-Book Exams Specific Advice For Take-Home Exams Online Exams 7. Finding Out: Becoming Well Informed Why are Research Skills Important? Becoming Familiar with the Library Using the Library Catalogue Locating Material in the Library Building - The physical collection - Classification systems - Call numbers The Virtual Library: Using Electronic Collections - Databases - E-journals - E-books - E-reserve - Simultaneous or federated searching Finding Information for Your Assignment - Steps in a search strategy - Example of a search strategy Summing Up Part II: Successful Communication 8.

Writing Up: Essay Writing Why Write? How do you Write a Good Essay? What Are your Essay Markers Looking For? - Quality of argument - Quality of evidence - Use of supplementary material - Written expression and presentation - Sources/referencing The Matter of Scholarship 9. Arguing Through: Preparing and Presenting Written Argument How do we Define an Argument? - Inductive and deductive arguments What Makes a Strong Inductive Argument? What is Acceptable Reasoning and Evidence in Developing an Argument? - Deductive reasoning - Valid cause-and-effect reasoning - Argument by analogy - Argument based on empirical generalization - Valid research - The opinions of those who are acknowledged experts in their own fields What is Unacceptable Reasoning or Evidence? - Unsubstantiated generalizations - Isolated individual examples - False analogy - Irrelevant or insignificant statistics, examples, or other information - Hearsay - Unqualified opinion - Personal attack - Quoting out of context - Omission of inconvenient information - Arguing from ignorance - False dilemma A Word of Warning A Summary of the Requirements for a Strong Argumentative Essay Some Hints for Planning an Argumentative Essay 10. Stating Facts: Writing Research Reports and Laboratory Reports What are Report Readers Looking For? General Layout of a Report - Preliminary material - Introduction: Why did you do this study? - Materials and methods: How did you do this study? - Results: What did you find out? - Discussion and conclusion: What do the findings mean? - References - Appendices Written Expression and Presentation - Language of the report - Presentation Writing a Laboratory Report - Setting out a laboratory report 11. Making Sense: Writing Annotated Bibliographies, Summaries, and Reviews Preparing an Annotated Bibliography - What is the purpose of an annotated bibliography? - What is the reader of an annotated bibliography looking for? Writing Summaries or Précis - What is the reader of a summary or précis looking for? Writing a Review - What are your review markers looking for? - Description: What is the reviewed item about? - Analysis: Details of strengths and weaknesses - Evaluation: Contribution to the discipline - Written expression, references, and presentation of the review - Some examples of reviews 12. Writing Well: Language and Sentence Structure What is Good Writing? Achieving the Goals of Good Functional Writing Choosing the Right Word - Be concise - Be precise - Avoid slang or colloquial language - Avoid jargon - Beware of easily confused words Using Non-Discriminatory Language - Using language and descriptions that refer to both genders - Using language that avoids stereotyping and discrimination - Avoiding racist language Structuring Clear Sentences - Writing complete sentences - Keeping sentences short - The run-on sentence or the comma splice - Using active and passive verbs - Using parallel structure Finding Out About Correct Grammar 13. Dotting "I"s: Using Punctuation Correctly Why is Punctuation Important? Using Abbreviations and Other Shortened Forms of Words or Phrases - The correct form for abbreviations - Using acronyms Using Apostrophes Correctly - Using the possessive apostrophe - Using the apostrophe to show contractions Using Capital Letters Using Colons Using Semicolons Using Commas Using Ellipses Using Periods Using Numbers Using Quotation Marks - Placing punctutation when quoting Finding out More About Punctuation 14. Owning Up: Acknowledging Sources The APA System - In-text references - List of references The MLA System The CMS N-B System - Footnotes and endnotes - Bibliography The CMS A-D System Notes and Note Identifiers The Importance of Acknowledging Sources 15. Speaking Out: Public Speaking Why are Public Speaking Skills Important? Preparing to Give a Talk - Establishing the context and the goals - Organizing the material for presentation - Structuring your talk - Preparing your text and visual aids - Rehearsing - Final points of preparation Delivering Your Talk Coping With Questions 16.

Showing Off: Communicating with Figures and Tables Why Communicate Graphically? General Guidelines for Clear Graphic Communication - Good graphics are concise - Good graphics are comprehensible - Good graphics are independent - Good graphics are referenced Different Types of Graphs - Scattergrams - Line graphs - Bar charts - Histograms - Population pyramids or age-sex pyramids - Circle or pie charts - Logarithmic graphs Tables - Elements of a table References and Useful Resources Index Appendix: Weekly Study Grid * New chapters to the Canadian edition.