Costello, P., (2000), Thinking Skills and Early Childhood Education, London, David Fulton.
Cottrell, S., (2008), The Study Skills Handbook, GB, Palgrave.
Crème, P. and Lea, M.R.,(2006) Writing at University: A Guide for Students, (2nd ed), Buckingham, Open University Press
Mitchell, A., (2001), Study Skills for Early Years Students, Abingdon, Hodder and Stroughton.
Richie, C. and Thomas, P., (2004), Successful Study: Skills for Teaching Assistants, London, David Fulton.

The module will build upon existing knowledge skills and understanding to encourage students to adopt a positive approach to their new course by developing skills of communication and presentational methods. Students will be introduced to the purpose and development of reflective practice (in particular the model set forth by Atkins and Murphy (1994)), and the use of PDP's. Students will examine the ways in which data can be reported through the use of graphs, tables and charts etc with awareness of the limitations of the Data Protection Act (1998). Students will reflect upon ways of analysing such data and researching conclusions, they will consider the notion of bias and partiality, particularly in the interpretation of statistics. Students will be encouraged to broaden and deepen their own numerical knowledge to have sufficient subject familiarity to be able to challenge and develop their personal research and practice.

Students will be introduced to critical thinking skills and development of academic argument. Students will explore matters of style in academic writing, citation and referencing using the Harvard System.

Students will use e-mail as a means of gathering and disseminating information and use ICT to identify sources of information, they will evaluate the credibility of such sources.

Students will discuss workload planning and time management techniques.

Formative assessment will take place throughout the module in the form of informal observations, questioning, discussion, group work and attendance monitoring. Regular feedback, from the module tutor and through the personal tutor system, will take place. A draft of the PDP and the essay question will be reviewed at appropriate times throughout the module.

Summative Assessment
1. Produce a personal and professional development profile to chart progress in academic and personal study skills. Include an action plan/self-evaluation to identify targets to assist learning, personal development and academic success. (Weighting 50%) (LO 1,2,3)

2. Write a short essay. (The essay must include an organised data sheet to which the student has applied a variety of functions to the data)
(Approx 1,500 words) (Weighting 50%) (LO 3,4,5,6)

The learning strategies will require students to commit 150 learning hours of which 20 hours will consist of contact time (10 x 2 hours).
The teaching strategies will employ a range of methods, including lectures, seminars, one to one tutorials, presentations and case study observations. Peer group discussion and the use of Blackboard will allow students to share ideas and experiences and will encourage reflection and evaluation. Practical examples and demonstrations of the use of referencing and presentation techniques will be used and peer observation and feedback will be encouraged.

Multi media classroom resources, learning resource centre, internet and access to tutor