Module: Skills for University

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title	Skills for University
Module Code	ED1025 (ITS) / EDP1148 (Banner)
Faculty	DCU Institute of Education	School	Inclusive & Special Education
Module Co-ordinator	Aoife Brennan
Module Teachers	-
NFQ level	6	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	Not Available
Co-requisite	Not Available
Compatibles	Not Available
Incompatibles	Not Available

Coursework Only
Complete 10 new activities aligning with the original in class activities.

Description

In this module, students will be introduced to a broad range of foundational skills for pursuing a university degree, including but not limited to: basic descriptive and inferential statistics; fundamentals of grammar and linguistics in the English language; critical literature reviewing; academic conventions and referencing; effective writing and presentation skills.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain and apply rules of English grammar including punctuation, noun-verb agreement, and so forth.
2. Identify their own continued learning needs, as well as resources and supports for their own continued development in English and Maths.
3. Demonstrate appropriate conventions of academic writing including correct grammar, use of link words, paragraphing, introducing and concluding an argument, referencing, proof-reading and editing.
4. Calculate and interpret descriptive statistics and explain normal distribution, percentiles and standardised scores.
5. Understand the fundamentals of grammar and linguistics in the English language

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	30	No Description
Directed learning	35	Independent work (with lecturer supervision for support)
Independent Study	60	No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Indicative Content
English language and linguistics 1. Fundamentals in English linguistics. 2. Fundamentals in English grammar, including but not limited to: noun-verb correspondence – singular nouns, plural noun; punctuation – using full stops, commas, colons, semi-colons and apostrophes. 3. Conventions for academic writing: structuring academic essays, referencing, proof-reading and editing assignments Statistics 1. Types of data. 2. Central tendency (mean, median and mode) and when to use them. 3. Spread (range, inter-quartile range, standard deviation) 4. Frequencies (bar charts and frequency distribution tables), histograms. 5. Normal distribution of data, standard deviation, percentiles, standardised scores 6. Understanding and interpreting standardised tests to a basic level. Soft skills for university 1. Time management 2. Understanding the systems and supports in the university

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown
Participation	Students will complete a minimum of 10 in class activities over the course of the module demonstrating their completion of the learning outcomes.	100%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories: Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module. Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Stella Cottrell: 2019, Study Skills, 5th, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 9781137610874
Neil Salkind: 2016, Statistics for People Who Think They Hate Statistics, 4th, Thousand Oaks, California,

Other Resources

64638, Website, DCU Library, 0, LETS e-tutorials, https://www.dcu.ie/library/online-tutorialslearning-materials#:~:text=LETS%20is%20a%20suite%20of,to%20the%20DCU%20student%20context.,