7.2 Developing a strategy Present notes/records that show you have planned your use of problem-solving skills in tackling a selected problem from your study or work. Your evidence must include: the goals you hope to achieve over 3–4 months or so; you should indicate how these goals relate to the context in which you are working and to your current capabilities; how you planned and explored the problem and set out the next stages of the work, for example, using
Conclusion This free course provided an introduction to studying Information and Communication Technologies. It took you through a series of exercises designed to develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and helped to improve your confidence as an independent learner.
7.4 Evaluating your strategy and assessing your work Include a reflective summary that gives details of: a judgement of your own progress and performance in the information literacy skills you set out to improve, including an assessment of where you feel you have made the greatest progress; discuss how you used criteria and feedback comments to help you assess your progress; those factors that had the greatest effect on your achieving what you set out to do; include those that worked well
1 Developing information literacy skills This Key Skill Assessment Course offers an opportunity for you to select and prepare work that demonstrates your key skills in the area of information literacy. This unit provides you with advice and information on how to go about presenting your key skills work as a portfolio. In presenting work that demonstrates your key skills you are taking the initiative to show that you can develop and improve a particular set of skills, and are able to use your skills more generally in your
Learning outcomes After studying this course, you should be able to: demonstrate a strategy for using skills in information literacy over an extended period of time monitor progress and adapt the strategy as necessary, to achieve the quality of outcomes required evaluate this overall strategy and present outcomes from your work, including citations and a bibliography.
7.2 Developing a strategy Present notes/records that show you have planned your use of IT skills. Your evidence must include: the goals you hope to achieve over 3–4 months or so; you should indicate how these goals relate to the context in which you are working and to your current capabilities; notes about the resources you might use, and what information you need to research to achieve your goals; for example, discussions and e-conferences, online resources, s
1.1.7 Using the memory buttons Calculations involving several operations can also be carried out in stages. One way to do this is to use the '=' key part way through the calculation. You can also use the calculator's memory. The Windows calculator has a number of memory buttons, shown in Figure 2, to help y
1.1.4 Simple arithmetic operations To perform a simple arithmetic calculation: Enter the first number in the calculation (for example '123') using one of the following methods: Using your computer keyboard's numeric keypad, which (if you have one) is on the right of your computer keyboard. Check to see whether the Num Lock indicator light is on and if it is not press the NUM LOCK key. Using your computer keyboard's numeric key
Introduction One of the most fascinating and productive ways of using your computer for study is connecting to the internet to access the extensive amount of information available on the web. Such a diverse range of material brings its own challenges. It's therefore useful to know how to search effectively. Have a look at our Web Guide (accessed 8 November 2006). The BBC's Webwise online course (accessed 8 November 2006) will also help you become a confident web user. This
2.1.1 Rewriting text as relationship diagrams A spray diagram can help with note-making. In this section, I want to go a little further and show how you can use diagrams to help you understand what someone else has written. Here, it doesn't matter how well you can draw, as long as the finished diagram makes sense to you. As you become more confident at drawing diagrams for yourself, you will be able to move on to drawing diagrams for others. At this stage, you may still have doubts about the value of diagrams for understandi
2.1 Analysing text Some people find it easy to use diagrams in their studies. But I realise that there are others who don't take to diagrams at all enthusiastically. If this is how you feel, please read what follows, as I am convinced that everyone can get something from using diagrams to help their thinking. However, if after working through these sections, you still believe that diagramming as an aid to studying is ‘not for you’, then don't force yourself into an approach that doesn't suit y
1.2.2 Graphs and charts Line graphs, histograms and bar charts are diagrams that show the relationship between two different quantities. For example, in hospital, a patient's temperature is often recorded at regular intervals and plotted as a line graph. This allows medical staff to see at a glance how high the temperature is and how it is changing. You often see graphs and charts in the media summarising unemployment figures or a company's profits over the last few months. There are two examples of these types of d
5.1.10 Philosophy Flew, A. (ed.) (1979) A Dictionary of Philosophy, London, Pan Books. Bunnin, N., and Tsui-James, E.P.> (eds) (1996) The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy, Oxford, Blackwell.
5.1.8 Media Studies Watson, J. and Hill, A. (eds) (1984) A Dictionary of Communication and Media Studies, London, Arnold.
2.5.1 Sentences We can see that Philip knows what a sentence is because he writes some perfectly good ones. For example: In many ways going into urban life from the countryside was beneficial to woman of the upperclass. This sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. It has a subject (urban life) and a main verb (was). As any sentence is, it is a self-contained ‘unit of meaning’. It m
1.1 Why write? Of all aspects of studying, writing is probably the most challenging. That is because when you write down an account of your ideas for other people to read you have to explain yourself particularly carefully. You can't make the mental leaps you do when you are in conversation with others or thinking about something for yourself. To make your meaning clear, using only words on a page, you have to work out exactly what you think about the subject. You come to understand it for yourself i
Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this supplement: Course image: Author(s):
2.3 Summary of Section 2 Mind–body dualism has been a pervasive problem since the seventeenth century. One consequence of this dualism is the way in which bodies have been treated in psychology. They have generally either been ignored or reduced to biology. However, our bodies are much more than simply biology; at the very least, they are the interface between the individual and the social world or, more radically, they are inherently social objects. There is growing recognition of the interaction between our bodie
2.2 Body as ‘identity project’ In Western culture, television ‘makeover’ shows in which individuals opt for plastic surgery or are given advice on clothes, makeup, diet and exercise have gained considerable popular appeal. It seems that large numbers of people are buying into the idea that lives can be radically changed through such makeovers. Supposedly unattractive people who are unhappy with their lives are transformed into supposedly more beautiful and happy people leading satisfying lives. In reality, however, doe
2.5.1 Highly unsaturated fatty acids As we saw in Section 1, ‘medical’ approaches to some psychological conditions have focused on biochemistry and the use of corresponding drug treatments. Very little research of this kind has been applied to dyslexia. However, emerging evidence suggests that there may be a biochemical contribution involving abnormal metabolism of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) – essential substances that play a key role in brain development and the maintenance of normal brain function. In f
