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Learning Hub

Welcome to the Learning Hub

The Learning Hub

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What is the Learning Hub?

What kind of support can the Learning Hub offer? 

Where is the Learning Hub?

How can I get support with my assignment?

What happens during a Learning Hub tutorial? 

Accessing the Learning Hub

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You can use the online skills guides at any time. You can work through the activities, read through the guidance at your own pace and refer back to the help sheets whenever you need to.

If you feel that you need additional support:

What support is available at the Learning Hub?

The Learning Hub can offer guidance with a variety of academic skills, including: writing and structure; help with presentations; being critical; literature searching; and referencing. 

The learning hub can help you with your writing style and structure. There are a range of online skills guides which you can work through at your own pace and refer back to. If you feel that you need additional support, you can also book a tutorial with a Learning Advisor. You can only book one appointment per week, and they will usually only look at an assignment once. If English is not your first language, you may find it more useful to book an appointment with an English Language tutor instead.
There is lots of online guidance to help with presentation skills and creative thinking, including support for poster presentations and creating digital content.
Being critical is an essential skill at University as it helps you to analyse and assess information. The Learning Hub has developed online support to help with critical thinking, critical writing and critical appraisal
There is lots of online material to help with Literature Searching. However, if you find that you need further help, you can also book a 1:1 tutorial with a librarian from your subject area. They can discuss your literature search with you and suggest the best approach, including planning a structured search, using Boolean operators and advanced search techniques.
At University you need to learn how to reference accurately in order to acknowledge your sources and to demonstrate that your writing is based on evidence. To help with this, the Learning Hub has created some useful resources to help with reference management and how to reference in the correct School style. If you feel that you need further support with referencing, any of the team can check a sample of your references to help you devise strategies for improvement. This can be done via email (libraryhelp@tees.ac.uk) or in a booked tutorial.
When we receive a question or a query we aim to identify the most appropriate source of support either within the Library or from across the University.  For examples within the Learning Hub:
  • If you require help with English as a second language you will be referred to the English Language tutors.
  • If you require support with further developing your academic writing, you will be referred to a Learning Advisor.
  • In depth literature search enquiries will be referred for a one to one appointment with an academic librarian.

What happens during a 1:1 tutorial?

1. You set the agenda for tutorials and decide on the topic for discussion.

2. Appointments will normally be arranged on a Monday- Friday between 9-5 and will last for 30 minutes. Tutorials can include email feedback on your draft assignments and/or conversations via Teams or face-to-face.

3. The aim of the sessions is to focus on developing learning so:

  •  You might want to send:
    • A marked assignment so that we can discuss feedback
    • A module handbook
    • An outline of the assessment criteria for an assignment
    • A timetable of submission dates to talk about time management
  • We will help you devise strategies to check your own work but we will not proofread.
  • We will help you to identify ways to improve your writing based on a draft piece of work. For this reason only one tutorial is offered for each piece of work (unless advised by the tutor).  You are advised to email a draft piece of work in advance of the tutorial so that we can prepare feedback.
  • Tutorials will focus on the style and structure of the student’s work not on discipline specific content.

4. We may refer students to another source of support within the University where appropriate.

5. To allow the Learning Hub to meet the needs of all students:

  • We are usually only able to offer one tutorial per week (unless recommended by us).
  • It is important that you let us know if you are unable to attend so we can offer your appointment to another student.

1. You set the agenda for tutorials and decide on the topic for discussion.

2. Appointments will be arranged on a Monday- Friday and will last for around 1 hour.

3. The aim of the session is to focus on either: searching for literature; referencing; or how to use RefWorks.

4. If you plan to focus on literature searching, you might want to email in advance:

  • Information about the research question or topic of interest
  • A search strategy

5. If you plan to focus on referencing, you might want to bring:

  • A reference list which has some feedback from a tutor
  • A new reference list you are working on 
  • Some referencing examples you need help with

    It is important to note that we will only help with a sample of references. We won't check or correct a full reference list.

6. We will help you to identify ways to start or improve your literature searching or reference list.

7. We may refer you on to another source of support within the University where appropriate.

8. To allow the us to meet the needs of all students, we usually only offer students one tutorial per week

9. It is important that you let us know if you are unable to attend so we can offer your appointment to another student.

Succeed@Tees workshops

  1. Succeed@Tees workshops are designed to complement your studies and enhance your academic skills in areas such as academic writing, critical thinking and Harvard referencing.
  2. All Teesside University students are welcome and there is no need to book.
  3. Workshops normally last one hour.  Bitesize workshops last 30 minutes. To give everyone a chance to attend, they run at different times of the day.
  4. The workshops aim to give you an introduction to the topic.  To develop your learning beyond the introductory workshop, there is a range of online resources available.
  5. Find out more about the workshop programme at http://libguides.tees.ac.uk/workshops

'How to' Helpsheets

Click on the image below to see a full list of 'how to' help sheets, from academic keywords to writing a literature review. 

How

Key Readings

Click on the image to see a list of recommended reading from the Learning Hub

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Feedback

If you have any comments about the Learning Hub web pages, we would love to know them. 

Click on the this image to give thoughts and feedback on the Learning Hub pages