Open College of the Arts

Student Support Stud

ysk

ills

This booklet is one of a series of guides for students studying with the OCA.

Others in the series are:

• Keeping sketchbooks and learning logs

• Assessment and how to get qualified

• Looking at other artists

You can either download a pdf copy from our website www.oca-uk.com or ring the

office on 0800 731 2116 for a paper copy.

Illustrations: Caroline Firenza

What are study skills?Because you are studying a creative subject you may imagine you

will not have much writing to do. However, OCA’s courses are

both practical and academic. Even the art courses have written

elements to them. These are as crucial to your development as

the practical side. That’s why taking a look at this study skills

booklet is just as important if you are studying sculpture, painting

or any other practical subject as a directly academic course such

as Visual Studies or Art History for example. Many of OCA’s

courses have written assignments at some point in them.

As an adult learner your approach to

learning may be different from the last

time you studied, especially if that was at

school.

You can choose what you want to study,

have professional and/or personal

motivation for studying and you will have

to fit your study activities around other

responsibilities.

You control your learning environment.

As a result, you must think about things

like time management, goal setting, and

pacing yourself through a new learning

experience. You may also have to refresh

your knowledge on essay planning and

you may be new to using the web as a

learning resource. Your most significant

considerations will be time and space to

dedicate to your learning.

Study skills

Starting outWhat to do when you start your courseRead the introduction and then look through the whole course. Make a note of

any questions you might have and consider a rough timetable you can work from

to complete the course.

Fill in your Student Profile. Use this to tell your tutor a little about any past

experience you have and how confident you feel about learning some of the skills.

This is your first link with your tutor and gives you the chance to introduce yourself.

Give your tutor as much information as you can

about your previous experience, your reasons

for exploring this subject and what you

expect to achieve from taking the

course. OCA tuition is on a one-to-

one basis and so it is possible for

our tutors to angle their advice to

meet individual needs; but only if

these are defined in the Student

Profile. When the tutor

receives your Student Profile,

they will write to you, and

suggest a date for the submission

of your first assignment in line with

your timetable. If you feel you can complete

the section earlier, then do. If you feel you need a little

longer, that’s fine too. If, however, there is going to be a big delay, contact the

tutor and give an anticipated new date for the submission of your assignment.

When you submit an assignment your tutor will comment and advise on your work

and answer any questions relating to the course.

Once you have looked through the course and sent off your

student profile, you can begin to start your first project.

Managing your time You are responsible for managing your own study time.

In order for you to do this well:

• be aware of your own time management

• be aware of how much time each type of task takes you to complete

• allow time for unexpected events

• schedule an appropriate amount of time for things like library and museum

visits

• specify practical targets in your time-planning.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• do I usually meet deadlines?

• do I keep most appointments?

• do I find that I often have to rush things at the last minute?

• does it take me some time to get started?

• do I panic if I know that I am wasting time?

• how IT literate am I? Do you need to make allowances for using a

computer?

Do you need to make

changes to some of your

thinking about time in

order to manage your

studies well?

Time management

Improving time managementYou may find that you have lots of competing deadlines and not enough time to

do all of the set tasks. Use the following priority setting checklist to help you:

• write a list of all of the tasks that you have to do

• divide the list into the essential tasks and then the tasks that can wait

• identify the most urgent task on the list

• work out the best way to do things

• work out how long you can spend on each task

• enter each essential task into your timetable and diary.

Time saving suggestions• when note taking use headings and keywords – avoid full sentences

• leave lots of space so that you can add more information as you find it

• if two writers are making the same point, note in the margin a cross-

reference to your earlier notes – do not write out same information twice

• keep all of your notes in one place or one folder if on a computer

• file notes as you go along

• number your pages, and label or colour code them by subject in the top

outer corner, so that you can arrange and find information easily

• read only what is relevant to your set module

• note the page reference from the book and write the initials of the book title

so that you can easily refer back to it

• carry a small notebook or sketchbook with you so that you can write down

or draw any new ideas that you might get

• use OCA’s online forum to contact other students to share research methods

and ideas.

Use your local libraryVisit your local library early on and find out about the range of services that it

provides, for example:

• handouts on how to use library facilities

• use of the internet and help in developing internet search skills

• academic journals

• specialist collections

• specialist magazines/newspapers/back editions

• photocopy services

• videos, CDs, microfiche and slides.

Taking notesNotes are a useful record of important

points for future use and they can help

the flow of your writing, and help you get

organised in order to get started. Notes

can aid understanding and summing

things up briefly can help your long term

memory. Even if you are a regular

computer user it can still be helpful to

make notes on paper. However more and

more people are now just as happy

making notes on their computer, which

has the added benefit of making web

referencing easy. Make notes whichever

way suits you best.

Developing research skills

Note taking checklist• make notes as you find information, in chronological order

• think before you write and keep your notes brief – always use your own

words unless you are quoting directly

• if writing on paper leave space or a wide margin so that you can add notes

as you need to

• note down key words and main ideas but avoid writing whole sentences

• make use of any abbreviations and number different points – link these

points by using arrows, boxes or dotted lines

• make a note of the exact source of the information but write it in such a

way that it is useful to you

• don’t copy out whole chunks of

information or quotations and

avoid writing out more notes

than you can actually use

• never re-write notes to make

them clearer – this can be a real

time waster

• link different pieces of

information by colour coding

and draw rings around specific

information in order to make it

stand out on the page

• if you prefer to keep notes on

your computer save web links

to valuable references, making

brief notes to explain what

each web link refers to.

Using the internetThe internet has a huge range of information and allows you to browse across an

enormous range of sources. The internet should be your key research tool. If you

don’t have a computer with internet access at home, make sure you set up time to

use the internet at the library or at a friend’s house.

Via the internet you can have access to the following:

• newspapers

• magazines

• gallery and museum collections

• OCA website

• library catalogues and information

• relevant TV and radio programmes

• government papers

• access to specialist providers.

Be aware of:

• propaganda or biased information that doesn’t provide a balanced argument

• advertising and press releases

• personal opinion

• research that has been published by the researcher without peer review, or

by trade associations that have a vested interest (check whether the

information is balanced)

• news information (as you know, different parts of the press present the same

story in very different ways).

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use information from any of

these categories in your work. You need to use it carefully and

demonstrate that you understand the shortfall in the information

(such as the missing argument, or biased viewpoint).

Using booklistsBooklists can be daunting even if you recognise some of the titles on the list.

During the course you will be provided with various booklists and you will need to

assess the importance of some books over and above other books – you cannot

read everything! Your tutors (and in some cases the course material) will let you

know which books are ‘essential’ for you to read and which are of a more general

nature. All book publications are in print at the time of the course materials being

published but of course this can change from year to year – OCA will attempt to

republish booklists when possible.

Developing reading skillsIf you are not used to doing a lot of

reading, it may be worth looking on the

web for tips on developing your reading

skills. It’s very useful to learn how to skim

read to get the main points so that you can

judge whether it is worth your time setting

to for a more detailed read. The key to

successful skim reading is to take note of

headings, introductory sentences of paragraphs and summaries. This should provide

you with a sense of the text which may be all you need. Take a look at the

suggested web links for more detail on important reading techniques such as

skimming and scanning text.

Developing critical thinking skillsThis involves you weighing up arguments and evidence for and against a particular

text, or position. You will need to consider an issue from all perspectives and

possibly do this more than once. Together with this you will be evaluating this

evidence in support of a particular text and also be looking at the implication of the

conclusions made by the writer. All of this takes a lot of time, energy and

persistence!

Checklist• stand back from the information and examine it in detail and from as many

angles as you can think of

• find out how accurate the material is and check for any mistakes

• compare the material that you are reading with what other theorists are

saying – how does their perspective differ from what your writer is saying?

• look out for any assumptions that the writer is making and be critical of the

ways in which the writer has used data in order to persuade the reader to

agree with their particular theory.

Quoting othersIn the body of your writing, whenever you refer

to someone else’s work, either directly or

indirectly, you must indicate whose work this is.

Include the surname of the author and the year

of publication, for example:

• as noted by R. Taylor (1999), who stated that…

Or • two art historians (Buck and Dodd, 1998), noted that....

Use quotation marks when quoting from someone verbatim and remember that

you may only quote up to 10% of an author’s work without breaching their

copyright.

When do you need to give a reference? You must give the reference whenever you draw on a source of information:

• as the source behind a particular theory, argument or point of view

• for direct quotations

• for texts that you paraphrase rather than quote

• for specific information, for example a case study or statistical data.

Using references In academic writing, it is essential to state the sources of ideas and information.

Such references allow the reader to refer back to the sources. There are some key

reasons for providing references:

• acknowledging a source is a courtesy to the person whose idea or words you

have used or referred to

• by giving a source you are making it clear that you are not trying to pretend

somebody else’s work is your own

• if you need to check something later, the reference will help you find it again

more easily

• the reader of your writing will have more confidence in what you are writing

• thoroughness in your referencing suggests that you will also have been

thorough in your checking of the facts.

Information that needs to be included ina reference The following information is ordinarily provided:

• the name of the author(s)

• the full title of the work

• for journal articles, the name of the journal and the number of the volume

• the edition (if relevant)

• the name of the publisher

• the location of the publisher

• the publication date

• relevant page numbers.

Finishing your report You must write out full details in a list of References that must be in alphabetical

order, for example:

• Michael Freeman, Complete Guide to Photography, HarperCollins, UK, 1995

• Honour & Fleming, A World History of Art, Laurence King Publishing,

London, 2002

• S. Maitland and P. Matthews, Gardens of Illusion, Cassell & Co., London, 2000

Do not include any publications that you have not directly referred to in your

assignment, but do include television programmes, websites and videos used. Some

helpful phrases to introduce references are:

• as A points out, …

• according to B …

• as C …

• to quote from D, …

• in ‘Relative Values’, B and D wrote that …

• in an article entitled Textile Art Now, E wrote that …

• writing in 1999, F argued that …

• referring to G says that …

Bibliographies A bibliography is a separate page to your writing and the reference will go at the

end of your report. It will include everything that you have read for your report

whether you referred to it in your writing or not. Always use the same style to the

one outlined in the above information about references, for example:

• Michael Freeman, Complete Guide to Photography, HarperCollins, UK, 1995

• Honour & Fleming, A World History of Art, Laurence King Publishing,

London, 2002

• S. Maitland and P. Matthews, Gardens of Illusion, Cassell & Co., London, 2000

Presenting your work

Footnotes Use these when you are quoting directly and give the precise details of the source,

whether a book, article or interview. If you are quoting from a printed source also

include the page number. If you are unsure about whether to use a direct quotation

or to paraphrase then always go for the first option. The following two systems are

both acceptable as long as you are consistent in your usage throughout.

Author-date system

This is where you give the name of the author, then the date and page number in

brackets after the quotation or reference in the main text. The full reference details

are then given in the bibliography.

Title system

This is where a number is given above the line and after the quotations, and the

reference is then given either at the bottom of the page or at the end of the critical

review. For example, 1. R. Taylor, Understanding and Investigating Art, 1999, p22.

Using illustrations Always try to use illustrations where relevant. Remember that the purpose of an

illustration is to support your writing, so where possible try to have the image as

close to where it is being discussed as is possible – do not lump all of the

illustrations at the back of your written assignments or learning logs. You can also

include your own drawings and photographs where relevant – often

illustrations can be particularly effective if you are trying to convey

a great deal of visual information. You must always number your

illustrations and refer to them within the body of your

writing – do not make the mistake of expecting the

illustrations to ‘speak for themselves’. For example,

you would write ‘refer to figure 2’, or ‘see illustration

to figure 4’. Don’t forget to put a caption under the

illustration clearly stating what it is, including the date,

where it is from, and the name of the originator.

Plagiarism Plagiarism is when a student uses the words of another writer but does not credit

that writer as a source. This can be done by mistake or on purpose but in either

case it is an offence and can result in failure of the course. If you are unsure

about what constitutes plagiarism speak to your tutor.

Writing assignments• clarify the task

• collect and record information (research)

• organise and plan

• reflect and evaluate

• write an outline plan and first draft (if possible show this to your tutor)

• work on your first draft

• review it

• then build your final draft.

Structuring your assignmentsTitle – every assignment title has an implied or actual question within it. Your

entire assignment must focus on the title and address that question.

Introduction – this is where you say what you are going to do. You must show

your understanding of the assignment title and identify the issues that you are

going to explore. Give a brief outline of how you will deal with each issue, and in

which order.

Develop your argument or line of reasoning – in paragraph one you cover

everything that your introduction said that you would address, so for example, your

first sentence will introduce the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences will

develop the topic of the paragraph and you can include relevant examples, details,

evidence, quotations, and references. You will then lead into the next paragraph.

Paragraph two and the other paragraphs – the first sentence, or opening

sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraphs, then introduce the main

idea of the paragraph. Other sentences will now develop the paragraph’s topic.

Conclusion – summarise your argument and the main themes. State your general

conclusions and make it clear why those conclusions are important. This is usually

one tenth of the written assignment.

Bibliography – list all of the books and other sources that you have referred to.

Presenting your written workIt is an OCA requirement that all assignments are typed so this may involve you

planning ahead if you do not own a computer. It is also preferable to email written

work to your tutor if possible. You may also want to consider the following more

general points:

• paper format (usually A4)

• use one side or both?

• number pages

• include your name and student number on each page

• use double spacing

• write as ‘one’, ‘I’ or ‘we’?

• reference page

• bibliography page.

Make sure you are consistent throughout.

Suggested further reading Barnet, S. A Short Guide to Writing About Art, Press, England, 1996

Buzan, Tony. Use your head. London,Chadwick and Eagle, 1995

Chambers, Ellie and Northedge, Andrew. The Arts Good Study Guide, Milton

Keynes: Open University Press 1997

Miles, T.R. and Gilroy. Dyslexia at College, London, Routledge Press, 1995

Richards, T. How to Win as a Mature Student, London, Kogan Press, 1995

Williams, K. Study Skills, London, Press, 1991

Useful websites on self study • www.oca-uk.com

• www.howtostudy.org/

• www.how-to-study.com/

• www.ouw.co.uk/goodstudyguide/

• www.support4learning.org.uk

• www.brad.ac.uk/acad/management/external/els/pdf/ timemanagement.pdf

More help

Notes

OCA's website www.oca-uk.com is your first stop for information about

courses, plus access to help, support, advice and tips from tutors and

other learners.

Register on the website, upload a picture if you like, and get chatting to

other students via the forum.

Find out about exhibitions and books recommended by fellow students,

discuss the state of contemporary art or the music industry, share tips on

techniques and processes, and share your thoughts on studying from

home.

Open College of the Arts

Michael Young Arts Centre

Redbrook Business Park

Wilthorpe Road

Barnsley S75 1JN

enquiries@oca-uk.com

0800 731 2116

www.oca-uk.com