Academic Skills

Now that Freshers Week is finished classes have officially started for the year. And already we’ve had some new students asking us about what ways they can prepare for their coursework. And how to build up the confidence they need for their assignments later in the year. With this in mind, we think it would be a good idea to make everybody aware of the university’s Academic Skills team.

Academic Skills Team

The Academic Skills team are here to provide you with the advice and support you need to manage your university studies.  Helping you to develop the key skills and knowledge required to advance in your degree and achieve success in your coursework. The team are prepared to help students at every level of study. Any academic background, whether you’re a fresher just coming from school, a returning postgraduate, or a mature student. They even offer support to university staff members when we need it!
The support offered by the academic skills team covers practical aspects of the study. They cover advice for note-taking and planning out your workload, as well as more theoretical areas, such as critical thinking.

What do they do?

The Academic Skills team offer help in the form of one-on-one appointments with academic advisors. These can be arranged on the appointments page of myFuture.napier.ac.uk.  Or by contacting the team through their email address at academicskills@napier.ac.uk These sessions are informal and confidential. So don’t feel shy about getting in touch if you think you need some help with your studies.
You can also attend one of the team’s Academic Skills Workshops, which are live workshops hosted online to demonstrate and discuss fundamental skills needed for assessments and coursework. You can book a place for upcoming workshops on the Events & Workshops tab of MyFuture. There are also pre-recorded videos you can watch on Panopto, just in case you can’t attend any of the live sessions.

We’d also recommend you read the Academic Skills Blog. The blog is a great resource for keeping up to date with the Academic Skills team. As well as providing other quick support such as a page explaining some common academic words and phrases you might not be used to. There is a list of some useful guides explaining skills like referencing and essay structure. And a bank of helpful resources from a range of different places.

The Academic Skills team are happy to help you prepare for your studies and get you in the mindset to tackle the upcoming university year.

By Matthew Ferrie

Have a look at our previous study skills posts 

Or look at the mynapier study pages