These slides were prepared for a workshop for students of the 'Social determinants of health' course at Massey University, New Zealand.

1. Top tips for success in 231.107
National Centre for Learning and Teaching
Library level 3 tinyurl.com/masseynctlhome
View these slides online at: tinyurl.com/231107toptips

2. TIP 1
USE NCTL ONLINE RESOURCES

3. VIDEOS tinyurl.com/nctlvideos
OWLL owll.massey.ac.nz

4. STUDY UP WORKSHOPS
SEE tinyurl.com/nctlworkshops

5. TIP 2
GET PERSONALISED ADVICE

6. FOR MORE DETAILS SEE tinyurl.com/masseyprereading &
tinyurl.com/masseyprereadingvideo
USE THE PRE-READING SERVICE
CLICK ON ‘ACADEMIC
SUPPORT’ ON STREAM
SCROLL DOWN TO ‘PRE-
READING’ TO SUBMIT
YOUR DRAFT
Get feedback on up to two assignment drafts per semester
Your draft will be returned with comments within 3 days

7. APPOINTMENTS email ctlalb@massey.ac.nz
CHECK YOUR
ASSIGNMENT
PLAN
GET FEEDBACK ON
YOUR DRAFTS
DISCUSS YOUR
STUDY SKILLS
TALK TO A MASSEY CONSULTANT
(by phone, webchat or in person at the library)

8. TIP 3
TREAT STUDY LIKE IT’S YOUR JOB

9. Course
1
Course
2
Course 3
Course
4
Course
2
Course
4
Course
2
Course 3
Course 1
Course
2
Course
2
Course 1
Course
1
Course 4
Course
4
Course
3
Course
4
Course
1
Course 3
PRINT OR MAKE UP A WEEKLY GRID
Course 4
Include study blocks of 1 – 2 hours totalling 10 – 15
hours for each course

10. TIP 4
START ASSIGNMENTS EARLY

11. revisewriteresearch & plan
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WEEK
1
WEEK
2
WEEK
3
NOW
GOOD ACADEMIC WRITING HAS FOUR STAGES
USE THE ASSIGNMENT PLANNING CALCULATOR:
tinyurl.com/masseyassignmentplanner

12. TIP 5
BRUSH UP YOUR RESEARCH SKILLS

13. Imagine you are writing a paragraph about
approaches to leadership in society, and you think
Confucianism would be an interesting choice.
Where do you find out about Confucian ideas about
leadership?

14. You need to get used to using the library as your main
‘vehicle’ for research.
And, like driving any new vehicle, you need to spend time
learning the controls (and maybe taking lessons!)

15. See: tinyurl.com/masseylibraryworkshops
EXAMPLE LIBRARY SEARCH

16. TIP 6
BREAK DOWN ASSIGNMENTS INTO
PARTS AND PARAGRAPHS

17. Paragraph numbers for common word counts
___________________________________________
• 500 words: 3 – 5 paragraphs
• 800 words: 5 – 8 paragraphs
• 1000 words: 6 – 10 paragraphs
• 1500 words: 8 – 12 paragraphs
• 1800 words: 9 – 15 paragraphs
• 2000 words: 10 – 16 paragraphs
• 2500 words: 12 – 18 paragraphs
Each paragraph has between 3 and 8 sentences

18. Example assignment question
Main task:
Watch a video interview with an international education expert and report
on her explanation of the social determinants of educational achievement
Details:
Cover the following topics:
• What was the video about?
• What social determinants of educational achievement were
discussed and which were the most important in the expert’s view?
• What is different about New Zealand that needs to be considered to
address social determinants of educational achievement here?
• Which specific social determinants of educational achievement do
you think should be prioritised for attention in New Zealand?
• Include a concluding statement
Length:
600 words

19. Step 1: How many parts will your report have?
• 6
Step 2: How many paragraphs will your report have?
• 600 words
• 4 – 7 paragraphs
Step 3: How many paragraphs will each part have.
• 1 (between 3 and 6 sentences each)
Three-step planning process

20. Possible report structure
1. Introduction
2. Discussion
2.1 Social determinants of educational
achievement
2.2 Relative importance of social determinants of
educational achievement
3. Conclusion
2.1 Key features of the social and educational
context of New Zealand / Aotearoa
2.2 Social determinants of educational achievement
that need to be prioritised in New Zealand / Aotearoa
References

21. TIP 7
MAKE YOUR WRITING FLOW

22. Situational Leadership Theory is based on the notion
that effective leaders need to adapt constantly both
to environmental changes and the developing needs
of their diverse team members (Brown, 2014).
Leaders are recommended to categorise team
members according to their performance readiness
level (R1, R2, R3, R4). They also need to analyse
their own leadership behaviours in order to identify
examples of four major styles: telling, selling,
participating and delegating. The challenge for
leaders is then to use the style which is best suited
to the needs of each individual in their team,
according to their performance readiness (Ronaldson,
2010).
A paragraph that flows
Topic sentence
Sentences start
with previous topic
and then add
something new
Concluding
sentence

23. TIP 8
Reduce quotations

24. As Mundell (2002, p. 4) argued, “If it’s right for Europe to scrap
its national currencies, why is it wrong for other countries to do
the same thing?”
Only quote definitions:
And, as in the above examples, copy as few words as
possible and put these inside “…..” after your own
introductory phrase.
Quotations need full citations, including page numbers
(See tip 10)
..... or really memorable phrases:
The concept of comparative advantage states that “everyone
does best when each concentrates on the activity for which he or
she is relatively most productive” (Frank & Bernanke, 2001, p.
23).

25. TIP 9
Summarise, don’t plagiarise

26. On the next slide is an extract from an academic journal article
about how a strengths-based model of social work practice with
Korean migrants.
Here is an example of how this was summarised as part
of an essay about effective leadership in Social Work.
90% of the time, when you use ideas from your reading, you’ll
need to summarise these in your own words.
This four-step process is the most effective way to do this:
a) highlight the relevant information
b) turn this into brief notes
c) close the original text
d) expand your notes into one or more linked sentences

27. A strengths-based model can be a suitable approach to social work
practice with migrants, families and communities (Sisnerous et al.,
2008). This approach is focused on the strengths, possibility and
resilience of individuals and their families, rather than addressing
their deficits and weaknesses (Saleebey, 2006). For Korean
migrants, the transnational community is a vital source of strength,
opportunities, resilience and belonging. To meet the needs of
migrants and their families, it is important for practitioners to work
with groups, organisations and other institutions at the community
level (Berg-Weger, 2010). This community-level social work
practice, based on the strengths-based approach, can be extended
to macro practice in the transnational context within which Korean
clients are positioned. The roles of social work practitioners with
migrant communities can range from empowering clients and their
families, to utilising the community’s own resources, and to
promoting the participation and inclusion of migrant clients in their
host society. (p. 38)
Original text
Hong-Jae, P., & Anglem, J. (2012). The 'transnationality' of Koreans, Korean families and
Korean communities in Aotearoa New Zealand--implications for social work
practice. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 24(1), 31-40.

28. A strengths-based model can be a suitable approach to social work
practice with migrants, families and communities (Sisnerous et al.,
2008). This approach is focused on the strengths, possibility and
resilience of individuals and their families, rather than addressing
their deficits and weaknesses (Saleebey, 2006). For Korean
migrants, the transnational community is a vital source of strength,
opportunities, resilience and belonging. To meet the needs of
migrants and their families, it is important for practitioners to work
with groups, organisations and other institutions at the community
level (Berg-Weger, 2010). This community-level social work
practice, based on the strengths-based approach, can be extended
to macro practice in the transnational context within which Korean
clients are positioned. The roles of social work practitioners with
migrant communities can range from empowering clients and their
families, to utilising the community’s own resources, and to
promoting the participation and inclusion of migrant clients in their
host society.
1. Highlight main points

29. • SWs can use a strengths-based approach with
migrants
• Focus on resilience, ops, belonging
• Work with groups + insts at comm level
• empower clients, use comm res, promote incl +
part.
2. Make brief notes

30. Social workers in New Zealand / Aotearoa are
recommended to adopt a strengths-based approach
to working with migrants. This approach involves
working with community organisations and building
on existing strengths, such as resilience and a sense
of belonging. Using these community resources,
social workers can both empower individual clients
and promote broader social inclusion and
participation (Hong-Jae, & Anglem, 2012).
3. Expand these notes into linked sentences

31. TIP 10
Learn how to reference in APA style

32. Recent research has found evidence of such
practices, where age is used as an unjustified
barrier to employment or promotion, in over half
of New Zealand employers (Brown, 2012).
The most common way to do this is to put the author’s
surname and the date of publication in brackets AFTER
you’ve used the information.
In-text citations

33. Atkinson, D. (2013, January 24). Too old to work: Too young to die? Retrieved from
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/1004532.htm
Broom, R. M. (2017). Social work: Core concepts. Boston, MA: Pearson
Brown, P. (2012). Equal opportunities in New Zealand: Myth or reality? Australasian
Journal of Human Resources, 41(3), 46-68.
Davidson, C., & Tolich, M. (2001). Social science research in New Zealand.
Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Education.
Khan, I., & Chen, T. (2010). Tackling ageism: A cross-institutional approach. In J.
Johnson & T. Peterson (Eds.), An equal opportunities handbook (pp. 102-131). San
Francisco, CA: Pilot Press.
Smith, P., & Davidoff, R. (2003). Equal opportunities: From policy to practice. Central
Islip, NY: Progressive Press.
Statistics New Zealand. (2008). Demographic Trends – 2001-2006. Retrieved from
http://stats.govt.nz/demotrends-2012.pdf
End-of-text references
References

34. Smith, P., & Davidoff, R. (2003). Equal opportunities: From policy to
practice. Central Islip, NY: Progressive Press.
(year) title of book
city publisher
In academic writing, most references are to
books and journal articles
surname,
initial
Brown, P. (2012). Equal opportunities in New Zealand: Myth or
reality? Australasian Journal of Human Resources, 41(3), 46-68.
doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225
(year) title of article
surname,
initial
volume / issue number
page numbers
name of journaldoi number

35. For more on referencing, go back to ....

36. You’ll see a question on the screen and then, a
few moments later, a photo of somewhere
on the campus, together with four options.
For example:
Top Tips Quiz
Where can you sit down on
these colourful chairs?

37. You need to select the correct answer
by pressing the appropriate square on your
smartphone or tablet.
You’ll receive points not only for correct answers
but also according to the speed of your selection.

38. • Open kahoot.it
in your browser
• Enter the game pin
which I will show you
in a minute
• Enter your nickname
(and you will see it
appear on the public
screen)
To join the quiz you need to: