8.3 Academic arguments You have looked at some examples of everyday arguments, now look at a short example of an academic argument. Read the argument below. Compare and contrast it to the previous examples of arguments you have looked at ('W 5.5 Reflecting on what I have done differently — what was the effect? We hope that the activities in this section have helped you to bring to mind what you have learned. But we also want you to think about whether you have done anything differently from what you might have tried before starting the unit. In other words, we want you to ask yourself whether the unit has given you the confidence, or some ideas that have encouraged you, to take a bit of a risk, or, as Section 4 puts it, to step outside your comfort zone. Do not worry if you cannot say that yo 4.5.3 Formal routes to learning Here we are thinking both of educational institutions (schools, colleges and universities) and work-based learning, such as National Vocational Qualifications (which accredit learning on the job), apprenticeships, and secondments which allow for rehearsal of old skills in new areas, or the development of new skills to take back to the old setting. Hand-in-hand with the emphasis on lifelong learning, there has been a growth in flexibility and in the idea of personalised learning. It is n 4.5.2 Thinking about knowledge and skills As you learned in Section 3, there are various routes to acquiring knowledge and skills including formal and informal learning opportunities, and individual and social routes to learning. We now encourage you to think first about formal approaches to acquiring the knowledge and skills you might need and then about informal learning approaches. 4.5.1 Thinking about resources Modern-day life often means we have so many commitments that it is hard to find the time to do all the things that we would like to do. However, instead of listing ‘not having the time’ as one of your obstacles, an alternative decision might be to ‘make time’ by temporarily dropping another activity that you currently take part in, so that you can make room for the new one. It is a question of working out where your priorities lie; how motivated you are to achieve one goal rather than 4.4.8 Time-limited Setting yourself a time frame for achieving your goal helps to concentrate the mind. If you say, for example, ‘By Christmas I will have …’ or, ‘In three years’ time I will be …’, it may prompt you to set things in motion. Again, be realistic about how long it will take, so that you do not set yourself up for failure. 4.4.7 Realistic This reminds you to take into account, for example, your current knowledge, skills and qualities; the knowledge skills and qualities you are aiming for; the help and hindrances you are likely to encounter along the way; and the time you have available. Setting realistic goals can help to foster a can-do attitude – success helps to breed success, while failure can breed further failure, as you become more downhearted. So, reach for something that stretches you, but which will not overwhelm y 4.4 Setting yourself goals At this point, you may be feeling that you are just not the sort of person who makes plans. You may think that devising plans sounds a bit mechanical, that your preference is to just go along with whatever life deals out. It can be good to take instant decisions and be ‘spontaneous’ and we would not want you to stop doing this, especially if you know, from your past experience, that this can add fun and enjoyment to your life. However, particularly for ‘big’ and important decisions it 4.2.1 Theories of globalisation There are many different theories relating to globalisation. Some see globalisation as positive or beneficial. These theories argue that globalisation will encourage ‘good things’ like the growth of online communities that can span the world and might be able to break free of repressive regimes. Others suggest that there will be negative consequences to globalisation. They argue that globalisation makes it easier for jobs to be exported to wherever labour is cheapest. In this view there a 1.1.8 Useful links Here are some useful links to sites relating to ergonomics and to information about using and setting up your computer. What is ergonomics? Find out at the Ergonomics Society website. Health and Safety Executive home page, which is the entry to the HSE website. Within this site is a useful page that provides an alphabetical list of HSE documents including ones on Risk Assessment, Manual Handling, and Working with VDUs. 7.2 Drafting reports As you may remember from Activity 3, the three general principles of a report (whether it is of a social sciences investigation or a scientific experiment) are: Why was it done? How was it done? What does it mean? You will need to make some decisions, not only abo 4.2 Reports Let's look at reports first. Note down what you consider to be the purpose of a report. Your answer may well depend on the subje 9.1.1 About working with others Very few people study or work in complete isolation. Some courses now set projects and assignments that need to be completed in pairs or groups, either face-to-face or using e-conferencing. Even if your course does not formally require you to do this, working with others is an important part of your skills portfolio. Most jobs require you to work as part of a team, and employers value individuals who can demonstrate this. In working on a work project or an assignment with others – in 8.1 Introduction to improving your skills in problem solving This key skill develops your problem-solving skills in your studies, work or other activities over a period of time. To tackle this key skill, you will need to plan your work over at least 3–4 months to give yourself enough time to practise and improve your skills, to seek feedback from others, and to monitor your progress and evaluate your strategy. Problem solving runs through many other activities and, rather like the key skill ‘Improving own learning and performance’, it can b 7.4.1 Plan your use of number skills and select methods Exploring and planning an activity often results in a number of different options, possibilities and ways forward. Some approaches will be more feasible or will interest you more than others. At this stage you need to think about how you will be using your number skills and how you will assess the overall quality of your work. Review the skills you will need to achieve your goals and the criteria you will use to check that you have achieved them. Opportunities and constraints to do with 7.3.2 Identify the outcomes you hope to achieve An outcome is the result or consequence of a process. For example, you may want to produce an accurate analysis of some survey data, and to do this you may need to improve and apply your statistical skills. In this case the result of your analysis is an outcome, and using your number skills is part of the process by which you achieve that outcome. Try to express the outcomes you hope to achieve as clearly and accurately as possible, asking others for help and comments if necessary. To h 7.3.1 Identify opportunities for using number skills Where and how will you use numerical and mathematical skills over the next 3–4 months? You may need to gather numerical information from different sources, form hypotheses about the information carried by the data, carry out statistical tests to check your hypotheses and then present your results and interpretations. Or you may be working with mathematical models (for example in engineering, environmental or financial applications) and need to understand and use formulas expressing relation 7.2 Working on improving your number skills The three-stage framework for developing and improving your skills provides the basis for you to become more confident in: developing a strategy for using a variety of numerical and mathematical skills, including being clear about what you want to achieve, identifying relevant sources of information that will help you to achieve your goals, and planning how you intend to improve your skills; monitoring your progress and critically ref 6.5.5 Adapt your strategy to overcome difficulties Often plans run into difficulties because of unforeseen problems or changing circumstances. For example, you may be running over your deadlines, the resources or support available to you may have changed, or your personal circumstances may have changed. Plans are only a means to an end, however. If you run into difficulties try to take some time to think about what effect they will have on your plans, and what changes you may need to make to your overall strategy to achieve the outcomes you a 6.5.3 Record and critically evaluate the results of your search Keeping a record of what sources you have explored, and the strategies, keywords and search terms you have used, will help you make best use of the facilities and time you have. As part of this record you should note how useful the sources have been, what was returned from your search, and what adjustments you made to your search plan (for example new keywords, different search parameters, different combination of Boolean operators). Establish criteria (such as by date, author, subject,
Activity 25
Activity 3
Discussion
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