Study Smart launches for 2024

Colleagues can help set up our new students for success by recommending our Study Smart course.

New Part 1 and Foundation students coming to study at Reading will receive their invitation to take our successful online course, Study Smart, this week.

This online transition to university course, developed exclusively for our students by the Study Advice and Online Courses team, is now in its eighth year. The course is key in developing students’ academic skills and our research evidences that students that engage with Study Smart are more likely to pass their first year.

Study Smart is as important as ever in helping students with the transition to university. We know from our Study Advice service that our incoming students are often concerned that they may lack some of the study skills for university-level learning, and confidence for some may have been impacted over recent years.

The course will also support students to develop self-reflection and includes advice on: critical thinking, ethical and critical use of Generative AI, and organising their study time. They will also benefit from the experience of our current students who are on discussion boards answering students’ questions.

As in previous runs, the course includes videos, quizzes, and resources on academic integrity, communicating at university, and independent learning. These activities and resources have been designed to help students with the transition to university-level study and, once enrolled, students retain access to these resources for their entire time with us.

Feedback shows Study Smart is successful because of staff endorsement, so please do encourage your new Foundation and Part 1 students to enrol on the course. You can embed these slides into your induction sessions: Study Smart ppt slide. They can access a certificate at the end of the course, which could be shared with Academic Tutors or uploaded into Blackboard.

For more information about Study Smart, see the staff-facing Tutors’ Guide or email Dr Sonia Hood (s.hood@reading.ac.uk).