Open workshops

Despite what you might believe, there is no great secret to creativity. All it requires is a brain and some techniques. You bring your brain, and I'll provide the techniques. I don't promise you'll be composing sonnets by the end of the session, but you will leave with some clear approaches to being more creative in your work.

Being a Masters student is challenging, not just because of the level you will be learning at but also the amount of work (e.g. reading and writing) you’ll be expected to do, and all the while being ‘critical’. With so much to do, using effective strategies will help you to manage the different demands of your masters.

This workshop will focus on practical strategies for Masters-level effective reading and writing, and developing your critical thinking during these. Participants will be able to practice some strategies in short exercises during the workshop.

This is an interactive workshop and discussions and questions by participants are warmly encouraged.

This workshop will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice
• Feedback on individual pieces of work or drafts

Jonas Salk, the scientist whose team discovered one of the first successful polio vaccines, once said: "What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question.” We ask questions constantly to learn about the people and the world around us. We also ask questions in the initial stages of our research. Yet where do we learn our questioning skills?

This highly engaging session will focus on deconstructing and reconstructing the way you think about asking questions with the ultimate aim of being able to approach your research in a whole new way including revisiting your question.

The format of this session includes video clips, tutor input, pairs and group exercises, and an infographic to help you take your research topic and hypothesis and craft your research question using principles of design thinking, urban design, investigative reporting, and academic research.

By the end of the session, you will

• Understand the optimum questioning mindset
• Have learned the Seven Deadly Sins of Questions
• Discovered the secret to creating compelling question sequences
• Thought about your research question in a whole new way

Pre-course Work

Please bring a dissertation/research topic to the session

‘Critical’ is a word that is frequently used in academic discourse. Students are advised to think, read and write ‘critically’. But what does ‘critical’ actually mean in an academic context? In this workshop we identify qualities that are core to a critical engagement with academic work, and we explore through examples how you can apply critical values to your reading, writing and academic practice.

Pre-course Work:  Please bring printed copy of a short academic article that is relevant to your research interests.

Cancelling: If you need to cancel your booking, please do so at the earliest opportunity and at least 3 working days before the event.  Someone else may be able to take your place, but we need time to contact them. Also, although you are not charged for an event, there are costs we incur (eg photocopying) which relate directly to places reserved.

Research is about answering questions. These may arise in our day-to-day work, our studies or unexpectedly, apparently out of the blue. But, there is a difference between an idle thought and a meaningful research question. This workshop is about this difference and takes participants through those important first steps in the research process, helping them develop their own research questions and to begin thinking like a researcher.

 After the workshop each participant will:

•  be familiar with the history of the research process
• understand the range of different types of questions and be able to identify those that may be defined as research questions
• be familiar with examples of good and bad research questions
• understand the importance of an hypothesis
• have a working strategy for developing their own research question.

When you’re writing essays, or articles, or your thesis, what’s your style? What do you think your reader makes of it? Do you use lots of abstract verbs? Is your writing personal? Impersonal? Do you even think of your academic writing as having a style? This on-campus workshop will examine how adopting techniques from non-academic writing and creative styles can enhance your academic writing. The workshop will focus on:

•             techniques to help develop a confident academic voice

•             making choices about language and style

•             writing with an audience in mind

•             effective paraphrasing

•             techniques for communicating abstract concepts

Participants will be asked to submit a sample of writing (no more than two double-spaced pages) – for example, from an essay – to use in the workshop.

This workshop is for suitable for all taught postgraduate (PGT) students who are thinking about starting or have started their dissertation.

A dissertation is a key part of a masters programme. It’s a chance for you to plan and undertake a significant body of your own research. This can be a very rewarding experience, but can present many challenges: What exactly is a dissertation and what does it look like? Where do I start? When do I stop? How do I do it?

This interactive workshop will focus on practical strategies for successfully completing your dissertation; from emphasizing the importance of good planning to actually getting started with writing. Themes of the workshop include:

• Effective planning
• Thinking about the examiner’s point of view
• Critical reading and analysis of sources, and writing
• Effective writing

Discussion and questions are warmly welcomed and encouraged during this workshop.

This workshop will not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific referencing, formatting, or advice
• English Language advice

Wanting more than just a dissertation? Think about publication!

Your dissertation requires a substantial amount of time and effort from you, so how can you get more from it? One way to make your dissertation work for you is to publish it.

Many dissertations represent significant additions and advancements to their field. Publishing is a way to get your work noticed and can lead to surprising opportunities. Plus, your supervisor will be pleased because they won’t have to do it!

This friendly, interactive session will look at options of where and how you can publish your dissertation.

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice
• Referencing
• Proofreading and editing

This workshop aims to show how a well-crafted sentence is put together and to give an understanding of the underlying grammatical rules.

No prior knowledge of grammar is required.

We will be dealing with such problems as tense, sentence length, sentence structure, joining sentences and punctuation, with a view to producing clear, unambiguous and readable academic writing.

This workshop will not cover:

• Writing for specific purposes, such as a thesis, dissertations or abstracts
• Feedback on individual pieces of work or drafts
• Subject or discipline specific advice
• English language advice

A successful research project does not solely depend on an important research question and a well-designed protocol, but also on the efficient execution of the project. Many research projects fail to complete on time and on budget and some struggle even to get off the ground. In this half-day workshop we will apply the principles of project management to research projects and show how by applying some simple tools and techniques we can solve many of the common problems we face and avoid others altogether. The workshop will consist of a series of short, interactive lectures, interspersed with practical exercises.

After the workshop each participant will:

• be able to define the different component parts of a research project
• understand the common challenges that arise when managing a research project
• be familiar with project management tools and techniques
• be able to put these into practice
• understand how to avoid the commonest problems that arise in management of research

As our careers grow and develop we can often find ourselves in positions where we have a great deal of responsibility and perhaps not too much authority.   This is where our ability to Lead and Influence becomes paramount. 

These elements come naturally to some, but they are just rules in a game that can be learned and assertively applied. 

This session will focus on building an understanding of how to effectively influence people around us.   We’ll also consider a few basic elements of how to lead in an authentic way – and not simply rely on a badge that says ‘in charge’.

This will be achieved through a blend of situation-based discussion, tutor input, paired work and real-life problem solving.

By the end of the session, participants will

• Have built a toolkit of influence skills and techniques.
• Understand how to assertively influence with confidence.
• Establish some rules and tools for leading, influencing and dealing with challenging individuals.

Cancelling: If you need to cancel your booking, please do so at the earliest opportunity and at least 3 working days before the event.  Someone else may be able to take your place, but we need time to contact them. Also, although you are not charged for an event, there are costs we incur (eg photocopying) which relate directly to places reserved.

Does academic writing have to be dull or obscure, or can it be engaging and direct? This workshop explores the standards and expectations associated with academic writing. We will look at relevant linguistic and stylistic choices (active or passive? first or third person? plain English or jargon?) and consider academic conventions in terms of organisation and writing style. This is very much a 'hands-on' workshop with plenty of room for discussion.

Pre-Course Work:

Please bring a short piece of (your own) academic writing to this workshop.

Are you a taught postgraduate student working on your dissertation? Or trying to write for publication?

The aim of a ‘Just Write’ session is to facilitate a time and place for you to write without the distractions of emails, Facebook, twitter and everyday life.

We’ve organised a space and time (over 2.5hrs) for you to write in a focused way, with a member of staff to facilitate the writing sessions (and to ensure that everyone abides by the rules).

Thinking of coming along? Here is what you need to know.

-       You will get most out of the time by coming prepared to write (e.g. do any necessary reading beforehand)

-       Bring your laptop and any notes you may need with you

Schedule

09.15-09.30 - Arrival/ Set-up

09.30-10.15 - Writing

10.15-10.25 - Short Break

10.25-11.25 - Writing

11.25-11.35 - Short Break

11.35-12.25 - Writing 

Places are limited please only book a place if you are able to attend the session in full.

Are you a taught postgraduate student working on your assignments or dissertation? Or trying to write for publication?  Would you like an opportunity to be able to learn some writing techniques, and have space to practise them?

The aim of the ‘writing bootcamp’ is to facilitate a time and place for you to write without the distractions of emails, Facebook, twitter and everyday life.

The session will begin with a short Bitesize style workshop to offer advice on writing techniques, and motivate you to write. Following this you will have a 2-and-a-half-hour writing session. No distractions, just writing.

Thinking of coming along? Here is what you need to know.

• You’ll need to do any necessary preparation before attending the mini writing bootcamp (guidance will be sent out prior to the session).

• If you wish to write using a laptop, please bring your own with you. There will be plenty of power sockets. 

As places are limited please only book a place if you are able to attend the session in full.

Cancelling

If you need to cancel your booking, please do so at the earliest opportunity and at least 3 working days before the event. Someone else may be able to take your place, but we need time to contact them. Although you are not charged for an event, there are costs we incur which relate directly to places reserved.

Do you need to start making some connections with people who might help you with your research project and who will be interested in your findings? You might also be thinking about networking for your future career. This interactive workshop will help you develop a strategy for networking with your stakeholders and provide some hints and tips for effective networking. Students should come prepared to talk about why they would like to build connections.

This workshop is open to all postgraduate taught (PGT) students. 

A dissertation is a significant piece of academic writing and a major investment of time and effort. It is also the defining feature of a Master’s degree, so it is worth presenting it well.

This interactive session will introduce strategies to help you incorporate revising into your personal writing process.  It will highlight tricky things which tend to catch students out, suggest useful tools and offer tips to help you submit your best work. 

With that last full stop, the writing task is done. Or is it? This course looks at the many stages of copy-editing and proof-reading that must be done before the dissertation is submitted or the academic paper published. We look at some myths about writing, identify common errors and offer a range of techniques for spotting them. Proof correction marks are introduced and put into practice in a peer feedback session. 

Pre-course Work

In preparation for the course, each participant should bring a printed sample of their academic writing, which they would be willing to discuss with the tutor, and (optionally) with other participants (approx.600 words). Please bring 3 printed copies of the same sample work along on the day.

This workshop is open to all postgraduate taught (PGT) students.

A dissertation is a significant piece of academic writing and the defining feature of a Master’s degree, so it is worth taking time to consider your structure.

This interactive session will help you step back from the detail of your writing and take an overview of your dissertation.  It will suggest practical ways you can isolate the main themes of your work and develop a convincing order to present your ideas.  We will also discuss the purpose of key sections of academic dissertations. 

You will have the opportunity to self-review your dissertation outline, but the tutor will be unable to give subject-specific advice.

Pre-course work:  Participants are asked to print out and bring along a one-page outline of their own dissertation.

What does this workshop not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific referencing, formatting, or advice.
• English Language advice.

The session is a mixture of presentations and hands on practical computer-based sessions to help participants understand the information research process and develop good practice in literature searching.

The key objectives and aims of the course are:

• Develop an understanding of how information resources provided by the Library and beyond, both printed and electronic, are organised and their major features
• Develop the ability to search and evaluate research literature by performing advanced search strategies and techniques, such as by using Boolean search operators
• Develop the ability to manage search results and citation styles with the help of a bibliographic management software such as EndNote

Cancelling: If you need to cancel your booking, please do so at the earliest opportunity and at least 3 working days before the event.  Someone else may be able to take your place, but we need time to contact them. Also, although you are not charged for an event, there are costs we incur (eg photocopying) which relate directly to places reserved.

In order for academic reading to be effective, it needs to be a combination of efficient (in terms of speed and retention), strategic (in terms of appropriately targeted) and critical.  This short workshop will give you a number of tools to help you to read more quickly, more strategically and more critically.

This workshop (and practice afterwards) will help you to increase your speed and effectiveness of reading.  The practical exercises during the session will show you how to measure your base read speed and comprehension level and then increase your reading speed and efficiency.

We will use practical exercises and tutor-led input to help refine and improve four key areas:

Strategy – considering your reading strategy and learning some practical ways to improve information selection and absorption

Speed  - Techniques to increase speed of reading, and applying these with more dense and difficult material

Criticism – Acquiring methods and questions to improve your critical reading strategies

Consistency – Discover how to build consistent reading habits that will improve your efficiency, retention and recall.

Pre- coursework

There will a small amount of pre- coursework sent to you around two weeks before the course.  This will not take long and is nothing that you should not naturally be doing anyway.

This workshop will not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

Editing can feel like the hardest part of writing a thesis – some dread it, others complain it’s dull. But it’s a skill and it can be incredibly productive, as any professional writer will affirm. This half-day workshop will explore the difference between editing and writing, it will examine the different kinds of editing. There will be an emphasis on writing as a craft and how practical editorial skills can contribute to the process.

Participants will be asked to submit a sample (no more than two double-spaced pages) of their own writing for the tutor to read in advance of the workshop. You will also be required to bring a hard copy to edit during the session.

For many students, starting to write is one of the most challenging aspects of doing a dissertation. How do you know whether you are ready to write? How do you overcome the sense of paralysis or overwhelm that often accompanies the early stages of the writing process? This workshop provides tools and tips for how to get started; for generating, focusing, targeting and structuring material; and for developing a first draft. All of these will be put into practice through the development of a short text.

Are you a taught postgraduate student working on your dissertation? Or trying to write a publication?  Would you like an opportunity to be able to learn some writing techniques, and have space to practise them?

This Writing Bootcamp shall give you a time and place for you to write without the distractions of emails, Facebook, Twitter and everyday life. By the end of the Bootcamp we will have discussed writing strategies, and you will have a personalised writing plan and, most importantly, done some writing!

There will be over 8 hours of writing time across the two days of the Bootcamp. Split into half-day sessions, each section will begin with a short Bitesize workshop, discussing tips and techniques, followed by writing blocks. Participants will be sent the schedule and preparation instructions in advance of the Bootcamp.

Between writing blocks there will be short breaks and refreshments available. The break for lunch will be for an hour, but please note that lunch will not be provided (there are several cafes and shops nearby, or feel free to bring your own).

Thinking of coming along? Here is what you need to know.

• There will be over 8 hours of writing, split into 10 blocks over the two days.
• You will get most out of the time by doing the preparatory work, following the instructions in the “Guidance Information for Participants”.
• If you wish to write using a laptop, please bring your own with you. There will be plenty of power sockets. If you don’t have a laptop let us know, we will have a small number available.

Places are limited please only book a place if you are able to attend the Writing Bootcamp in full on Friday 21st and Wednesday 26th June 2019 (2 days).

Due to the popularity of this Bootcamp, booking will close on Friday 7th June. You will be asked to confirm you will attend, if you do not respond to this confirmation email then your place will be cancelled.

The Writing Bootcamp does not include:

• Subject specific guidance or advice
• Editing or individual feedback/advice

The literature review is a key component of a dissertation, because it motivates and contextualises key research issue. Developing a review is a complex task which involves selecting, organising and evaluating source material; reading actively while taking effective notes; and shaping relevant information into a coherent piece of writing. This workshop offers practical ways of making this process manageable and beginning to develop a review.

Pre-course work:

Please bring  printed copy of an article (by an author other than yourself) that you are familiar with and are planning to incorporate into your literature review.

As a Masters student, you need to be critical… but how? And what exactly does it mean?

This friendly, interactive online workshop will give you some starter ideas on how to take a more critical approach to thinking generally for your masters.

Students are encouraged to ask questions and voice opinions during the workshop.

Students are asked to think about what ‘being critical’ means to them.

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific conventions or advice
• English Language advice

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

As a masters student, you will need to demonstrate your critical thinking skills throughout your dissertation.

This interactive online workshop will give you some tips and strategies on how to plan for, practice and communicate critical thinking in your dissertation.

Students should have their dissertation title (it does not need to final) and the dissertation marking criteria if possible (this maybe in the programme guide or online).

Students are encouraged to comment and ask questions during the workshop.

This workshop does not include

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

This is a two-part workshop with sessions. Please only book a place if you are able to attend both sessions.

We all make decisions every day. However, that doesn’t mean we all find it easy.  Indeed, the ability to make good decisions may make the difference between success and failure in many aspects of life.  What influences our decision making?  What is a good decision?  How can we arrive at the best possible decision?   How do we think about risk? During these two online sessions we will address these questions, using a mixture of short interactive lectures interspersed with activities, including one that you will do offline between the sessions, that will allow you to discover what kind of decision-maker you are, and to put your decision making into practice.

After the workshop each participant will:

• understand the factors—economic, psychological and social—that influence your own decision making and that of others
• be able to define an important decision and an effective decision
• be able to use these insights to make more effective personal decisions
• be able to understand the decisions of others and how you may influence them
• appreciate how individuals think and decide about risk.

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

Want more from your dissertation? Think about a publication!

Your dissertation requires a substantial amount of time and effort from you, so how can you get the most out of it? One way to make your dissertation work for you is to publish it. Many dissertations represent significant additions and advancements to their field. Publishing is a way to get your work noticed and can lead to surprising opportunities. And it doesn’t have to be just journal articles!

This 1 hour, online interactive workshop will discuss strategies for producing a range of publications from your dissertation. It is open to online and on-campus students.

This workshop does not include

• Referencing and formatting
• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

These sessions are designed for new online learners, but if you're in your second or third year, you're still welcome. The sessions will cover accessing and using Library resources. When you register, you'll be asked to indicate any particular things you'd like covered, so the sessions will be tailored to cover as much as possible of what is requested in advance. Before the session, you might find it useful to watch this induction presentation https://youtu.be/srqpOtxXgE0.

Learning outcomes – as a result of this session, you will:

• Know how to discover and find the resources available via the Library.  This will include databases and journals recommended for your subject area
• Know how to get your hands on readings and how to access full text articles or books from references you already know
• Know techniques for planning your research and finding new publications on a topic

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom).Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This workshop is open to all postgraduate taught (PGT) students.

Getting started writing your dissertation can be a daunting task. It can be difficult to get started and really easy to put off! But no-one else can write your dissertation but you…

So how do you start, and maintain, writing your dissertation?

This online interactive session will give you practical strategies for thinking about writing, planning your writing and actually starting to write your dissertation.

This workshop does not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific referencing, formatting, or advice
• English Language advice

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

If you find writing a challenge, you are not alone. There are a number of difficulties, but many writers find that their biggest problem is simply getting started.

In this online session we will focus on strategies we can use to help us get over that fear of the big blank page.  We will look at freewriting and how this can help us generate text and, also, help us think on paper.

By the end of this one hour interactive online session, you will have a better understanding of what free writing is and how it can help you in your scientific writing and your scientific thinking.

And, you will also learn a little about unicorns.

During this session, you will have the opportunity to do some freewriting, so make sure you have some paper and a pen handy.

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This workshop is open to all postgraduate taught (PGT) students.

A dissertation is a serious investment of time and energy. It is the defining feature of a Masters so it is worth thinking about what it is you really want to do with it and what you really want to get out of it.

This online interactive session will give you strategies to start thinking about the subject and focus of your dissertation as well as practical tips for project managing it. Participants are encourage to ask questions and raise issues.

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

Cancelling: If you need to cancel your booking, please do so at the earliest opportunity and at least 3 working days before the event.  Someone else may be able to take your place, but we need time to contact them. Also, although you are not charged for an event, there are costs we incur which relate directly to places reserved.

This is an online drop-in session with staff from the Library and Institute for Academic Development.  It is designed for you to ask any questions about starting and getting prepared for your Online Learning course at Edinburgh.

There will be members of staff from the Institute for Academic Development (IAD - PGT study support) available at the session to help you orient around the online provisions, as well as providing a space just to talk about what it's like to be an Online Learner student.

This session is for online students only. It is a general session about preparing to study as an online student and will not cover programme/ subject specifics.

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

You will be expected to produce significant pieces of academic writing for your Masters e.g. reports, essays and your dissertation! They are a major investment of time and effort, so it is worth spending time polishing it by properly proofreading and editing.

This interactive online session will introduce useful tips and strategies to help you incorporate effective proof-reading and editing into your writing process.

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice
• Feedback on individual pieces of work
• Proof-reading or editing of individual pieces of work

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This workshop is open to all postgraduate taught (PGT) students.

A dissertation is a significant piece of academic writing and the defining feature of a Master’s degree, so it is worth taking time to consider your structure.

This interactive session will help you step back from the detail of your writing and take an overview of your dissertation.  It will suggest practical ways you can isolate the main themes of your work and develop a convincing order to present your ideas.  We will also discuss the purpose of key sections of academic dissertations.  

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice
• Feedback on individual pieces of work
• Proof-reading or editing of individual pieces of work

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

The Course is a mixture of presentations and hands on practical computer-based sessions to help participants understand the information research process and develop good practice in literature searching.

The key objectives and aims of the course are:

• Develop an understanding of how information resources provided by the Library and beyond, both printed and electronic, are organised and their major features
• Develop the ability to search and evaluate research literature by performing advanced search strategies and techniques, such as by using Boolean search operators
• Develop the ability to manage search results and citation styles with the help of a bibliographic management software such as EndNote

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

All successful projects need to be actively managed.  This is true of writing a dissertation, planning a research project, gaining employment or even cooking a meal for friends.  In this online lecture we will look at how we should approach a project, plan it and execute it.  Along the way we will look at the commonest mistakes people make as well as a number of tips that will help us bring our project to a successful completion.

After the session each participant will:

•        be able to define the different component parts of a project

•        understand the common challenges that arise when managing a project

•        be familiar with simple project management tools and techniques

•        be able to put these into practice

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

Whether we like it or not, in modern academia we are judged by how much we publish and where it is published. Thus, all academics strive to get their work  accepted in the highest impact journals. However, this takes work and often requires persistence. In this online presentation, Allan Gaw, who has been an academic for over 30 years and who has published extensively, will give you his top tips for success.  

After the presentation, the attendees will:

• be aware of the importance of choosing the right journal

• understand the need to follow the instructions to authors

• know how to structure an academic paper

• appreciate the peer review process

• know how to respond to, and when to challenge, a review

Whether you are writing a Masters Dissertation, a PhD Thesis, a Grant Application or a Paper you will be required to produce a literature review. This aspect of academic writing presents many problems to those new, and sometimes not so new, to the task.  Some mistakenly think that a simple, and often exhaustive, catalogue of past research is what is required.  But, or course, a good literature review is much more than that.  This online presentation will guide the participants through a carefully plotted route, helping them to produce a winning strategy for writing their next literature review.

After the workshop each participant will:

• understand the key elements of a good literature review and its purpose
• be able to formulate a literature review writing plan
• possess the necessary critical skills to summarise & synthesise literature
• appreciate the need for editing and review of the written work.

A Masters programme is an intensive and demanding period. You have to fit a lot of challenging work in around your life, your work, your family etc. and try to keep the momentum going.

This online, interactive workshop aims to give you practical tips and strategies to working effectively during your masters.

Participants are encouraged to ask questions and raise issues they would like to discuss.

Pre-coursework

Participants are asked to think of their main challenges when it comes to time management – and be prepared to tackle it!

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

When it comes to effective revision, what works and what doesn’t? This online workshop will focus on revision techniques that have been demonstrated to be effective and how you can use and adapt your current habits to incorporate them.  

This session is informal, friendly and includes discussion in a supportive atmosphere.  You are encouraged to ask questions and raise issues.

This workshop will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific examination formats
• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice
• Referencing

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This online workshop will be an hour session focusing on how to manage your exams by improving your exam technique.

The session will focus on issues raised by participants and so could cover, for example, exam preparation and participation; i.e. how to cope with stress, practicing your exam technique and a review of exam strategies.

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This session is suitable for any taught postgraduate student who wants to improve their exam technique.

This session is open to all UG, PGT, PGR and Online Learners who would like to get help or advice for using Endnote to keep a database of literature sources and create reference lists easily in essays and other written work.

Learning outcomes are tailored to fit your aims and queries submitted when you register, but sessions in the past have covered:

• Why use EndNote (or any bibliographic manager)
• Getting started
• Adding records to EndNote
  • Manually
  • Exporting from literature databases
  • Creating citations in Word from EndNote
    • Inserting citations and reference lists
    • Changing the formats of citations and reference lists
    • Added value – managing your literature sources
      • Attachments to records
      • Adding your research notes
      • Alternatives to EndNote

EndNote is installed on all on-campus open access computers (like the Library) but you can get your own copy of EndNote desktop version via the UoE Licence https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/computing/desktop-personal/software/main-software-deals/endnote    Comparison chart of EndNote and other bibliographic management software options http://www.docs.is.ed.ac.uk/mvm/BiblioManagersTable.pdf

This session is intended for all UG, PGT, PGR and Online Learners who would like to get help or advice for using Mendeley to keep a database of literature sources and create reference lists easily in essays and other written work.

Learning outcomes are tailored to fit your aims and queries submitted when you register, but sessions in the past have covered:

• Why use Mendeley? (or any bibliographic manager)
• Getting started
  • Overview: web and desktop components
  • Registration & downloading Mendeley desktop
  • Intalling plugins
• Adding records to Mendeley
  • Manually
  • Importing pdfs and using watched folders
  • Exporting from literature databases
• Creating citations in Word from Mendeley
  • Inserting citations and reference lists into Word
  • Changing the formats of citations and reference lists
• Added value
  • Searching records & attached files
  • Adding your research notes
  • Folders and Groups
  • Finding & merging duplicate records
  • Mendeley’s File Organiser
• Mendeley: comparative strengths & weaknesses

 *Before* the workshop, you should

1.Sign up for a Mendeley account and download the desktop client: http://www.mendeley.com/

2.Follow these video tutorials for getting started: http://www.mendeley.com/videos-tutorials/

3. Try to use Mendeley before the tutorial – you’ll get more out of the tutorial if you do.

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This session is intended for all UG, PGT and PGR who would like to get help or advice for using Zotero to keep a database of literature sources and create reference lists easily in essays and other written work.

Learning outcomes are tailored to fit your aims and queries submitted when you register, but sessions in the past have covered:

• Why use Zotero? (or any bibliographic manager)
• Getting started
  • Overview: browser, web and standalone options
  • Registration & installation
  • Intalling plugins
• Adding records
  • Manually
  • Importing pdfs and using watched folders
  • Exporting from literature databases
• Creating citations in Word
  • Inserting citations and reference lists into Word
  • Changing the formats of citations and reference lists
• Added value
  • Searching records & attached files
  • Adding your research notes
  • Organising into collections, sharing with groups, using tags
• Zotero: comparative strengths & weaknesses

 *Before* the workshop, you should

1. Sign up for a Zotero account https://www.zotero.org/user/register/

2. Download both the Firefox plugin and the standalone client: https://www.zotero.org/download/

 3. Follow these video tutorials for getting started https://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials

 4. Try to use Zotero before the tutorial – you’ll get more out of the tutorial if you do.

This session will take place via blackboard collaborate (virtual classroom). Booking is required in order to receive the workshop link and further information about how to join the session.

This short information session will focus on the importance of managing your digital footprint (online identity), including keeping safe online and creating an effective online identity for employability, meeting others, impact, or research purposes. The session will also provide some hints and tips on using different social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and others. We encourage you to come along with questions!

The session will be delivered online via Blackboard Collaborate and a link will be emailed to you before the session (you do not need to install any software).

**This session will not be recorded**

Further information about Digital Footprints can be found www.ed.ac.uk/iad/digitalfootprint

Or the Digital Footprint MOOC which runs every 4 weeks (3 week free online course) http://coursera.org/learn/digital-footprint/