Study and examination skills

1. The importance of transferable skills 3

2. Managing your time 7

3. Working with others 11

4. Taking notes from lectures and texts 15

5. Learning and revising 19

6. Curriculum options, assessment and exams 27

7. Preparing your curriculum vitae 36

This chapter outlines the range of transferable skills and theirsignificance to students of food science, nutrition and dietetics. It alsoindicates where practical skills fit into this scheme. Having a goodunderstanding of this topic will help you to place your work atuniversity in a wider context. You will also gain an insight into thequalities that employers expect you to have developed by the time yougraduate. Awareness of these matters will be useful when carrying outpersonal development planning (PDP) as part of your studies.

The range of transferable skills

Table 1.1 provides a comprehensive listing of university-leveltransferable skills under six skill categories. There are many possibleclassifications – and a different one may be used in your institution orfield of study. Note particularly that ‘study skills’, while important, andrightly emphasised at the start of many courses, constitute only a subsetof the skills acquired by most university students.

The phrase ‘Practical Skills’ in the title of this book indicates thatthere is a special subset of transferable skills related to work in thelaboratory or with clients. However, although this text deals primarilywith skills and techniques required for laboratory practicals andassociated studies, a broader range of material is included. This isbecause the skills concerned are important, not only within your degreebut also in the wider world. Examples include time management,evaluating information and communicating effectively.

KEY POINT Food science, nutrition and dietetics are essentially apractical subjects, and therefore involve highly developedlaboratory and clinical skills. The importance that your lecturersplace on practical skills will probably be evident from the largeproportion of curriculum time you will spend on practical work inyour course.

The word ‘skill’ implies much more than the robotic learning of, forexample, a laboratory routine. Of course, some of the tasks you will beasked to carry out in practical classes will be repetitive. Certaintechniques require manual dexterity and attention to detail if accuracyand precision are to be attained, and the necessary competence oftenrequires practice to make perfect. However, a deeper understanding of thecontext of a technique is important if the skill is to be appreciated fully andthen transferred to a new situation. That is why this text is not simply a‘recipe book’ of methods and why it includes background information, tipsand worked examples, as well as study exercises to aid your learning and testyour understanding.

Transferability of skills

Transferable skills are those that allow someone with knowledge,understanding or ability gained in one situation to adapt or extend thisfor application in a different context. In some cases, the transfer of askill is immediately obvious. Take, for example, the ability to use a

Skills terminology – different phrases

may be used to describe transferable

skills, depending on place or context.

These include: ‘personal transferable

skills’ (PTS), ‘key skills’, ‘core skills’ and

‘competences’, or ‘graduate attributes’.

Using course materials – study your

course handbook and the schedules for

each practical session to find out what

skills you are expected to develop at each

point in the curriculum. Usually the

learning objectives/outcomes (p. 22) will

describe the skills involved.

Example The skills involved in team-work cannot be developed without adeeper understanding of the inter-relationships involved in successfulgroups. The context will be dierent forevery group and a flexible approachwill always be required, according tothe individuals involved and the natureof the task.

1 The importance of transferable skills

Study and examination skills 3

Table 1.1 Transferable skills identified as important in the biosciences. The list has been compiled from several sources,including the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Subject Benchmark Statement (QAAHE, 2002).Particularly relevant chapters are shown for the skills covered by this book.

Skill category Examples of skills and competencesRelevant chapters in thistextbook

Generic skills Having systematic knowledge of key disciplines underpinning safeand effective practice

40 49 52 53 54 55 56 57 6667 68 70

Ability to gather and evaluate evidence from a wide range of sources 8 9 10

Ability to communicate a clear and accurate account of a topic, bothverbally and in writing

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Applying critical and analytical skills to evaluate evidence 9 33

Using a variety of investigative methods to study a topic 31 32 33 34 41 42 43 44 4546 47 49 51 52 53 54 55 5666 69 70

Having the ability to think independently and solve problems 33 34 37 39

Intellectual skills Recognising and applying theories, concepts and principles 9 33

Analysing, synthesising and summarising information critically 35 36 37 38 39

Obtaining evidence to formulate and test hypotheses; applyingknowledge to address familiar and unfamiliar problems

31 32 33 34

Recognising and explaining moral, ethical and legal issues 20 21 22 23

Experimental andobservational skills

Carrying out basic laboratory procedures and understanding theprinciples that underlie them

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2930 49 50–71

Working safely, responsibly and legally, with due attention to ethicalaspects

21 22 23

Designing, planning, conducting and reporting on investigations anddata arising from them

14 17 33 34

Obtaining, recording, collating and analysing data 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Numeracy,communication andIT skills

Understanding and using data in several forms (e.g. numerical,textual, verbal and graphical)

31 35 36

Communicating in written, verbal, graphical and visual forms 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 3536

Citing and referencing the work of others in an appropriate manner 8

Obtaining data, including the concepts behind calibration and typesof error

31 34 38 39 50

Processing, interpreting and presenting data, and applyingappropriate statistical methods for summarising and analysing data

35 36 37 38 39

Solving problems with calculators and computers, including the useof tools such as spreadsheets

11 21 38 39

Using computer technology to communicate and as a source ofinformation

10 11 12

Interpersonal andteamwork skills

Working individually or in teams as appropriate; identifyingindividual and group goals and acting responsibly and appropriatelyto achieve them

3

Recognising and respecting the views and opinions of others 3

Evaluating your own performance and that of others 3 7 21

Appreciating the interdisciplinary nature of food science, nutritionand dietetics

1 18

Self-managementand professionaldevelopment skills

Working independently, managing time and organising activities 2 32 34

Identifying and working towards targets for personal, academic andcareer development

1 7

Developing an adaptable and effective approach to study and work(including revision and exam technique)

4 5 6

The importance of transferable skills

4 Study and examination skills

spreadsheet to summarise experimental data and create a graph toillustrate results. Once the key concepts and commands are learned(Chapter 11), they can be applied to many instances outside thediscipline where this type of output is used. This is not only true forsimilar data sets, but also in unrelated situations, such as making up afinancial balance sheet and creating a pie chart to show sources ofexpenditure. Similarly, knowing the requirements for good graphdrawing and tabulation (Chapters 35 and 36), perhaps practised by handin earlier work, might help you use spreadsheet commands to make theoutput suit your needs.

Other cases may be less clear but equally valid. For example, towardsthe end of your undergraduate studies you may be involved in designingexperiments as part of your project work. This task will draw on severalskills gained at earlier stages in your course, such as preparing solutions(Chapters 21–26), deciding about numbers of replicates and experimentallayout (Chapter 33) and perhaps carrying out some particular method ofobservation, measurement or analysis (Chapters 40–71). How and whenmight you transfer this complex set of skills? In the workplace, it isunlikely that you would be asked to repeat the same process, but incritically evaluating a problem or in planning a complex project for a newemployer, you will need to use many of the time-management,organisational and analytical skills developed when designing andcarrying out experiments and making measurements. The same applies toinformation retrieval and evaluation and writing essays and dissertations,when transferred to the task of analysing or writing a business report.

Personal development planning

Many universities have schemes for personal development planning(PDP), which may have different names such as ‘progress files’ or‘professional development plans’. You will usually be expected to createa portfolio of evidence on your progress, then reflect on this, andsubsequently set yourself plans for the future, including targets andaction points. Analysis of your transferable skills profile will probablyform part of your PDP. Other aspects commonly included are:

. your aspirations, goals, interests and motivations;

. your learning style or preference (see p. 20);

. your assessment transcript or academic profile information (e.g. recordof grades in your modules);

. your developing CV (see p. 36).

Taking part in PDP can help focus your thoughts about your universitystudies and future career. This is important in biology, because mostbiological sciences degrees do not lead only to a specific occupation.The PDP process will introduce you to some new terms and will helpyou to describe your personality and abilities. This will be useful whenconstructing your CV and when applying for jobs.

What your future employer will be looking for

At the end of your course, which may seem some time away, you willaim to get a job and start on your chosen career path. You will need to

Opportunities to develop and practise

skills in your private or social life – you

could, for example, practise

spreadsheet skills by organising per-

sonal or club finances using Microsoft

Excel, or teamwork skills within any

university clubs or societies you may

join (see Chapter 7).

Types of PDP portfolio and their

benefits – some PDP schemes are

centred on academic and learning skills,

while others are more focused on

career planning. Some are carried out

independently and others in tandem

with a personal tutor or advisory

system. Some PDP schemes involve

creating an online portfolio, while

others are primarily paper-based. Each

method has specific goals and advan-

tages, but whichever way your scheme

operates, maximum benefit will be

gained from being fully involved with

the process.

Definition

Employability – the ‘combination ofin-depth subject knowledge, workawareness, subject-specific, generic andcareer management skills, and personalattributes and attitudes that enable astudent to secure suitable employmentand perform excellently throughout acareer spanning a range of employers andoccupations’ (Anon., 2007).

The importance of transferable skills

Study and examination skills 5

sell yourself to your future employer, firstly in your application formand curriculum vitae (Chapter 7), and perhaps later at interview.Companies rarely employ graduates simply because they know how tocarry out a particular lab routine or because they can remember specificfacts about their chosen degree subject. Instead, employers tend to lookfor a range of qualities and transferable skills that together define anattribute known as ‘graduateness’. This encompasses, for example, theability to work in a team, to speak effectively and write clearly aboutyour work, to understand complex data and to manage a project tocompletion. All of these skills can be developed at different stagesduring your university studies.

KEY POINT While factual knowledge is important in degrees with astrong vocational element, understanding how to find and evaluateinformation is usually rated more highly by employers than theability to memorise facts.

Most likely, your future employer(s) will seek someone with an organisedyet flexible mind, capable of demonstrating a logical approach toproblems – someone who has a range of relevant skills and who cantransfer these skills to new situations. Many competing applicants willprobably have similar qualifications. If you want the job, you will haveto show that your additional skills place you above the other candidates(Chapter 7).

Text references

Anon. Define Employability in the Context ofTeaching Bioscience. Available: http://www.bios-cience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/events/empforum/definition/pdfLast accessed: 21/12/10.

[Part of HE Academy Centre for Bioscience website.]

QAAHE (2002) Subject Benchmark Statement for theBiosciences. Quality Assurance Agency for HigherEducation, Gloucester.

Sources for further study

Drew, S. and Bingham, R. (2004) The Student SkillsGuide, 2nd edn. Gower Publishing Ltd, Aldershot.

McMillan, K. and Weyers, J.D.B. (2006) The SmarterStudent: Study Skills and Strategies for Success atUniversity. Pearson Education, Harlow.

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education,UK. Subject Benchmark Statements. Available:http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp

Last accessed: 21/12/10.[Includes statements for aspects of dietetics,bioscience, food and consumer sciences.]

Race, P. (2007) How to Get a Good Degree: Makingthe Most of Your Time at University, 2nd edn.Open University Press, Buckingham.

Finding out more about graduate

attributes – many universities have

defined a set of attributes that reflects

their expectations of students who

successfully complete their degree

programmes. These can often be

located through the university’s

website.

The importance of transferable skills

6 Study and examination skills