A common phrase we hear from students in the Skills Centre is: “Your support has been so useful – I wish I’d known about it sooner!” Malcolm Skene, Digital & Academic Skills Course Leader, introduces the skills enrichment programme and how the workshops help students at all levels to get the most out of their studies and build their employability skills.
We know students are incredibly busy people and appreciate that ‘skills development’ might not be high on your list of priorities. But it’s important to regularly devote some time in your schedule to focus on developing your academic and employability skills. You’ll be expected to do this in your future workplace, where it’s called ‘Continuing Professional Development’ (CPD), so it’s a good idea to get into good habits now!
What is skills enrichment?
We run a programme of ‘skills enrichment’ workshops each Semester designed to help you get the best possible grades for the work you submit at Bath, and build your transferable skills, so you’re well prepared for your future career when you leave.
Here are five great reasons to attend the workshops:
1. They’re highly relevant
Having worked with academic departments over many years, the sessions are based on the most common areas for development identified in students' work. We aim to give you all the ‘tricks of the trade’ so your assignments are high quality. Sessions are carefully planned to help you at different stages of your academic journey, whether you’re tackling your very first essay, preparing for exams, or writing your dissertation.
2. The sessions cover a wide range of topics
This year, we’re running sessions on over 20 different skills topics, such as improving your academic style, making the most of feedback, preparing for exams, and editing and proofreading. There’s also a big emphasis on employability, for example communication skills, presentation skills, and taking part in meetings – the key ‘soft’ skills that employers want their employees to possess. Whatever your development needs, you should find a session to help! You can check out the session summaries here.
3. They’re very interactive
Sure, you may be able to find a YouTube tutorial on some of these topics, but our workshops are student-focused and provide a dynamic learning environment where you can explore ideas with the teachers and your peers from different disciplines and backgrounds and ask questions in a more much personal way. This will make your learning more fun, rewarding and memorable in the long run.
4. Our teaching staff are experts in their field
Our friendly team of five teachers, two of whom have PhDs themselves, are experienced academic skills practitioners, dedicated to sharing their expertise and knowledge to enrich your academic journey. They’ve worked in higher education settings for many years and between them have a wealth of experience in helping students at all levels to reach their full potential. You can meet the skills enrichment team in this blog.
5. They’re very short!
Most of the workshops are just 50 minutes and run at different times, in-person on campus or online, so there’s lots of flexibility to fit them in around your busy timetable, giving you plenty of time to get down to The Pug & Tub still!
Building confidence
In Academic Year 2022/23, feedback from our skills enrichment workshops showed that 80% of students said they felt more confident about their academic work after attending the session and 90% said they would recommend the sessions to a friend.
"These sessions helped to build my confidence and allowed me to explore new skills that I wouldn’t have known about. I had a lot of feedback on how to structure my essay. By working on this issue, I was able to improve my essay and reach higher grades." (Sophie Benton, BSc Biomedical Sciences with Professional Placement)
You can learn more about two of our skills enrichment sessions in the following student blogs:
- What I learnt from a skills enrichment workshop on feedback
- My takeaways on how to write a scientific report
If you’d like to become a student ambassador for the skills enrichment programme and help us spread the word about our workshops, please get in touch - we’d love to hear from you!
Workshops start in week 2. Please take a look at the programme and book a session on MySkills. We look forward to seeing you at one of the workshops soon!
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