Study Skills

Links	Study Skills

Family Education Network		Oakton Study Skills
At first glance this site seems horribly gung-ho (in a middle-class "Improve Your Child" sort of way) and just a little bit twee. At a second glance, this remains true; however, if you can get past this the site contains extensive links to a variety of study skills - from understanding multiple intelligences, through learning styles to stuff that is so far out on the edge it doesn't have a name yet (an exaggeration, perhaps, but I'm sure you get the point).		I'm not sure how useful this site will be to the casual browser (it seems to be a commercial site of some description), but it does give you the chance to take on-line self-assessment tests relating to things like your Time Management and Note-taking skills (or lack of same). These are pretty basic in terms of both scope and advice, but they may help you clarify any study skills problems you may have...

Copyright Myths		Accelerated Learning
Understanding copyright might not seem to be the most pressing or important aspect of academic life, but it is something students should at least be made aware of - especially when coursework is being compiled (or "copied off the Internet" as it's sometimes known). This site makes it clear what copyright does and does not involve...		"Accelerated Learning" involves the adoption of a range of relatively simple techniques to improve the organisation and recall of information. This particular site is built around the concept of MindMaps™ and offers a variety of text and software-based tools for both teachers and learners.

Justin Craig Education		AS Guru - Study Skills
A private company offering residential revision courses. I'm not sure about the quality of the courses, but you do seem to get a lot of tuition for your money (and the fact "75% of our students thought the food at the courses was GOOD or EXCELLENT!" offers pretty conclusive evidence of something - even if it is only the over-enthusiastic use of CAPITAL LETTERS!), and the site contains a couple of pages of "Revision Tips" to make a visit worthwhile.		As one part of its strategy to dominate the provision of teaching and learning materials for schools, the BBC has set-up (and heavily cross-promoted on its TV channels) the AS Guru site (offering advice for English, Maths, Biology and General Studies students). It also offers general advice / tips on study techniques. The information is solid, the presentation uninspired (as in "written by a particularly gung-ho individual! who thinks exclamation marks! are a great! way to signify the importance! of some Really Quite Useful! advice"). In other words, it's the web equivalent of your Dad "getting-on-down with The Kids" at the school disco (but what more did you really expect from the staid old BBC?)

Brain Gym		National Learning Network
The Brain Gym identifies a variety of activities that can be used to increase your ability to retain, remember and understand information. Some of these are familiar (Mind Mapping for example), whereas others (identifying "multiple intelligences") are just coming into vogue (although like the Brain Gym concept, they're probably going out of vogue as I type). The site outlines a wide range of possible techniques - some of which will surely prove useful if you want to improve your academic performance and other of which will pass as ships in the night...		A new initiative from Becta involves providing materials that can be used in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You have to register (it's free - but then, of course, it should be since the government is throwing huge amounts of taxpayer's money at this sort of thing...). There's a range of materials here but have a look at the Key Skills material (you'll have to dig around the site a bit to find it...)

Revisiontime		Learning Styles Questionnaire
Revisiontime is largely a links site, devoted to a range of different GCSE and A-level sites (including Sociology). It's a fairly new site, so there's not a huge number of Sociology links, but each is annotated so at least you have some idea about what you'll find if you click one. Each subject and level has 3 or 4 suggested textbooks (which can be bought through Amazon). There are links to the main UK newspapers and a "stress aid" section with information about dealing with this condition, as well as links to helpful sites.		This is an on-line learning styles questionnaire (complete 44 two-choice questions and receive an instant assessment of your learning style) that identifies your preferred styles of learning. Once diagnosed, the site has useful sections that explain the meaning of your results - a quick, painless and interesting way to assess learning styles.

Ferl
Resources for Sociology (and a range of other subjects) can be found on this site. In particular, there's material on note-taking, essay-writing and basic revision...