The Avery Hill Faculty

School of Health & Social Care

Academic skills for Professional Practice

Dip HE Midwifery

Dip HE Nursing

RESE 1056

Course Handbook

Academic Year 2007/8

 UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH

SCHOOL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

COURSE TITLE: Academic Skills for Professional Practice

COURSE CODE: RESE 1056

CREDIT POINTS: 15

COURSE LEVEL: 1

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2007/2008

SEMESTER: 2

CO-ORDINATOR: Mandy Mitchelmore/ Tina Heptinstall

DEPARTMENT: Family Care and Mental Health

Introduction:
This blended learning (some face-to-face sessions and some on-line activities) course is designed
to support and encourage you as you embark on your academic studies and future professional
practice. It will not only provide an introduction to transferable and information technology
skills required to manage your studies, but also facilitate the development of learning skills as the
beginning of lifelong learning. Additionally you will be introduced to the essential vocabulary of
both your chosen discipline and academia. As you work through the activities you will be able to
communicate with your elearning tutor, who will provide timely feedback, guidance and support.

The four themes of the course are:

1. Information gathering skills

2. Reading and comprehension skills
3. Presentation skills
4. Reflection skills – making sense of information

The course is structured to allow students to attend both lectures and to work within a smaller
elearning group assigned to an elearning tutor. You will have the opportunity to explore how
the use of computers and the library services underpin the ability to produce good academic
work by both gathering information and using it appropriately.

You will be expected to work with your assigned tutor and access the materials that have
been provided via WebCT and submit evidence of completing the various activities provided
within the profile of evidence at the end of the course. This allows you to work flexibly and
at your own pace. The course is logically structured and you will need to work through the
materials in the order they are presented.

You will be asked to post your activities up in the discussion area. The discussion will be
a ’blog’. This is a 'a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries...’ All your
group members will read the blog. If you wish to send a private email to your elearning tutor
then just select their name
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Note: Please do not post the final draft of your essay via the discussions. Please send to
your tutor only on email via Web CT

How the course is organised

You will be divided into 3 groups and have your own elearning tutor. You will find a
discussion area for your group and all postings should be sent here. Avoid sending
information to the discussion topic ‘student support’, unless of course this is what you want.

Do send your comments in a timely fashion and avoid text language and colloquialism. Do be
courteous to each other and consider how you phrase your comments and questions.

As the elearning tutors we will respond to your postings at least on a weekly basis. Do
contribute to the discussions as this will provide you with valuable feedback and support for
your assessment.

Contact details:

Mandy Mitchelmore - 0208 331 9915 - M.Mitchelmore@gre.ac.uk

Tina Heptinstall - 0208 331 8077 - T.Heptinstall@gre.ac.uk

Lynne Jump – 0208 331 8100 – L.Jump@gre.ac.uk

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Course aims :
1. To encourage an ethos of lifelong learning
2. To facilitate the development of learning and transferable skills
3. To identify and maximise academic skills and apply them to academic pursuit and
professional practice.

Course outcomes:
1. Demonstrate what information is needed and experiment with a variety of different
information and knowledge seeking activities
2. Interpret the differences between good quality information and knowledge sources
and poor quality information and knowledge sources
3. Operate a number of alternative approaches for finding information and knowledge
in a timely manner
4. Examine how issues of copyright and plagiarism affect the way that information and
knowledge is used and reported, and competently use the Harvard referencing
system
5. Understand and begin to use models of reflection as a learning tool.

Assessment Details
The assessment is in two parts. The essay will receive a grade. The profile of evidence must be
submitted with the essay, but it will not be graded. Failure to submit all evidence will result in a
fail grade.

1. Essay

A review of an article, related to your discipline, from the course WebCT site demonstrating
an understanding and use of the skills required in reviewing published work.

Description of essay

The student will be required to:

1. Briefly summarise an article relevant to your future practice as a midwife or a nurse.

2. Demonstrate relevance of the article to your future role and professional practice

3. Demonstrate how you have used academic skills in selection, reading and writing of
assignment

2. Profile of evidence of activities undertaken during the course

Students will submit a profile of evidence which demonstrates they have completed all the
formative tasks successfully. All of these tasks are in WebCT with guidance offered.

Date of submission: 20th October 2008

Banner Headersheet number:

This assignment must be submitted on the correct Banner headersheet which will be set
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up under your elearning tutor’s name.

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Profile of Evidence - this must be submitted with your summative assessment (the essay)

Activities to be undertaken during the course and submitted with the essay

1. Information gathering skills

First part of the activity

Go to Intute – it is a free online service providing you with access to the very best Web
resources for education and research. Using an interactive tutorial work through each of
the sections, Tour… Discover… Judge… Success…. Then add website to your links basket.
This is all explained in the tutorial. Then print out the list of websites in your basket, which
you consider to be useful to your programme.

Second part of the activity

Identify a topic of your own choice, e.g. falls in the elderly, childhood obesity, adolescent
mental health, water birth. These topics areas are very broad; you need to narrow it down to a
question, e.g. how are falls at home prevented among the over 65's?
Next, list the key words you have used to search for your topic and then print out a list of 3-5
articles. Don't submit the actual articles. Just a list of the key words and the title of the articles
(include author, dates, title of article and the name of the journal).
Post these 2 activities to your elearning tutor and submit this within the profile of evidence.
You will then get feedback from your tutor

2. Reading and comprehension skills

Using the article that you have selected for your assignment, read it through and use bullet
points to make a summary of the content.
Post this to your elearning tutor and submit this within the profile of evidence. You will then
get feedback from your tutor

3. Presentation skills
Read the article by Lloyd (2007) and undertake ‘Time Out No. 4’. Using your selected
article which you intend to focus on for your assignment, look at the references cited by the
author and find two of the articles listed in the reference list. Provide a brief summary of
these two related articles (in the way described by Lloyd) and at the end of your summary
reference these correctly.
Reference: Lloyd M (2007) Developing academic writing skills: the PROCESS framework
Nursing Standard 21 (40): 50-56
Post this to your elearning tutor and submit this within the profile of evidence. You will then
get feedback from your tutor

4. Reflection
Undertake a brief (around 200 - 300 words) piece of reflective writing on the development of
your academic skills in relation to the course. For example you may want to comment on your
development of word processing skills, time management, and database searching and using the
library. You do not need to use a reflective model. We are interested in your thoughts and
ideas.
Post this to your elearning tutor and submit this within the profile of evidence. You will then
get feedback from your tutor

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This grid below will be used to mark your work and to provide feedback on your use of academic skills. See your programme handbook for the
grading criteria for level 1 work and guidance on the presentation of student work.

Criteria Grade Bandings having regard to the relevant Grading Criteria

(These should reflect the
assessment outcomes and Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Very
requirements. One criterion 70-100% 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% 30-39% unsatisfactory
per box.) 0-29%
Briefly summarise an article
relevant to student’s practice as a
midwife or nurse

Demonstrate relevance of article

to student’s future role and
professional practice
Demonstrate how student has
used academic skills in selection,
reading and writing of
assignment

Requirement for profile of evidence Yes No

Information gathering skills – List of websites from Intute basket for nursing and midwifery websites

Reading and comprehension skills – bullet point summary of chosen article

Presentation skills – brief summary of two related articles correctly referenced.

Reflection – brief piece of reflective writing on development of academic skills.

 Feedback on academic skills
Criteria Achieved Achieved in part Significant errors Comments

Information is paraphrased within a coherent overview of the

subject
Suitable evidence is identified and it significance commented upon
The essay is written with sufficient focus upon the assignment
brief, and is appropriately structured leading to suitable
conclusions
There is evidence of reading from the reading list plus some wider
reading of both printed and web based material
Appropriate bibliographic and referencing skills are evident as per
the school guide to referencing
Writing is in a consistent academic style. There is competent use of
grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary conveying clear
and coherent meaning and there is evidence of proof reading and
editing
The work is word processed and presented according to the school
presentation guidelines with the correct header sheet.
Overall mark ………..%
Comments:

Marker:………………………………………. Date:……………………………

Moderator’s Comments:

Moderator:……………………………………. Date:……………………………..
Student comment and proposed actions (Where appropriate link to Personal Development Plan / e Portfolio)

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SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS

Week Session Lecturer

Week 35 Welcome and introduction to the course Mandy

Tuesday 20th May Mitchelmore
3-5pm D001 Aim:
• To provide an overview of the structure of the course,
introduce students to the blended learning approach and
convey the significance of lifelong learning professional
practice.

Learning outcomes. Students will:

• have a clear idea of the relevance of academic skills to
success both academically and practically.
• understand the structure of the course, undertaking on-line
activities and appreciate the significance of feedback
from their elearning tutor

Week 36 Undertake online activities and post to your elearning tutor

Week 37 IT - introduction to portal and ICT services Liz Fuller

Tuesday 3rd June Lynn Woodward
3-5
Fry computer lab

Week 37 Harvard referencing Tina Heptinstall

Wednesday 4th June
9-11 D001 Aim:
• To assist students in understanding the key aspects of the
Harvard referencing system and how to use it effectively.

Learning Outcomes. Students will:

• Have an understanding of the ‘rules’ of presenting
references in written work and in compiling a reference
list
• Have had the opportunity to examine typical referencing
errors and understand that importance of correct
referencing.

Week 38 Undertake online activities and post to your elearning tutor

Week 39 Face to face group tutorials with elearning tutor Mandy - M131
Friday 20th June Tina – M132
9-11 D001 Lynne - M133
Week 40 Undertake online activities and post to your elearning tutor

Week commencing Undertake online activities and post to your elearning tutor
September 1st
Week commencing Face to face group tutorials with elearning tutor
September 1st

Recommended reading:

Books: The following will assist you to explore issues addressed during the course. This list is not
exhaustive as there is an extensive range of useful texts available relating to the topic. You will also
find a number of study skills guides on the internet.

Clarke A (2005) IT Skills for Successful Study Palgrave

Cottrell S (2nd edition) (2003) The study skills handbook Palgrave

Derrick S & Lawler G (2005) The Academic Essay: How to Plan, Draft, Write and Edit
Study Mates

Fanthome C (2004) Work placements- a survival guide for students Palgrave

Geetahm B (2001) How to Write Better Essays Palgrave

Gimenez J ( 2007) Writing for nursing and midwifery students Palgrave

Peck J & Coyle M (2005) The students guide to writing: Grammar, Punctuation and
Spelling Palgrave

McCarthy P & Hatcher C (2002) Presentation skills Sage

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 Guidance to completion of assignment
• In all assignments do follow the assessment details very carefully.
• You must complete all requirements; missing out one entire aspect will result in
a fail grade.
Description of assessment
Briefly summarise an
article relevant to student’s
practice as a midwife or
nurse
Demonstrate relevance of
article to student’s future
role and professional
practice
Demonstrate how student
has used academic skills in
selection, reading and
Guidance
Choosing the article. We have given you some articles on the Web CT course shell.
You do not have to select one of these, but they do give you an idea of the style of
article you should select. If you decide to choose your own article consider the
following:
• Avoid an editorial, an opinion piece or an article that is too brief (i.e. one
page)
• The article needs to relate to your area of practice, or one that covers general
health issues such as smoking, alcohol use, exercise, nutrition or a public
health issue
• Choose an article that makes sense to you. Avoid obscure specialist medical
journals. You will not necessarily gain more marks for a complex article on,
for example, ethics and end of life issues.
In summarising the article avoid copying out large amounts of text from the article.
Write it as if you are explaining it to someone else – in your own words. This is
similar to telling someone about a film you have seen or a book you have read.
Some articles have headings that reflect the key themes; these are a useful guide. If
there are too many of them just choose the ones you think are most relevant.
You could conclude your summary with the key message(s) from the article
You can make a brief comment on how it was presented:
• Are there any tables or charts – are these helpful and do they explain
findings?
• Are there boxes with key points? Do they enhance the article?
• Are there quotations from research participants? These often bring a piece of
work ‘to life’ and the article is more engaging.
To complete this aspect of the assignment you must read around the topic.
Here you are required to explore the topic area further so you will be using your
skills in gathering information. You could follow up some of the references in your
chosen article or you could search for more articles or books on the topic.
You could comment on different perspective on the topic with agreement and/ or
disagreement amongst authors.
You then need to discuss the relevance of the topic to your future role as a midwife
or a nurse.
You may have come across a situation in practice already, or you can comment
about feeling more knowledgeable about the topic and better prepared for the
situation. For example, you may have chosen a topic on water birth, wound healing,
dementia, smoking cessation programmes, fever management in children, anxiety
disorders or advocacy services for people with learning disabilities.
You could also comment on your future professional role in the context of the NMC
Code of Professional Conduct: standards for conduct, performance and ethics or the
Midwives Rules and Standards. It may be appropriate to make reference to issues
such as accountability, confidentiality or record keeping.
In this section you do need to convey that you are a future midwife or nurse; you are
not just writing about a topic area in a neutral way.
Here, you need to tell the story of how you used your academic skills in undertaking
the assignment.
For example, in commenting on the selection of your article you could say that you
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writing of assignment chose one of the article we gave you because:
• The topic area interested you and you had come across it in practice
• It was easier as you wanted to manage your time effectively and spend it on
other aspects of the assessment
Or you chose another article because:
• You were already interested in a particular aspect of practice, or you had
read something that sparked an interest and you wanted to search for more
around this area.
You could comment on the value of attending a library information session and how
you used your new skills in searching for information.

In reading the article you could comment on how:

• You used some of the resources on the WebCT to guide you in reading and
note taking
• You read the article twice over and used a highlight pen to identify key
points

In writing the assignment you could, for example, discuss:

• How the activities supported you in building up to completing the
assignment
• On-line support and discussions with your elearning tutor and with other
students in your group
• Using a mind map to develop your ideas. If you did not use a mind map
what strategy did you use to develop your essay?
• Using some of the resources on Web CT and comment on their usefulness
You could also make some other comments on:
• How you managed your time. Did you start early on or leave it to the last
moment; what have you learned about how to manage this work alongside
other course work?
• What academic skills do you need to develop as you progress through the
programme?

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