Update for Faculty of Pure
Science
Katherine Linehan
K.Linehan@shef.ac.uk
What Pure Science wants from
TASH
• Generic but with clear discipline
relevance-departments are
submitting 5 ‘topics’ they would
like covered.
• Resource embedded into the
curriculum.
• Areas of cross-talk identified-are
any of these relevant to other
faculties?
Tutor facing guides
• Brief introduction to the resource.
• Who is the resource for?
• What does the resource do?
• How is the resource structured to
support users.
• Why do students engage with the
resource? How can it be
promoted/embedded more
generally?
Careers - Profiling for Success
Brief introduction to the resource
• "Profiling for Success" is an online
assessment package provided by the
Careers Service for University of
Sheffield students and graduates. It
includes two personality type indicators
to help students understand themselves
and three practice aptitude tests. For
each assessment students take, they
receive an email with information on their
results and helpful feedback. In addition,
they can make an appointment with a
Careers Adviser to discuss their results
in person by telephoning 0114 2220910.
ELTC- study skills for students
with dyslexia
Who is the resource for?
• This resource was designed primarily for
students with dyslexia, but it will also be
useful for any other students who need
some help with their study skills at preentry, undergraduate and post-graduate
level. As the resource is audio led, and
accompanied with graphics and simple
bullet points, without dense blocks of
text, it will appeal to students with visual
and auditory learning styles. The
interactive nature of the resource will
also appeal to kinaesthetic learners. The
resource is designed for self-study at any
pace, and therefore will be useful for
distance learners and part-time learners,
or mature learners who want to brush up
on their study skills before and during
their course.
TILL-compass resource
Why do students engage with the resource?
• New users are encouraged to engage with the
resource at interview stage, then by letter before
the beginning of their studies. They are then
reintroduced to it at the departmental induction,
and encouraged by programme directors to
continue their engagement throughout the first
semester. The intention is to make it central to the
experience of new TILL students, and offer a
resource they can access at their convenience
rather than being tied in to conventional hours of
business, a central concern for part-time
students. While it cannot replace the face-to-face
personal support that all new students require, it
does support this, and provide a common
reference-point for different individuals involved in
student support. Feedback from users has
indicated that they are happy returning to sections
of the resource that they have previously worked
through, and that overall it has proved a safe and
contained starting-point for exploration of the
further resources linked in the resource.
Information skills resource
Dual navigation …
your way and
TASH’s way
Inner ring – core messages:
• Developing academic literacy …
• and personal (life) skills …
• through active engagement with
resource, reflective selfassessment and action planning
for future skills development.
Middle ring - Case studies and exercises
• Orientation case studies (e.g. researching
housing, transport & entertainment in the Sheffield
area; e.g. BMS project design induction task);
• Expectations & personal skills audit (e.g.
quizzes & self-assessment tasks; VARK; speed
reading, literacy, numeracy & ICT tests; time
management calendars & reflective journal?);
• Communication & re-presentation
exercises (e.g. essay to poster; abstract to press
release; email to professional letter; text to table to
graph; argument for the defence into argument for
the prosecution …)
Outer ring – generic introductions to topics with
signposting to UoS & external resources
Skill
Academic Literacy
UoS online
What does it mean to be
"academic"?
Institutional context
IST = Info Skills Tutorials
Understanding assessment
SSDS = Study Skills for
Dyslexic Students
Library Skills
IST
S4L = Skills for Life resources Reading skills
SSDS
E@S = Enterprise at Sheffield
resources
Listening skills
SSDS
ELTC = English Language
Teaching Centre
Note-taking
SSDS
MASH = Maths & Statistics
Help
Referencing
IST
Creativity
Exam technique
Populating table under following
headings:
• TUOS online
• TUOS face to face
• TUOS existing materials (n.b. accessibility
issues with MOLE in particular)
• TASH commissioned materials (resource
and/or disciplinary exemplars)
• External online
• External face to face (e.g. outreach, IAG)