The University of Westminster Press launched its first title for MA students on study skills in media and communications courses. Author Doug Specht, Director of Teaching and Learning School of Media and Communications at the University of Westminster explained the origins of The Media and Communications Study Skills Guide at a-well attended event at Westminster’s Harrow Campus. The book highlights all sorts of study advice from listening to referencing, seminars to writing essays and to conjuring up a research question for the dreaded MA dissertation.
It includes numerous hacks and tips, graphics, tasks, planners, tasks and guides to such matters as notetaking.
Here – to get a sense of a sense of the flavour of the book – is the author’s advice on where to work:
“Think about where you are working; try not to work in bed, so you have a separate space to rest. Consider whether you prefer working in the library, the kitchen table, your desk or in a café. Once you know your best working space (this might be different for different types of work), stick to this – I like to do emails and admin work in public spaces, but I need music to write and silence to edit, so I ensure I move around when working on different parts of a project. Also, think about the light and temperature in the room you are working in. Consider spending a little money on a good lamp – Michel Foucault, the French philosopher and social theorist, used to take his own to libraries and lectures. You should also break tasks down into smaller chunks or sub-tasks – there are some pages to help you do this at the end of this book. You can also use technology to help you with this, there are loads of task management apps available, although trying them all out can become a form of productive procrastination, so be careful!”
Read the book, purchase in print or download from the University of Westminster Press.
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