What's on at the ASC
In-person drop-ins
This is an opportunity to speak to one of our skills advisors about the support on offer at the Academic Skills Centre. Feel free to drop in and have a chat with us about the ways we can support the development of your writing, research, and study skills.
- Tuesday 28 March 13:00-14:00 - ASC training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Thursday 30 March 13:00-14:00 - ASC training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Tuesday 25 April 13:00-14:00 - ASC training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Thursday 27 April 13:00-14:00 - ASC training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Tuesday 02 May 13:00-14:00 - ASC training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Thursday 04 May 13:00-14:00 - ASC Training room, First Floor, Main Library
During Assessment Support Week there are several opportunities to speak to one of our skills advisors. If you are finishing off assignments or preparing for exams, we can provide quick advice on topics such as referencing, revision techniques, managing your time, answering MCQs/SAQs. The dates for this are as follows:
- Tuesday 09 May 12:00-14:00 - ASC Training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Wednesday 10 May 12:00-14:00 - ASC Training room, FIrst Floor, Main Library
- Thursday 11 May 12:00-14:00 - ASC Training room, First Floor, Main Library
- Friday 12 May 12:00-14:00 - ASC Training room, First Floor, Main Library
Online drop-in support
We host a weekly online drop-in on a Wednesday afternoon (14:00-15:00) during term time. It is designed as a place to receive quick advice relating to academic skills. Enrol on our Canvas course to access the Zoom link. Please note that this term we are alternating between offering advice on research and writing skills. Do check the schedule for what is being covered each week.
Upcoming workshops
Wednesday 19 April 13:00-14:00 Critical thinking and writing online workshop
This online workshop will explore how to apply critical analysis to your writing to achieve higher marks in your assessment. It will cover:
- What is critical analysis and why is it important?
- Structure and analysis of arguments
- Critical reading of academic texts
- Creating strong arguments in written work
Book a place online
Wednesday 26 April 13:00-14:00 Advanced essay writing online workshop
This online workshop provides a more in-depth look into essay writing, focusing on ways to achieve higher marks through your writing. It will cover:
- What good academic writing involves
- Our Top 10 Tips for advanced essay writing
- An in-depth look at essay writing examples
Book a place online
Tuesday 02 May 13:00-14:00 Preparing for exams online workshop
This workshop will help you prepare for your exams whether you're taking them online or in-person. It will help you:
- Understand what an in-person or online exam involves
- Reflect on your own approaches to revision
- Consider different strategies for revision
- Be prepared on the day for the exam
Book a place online
PGT Essentials
The ASC and The Graduate School have teamed up to provide a range of online workshops to support your academic skills development. For more information and to book a place online, visit The Graduate School’s Event page. These workshops are for postgraduate taught students only.
Birmingham Scholars
The ASC run workshops for Birmingham Scholars. If you are a Birmingham Scholar you will have access to the following Canvas course and will be able to find information about our workshops.
Students in Dubai
The ASC are running several workshops for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Dubai. For a full schedule of what’s happening, visit the Dubai Library pages. These workshops are for students studying in Dubai.
Latest workshop recordings
The following videos are taken from recordings of our open programme workshops for Assessment Support Week in December 2022.
Workshop recordings archive
See our archive below of previous workshop recordings.
- Digital skills welcome session. This workshop introduced the core digital tools of the University such as Canvas, Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn Learning.
- Introduction to library resources. This workshop introduced some key Library resources that will help you with your study.
- Preparing for your second year. This workshop showed how to reflect on your first year so that you feel confident and prepared for your second year. The session thought about how you can consolidate and develop skills you will have picked up in your first year.
- Learning at University. This workshop showed students how to gain confidence with some essential learning skills, including time management, independent learning, and notetaking.
- Returning to education. For mature students or those returning to education after some time, this workshop will help you understand what's expected at University, explore strategies for studying alongside other commitments, and get to grips with online learning.
- Using digital tools to improve your time management. This workshop will introduce some of the digital tools that can aid with various aspects of study, particularly when revising for exams.
- Managing long documents in Word. This workshop covered how to use the automated features in Word to make creating and editing long documents easier and less frustrating. Includes demonstrations of using and editing styles, contents, headers, indexes etc.
- Critical analysis for the sciences. This workshop explored how to apply critical analysis to your scientific writing to achieve higher marks in your assessments. This session is suitable for students undertaking degrees with a scientific component.
- Research skills for dissertations. This workshop will help you get started with your dissertation research.
- Writing skills for dissertations. This workshop provides a useful starting point for writing your dissertation. (Passcode: PgRr&=0f)
New resources
Managing your research project
This new video is perfect for Taught students managing a research project for the first time. It cover three aspects: managing your relationship with your supervisor, using your time effectively, and writing an effective research question
Good academic practice
What is good academic practice? Watch our quick video to find out how to use language effectively and engage with sources successfully.
Finding and using newspapers
We have a new canvas course on how to find current and historical newspapers and how to use them in your research.
For more resources please see our Academic Skills Gateway.
Contact us
For any Taught student queries (UG/MA/MSc) please contact asc@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
For Research postgraduate queries (MRes or PhD) please contact libraryresearchskills@contacts.bham.ac.uk.