Your Guide to Successful Postgraduate Study: (Student Success)

About the Book

The leap between the undergrad and postgrad can sometimes come as a surprise, especially if you've been out of education for a while. Postgraduate study involves applying skills and knowledge in a more sophisticated and advanced way than was required during your degree.

Your Guide to Successful Postgraduate Study demystifies some of the expectations of post-grad study and outlines tools and strategies for developing skills that will improve your work throughout the whole of your post-graduate course.

This book advises you on how to:

• decide what to read, and how best to read it
• produce engaging outputs in writing or speaking that are convincing and engaging
• pursue academic arguments and show evidence of research/reading
• maximize your employability after graduation.

Get ahead of the game and equip yourself with the skills needed to supercharge your postgraduate work!

The Student Success series are essential guides for students of all levels. From how to think critically and write great essays to planning your dream career, the Student Success series helps you study smarter and get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips and resources for study success!

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Understanding Yourself as a Learner and Postgraduate Student Chapter 2: The Study Environment Chapter 3: The Unspoken Rules of Academic Etiquette Chapter 4: Reading to Some Purpose Chapter 5: The Representation of Thinking at Postgraduate Level Chapter 6: The Postgraduate Linguistic Skills Chapter 7: Preparing Your Dissertation or Thesis Proposal Chapter 8: Next Steps

About the Author :
Dr Geoffrey Elliott is Professor of Post-Compulsory Education at the University of Worcester. He has worked in schools, further and adult education, and has previously held posts in the School of Independent Study at the University of East London, and the Open University where he taught on the Professional Doctorate programme in Education. His research interests are in Leadership, Ethics, and Widening Participation in Higher Education. Geoffrey is President of the Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education, the sponsor of the international peer reviewed journal Research in Post-Compulsory Education which he has edited since its launch in 1996. He has written and co-authored a number of books, including (with Carol Costley and Paul Gibbs) the highly popular Doing Work Based Research: Approaches to enquiry for insider-researchers, also published by Sage. Geoffrey is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), the complaints ombudsman for HE students studying in England and Wales. Dr Karima Kadi-Hanifi moved to Newman University in February 2017, having worked, prior to that, at the University of Worcester for nearly 10 years. She is a senior lecturer in education, having led partnerships across further and higher education for Initial Teacher Training, taught and supervised undergraduate and post-graduate students in areas as diverse as linguistics, inclusion, post-graduate research methods, EAL, ESOL and adult Literacy. She studied linguistics at Sheffield University, obtaining a PhD in 1989, and working first at Sheffield, followed by UCL, then Roehampton Universities, before settling in the West Midlands in 2007. Karima has also taught and led provision in further and in adult education both in London and in Birmingham. Her research has included sociolinguistics and speech science in the early days of her doctoral and post-doctoral career and more recently HE learning and teaching. She has also co-authored a recent book on EAL in Secondary schools (with Sean Bracken and Catharine Driver) bringing her passion for linguistics and EAL in line with her interest in teacher education. Dr Carla Solvason is Senior Lecturer at the University of Worcester within the Centre for Children and Families. She is the pathway lead for the Masters in Early Childhood and is a PhD supervisor. Along with her colleague, Rosie Walker, she co-authored, Success with your Early Years Research Project, also published by Sage, which has received very positive reviews and is now a key text. Carla’s first role was as a primary school teacher. During that time she completed a Masters in Gender, Literature and Modernity and a PhD in Education, specifically looking at concepts of inclusion. Before starting work at Worcester, in 2009, she spent a year as a consultant for the children’s communication charity, I CAN and still delivers CPD in speech, language and communication support. Rosie Walker and Carla Solvason will be discussing ideas from Success with your Early Years Research Project in Doing Your Early Years Research Project, a SAGE Masterclass for early years students and practitioners in collaboration with Kathy Brodie. Find out more here.

Review :

This is a very readable book for students who are embarking on postgraduate study for the first time and those returning to university. The text is clearly signposted throughout, highlighting the process from preparation to writing up and submitting. The authors have provided excellent advice underpinned with student examples.

This guide really resonated with my experiences as a postgraduate student. Packed with insights into the academic world and the study environment, the authors provide clear strategies for overcoming the challenges of postgraduate life. The case studies help to contextualise approaches in the book, helping me to think how I might use them in the real world.

To me, it appears evident that the authors are writing not just with their professional expertise, but their own first-hand experience of postgraduate life...always helpful but never patronising and, above all, looking to reassure the reader that the power to successful postgraduate study is in their (your) hands. Relatable, helpful, reader-friendly. At just 124 pages, this guide is a quick, accessible read that provides relevant and practical advice which will be an undoubted help for anyone considering postgraduate study regardless of discipline or level. Highly recommended.