References

Referencing

·      Essential to academic writing.

·      Distinguishes your own ideas from external sources.

·      Avoids plagiarism

·      Harvard Most popular

·      Not much difference between Harvard and APA (American Psychological Association)

·      Difference between Harvard and APA, tends to be citation punctuation.

·      References are placed at the end of an assignment if using Harvard referencing the heading should either be ‘References’ or ‘Bibilography’

·      Difference between Harvard and MLA is MLA uses page number instead of year of publication. Also the heading at the end of an assignment will either be ‘Works cited’ or ‘Works consulted’.

·      Running-notes style uses number as references much like numeric, a bibliography will be provided at the end of the assignment

·      Numeric style is when you will place a number next to the reference and provide the list of references at the end of the assignment

·      Be sure if you get something from an external source to reference it and give all the credit to the author

·      When you are discussing a theory, model or practice be sure to reference it.

·      To give

Types of references

·      Harvard

Cites name(s) of author(s) or organisation, with year of publication, in the text, e.g. Handy (1995). All sources are listed alphabetically at the end of an assignment and labelled ‘References’ or ‘Bibliography’.

·      American Psychological Association

Relatively small differences exist between Harvard and APA style, and in practice often merge into a hybrid. The main noticeable differences tend to be with citation punctuation, the way multiple authors are cited and referenced and with referencing electronic sources.

·      Modern Languages Association

This differs from Harvard and APA in that the page number, instead of year of publication, is cited in the text, e.g. (Handy 149). The full list of references at the end of the text is also labelled ‘Works cited’, or ‘Works consulted’. Proper words in the titles of works cited are capitalized and underlined. The last name of an author is followed by the full first names(s), example: Handy, Charles. Beyond Certainty: The Changing Worlds of Organisations. London: Hutchinson, 1995

·      Running-notes style

This style uses superscript (or bracketed numbers) in the text, which connects with a reference in either footnotes or chapter endnotes. A bibliography is included at the end of the assignment, which lists all the works referred to in the notes. This system uses a different number for each reference in the text.

·      Numeric style

Uses bracketed (or superscript) numbers in the text that connects with a list of references at the end of the text. The same number can recur, e.g. if a source is mentioned more than once in the text.

When to reference

You should cite your sources of evidence in assignments:

1.    To give the reader the source of tables, statistics, diagrams photos and other illustrations included in your assignment. These may be items directly copied or which have been a source of collation for you.

2.    When describing or discussing a theory, model or practice associated with a particular writer.

3.    To give weight or credibility to an argument presented by you, or supported by you, in your assignment.

4.    When giving emphasis to a particular idea that has found a measure of agreement and support amongst commentators.

5.    To inform the reader of sources of direct quotations or definitions in your assignment.

6.    When paraphrasing another person’s idea that you feel is particularly significant or likely to be a subject of debate; this can include definitions.

Group work

Group work is a brilliant way of getting stuff done however it also has its downsides

When you are first placed into a group there are lots of things to consider these are:

Who is your strongest link?
Who is your weakest link?
Who will take what role?
Who has the skills?
Is this person suited better for this then that person?

You must answer all of these before you start creating a idea.

After you have done this its time to start brainstorming ideas, because you are working in a group you will form many ideas. Which will also form many opinions, which may lead to disagreements.

If you have a disagreement within your group you need to ensure that you stay calm and resolve it professional and as quickly as possible.

Effective Presentation Styles

There are many ways to create a presentation, but to do it well there is certain rules that you must abide.

Effective presentation are a mixture of elements. You need to know what the audience wants. You need good interesting content which will keep the audience interested in what you have to say. Confidence is a big part of making a presentation if you come across uncomfortable whilst standing infront of people, they may become uninterested in what you have to say.

Balancing all the elements to making a good presentation isn't easy, especially when you combine it with the natural anxiety often felt before giving presentations, it's no wonder that many people struggle.

To help with this natural anexity and stress about giving the presentation, you must plan and prepare the present so that you can present well and with confidence.[1]

- http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_96.htm

Understanding your audience can be tricky job, there are a few things you need to be to be able to understand them.

First off you need to determine who the members of the audience are you then need to recognise what they need to learn, also what types of attitudes are in your audience. The audience may already know about the topic how are you going to keep them interested?

Ideally you should create a outline for your presentation, then ask for advanced feedback on the content.

As you are carrying out your presentation when people start nodding and smiling you will know that are interested this should motivate you into keeping your confidence high so that you fly though it.[1]

The only way to satisfy your audience's needs and expectations is to make sure you deliver the content that want. If you don't give the correct information, or you give the correct information in the wrong sequence you can end up leaving the audience confused, frustrated or bored.

There are many ways to structure your information however it all depends on what type of presentation you are giving here are some principles:

Identify a few key points - This will help the audience remember what you are saying to them.

Dont include every detail - Good presentation inspire the audience to learn more, and ask further questions to maximize the understand of the issue.

Use an outline - At the beginning include a contents page, let the audience know what you intend to do. This build anticipation and interest from the start.

Start and end strongly - Capture peoples intrest as soon as you begin, and then leave them with message they won't forget. Be sure to capture peoples interest at the start otherwise they might lose interest.

Use examples - Where possible, use lots of examples to support your points. Look for ways to liven things up by telling storys, and talking about real-life examples. Use metaphors to engage the audience.[1]

A special type of presentation is one that seeks to persuade. Monroe's Motivated Sequence, consisting of five steps, gives you a framework for developing content for this kind of presentaiton.

Get the attention of your auidence  - Use something interesting to open up with, like a shock statistic. Be proactive and energetic.

Create a need - Convince the audience there is a problem, explain how it affects them - and presuade them that things need to change.

Define your solution - explain what needs to be done

Describe a detailed picture of success - Give the audience to visualise.

Ask the audience to do something right away - Get the audience involved from the work go. It is then much easier to keep them engaged and active in your cause.

Even the best information can be useless if your presentation style contradicts or detracts from your message.

Here are some tips to delivering confidently

Practice to build confidence - Some people think that if you practice too much, your speech will sound rehearsed and less genuine. Don't necessarily memorize your presentation, but be familiar with the content so you can speak fluently about it.

Be flexible - This is easier to do when you are more confident with the material. Don't attempt to present something you learned the night before. You need to know your material enough to answer statements.

Manage your stress - Confidence has a lot to do with managing stress levels. If you feel nervous or anxious, then these emotions will shows. [1]

Research

There any many different ways to research into stuff.

How to research:

Research

What is research?

In short research is an investigation into study of materials, and sources to establish new facts and conclusions.

How do you research?

Before you start researching you need to define what the problem is, why do you need this information?

Whilst researching you need to think, how much time do I have to do this?

You should then pick a topic, you should aim end up with a topic that isn't to hard to be sure that there is enough information on it.

Think to yourself what do you already know about the topic. If anything that might help you define the main ideas and key words that will help?

You then need to find out what else you need to find out? Preferably you need to find out as much as possible from reliable sources.

The next stage is to locate the information? Where are you going to get it from think about all the sources out there such as

Books
Internet
Encyclopedias
Videos
Magazines
Other people or organizations

The next stage is to decide which resource will be best for you, however there is nothing saying you can't mix  it up.

Be sure to check that the material is relevant, and who has written it, what audience is it aimed at?

You MUST note down whatever you copy, this is important for your bibliography.

You then need to organize all of you information and see if you have enough to complete the task in hand.

When presenting the information  what is the most logical and organised way, have you met all the tasks needs? Have you used your opinions and acknowledged ideas from others?

Once you have finished the task, think about what you have learnt, what would you improve next time.

- http://www.slideshare.net/mosmancouncil/how-to-research-a-topic

Critical Thinking

What is Critical Thinking?

• Critical Thinking is the importance of asking and answering the appropriate questions
• In Higher Education the term critical is to get the truth through reasoned question and answer.
• We must always ask question.
• Critically we do not accept what we hear and see at face value

Model To Generate Critical Thinking

Following this model is fairly simple, first off you have the subject to generate critical thinking you must ask a series of questions these being:

• What
• This identifies the issue.
• What is this about?
• What is the context/ situation?
• What is the main point/ problem/ topic to be explored?
• Where
• Where does this take place.
• Who
• Who does this effect.
• Who is this by?
• Who is involved?
• Who is affected?
• Who might be interested?
• When
• When does this occur.

All of these provide your description, providing with introductory and background information to contextualize problem/ topic.

• How
• Allows you to look at the processes of work.
• How did this occur?
• How does it work?
• How does the one factor affect another?
• How do the parts fit into the whole?
• Why
• Explains in-depth, addresses causes using theory.
• Why did this occur?
• Why was that done?
• Why this argument/ theory/ suggestion/ solution?
• Why not something else?
• What If?
• What if this were wrong?
• What are the alternatives?
• What if there were a problem?
• what if this or that factor were added or removed?

Once you have asked all of these question you should be able to perform your analysis.

• So what?
• What does this mean?
• Why is this significant?
• Is this convincing? Why/Why not?
• What are the implications?
• Is it successful?
• How does it meet the criteria
• What Next?
• Is it transferable?
• How and where else can it be applied?
• What can be learnt from it?
• What needs doing now?

After you have applied these you should be able to apply these to your conclusion.

If you apply these sequentially you will be able to form the basis of study in Higher Education.

• Description
• To define clearly what we are talking about
• what exactly is involved
• Where it takes place
• Under what circumstances or conditions
• Analysis
• The function of effective analysis is to Examine and EXPLAIN how the many parts fit into the whole
• How do the many facets of your research combine with reference to the original question or problem
• Evaluation
• Evaluation isn't easy to define, it is sometimes defined as: 
• To judge the success or failure of something
• to give reason or value to the outcome of the research
• the evaluation is found at the end of a project as in the project report

All of the above supplies you with the basis of critical thiking allowing you to write reports out with a proper description an indepth analysis and good evaluation. Not to mention after all of this you will have a fabulous abstract.