Annotated Bibliography

Instruction:

SUBMIT ON COMPLETION OF MODULES 5, 6 AND 7

Have another look at the PDF on how to write an annotated bibliography in section 6 then prepare an annotated bibliography on the topic of “online learning”.

Modules Five

Topic: Reading to Learn

Learning outcome: Describe and employ strategies for effective reading

Module Six

Topic: Academic Writing and Research in University

Learning outcomes: Identify and accurately judge the credibility of websites

Module Seven

Topic: Listening, Note Taking Reading and Studying

Learning outcomes: Adequately describe effective listening, note taking, memory retention, and writing skills, and methods for improving these skills

Module Five: Reading to learn

At first glance, you may think that the topic of this Module—Reading—is unnecessary.  You may think you already know everything there is to know about reading.  After all, you are doing it quite well right now.;  However, before you skip to the next Module, consider how often you will be asked to read something in university.  The truth is, if you approach every reading assignment you receive in university by reading one word after another, you will probably never finish in time!

The amount of reading material a university student is responsible for requires different types of reading skills than you have likely been taught in elementary and high school.  This Module will explain how you can learn more in less time during your reading sessions by scanning the body of text and taking notes before you read, identifying the most important passages to read closely, and then reviewing the important material afterwards.

Reading comprehension is actually a skill that you can improve upon for a lifetime.  As you read this Module, keep in mind that the goal of effective learning is not to read the text as quickly as possible, but rather to read it as effectively as possible.  If, after you have read a text, you cannot remember the main points, you have wasted your precious time!  This Module will help you ensure that the time you spend reading is used in a valuable way.

5.1 Assess Your Current Knowledge and Attitudes

5.2 A New Way to Approach Reading

5.3 How Do You Read to Learn?

5.4 Dealing with Special Texts

There are sections in the texts relevant to maths, science, social science and foreign language. Select the ones that most relevant to you. In business, political and economics maths and social science are important, but the other topics may be interesting for other units you complete, or to understand how different disciplines (subject areas) operate.

For online reading there are unique—but critical—issues that arise .This Unit will address this issue in more detail later in Module 5.  For now, concentrate on understanding the importance of evaluating the quality of online material; there is no use spending precious time reading something if it is not good quality information!

5.5 Building Your Vocabulary

Academia uses specific vocabulary and is more formal than day-to-day conversation and writing. You may need to think about this as you write and converse with your peers and unit convenors. Complete the activity in section 4.5.1, which will help you become more aware of how you may overuse these common words.  For an even more accurate measurement, record your conversation with a friend (with their permission, of course!) and listen to it yourself.

You will build your academic vocabulary over time and it will occur mainly through reading. The more you read and practice, the better your language use will become.

Module Six: Academic writing and research at university

This Module addresses a very important topic: university-level writing.  Improved writing is one of the major, universal skills that you will take away from a university experience, and it will likely be the skill you use most in your post-university life.  Consider for a minute the many ways in which your writing is the first impression people have about you: emails, thank you notes to your parents’ friends, job applications, the report your supervisor forwards to the CEO, your blog, or your personal website.  Good writing will distinguish you dramatically from your peers and bring terrific advantages in the long term.

Yet, university writing is a very specific kind of writing, with its own set of rules and requirements that are different from any writing you will probably do before or after university.  University writing rules are designed to also teach you about methodical thinking. Writing out a problem, organizing the pieces of the solution to the problem, and then describing the solution clearly for the reader requires you, the writer, to think carefully about the problem itself.  So good writing is both a goal in itself and a tool to reach other goals.  This Module will not necessarily make you a better writer, but it will help you understand the steps to becoming a better writer.

Writing in university is often also designed to teach you about research, provide you with opportunities to conduct research, and teach you how to present the results of research.  In some classes, you might write about research you physically do—like in a politics or economic units—but in other classes “research” means reading what many other people think about a topic, and then coming to your own conclusion.  This Module also covers the basic process for doing this second form of research, including the important topic of finding quality information on the Internet.

6.1 What Is Academic Writing?

6.2 Approaches to a Writing Assignment

6.3 Becoming a Better Writer

Successful writing contains clear headings, demonstrated understanding of the question, explanation of how you will answer the questions (also known as your thesis), evidence supporting your thesis including your analysis of the evidence, and finally making sure you proof read your final product for clarity and to fix errors. If you can, it’s a good idea to get someone else to help you proof read. Often when you read your own work, you won’t see the errors. Another trick is to read your work out loud to yourself. Often that will identify any typos or ill constructed sentences.

6.4 Using Others’ Writing Correctly

6.5 Integrating Research into Your Writing

Research is essential to strong academic writing. It is the evidence that proves your position. Research is more than just finding someone who has gone before you and using their words to support you, it’s your analysis of what other people have produced. The following tutorial from the University of California is a good grounding in basic types of information and research

Even though you’re studying fully online, you can access e-books through the University library. In fact, if you find a text that you think is helpful during the course of your study; please let your unit convenor know as we might be able to get it as an e-book to share with other students.

Of course these days’ online resources are abundant. Even this unit is using materials from all over the world. The trick is in knowing when you have a reliable source versus one that is not reliable. The following tutorials will help in your searching abilities.

Module Seven: Listening, note taking, reading and studying

The five most basic building blocks of learning in university—and elsewhere—are reading, writing, listening, taking notes, and studying.  You have already learned how to improve your reading skills in Module 5 and your writing skills in Module 6. This Module presents listening and taking notes and techniques for doing these skills well.  Finally, Module 8 will cover memory, a key component of studying.  You almost certainly already know how to do all of these things, but could you do them even better?  Do you know how to improve them?

Like any other skill, the key to improving your effectiveness at these skills is to understand the skill better.  Just as a baseball player or golfer will not get better at hitting the ball by continuing to swing poorly over and over, you will not become a better listener by continuing to listen poorly!  The athlete needs to look at his swing, get advice on how to swing better, and practice the better swing. Even professional athletes analyze their performance to improve, so no matter how good you already are, this Module will give you tools to become a more effective student.

7.1 The Learning Cycle: Prepare, Absorb, Capture/Record, Review/Apply

7.2 Prepare to Learn in Class

Studying 100% online means you don’t have a class to attend, however, you will be listening to online material and in some units you may have access to online presentations and perhaps a seminar where you can participate. As you go through this module, consider these aspects for your learning. As your study goes on you might also choose to study a unit on campus in which case these skills would be helpful.

7.3 Strategies to Improve Your Listening

Like other aspects of university study listening requires focus and attention. You need to be ready to listen (not thinking about the massive task list you have to complete for work or for the family) and eliminate distractions. Listening is also about more than what is being said, it’s about what people leave out. This is particularly important in academic studies where you have to critically consider what is being told to you. Why would one speaker say one thing but omit information? Why would another speaker on the same topic only discuss what was omitted by the first?

Asking questions is also an important part of listening. It’s a way of confirming what you’ve heard was actually the intended communication. It’s also a way of exploring concepts with which you’re not familiar. While this applies to listening, asking questions online is also another way to test your understanding and knowledge. Never be afraid to ask!

7.4 Capture Information Using Note Taking

There are different ways to take notes and the trick is to find the approach that suits you. Even though you’re learning online, there is still value in making your own notes. It’s about choosing the important sections of the readings and multimedia that is relevant to you. What is important for your way of thinking will be different for others, and not taking is where you will build your repository of information to support you in your units.

In this reading you will learn about four types of note taking:

• Lists
• Outlines
• Concept maps, and
• Cornell Method.

Practice them all to see what works best. Sometimes it might be a combination of two or more.