Portfolio: Tasks for Research Skills and Academic Methods

Teacher's motivation

The realization that the best way for students to become familiar with the work processes related to research and academic writing was through completing research and compostitional tasks related to ongoing research in other courses.

Description of the activity

The students are given the portfolio guide and all of the portfolio tasks templates at the beginning of the semester and then required to hand them in at the due dates. Any tasks that isn’t completely satisfactorily must be re-done. At the end of the semester the students hand in all of the tasks.

Outcome of the activity

Students are much better prepared to do university-level research. They feel more confident about starting research, have a sense of where to find information and have a better overview of the research process. They are also better equipped to write research papers.

Activities

Examples of practice

Basic information

Faculty: Arts
Degree Programme: English
Course: Research Skills and Academic Methods
Study level: BA, 1st semester
Course size: Individual or small groups
Teaching method: Small class teaching
Extent: Whole course
Primary type of activity: Acquisition
How the case was conducted: Campus teaching

Learning objectives

In the assessment of exam performance, emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student:

Demonstrates skills in effective information searches based on well-defined information requirements
Applies academic assessment criteria in the selection of relevant information and materials
Distinguishes between academic and popular material and between primary and secondary sources
Demonstrates knowledge of computer-based information systems
Demonstrates an ability to formulate academic issues and to plan and organise academic assignments correctly
Demonstrates an ability to communicate about complex issues in a scholarly manner.