4. effective presentations

An effective presentation is where you have got your audience full attention, they are interested in what you have to say and you get your point across successfully. 

The three things to aim at in public speaking are: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience.

Previously I have had two experiences of presenting and I found them both equally terrifying. My most recent presentation was a 5 minute PowerPoint assignment on a topic of my choice. When I heard about this assignment I felt very anxious and scared because even though I am outgoing and I do love to talk, the idea of public speaking makes me extremely nervous. I find that my palms start to sweat, my knees start to wobble and my voice starts to shake but to avoid this feeling I would recommend trying to act confident, be calm and think to yourself in 5minutes it will be all over. Make sure your presentation is clear and your audience can understand what you are saying, make eye contact with the people and the most important element is to practice, practice and of course more practice because as the saying goes practice makes perfect! 

7. compiling a literature review

A literature review is a critical and in depth evaluation of previous research. Its purpose is to address a research question, theory or concept. To gather background information needed to understand the topic and to analysis the research found. 

I was intimidated by the two words alone but once I understood what a literature review involved doing it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

Compiling a literature review involves firstly selecting a review topic. It is important to pick a topic where there is a lot of literature available, for my class assignment my literature review topic was chosen for me which took away the pressure of choosing myself. After selecting the topic the next part is to indentify in a structured way the appropriate and related information needed, this part I found the easiest because it just involved gathering your information. The next part of the process is where you start analysing the literature this part was the most time consuming for me trying to select the right information. After gathering and analysing you begin with the writing of the review; you should show your ability to present findings in a clear and consistent way. In my literature review I tried to stick to the point and not waffle and I kept my sentences short.Your review should conclude with a summary of your findings, basically just tell the reader what the findings of the literature review are.

Finalise your review with a reference list of all your research methods used, I found this part the most difficult bit of the whole review because I couldn’t get my head around referencing properly but be careful because vital marks can be lost if they are done incorrectly. 

I have attached this website to show you how to reference:

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/assets/harvard_referencing_examples_tcm44-39847.pdf

1. effective note taking

Good note taking skills are the key to successful studying helping with assignments, reading comprehensions and exam preparations. 

Here are some tips I have found helpful for my note taking:

• I go to class prepared: I print of the relevant lecture so I have an idea what is going on when I get there. I have a big binder with sections for each module and inside I have all my relevant notes. This makes it really easy for me to find notes when I’m studying.
• Note taking that works for me: I find during lectures that I need to be writing because if I’m not writing I’m not paying attention. I write out bullet points of important things or if I’m not sure of a topic I will write that out and explain it in my own words. My highlighter is my life during note taking because I need to highlight important things to make them stand out to me and I use my red pen for subheadings and bullet points too. Bullet points and paragraphs work for me in class but when I go home I like to turn my notes into mind maps.
•  Reviewing my notes: after taking my notes in class I have to look at them in the next day or two because in a rush I often leave out things and leave big blanks.

Having good notes determines how well you do in exams :-)

10. effective revision/ exam techniques

The reason I found it hard to revise was because I was trying techniques that weren’t suitable to my learning type. When we first got to college this year one of our teachers made us do a quiz to determine what type of learners we all were. I think this quiz was really helpful and a great idea because once we knew what type of learner we were it allowed us to stick to strategies that worked for us all individually rather than spending hours revising with techniques unsuitable to our learning styles.  

My result told me that I am an oral and visual learner. I find that I learn from listening but I also need to see what I’m learning too. Diagrams and mind maps help me learn and revise.

When I’m studying for an exam I set out a timetable and try to stick to it. I determine which subjects need more time than others and I try to allocate a topic from each subject that I will revise in each time slot. 

I choose a really quiet area to study, if there are any distractions around I won’t get any work done at all.

Taking regular breaks helps because it’s hard to sit in the same spot and concentrate for hours on end without a break. Your brain needs a break too. 

For exam revision techniques I have attached this link to help you learn more :
http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/studyskills/exams/revision.asp

2. SQ3R reading strategy

SQ3R is a technique used to sharpen your study skills. It helps make reading and studying purposeful and effective. By using SQ3R you can get the maximum benefit for your time spent reading. Personally I have never used this strategy but I find that when I am reading and studying for an exam that I get distracted really easy and lose concentration so I feel this strategy might work for me because it sounds suitable to my learning type.

SQ3R stands for survey, question, read, recite and review and here’s how it works:

Survey: survey the chapter. Read the title, headings and subheadings. Browse for diagrams, pictures and any words underlined or in bold. Reading the introduction and ending also helps.

Question: involves jotting down what the chapter’s about. What? Why? How? When? And where? Turn statements, headings and titles into questions and see if you can answer them. 

Read: Read useful sections and understand points that are relevant. A good idea would be to read a section and keep asking previous questions as you go along. This way you will retain more in answering your own questions.

Recite: recite information out loud to yourself. Run through it in your mind several times. Repeat it over and over until it sticks.

Review: review your study notes regularly to help you keep hold of the information.