pt. 1. You and tertiary study -- 1. The first step -- Graduate attributes -- Transition to university -- Balancing life and study -- Skills for academic success -- Recommendations -- 2. Being organised -- Why time management is important -- How do you cope with all the demands on your time? -- Setting your goals -- Planning -- The study timetable -- Resources -- Using your time well -- Late submissions -- Time wasting -- Procrastination -- pt. 2. Learning and researching -- 3. Modes of learning for higher education -- What is learning? -- Memory -- The learning curve -- Preferences for learning -- Sensory aspects of learning styles -- Visual -- Auditory -- Kinaesthetic or tactile -- Learning for meaning -- Monitoring your own learning -- Advice from successful students -- Keep up -- The topic syllabus -- Get to know your classmates -- Survey the entire work -- Reading, highlighting, and taking notes -- The card system -- Review information -- 4. Lectures, tutorials, and laboratories -- Lectures -- Listening -- Effective note taking -- Mechanics -- Editing and reviewing -- Summaries -- Translations -- Laws of science -- Tutorials -- Practical and laboratory classes -- Laboratory safety -- 5. E-learning and researching -- Five levels of e-learning -- Information retrieval -- Knowledge databases -- Online support -- Asynchronous instruction -- Synchronous instruction -- The virtual library and electronic resources -- Databases -- Citation indexes -- The Internet -- The World Wide Web -- Using search engines for research -- How to sort information -- Improving your search results -- Web-based learning -- Learning tools -- Net etiquette -- 6. Assessments -- Grading systems -- Continual assessment -- Exams -- Tackling exams -- Preparation -- Techniques -- Self-confidence -- About the exam -- Format -- Length -- Value -- The multiple-choice exam -- pt. 3. Critical evaluation -- 7. Reading scientific literature -- The scientific literature -- Textbooks, reference books, and handbooks -- Reviews, monographs, and annuals -- Journal articles -- Scientific abstracts, citations, and electronic databases -- Reading concerns -- Asking specific questions -- Critical reading of journals -- Skim reading -- Critical reading -- 8. Critical thinking -- Science and the pursuit of knowledge -- Knowledge, scepticism, and critical thinking -- Why be a critical thinker? -- How to be a critical thinker -- What is justification? -- Assessing evidence -- Critical thinking and argumentation -- 9. Academic argument -- What is an academic argument? -- When do you need to present an argument? -- What makes a good argument? -- Types of argument -- Deductive reasoning -- Inductive reasoning -- What makes a weak or strong inductive argument? -- Using good argument in your writing --

pt. 4. Writing and presenting in the sciences -- 10. Academic integrity and plagiarism -- Why do we need academic integrity? -- What is plagiarism? -- Other forms of unethical behaviour -- Referencing -- Paraphrasing correctly -- Group work -- 11. Referencing styles -- Referencing styles -- Non-referenced material -- Author-date style -- Citations in the text -- Reference list -- The Vancouver style -- Citations in the text -- Reference list -- Keeping track of your references -- 12. Writing for the sciences -- Analysis of the question -- Example of assignment questions -- Questions you may want to ask -- Source materials -- Planning the structure of the assignment -- The idea of themes -- Sections of the written assignment -- Introduction -- The basic theme -- Background information -- Body of the text -- Summary and conclusions -- References -- Using graphs, tables, and figures -- Language : putting it all together -- A proposed structure for scientific writing -- Final checklist -- Presentation -- Introduction -- Discussion -- Conclusions -- 13. Writing a report -- Title page and inside cover -- Terms of reference -- Table of contents -- Executive summary or abstract -- Introduction -- Materials and methods -- Main findings -- 1) Results -- 2) Discussion -- 3) Conclusions -- 4) Recommendations -- References -- Appendixes and attachments -- Final checklist -- Format and presentation -- Executive summary -- Introduction -- Results and discussion -- Conclusions and recommendations -- Language and expression -- 14. Writing a laboratory report -- Language and style -- Objective language -- Active or passive voice -- Past or present tense -- Words to keep in mind when writing -- Clarity -- Correctness -- Completeness -- Simplicity -- Readability -- Objectivity -- Writing a laboratory report -- Title -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Materials and methods -- Results -- Discussion -- Summary and conclusions -- References -- Appendixes -- Checklist -- Presentation -- Introduction -- Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- Conclusions -- 15. Writing an article review -- What is an article review? -- Research article types -- Simple structure -- Additional elements -- Critical analysis -- Critiquing an experimental or empirical article -- A template for reviewing empirical articles -- 16. Presentation skills : talks and posters -- Oral presentations -- Preparation -- Delivery -- Poster presentations -- Presentation -- 17. Editing your writing -- The editor's toolbox -- Structural editing -- Copy editing -- Proofreading -- Common faults in English expression -- Top sports for errors -- Common error types -- Use of commas -- Avoiding tautology -- Distinguishing meaning -- Parallel structure --

pt. 5. Quantitative methods -- 18. An approach to problem solving -- Blocks to problem solving -- Steps in problem solving -- Clarifying the problem -- Devising a plan of attack -- Implementing the plan -- Checking the answer -- 19. Fundamental mathematics -- Order of operations -- Exponents, powers and roots -- Multiplying and dividing powers -- Powers of powers -- Negative powers -- Roots and fractional powers -- Scientific notation -- Addition and subtraction -- Multiplication and division -- Logarithms -- What are logarithms? -- Laws of logarithms -- Equations and dimensions -- Units and dimensions (dimensional analysis) -- 20. An introduction to calculus -- Differential calculus -- Integral calculus -- 21. Basic statistics -- Categorising data -- Drawing and using graphs -- Drawing lines on graphs -- Drawing inferences from graphs -- Interpolation -- Extrapolation -- Relationships between variables -- Statistical terminology -- Appendixes -- 1. Key words in written assignment questions -- 2. Unusual plurals -- 3. Prefixes -- 4. The use of apostrophes -- 5. SI units and fundamental constants.