Essential Academic Skills is a comprehensive guide to the academic skills required for successful completion of a tertiary degree. Using a step-by-step approach it introduces students to core academic skills such as reading, writing, group work and examinations. It includes examples from academic literature, as well as explanations on how to write up primary research. Activities throughout the chapters enhance each step of the learning process. Essential Academic Skills is an indispensable text for students facing university for the first time, or for those returning to tertiary study.

• Provides a comprehensive coverage of the essential skills students need for success at university – learning, listening,  searching for sources, using the literature, writing essays and reports, analyzing case studies, reflecting, working in groups, giving presentations, sitting for examinations, and undertaking basic primary research.
• Builds a sophisticated understanding of academic skills through a gradual approach.
• Includes descriptions of how to tackle a range of assessment tasks.
• Contains activities for each skill.
• Encourages students to engage deeply in learning.

Contents

1. Thinking about learning
2. Listening and participating
3. Reading for academic purposes
4. Basic academic writing skills
5. Further academic writing skills: Working on an assignment
6. Essays and reflective writing
7. Doing case studies and writing reports
8. Collaborative learning: Working in groups
9. Presentations
10. Examinations
11. Doing small-scale exploratory research projects
12. Writing up research

• Appendix A - Basic Guidelines for Writing Citations and References List Items (APA)

Kathy Turner - Lecturer, QIBT

Lyn Ireland - Tertiary Access Coordinator, James Cook University

Brenda Krenus - Director, Graduate program in English as an International Language, University of Melbourne

Leigh Pointon - Deputy Academic Director, QIBT