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Postgraduate study skills

If you have started studying at postgraduate level you probably already have good undergraduate-level skills, but these will be developed further and assessed more stringently in postgraduate study.

Covered in this section

  • Reading skills for PG study
  • Gathering and processing evidence and data
  • Presenting your findings

This section should take about 45 minutes to complete and includes 2 audio clips.

You'll need new skills for postgraduate study. You'll be expected to

  • read outside the module's core materials in order to get a broader perspective on your specialism
  • demonstrate academic judgement by gathering appropriate published evidence or data, which you then critically evaluate and use as the basis for logical argument and discussion
  • gather your own data and consider its significance, by using methodologies such as questionnaires and statistical analysis
  • present your findings in a professional manner: as a written assignment, a dissertation, or an oral presentation to others.

If you haven't studied for some time, or you want to review your skills, take a look at the other resources in Skills for OU Study, which are aimed at undergraduates. They include advice on planning and managing your study - at postgraduate level, you may well have to find 15 hours a week to study.

Last updated 2 years ago