Short Courses and Workshops

Maths Refresher Short Course

This 10-hour course is held over the weekend following O Week and is designed to build confidence and competence in students returning to maths or in need of a refresher.

You will be able to work through modules at your own pace with support and guidance from our experienced facilitators, who will be on hand to assist you to work through mathematical concepts.

This course is particularly helpful for students intending to study courses where mathematics and statistics are required.

Download the Maths Refresher Short Course workbooks in PDF (hard copies will be provided at the workshops):

• Maths Refresher Workbook 1 (PDF, 988 KB)
• Maths Refresher Workbook 2 (PDF, 1225 KB)

Study Well in Australia

(for students with English as an additional language)

Study in an Australian university may be very different to how you study in your own country. This workshop will help you to better understand the University’s expectations of you, what being an independent learner means, how to engage with critical thinking, how to avoid plagiarism and ways to develop your English.

If you are interested in the content of this workshop but cannot attend, see our two-part video series on active learning at JCU. See the Active learning tab at Getting Started.

Basic Statistics Short Course

Come along to this short course to revise basic statistics concepts that will support future learning throughout your degree. You will learn how to collect, organise, analyse and interpret information.

If you missed the Basic Statistics Short Course, you can download the workshop presentation slides (PDF, 7131 KB)

Academic Writing Short Course

Academic writing is very different to the writing you might be familiar with outside of university. This informative and hands-on course is designed to address the skills needed to research and write various academic texts such as essays, reports and annotated bibliographies.

Bring along your subject outline and get a head start on your assignments with help from our facilitators.

Online Academic Writing Short Course

If you are unable to attend the Academic Writing Workshop on campus The Learning Centre also provides a series of webinar recordings which are available at the bottom of the page.

Workshop overview

Part I: Unpacking the essay question and critical note-taking
Learn effective strategies for understanding your essay question and taking effective notes. Have a copy of your subject outline and one of your subject readings on hand for this active learning session.

Part II: Planning & Researching your assignment
Learn how to structure and organise your first academic assignment, research your topic and explore live student assignment samples.

Part III: Summarising & Paraphrasing & Referencing
One of the most important learning and assessment tools at university is the writing of essays. These essays differ from the essays you wrote at school. Firstly, they are written in an academic style, and secondly, the content is often a synthesis of ideas you have collected from a wide variety of readings. Learn how to summarise and paraphrase research and readings and reference accordingly.

If you missed the Academic Writing Short Course, you can download the workshop presentation slides (PDF, 2974 KB), or you may be interested in the Academic Writing in the Disciplines Workshops (see below).

For additional academic writing support visit: Essay Writing Basics, Assignment Guides and The Writing Guide.

Getting the most from your readings

One of the most important activities you will have to do as a university student is read. You read to inform yourself about your discipline, the subjects you are studying and to inform your writing.

To become a better reader means you have to be able to gather information efficiently from what you are reading and also be able to interact creatively and critically with the information you have read.

Therefore, this workshop will focus on:

1. using the structure of the whole text to help you read more efficiently;

2. the strategies to use while reading to aid your understanding of the text

If you have a journal article to read in preparation for one of your lectures, please bring it to the workshop.

If you missed the getting the most from your readings workshop, you can download the workshop presentation slides. (PPTX, 1155 KB)

Postgraduate by Coursework Orientation

Making a Start: an academic orientation for postgraduate coursework students

As a new postgraduate (coursework) student are you unsure of what to expect? This workshop covers expectations for academic writing and writing genres; critical thinking; writing tips; how to approach writing tasks; deciphering subject outlines, task sheets and assessment rubrics/criteria, and tips on data analysis and useful statistics resources.

If you missed the postgraduate by coursework orientation, you can access the materials below.

Module A: Introduction and academic expectations

Module B: Critical thinking and academic writing

Module C: Academic Integrity and Assessment

Module D: Resources and self-help

Active Learning Workshops

Learn valuable organisation and study skills to maximise your learning, make the best use of your time and thus achieve better results.

Self-Study Workshops

• Study smarter not harder (PDF, 2339 KB)
• Effective reading (PDF, 2874 KB) and note-taking (PDF, 392 KB)
• Studying for exams (PDF, 444 KB)
• Exam tactics (PDF, 446 KB)

Academic Writing in the Disciplines

Develop your understanding of writing for academic purposes by learning how to organise and express your ideas. Explore a variety of assessment types to help you succeed at university and beyond. These self-study guides focus on the fundamentals of writing (paragraphing, using evidence, etc.) with reference to discipline specific typical text types / genres.

Self-Study Guides

Writing in the Sciences (PDF, 2210KB)

Writing in the Humanities (PDF, 1010KB)

Keys to Academic Success Webinars

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Keys to Academic Success Webinar (PDF, 1000 KB)