INNOVATIVE LEARNER

What are Study Skills? Study skills are the skills you need to enable you to study and learn efficiently – they are an important set of transferable life skills. Our pages provide generic study skills advice – appropriate to learners across all disciplines and in different life circumstances: full and part-time students, those returning to education later in life, those engaged in professional development and anybody who wants to learn how to learn effectively.  Key points about study skills: You will develop your own personal approach to study and learning in a way that meets your own individual needs. As you develop your study skills you will discover what works for you, and what doesn’t. Study skills are not subject specific - they are generic and can be used when studying any area. You will, of course, need to understand the concepts, theories and ideas surrounding your specific subject area. To get the most out of your studies, however, you’ll want to dev...

Presenting information clearly and effectively is a key skill to get your message or opinion across and, today, presentation skills are required in almost every field. Whether you are a student, administrator or executive, if you wish to start up your own business, apply for a grant or stand for an elected position, you may very well be asked to make a presentation. This can be a very daunting prospect. Our guide is designed to help. If, in this position, the first thing you do is open up PowerPoint, then you should probably first spend some time developing your presentation skills.  Delivering an inspirational or captivating presentation requires a lot of preparation and work, and you may not even need PowerPoint at all! Many people feel terrified when asked to make their first public talk, but these initial fears can be reduced by good preparation which will also lay the groundwork for making an effective presentation. 1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audien...

It is generally accepted that a small amount of stress can help you to function effectively. It adds a sense of urgency to whatever you are doing, and helps to provide motivation. However, when most people talk about stress, they mean ‘too much stress’. Stress in these terms is generally a response to an inappropriate level of pressure: it may, for example, be triggered by not having enough to do, as well as having too much to do. Stress triggers several hormonal responses within the body, including your ‘flight/fight’ or adrenaline response. This is fine if you need to run away fast from a wolf, for example, but it’s not so great if you need to have a calm and effective meeting with your boss. It also has an effect on how you react to other people, and therefore your interpersonal relationships. It is important to learn to recognize your stress triggers, and find effective ways to manage your stress to avoid it negatively affecting your life, or even making you unwel...

Interpersonal communication skills are those which you will need every day in your life – be it in your professional or your personal life. They are some of the most important skills that you need to focus on as a large percentage of your life involves interacting with people; friends, colleagues, relations or your boss. Interpersonal skills also play a part in your career development and you will find a lot on that topic on various job websites, but I also mention here some of the most important dos and don’ts that I think will be of great help to you. At first it may seem a simple and natural thing to do, but talking to people is a complex process and it becomes more difficult when you do not know how the other person will react. This is where effective communication comes into play. There is a great difference in the ability to communicate and the ability to communicate effectively. Thus, it requires a person to have good communication skills as it can make or ...