Brush up on the basics
In this article, Janki Pathak, our Student Community Leader talks about the academic support available at Goldsmiths and why you should use the new year to brush up on your academic and study skills.
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Welcome back and congratulations on completing your first term. Like me, you have realised early on that writing is a key component of any university degree and that there are several services that can support your development. In this article, I will be talking about the different services available to you and how they can help you.
Academic Support one-to-one
Up first on the list, we have the Academic Support one-to-one from CALL. This service not only helps students to develop their academic skills but provides them with a one-to-one session to discuss study-related issues. To book, just click on the link below – you will first come across a calendar; just click on one of the dates and the available times, press continue and book!
Royal Literary Fellows
One of my personal favourites, the Royal Literary Fellows are also available to provide students with one-to-one tutorials. Regardless of the subject that you are studying, the Royal Literary Fellows can support you. Their primary aim is to help students to improve their academic writing skills. Two of the three literary fellows available at Goldsmiths have also worked as journalists and all three have published work, so you would be in great hands! These tutorials can help you with:
- Planning your study time
- Focusing on your reading for essay, dissertation, or thesis writing
- Expressing your ideas more clearly
- Answering grammar and punctuation questions
- Discovering reading to improve your writing and editing skills
- Increasing your writing skills with the aim of improving your grades
- Improving any academic writing (they do not undertake proofreading however) – essays, reports, theses, dissertation, book chapters
Subject Librarian one-to-one
Your Subject Librarian can also provide you with subject-specific advice and support. One of the things that students have struggled the most with last term was entering the Library without Student ID cards, or with expired ID cards. Mark Preston, my Subject Librarian, made this easier for me.
The process of booking an appointment with a Subject Librarian is similar to booking an appointment for Academic Support. Here, you choose your subject-specific librarian (if availability does not suit your schedule, you can book an appointment with any other Subject Librarian or email your Subject Librarian directly to arrange an alternative time), the date, the time and press continue!
Start your new year off by making an appointment for one of the three available options or by attending a workshop. Remember to have your student ID number ready!