Open workshops

So, you’ve got an assignment due, and naturally you want to do your very best.  While you’ve written assignments before, have you ever stopped to think about how you go about planning them? 

In this session we’ll spend some time thinking about the planning stage.  Even if you already have your own way of going about this, it is always helpful to spend some time reflecting on what is working well and what could be done more efficiently.  This workshop will give you some things to consider.  

This workshop does not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• Assignment specific advice
• English Language advice 
• Referencing

Your aissgnment is due, and even though you’ve done the research, you’re finding it difficult to get started on the writing stage.  Rest assured, this is a very common problem, and it can be overcome. In this session we’ll spend some time thinking about starting to write and how to get words on paper.  Even if you already have your own way of going about this, it is always helpful to spend some time reflecting on what is working well and what could be done differently.  This workshop will give you some things to consider for the writing stage.  

This workshop does not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• Assignment specific advice
• English Language advice
• Referencing

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 workshop does not include:

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

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

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.

What does your supervisor mean when they tell you that your writing is ‘too descriptive’ or ‘not critical enough’? Are you supposed to criticise published work by more senior authors? In this workshop, we address these questions by exploring ‘critical reading’ in theory and practice: what it means, how to read critically, and how to develop a scholarly mindset.

This interactive workshop is open to all PGT students and is not discipline-specific. You will be invited to engage and respond via the chat function, and encouraged to ask questions.

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-line workshop will consider ways you might enhance your academic writing, including by adopting techniques from non-academic writing and creative styles. During the workshop you will:

• consider how you might read as a writer
• reflect on your choices about language and style
• think about how to write with an audience in mind
• apply techniques for communicating abstract concepts
• consider paraphrasing as a matter of voice

This workshop is for suitable for all taught postgraduate (PGT) students who are about to start, or have started their dissertation or research project.

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, including top tips to set you up to complete in time.

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

This workshop will not cover

• Referencing
• Subject or discipline specifics
• Project or dissertation specifics
• English Language advice

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 can you start, and maintain, writing your dissertation?

This online, friendly and interactive session will give you strategies:

• Thinking about writing
• Planning your writing and,
• Actually starting writing your dissertation.

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

This workshop will not cover

• Referencing
• Formatting or software
• Subject or discipline specifics
• English Language advice

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.

The amount of reading you need to do for a Masters can be overwhelming. There’s a lot of information from a lot of sources that you will need to read, digest and then use to build your argument. Students often want to know how to speed read to get through it all. But is it about reading quicker or reading more effectively? And do you really need to read everything?

This workshop will focus on:

• Identifying the different purposes of reading
• Ways to prioritise reading
• Strategies for effective reading and note making

This workshop does not include:

• How to search for readings or literature
• Subject or discipline specific advice
• English Language advice

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 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 encouraged to ask questions and raise issues.

This workshop does not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

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.

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.

 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 highly interactive workshop is open to all PGT students and is not discipline specific – the techniques can be applied in any subject.

Participants will be required to engage with the session via the chat function, and are encouraged to ask questions.

Research questions are critical to conducting research, yet the process of crafting questions has not advanced. This workshop takes research question design to a new level by combining principles of visual thinking, urban design, academic research, and critical enquiry. Bring your dissertation research topic and get ready to approach research question design in a radically new way!

This workshop will cover:

• Visual Thinking
• Fundamentals of Asking Questions
• The Four (Visual) Qualities of Urban Design
• Sample Research Topic and Application of Method
• Design Your Own Research Question Step by Step

Please have your research question (or draft version) to hand to use during the workshop.

The session is delivered using a blend of presentation, demonstration and hands-on practice to help participants understand the information research process and develop good practice in literature searching.

Participants are encouraged to follow along using their own device as presenters demonstrate online search strategies and techniques.

Learning objectives – as a result of this session you will…

• Develop an understanding of how the Library's print and electronic information resources are organised
• Be able to identify, select and use library resources appropriate to your research or study
• Develop the ability to search and evaluate research literature by performing advanced search strategies and techniques, such as using Boolean search operators
• Be aware of how to manage search results

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 focused webinar 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.  You will learn practical tools 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 does 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 online workshop will explore the difference between editing and writing, and it will examine the different kinds of editing. The keywords are flow and clarity, and the focus will be broadly on paragraph editing and sentence editing. There will be an emphasis on writing as a craft and how practical editorial skills can contribute to this process.

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 workshop does not include:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• English Language advice

A literature review contextualises and motivates research; that makes it a key component of any publication. In this workshop, we take a step back and look at what’s involved in the process of developing a review. Keeping in mind the core qualities of a good review across disciplines, we will explore how you can approach relevant tasks without feeling overwhelmed.

This interactive workshop is open to all PGT students and is not discipline-specific. You will be invited to engage and respond via the chat function, and encouraged to ask questions.

This workshops is for students who are unfamiliar with, or would like a reminder about, referencing.

Most students know that they need to ‘reference’ in their academic work using a particular style. Different subjects use different style, and you may even have to use different systems for different courses and assignment.

But what is it? How do you do it? And when do you do it? This workshop will cover:

• What referencing is
• When to do it
• How to do it in Harvard style
• Resources for referencing

This session is informal, friendly and you are encouraged to ask questions and raise issues. It will include some practical activities.

This workshop will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice
• Style or item specific advice
• English Language advice

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

Moving from essays and assignments to larger based project work such as dissertations can often feel like a step into the unknown. This workshop will help to clarify dissertation/project expectations and provide practical strategies that you can use to optimise your dissertation experience. Specifically it will cover:

• What does a dissertation/project look like?

• How do I choose a topic?

• How do I write a literature review?

• How do I bring everything together into a coherent thesis?

This session will not cover:

• Subject or discipline-specific advice

• English Language advice

This session is open to all UG, PGT, PGR and Online Students 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 Students 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 is intended for all UG, PGT, PGR and Online Students 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.