Expectations, study skills & tips for success

Folder management

If you are to give yourself any chance of achieving your absolute best next year, it is essential that you a) bring a folder to every lesson and b) organise your folder and electronic files efficiently. Your folder should just be for Health & Social Care; you should have unit dividers to keep your notes in the correct place, so that they can be accessed later or when required. When making notes you should ensure that it is clear what you are writing about e.g. sub-headings will help indicate what topic/unit the notes relate to. If you do not look after your notes and keep your work organised, you will be spending valuable revision time compiling notes which you have already written, rather than revising and this could impact your overall performance and grade.

Ensure any electronic folders are equally well organised. Many of your externally assessed assignments will be produced on a computer. Make sure you have this work saved in at least 2/3 places!!

Time management

Apart from lessons, you should aim to spend 1-2 hours per day on this subject. This can be within your study periods or at home. You will be set homework/coursework tasks on a weekly basis. In addition to this, you should be re-reading class notes, adding additional notes and reading around topics which are relevant to the subject. Students who prioritise their time effectively can still socialise and complete part time employment, however it is important to have the correct balance.

Reading around specific topics

Reading is essential if you wish to be successful at this level. It is important that you get into the habit of reading a variety of relevant books before beginning a piece of work. Using a limited number of textbooks is not useful if you are aiming to achieve the higher marks. If you only use one textbook, you are only gaining one person’s perspective/opinion on a topic. Therefore, your writing is unlikely to demonstrate a ‘comprehensive understanding’ or ‘a wide range of sources’ which are essential if you are to achieve the highest mark.

Reasons to read around a topic before beginning a piece of written work

1. To build up knowledge of the topic so that you understand the ideas and concepts

2. To build up your understanding of specific and specialised terminology and how it is used

3. To weigh up what different writers say about a topic

4. To be able to pull together different people’s ideas and information into a cohesive framework

Tips for effective reading

If particular aspects of a chapter or text are relevant to your work, it may be useful to photocopy the text. This way you are free to highlight and annotate information which is of particular use to you. Ensure that you make a note of the source of all photocopying as this will be needed for referencing purposes.

Using the internet

When using the internet for quotes and other information, it is important to assess the credibility of the author and the source as it is possible for anyone to make claims or have an opinion about a particular subject and have no evidence or credentials to back this information up, the information therefore would not be considered credible.

Tips for successful internet use when completing coursework

1. Using Google search engine

Whilst it is fully acceptable to use Google to begin your search for information, it is also important to remember that whilst it contains a lot of credible websites, it also lists many which are of no use to you. A good way of filtering your search is to ensure that you are using specific search words, try alternating your search if you do not receive the results which you were looking for. Remember to avoid using the first website which appears at the top of a Google search list. Stick to UK websites and the most up to date entries.

2. Do not use Wikipedia!

This website is unregulated and is not a respected or credible source of information and therefore should not be used for definitions or quotes. This is the same for other similar websites which offer definitions

3. Google quotes.

Ensure that you are referencing all web pages which you have read/extracted information from. These should be referenced both in the text where relevant and also within your bibliography. Please remember to do this as you go along, otherwise it will be very time consuming to go back over the information which you have already collected.

Writing your coursework

Once you have collected a comprehensive amount of material from a range of books and internet sources you will be ready to start drafting your work.

Drafting

For this you should be ordering and structuring your ideas, it should be considered the first stage of your finished product. During this stage you should be exploring ways to communicate your ideas most effectively. In addition to this, you will be putting your initial thoughts into sentences and paragraphs. Your first draft is unlikely to be the finished product. You will need to work hard to reread and edit your work to ensure that it is the best possible work you can produce. You will receive constructive feedback from your class teachers on the first draft of your coursework. It is vital you complete these amendments in detail and in a timely fashion to ensure you are maximising your potential and access to higher grades. Failure to do so, may affect your final performance and lead to you producing rushed and incomplete work.

Proof reading

It is extremely important to proofread and edit your own work so that it makes sense. A thorough edit will allow you to:

• Rectify mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and grammar so that you can achieve merit or distinction in the grading criteria.

• Check that you have included everything on the task sheet.

• Check that you have only included relevant information and there is no repetition

• Make sure that your work is clearly laid out and has a header with your name on it.

• Check the font size and style is consistent and easy to read.

• Check that all cited references are also included in the bibliography

It’s a good idea to take edit your work several hours or a day after you have finished writing it. This will allow you time to look at your work with a refreshed mind and from a different perspective.

Referencing your work.

This is an extremely important aspect of your coursework. Once you get the  hang of how and when to reference, it will become second nature to you. The sooner you start practising how to reference correctly the better. It will take some getting used to, but it’s like anything... easy when you know how!

Common misconception about referencing...

Paraphrasing and summarising are important skills to use, but make sure you fully understand what you have read before you start to rewrite it. Many students believe that they only need to reference if they have used a direct quote. This is incorrect, all information that has been summarised or paraphrased must have a reference after the information. This means that if you are changing a few ‘ands, ifs and buts’ in a document or information on a webpage, and you do not acknowledge where the information has been taken from, then you are plagiarising (cheating). By plagiarising, any aspect of your work you could be withdrawn from the whole Technical qualification by OCR.

Referencing quotes in the text

Quotes are an excellent way of supporting your work. When using quotes you must firstly ensure that you are placing your quote into quotation marks and secondly that there is an appropriate reference for the quote. E.g. ‘They are individuals who have the responsibility and interest in seeing that the service that they represent has the resources to provide effective service.’ (Smith et al, 2019, p.7) (author, publication date, page number). This is the correct way to reference a quote from a textbook. It is slightly different from a webpage. E.g. The term multidisciplinary describes the ‘team interaction within a multi-professional team’ (NHS, 2017) (website author/group year of publication)

The full reference for both quotes would then be placed within the bibliography at the end of your work.

Completing a bibliography

A bibliography is a complete list of all sources used. e.g.

For further detail, look at the Harvard Referencing information. This method is required by many universities, so it’s a good idea to get used to it now.

·         Ferreiro Peteiro et al (2016) Cambridge Technicals Level 3 Health and Social Care, Hodder Education

·         Fisher, A et al (2012) Applied AS, Health and Social Care, Folens Press

·         Moonie, (2006) AS Level for OCR, Health and Social Care, Heinemann

·         Department of Health (2016 ‘Demographics’ available from: www.doh.gov.ac.uk Accessed on 18/09/19)

·         NHS (2017) ‘Multi-disciplinary teams’ available from; www.nhs.co.uk (Accessed on 8/10/19)