Stella Cottrell - The Study Skills Handbook

The Study Skills Handbook

www.thestudyspace.com the leading study skills website

Study Skills

Titles in this series by Stella Cottrell

Critical Thinking Skills (3rd edn)

Dissertations and Project Reports

The Exam Skills Handbook (2nd edn)

Mindfulness for Students

The Macmillan Student Planner

Skills for Success: Personal Development and Employability (3rd edn)

Study Skills Connected

The Study Skills Handbook (5th edn)

Teaching Study Skills and Supporting Learning

You2Uni: Decide. Prepare. Apply

50 Ways to Boost Your Employability

50 Ways to Boost Your Grades

50 Ways to Excel at Writing

50 Ways to Manage Stress

50 Ways to Manage Time Effectively

50 Ways to Succeed as an International Student

Academic Success

Academic Writing Skills for International Students

The Business Students Phrase Book

Cite Them Right (10th edn)

Critical Thinking and Persuasive Writing for Postgraduates

The Employability Journal

Essentials of Essay Writing

Get Sorted

Great Ways to Learn Anatomy and Physiology (2nd edn)

How to Begin Studying English Literature (4th edn)

How to Use Your Reading in Your Essays (3rd edn)

How to Write Better Essays (4th edn)

How to Write Your Undergraduate Dissertation (2nd edn)

Improve Your Grammar (2nd edn)

The Mature Students Handbook

The Personal Tutors Handbook

Presentation Skills for Students (3rd edn)

The Principles of Writing in Psychology

Professional Writing (3rd edn)

Stand Out from the Crowd

The Student Phrase Book

The Students Guide to Writing (3rd edn)

Study Skills for International Postgraduates

Studying in English

Studying History (4th edn)

Studying Law (4th edn)

Studying Physics

Success in Academic Writing (2nd edn)

Smart Thinking

The Graduate Career Guidebook

The Undergraduate Research Handbook (2nd edn)

The Work-Based Learning Student Handbook (2nd edn)

Writing for Engineers (4th edn)

Writing History Essays (2nd edn)

Writing for Law

Writing for Nursing and Midwifery Students (3rd edn)

Write it Right (2nd edn)

Writing for Science Students

Writing Skills for Education Students

Pocket Study Skills

14 Days to Exam Success (2nd edn)

Analyzing a Case Study

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More

Brilliant Writing Tips for Students

Completing Your PhD

Doing Research (2nd edn)

Getting Critical (2nd edn)

Managing Stress

Planning Your Dissertation (2nd edn)

Planning Your Essay (2nd edn)

Planning Your PhD

Posters and Presentations

Reading and Making Notes (2nd edn)

Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism (2nd edn)

Reflective Writing

Report Writing (2nd edn)

Science Study Skills

Studying with Dyslexia (2nd edn)

Success in Groupwork

Successful Applications

Time Management

Wheres Your Argument?

Writing for University (2nd edn)

Research Skills

Authoring a PhD

The Foundations of Research (3rd edn)

Getting to Grips with Doctoral Research

Getting Published

The Good Supervisor (2nd edn)

The Lean PhD

PhD by Published Work

The PhD Viva

Planning Your Postgraduate Research

The PhD Writing Handbook

The Postgraduate Research Handbook (2nd edn)

The Professional Doctorate

Structuring Your Research Thesis

For a complete listing of all our titles in this area please visit www.macmillanihe.com/study-skills

The Study Skills
Handbook

Fifth Edition

Stella Cottrell

Stella Cottrell, under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 1999, 2003, 2008, 2013, 2019

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This edition published 2019 by

RED GLOBE PRESS

Previous editions published under the imprint PALGRAVE

Red Globe Press in the UK is an imprint of Springer Nature Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Red Globe Press is a registered trademark in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9781137610874 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Self-evaluations, checklists, planners and record sheets may be photocopied by individual students for their personal use only.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all who provided encouragement, support and comments for earlier editions of the book. That includes academics, professional support staff and students from British and international universities and colleges for their constructive feedback on the first four editions; wherever possible their suggestions have been incorporated into later editions. I owe particular thanks to Kate Williams at Oxford Brookes; Lynn Chiswick, Robert Simpson, Pam Dixon, David Gosling and lecturers across the University of East London (UEL) who used the first iterations of The Study Skills Handbook; Mary Drury and Karry Omer; Andy Lloyd, Patricia Owens, Wendy Trevor, Stella Butler and Julia Braham at the University of Leeds; the support tutors who piloted material with dyslexic students at UEL and elsewhere; staff at the British Council in Tashkent; the University of Almaty in Kazakhstan; the University of Liverpool; the Institute of Technology Tallaght; Durham University; and Queens University Belfast. I am immensely grateful to all for their feedback and suggestions.

Thanks also to the many reviewers and readers from around the world who have provided comments and feedback on what they have enjoyed about the book, how they used the material, and what else they would like to see developed. I hope I do justice to their inspiring thoughts.

For the production of this fifth edition, I would like to thank:

Helen Caunce, Georgia Park, Rosie Maher, Suzannah Burywood and other staff at Red Globe Press for their continued support, enthusiasm and belief in the book.

My partner, who as always kept everything going whilst I scribbled and typed away, not only feeding me at regular intervals but also contributing so much to thinking through the various updates and proofreading the drafts.

The hundreds of students who were open to discussing with me what they found difficult about studying and willing to elaborate new and individual ways of approaching their study to them, and to all future students who may struggle for even a day, this book is dedicated.