What does academic skills mean?

Academic skills are the skills that you develop when you are learning so that your learning is more effective. Once you have developed academic skills, you will be able to apply them to many different areas of your life besides the class room.

• What things to look at when trying to develop academic skills
  

There are a number of strategies that can be used to develop academic skills such as discovering what your learning style is. Some people learn best by listening, whereas others learn best by reading, and others by hands on experience. Once you have worked out which applies to you, you will be able to use this in your studying for greater effectiveness.

• Time management

It is far too easy when we are studying to procrastinate and waste time doing something completely different and that is not related to what we are supposed to be doing.

For anyone who is guilty of this (which is just about everyone!) the key is to examine what triggers your other activities so that you are more aware of them and can take measures to avoid them and concentrate on studying instead.

Having more focus on what needs to be done will make studying more effective and develop academic skills.

• Planning essays

This is a great way of developing academic skills and will also lead to better grades. Rather than simply pouring out every thought that you have ever had about the subject you are writing about, take the time to make a plan so that the essay is more structured.