Enhancing the first year experience using online study skills

Skills4studycampus (S4SC) is a fully interactive e-learning resource, which helps students to develop the study skills they need to be successful and is suitable for students on all courses and in any year of study. It covers a range of core skills through a wide variety of interactive activities, tests and assessments. The learning experience is therefore highly personalised and focused on their individual needs.

In September 2011 this resource was piloted to first year students in the Disability Service (n = 182), School of Nursing and Midwifery (n = 312), Social Work and Social Policy (n = 45), Drama and Theatre Studies (n = 16), TAP (n = 169) and Mature students (n = 135). Feedback from staff has been very encouraging and whilst this resource is not intended to replace the excellent service provided by Student Learning Development, it is important to acknowledge that specific student groups are not always able to access support on campus as they may live outside of Dublin, commute long distances, have family or work commitments, are completing professional placement, or have timetables which do not fit with College opening hours.

For these student groups 'anytime, anywhere' access to academic skills is vital.
A review report on this pilot is available from by clicking on this link (MS Word 421KB) .

Top 11 tips for successful implementation

• Add a link to your staff / course homepage:To access this resource, go to: http://www.tcd.ie/Local and click on the Skills4Study link.
• Add this link to the header / footer of your handouts, lecture notes or presentations.
• Add the Skills 4 Study icon (that has been emailed to you) to the JF homepage to link to Skills 4 Study.
• Refer students to units appropriate to each assignment you give them.  For   example:
• Before starting this assignment you should complete the module on Writing Skills.  Before submitting your assignment you should complete the module on ‘Referencing and Plagiarism
• Remind students at the end of tutorials / seminars / lectures to make use of the Skills4Study resource.
• Remind students that Skills4Study can be accessed from their home computer.
• Highlight features that you think are useful and appropriate to particular aspects of your course.  For example: Individual and group presentations will begin next week.  You should complete the ‘Group Work and Presentation Skills’ module before then.I would recommend that you complete the ;Critical Thinking Skills module before you begin writing your first draft of the Literature Review.
• When providing feedback to students on assignments, refer them to modules that they should revisit in order to improve their academic writing.
• Direct students to complete the ‘Exam Skills’ module as part of their exam revision strategy.
• Monitor the progress of students through the study skills modules.