Assignment on academic skills and studying with confidence.

Student name:

Student ID:

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Table of Contents
Component 1 – Portfolio.................................................................................................................3

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

The support services provided by the WIC.....................................................................................3

1) Student Advice........................................................................................................................3

2) Library resources.....................................................................................................................4

3)Language support for students.................................................................................................4

4) Healthcare................................................................................................................................4

5) Equality and Diversity.............................................................................................................4

6) IT support service....................................................................................................................5

The reflection and recommendation of the support services...........................................................5

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6

References........................................................................................................................................6

Component 2 – Presentation............................................................................................................7

Component 4- Literature review....................................................................................................12

References......................................................................................................................................15

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Component 1 – Portfolio.

Introduction
Academic skills are important types of skills that help build various types of skills like writing,
presentation, analytical skills, referencing etc which help the students to learn in a better way that
helps the students to get higher success in the academic fields. Academic skills develop
analytical thinking as well as reflective practices among the students. Acquiring academic skills
is very vital for the students because these skills can increase their productivity of the students
and better prepare them for the future. Academic skills develop different types of qualities
among the students like positive attitude towards the study, ability to think differently, increasing
productivity, passion towards the selected course etc. The following assignment focuses on the
support services that are provided by the Waltham International College and how the services
can be updated for the betterment of the students. In this assignment, I tried to cover 6 important
support services – Student advice, Library resources, Language support for the students,
Healthcare, and Equality and Diversity (Waltham International College, 2022). This report will
provide a detailed discussion about the mentioned support services and a reflection and
recommendation will be given.

The support services provided by the WIC

1) Student Advice
The student advice is the most important support service provided by the Waltham International
College (WIC). Most students need an extra hand for their academic purpose or any other
purpose. Sometimes students become confused about their academic activities or become
depressed because of other factors like financial factors, health factors or personal problems. In
this case, WIC provides immediate communication by allowing the students to call or email or
by direct counselling an advisor for any queries (Waltham International College, 2022). This
student advice service is improving the mentality and the productivity of the students by
providing the students with effective suggestions.

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2) Library resources
Waltham International College has a rich collection of books in their library where the students
can engage in library activities, such as reading, collecting books for their academic purpose, and
so on. The WIC provides different types of journals, books, articles and other necessary
academic materials so that students can effectively perform their academic studies. The WIC has
many experienced staff in the library who are always helpful to the students so that they can
easily find any necessary materials for their studies (Waltham International College, 2022).. The
WIC always provide training to the staffs in the library.

3)Language support for students

The WIC provides language support services for the students so that students from foreign
countries or students with poor language knowledge can get extra services in the English
language. The WIC provides extra classes to the students having a problem with the English
language This language support service is helping the students to face their problems in the
English language.

4) Healthcare
Healthcare support service is another important service provided by the WIC. The healthcare
support service ensures that the students are learning in a healthy and safe environment. The
WIC has some experienced doctors who are giving medical treatment to the unhealthy students
and also making the students cautious about mental and physical health(Waltham International
College, 2022).. The WIC has a hospital for the students where the students get free medical
treatment.

5) Equality and Diversity

The WIC always ensures that students always get equal opportunities irrespective of gender. The
UK has some strict equality laws and diversity support services. The WIC always maintain those
laws and regulations.

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6) IT support service
The WIC provides all kinds of relevant technological services to the students. Students can get
any type of information using IT services. The WIC has well-equipped computer and internet
facilities. The students are provided IT training throughout the year.

The reflection and recommendation of the support services

The students in the WIC are very pleased with the support services provided by the college. I
was very pleased with their response rate during collecting information. According to the
students, the support the college is providing is very competitive. Among the support services,
students are very pleased with the student advice service. The authority is very active in student
advice service. The service is quite flexible as I was able to communicate with the advisor when
I call the provided number. The advisor was very well-mannered, informative and cordial.

The library resources provided by the college are very rich. Students express positive comments
on the library resources. Besides, the staff are experienced in collecting and organizing books,
journals, and documents (Waltham International College, 2022).. Students can easily get any
books from the library as the books are collected and organized in an orderly way.

The language support service in Waltham International College is not flexible according to the
students. The students said that they need to pay extra money for extra classes. According to my
opinion, this extra support service should be free. The WIC should arrange free workshops or
classes so that the students can get access to the extra classes without paying.

I am very pleased with the healthcare support service. I talked with a team of expert doctors and
they also provide me with some health advice. The quality of the healthcare support services is
high. Students are pleased with the healthcare services. The service is totally free of cost.

The equality and diversity services of the WIC are very satisfactory as the college is working on
creating a community where everyone is welcomed. Everybody gets the equal opportunity and
equal attention in the WIC. There is one problem. The majority of the students are unaware of
the services, so the accessibility of the service is low (Waltham International College, 2022)..
The WIC should create awareness among the students and enable accessibility of the services by
highlighting it on their website, notice boards, announcement and so on.

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Lastly, The WIC is very concerned about the IT services. Students are pleased with the IT
services. The students are provided with every kind of technology which is effective for their
studies.

Conclusion
The report gives a proper understanding of some services provided by the WIC and the reactions
of the students towards the services. Proper recommendations are given to improve the lackings
of the services provided by the WIC. Besides, the WIC should also focus on introducing new
support services to the students so that their academic activities become easier.

References
Walthamintcollege.ac.uk. 2022. Waltham International College. [online] Available at:
<https://www.walthamintcollege.ac.uk/> [Accessed 23 June 2022].

Walthamintcollege.ac.uk. 2022. Waltham International College. [online] Available at:

<https://www.walthamintcollege.ac.uk/> [Accessed 23 June 2022].

Walthamintcollege.ac.uk. 2022. Waltham International College. [online] Available at:

<https://www.walthamintcollege.ac.uk/> [Accessed 23 June 2022].

Walthamintcollege.ac.uk. 2022. Waltham International College. [online] Available at:

<https://www.walthamintcollege.ac.uk/> [Accessed 23 June 2022].

Walthamintcollege.ac.uk. 2022. Waltham International College. [online] Available at:

<https://www.walthamintcollege.ac.uk/> [Accessed 23 June 2022].

Walthamintcollege.ac.uk. 2022. Waltham International College. [online] Available at:

<https://www.walthamintcollege.ac.uk/> [Accessed 23 June 2022].

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Component 2 – Presentation.
Slide 1

Slide 2

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Introduction:

A student’s first and foremost duty is to study. Through study, a student should learn and try to
obtain information from different sources. To successfully complete the university, a student
should have presentation, writing, communication, time management and teamwork skills.
University forms the student in every creative way so that they can use their creative mind in any
problems.

Slide 3

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University and the students

University is a place of higher education where students are taught in creative ways. University
brings out the creative minds and enable them with all kinds of research facilities. University
allows a student work in several fields like science, arts, and commerce. University offers many
opportunities to the students. Students get to know better bout the job markets in university.
University arranges many seminars where students get to know how to better work for their
career.

Slide 4

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Benefits of university:

1) Multidisciplinary work: A university offers multidisciplinary work to the students. Students

get several fields of study or academic interests.

2)Creativity: University always encourages creativity. Students can express their creativity
through research and other works.

3) Motivating passions: University helps a student to develop the motivating passions in him/her.
University makes a student to feel passionate, energized, upbeat, and optimistic.

4) Entertainment: Entertainment is a big benefit of being a university student. Every university

arranges annual sports competitions in every year. So those who like playing a lot can grab this
opportunity.

5) Real-life applications: University teaches students according to the real-life applications so

that students can relate their studies with practical life.

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6) Teamwork: In university students get to work as a team. Presentations, assignments, and case
competitions enable the student to work as teams. This increases unity among the students.

Slide 5

Challenges of being a university student:

1) Scheduled activity: University is a place where students need to be concerned about time.
Because all the work in university is scheduled.

2) Higher costs: Getting a higher degree is costly. The poor students face serious problems
because of higher costs in university.

3) Academic pressure: Higher education has higher pressure. Many students feel pressure
because of the excessive study material provided by the professors. This pressure reduces the
intention to learn

4) Staying healthy: Students get busy in making a presentation, preparing a term paper,
assignment and math other topics. As a result, they become careless about their health.

5) Money management: In university, students try to earn their financial freedom. Students
themselves bear their educational expenses. And for this, they always seek part-time jobs

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Slide 6

Support services provided by the universities:

1) Students advice service: Students can get free advice about any problems. Universities provide
students with an advisor who always tries to give students some effective suggestions.

2) Library resources: Universities offer students library facilities where students can get journals,
books, and documents for their study purpose.

3) Research facilities: University is a place where students can do research on any topic.
University provides students with all the resources needed to continue the research.

4)Language club: The language club service of the university enables students to learn new
languages. Foreign students can learn domestic language from this club.

5) Healthcare service: University authorities are very concerned about the health of the students.
University provides free health services to the students.

6)IT service: Universities are very concerned with providing IT services to the students so that
students can get access to any relevant information for their study purpose.

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Component 4- Literature review
It is found in scholarly and professional publications that students' written skills are becoming
progressively worse. One of the main reasons behind this worse written work is that students are
more willing to plagiarize. There is a lot of proof for this. Students do this because of a lack of
confidence in correct free handwriting (McMaster at al., 2020). Students’ academic confidence
plays a significant role in their writing performance.

You achieve new information each time you learn something new. A student must actively
collect information for readings, lectures, conversations, and term papers. The students should
record, organize and explain all the information that is provided to the students. If another person
makes a copy or paraphrases the work of another person without giving credit to that person is
known as copying (McMaster et al.,2020). According to an academic research, it is found that
students choose the dishonest way for different reasons. Insufficiency, lack of time, lack of
writing skills, lack of information, and lack of concentration are all the factors behind
this(Thomas et al., 2020). The students should use the citation for the original source of
information. Students should use proper and accurate citations for all the texts. Students must
cite their original sources whenever they use accurate terminology, extended ideas, paraphrase,
or duplicate pictures like maps or tables. Plagiarism is considered as a dishonest behaviour by the
administrator(Perkins et al.,2020). Plagiarism has many negative consequences. If the
administrator finds that a student did plagiarism in his work, the student may face some
punishment such as academic failure or dismissal from the university. Plagiarism is a fraud
action taken by the dishonest students. As a result, students learn nothing. Plagiarism hampers
the creativity of the students. Borrowing any work from others without giving credit to the
original one is an act of fraud. The introduction of advanced technologies like Turnitin or
SafeAssing increased attention to plagiarism. Now students must use citations in every original
work. For this, students are trying to learn the citation process. There are many citation styles
like APA or Harvard etc. (Uzun and Kills, 2020). The citation process is time-consuming
according to some students and also difficult. Referencing concepts is familiar to certain
students. It does not matter how difficult or time-consuming it is, it is giving credit to the original
author of the work. The teachers are frequently asking the students to take all the important notes
during the discussion. The students should use these notes for their assignment purpose. This

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may increase the quality of their assignment (de Maio et al.,2020). If the students want to borrow
the main concept from others work, they should try to understand the main concept of the
original writing and then try to write things on their own. Firstly student must create a map in the
mind. The map will tell the student what information to add and how to relate the information to
the practical world. The mind map will help the students to summarize the topic and then
students can understand the writing process which will keep the student away from plagiarism.
Taking notes can assist students in collecting information so they can continue learning
throughout their life, which is one of the major goals of education.( Foltýnek et al.,2020).
Students collect the information to recognize and understand the most important side of the
material they are studying through the use of notes. Taking notes is effective because it clarifies
what was learnt during the class. The Cornell technique of taking notes, which really employs a
two-format, is one of the most popular and commonly utilized systems of writing. The content of
the left column takes up one-third of the page, while the material of the right column takes up
three-quarters of the page. Students respond to cue questions to help themselves to remember the
knowledge they learned from their notes. Work questions similar to those found in cue columns
help students because they may use them to organize their thoughts, make connections, and give
their writing a sense of flow. Students need to be outstanding public speakers in order to learn
with confidence (Landau at al,2020). Before beginning their work, students should become
familiar with the topic and target audience because efficient delivery depends on preparation.
Students should also become familiar with the topic of the paper and the skills they intend to
emphasize. The information in presentations helps students to understand more. The title,
introduction, main points, and conclusion of the presentation are all required. Microsoft is
without a doubt the most effective at creating lectures. Students may easily add text, images, and
other visual elements to their projects because of its straightforward interface. At least a week
prior to the due date, students should start working on their presentations. Students who are
anxious about giving a presentation at a conference will feel more at ease if they have more
experience speaking in front of a group (Adhikari,2018). A greater standard of neatness and
concern for the listeners is necessary when conducting interviews. For both professional and
personal development, critical thinking is essential. One of the most important advantages of
going to college is being able to participate in dialogues, cultivate skepticism and critical
thinking, and learn logical techniques to assess information and knowledge. One of the

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fundamental skills students must learn and apply to the academy is the ability to use sources
appropriately and acknowledge them. These skills are acquired by students that enroll in the
academy. One of the best methods for students to show the breadth and depth of their research,
comprehension, and engagement with literature, as well as their logical thinking about the
concepts and procedures pertinent to the subject they are learning, is through citations (Colavizza
et al.,2020). As a result, one of the factors taken into account and valued in measuring one's level
of comprehension is the capacity to accurately credit sources in academic works. The usage of
technology instruments (ICT) is a key part of daily life and an integral part of learning at every
elementary school. They are utilizing online technology that can search through billions of web
pages to find data on a range of subjects. Search engines are necessary whenever people seek out
a specific type of info. One of the best and most well-known search engines is Google.com. A
variety of websites and online assets, including blogs, wiki web pages, comment threads &
Documents, may be searched. Because technology has become so crucial to many aspects of life
and is so prevalent, students can benefit from using it. This study report examines and analyzes
the numerous skills that kids must acquire during their primary school years.

The capacity to take notes, cite sources, prevent plagiarism, give an engaging speech, exercise
critical thought, and write academically is among the most crucial abilities. Students will be able
to participate with confidence thanks to all of these skills during their first academic year and for
the remainder of their academic careers (Tanrıkulu,2020). People's professional careers are
benefited by teachers because they can utilize these abilities to improve their resumes and
increase their likelihood of landing a decent job.

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References
Adhikari, S. (2018). Beyond culture: Helping international students avoid plagiarism. Journal of
International Students, 8(1), 375-388.

Colavizza, G., Hrynaszkiewicz, I., Staden, I., Whitaker, K., & McGillivray, B. (2020). The
citation advantage of linking publications to research data. PloS one, 15(4), e0230416.

de Maio, C., Dixon, K., & Yeo, S. (2020). Responding to student plagiarism in Western
Australian universities: the disconnect between policy and academic staff. Journal of Higher
Education Policy and Management, 42(1), 102-116.

Foltýnek, T., Dlabolová, D., Anohina-Naumeca, A., Razı, S., Kravjar, J., Kamzola, L., ... &
Weber-Wulff, D. (2020). Testing of support tools for plagiarism detection. International Journal
of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1), 1-31.

Landau, J. D., Druen, P. B., & Arcuri, J. A. (2002). Methods for helping students avoid
plagiarism. Teaching of Psychology, 29(2), 112-115.

McMaster, K. L., Lembke, E. S., Shin, J., Poch, A. L., Smith, R. A., Jung, P. G., ... & Wagner, K.
(2020). Supporting teachers’ use of data-based instruction to improve students’ early writing
skills. Journal of educational psychology, 112(1), 1.

McMaster, K. L., Lembke, E. S., Shin, J., Poch, A. L., Smith, R. A., Jung, P. G., ... & Wagner, K.
(2020). Supporting teachers’ use of data-based instruction to improve students’ early writing
skills. Journal of educational psychology, 112(1), 1.

Perkins, M., Gezgin, U. B., & Roe, J. (2020). Reducing plagiarism through academic
misconduct education. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 16(1), 1-15.

Tanrıkulu, F. (2021). Students’ perceptions about the effects of collaborative digital storytelling
on writing skills. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1-16.

Thomas, L. J., Gerde, H. K., Piasta, S. B., Logan, J. A., Bailet, L. L., & Zettler-Greeley, C. M.
(2020). The early writing skills of children identified as at-risk for literacy difficulties. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 51, 392-402.

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Uzun, A. M., & Kilis, S. (2020). Investigating antecedents of plagiarism using extended theory of
planned behavior. Computers & Education, 144, 103700.

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