Personal Preperation

Having only just had Professional Identity project launch I have been eager to improve certain aspects of my work as much as possible to begin this final year. I started to think about the things I could utilize to help me throughout these projects. Up until this point I was unaware that Student Services at University were offering support lessons during the lunch hour to advise students on various subjects that can be an issue for students.

The sheet printed for me with the talk schedule is shown below, I have added a star next to the talks that may particularly interest me and that I may benefit from the most.

These three talks include:

Monday 19/10/2015: Dissertation- How to plan and structure your dissertation.

This will benefit me immensely as I struggle the most with academic writing and essays. Dissertation fills me with dread as I believe it could effect my overall final grade massively if I allow it to.

Wednesday 21/10/15: Teaching as a Career: Are you thinking of teaching in the future? This presentation outlines the options including teaching at Primary, Secondary or Post 16 levels.

Something I have been contimplating over the last year is the possibility of furthering my education into Postgraduate study, perhaps allowing me the opportunity to teach- this is a long shot however the talk may aid my decision on the prospect of this after graduation.

Wednesday 28/10/15: Practical Guide to Freelancing: Starting as a freelancer can be daunting experience if you haven't done it before. This session gives you all the steps you need.

This talk about freelancing may help me during and after graduation to aquire further industry experience and gaining paid work.

Notes

Dissertations and how to survive them.

Don’t ignore the dissertation it will become a bigger problem.

How do you eat an elephant- one bite at a time.

Regard the essay as something you do one bit by bit.

Demonstrate that you can research an aspect of your work and link it to the wider picture of others theories.

Shows that you can collaborate information.

Example dissertation titles- look at examples on the internet and see how they are presented.

A useful resource- http://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/introduction/ The royal literary fund

Using word count helps you structure your work.

Out of 5000 words – introduction, main body of topic and conclusion.

Introduction 300-500 words (2-3 paragraphs)

Main body 4000-4500 words (divided into topics) eg. 3-5 main sections roughly 900-1200 words if 4 (25-30 paragraphs)

Conclusion 300-500 words (2-3 paragraphs)

Can write sections first rather than the whole thing once all research has been done.

Sentences should be roughly two lines – about 25 words

Paragraph guideline around 1/3 of the page.

Dissertation becomes more manageable when you break the structure down.

Sort out initial ideas,

Mind maps can give you a frameworks of structure.

Think about what you need to cover.

Use separate colours for separate topics, then you can highlight relevant quotes and information to colour code the information relevant to each topic.

Can separately reference your topics if that helps.

Compare and contrast – look at slide for structuring comparing and contrasting

In relation to….. persons name states/concludes that….. however other persons name considers….. alternative view.

End of paragraph is your personal view and mini conclusion based on research evidence.

Make sure your work is:

Clear
Relevant
Accurate
Precise

Get the balance between depth and breadth- make your questions specific