Study Skills for International Postgraduate Students

Martin Davies. ISBN 13: 978-1-4039-9580-3

Destined to become a life saver for international students everywhere, this book provides clear, comprehensive guidance for students embarking on postgraduate study at a western university. Helping to maximise your chances of academic success, topics include challenges such as critical thinking, research, writing and speaking skills.

This book began from a series of student helpsheets that I developed while working at the University of Melbourne. The first edition appeared in 2015, and the second expanded edition appeared in 2021.

Preface

Part I: Being a Postgraduate Student

Chapter 1: Getting Started as a Postgraduate

Part II: Basic Survival Skills

Chapter 2: Time Management Chapter 3: Getting Organised
Chapter 4: Managing Information Collected
Chapter 5: Reading: A Complex Skill

Part III: Perils and Pitfalls

Chapter 6: Plagiarism and Paraphrasing
Chapter 7: Referencing: The Importance of Acknowledgement

Part IV: Standing on the Shoulders of Others

Chapter 8: Doing Research: The Research Process

Part V: What about Me? Criticising and Analysing

Chapter 9: Critical Thinking

Part VI: Putting Pen to Paper: Writing for Assessment

Chapter 10: Writing Style and Language
Chapter 11: Writing Critical Reviews: A Step-by-Step Guide
Chapter 12: Writing an Empirical Report
Chapter 13: Preparing the Research Essay
Chapter 14: Writing a Research Essay
Chapter 15: Writing a Literature Review
Chapter 16: The Final Polish: Editing and Proofreading

Part VII: Being Heard: Speaking for Assessment

Chapter 17: Giving a Paper and Presenting in a Tutorial
Chapter 18: Speaking to your Supervisor or Lecturer

Part VIII: Want to Go Further?
Chapter 19: Writing a Research Proposal
Chapter 20: What Next? Completing a PhD

References
Glossary
Index

BLURB:

• “Extremely comprehensive and detailed, Study Skills for International Postgraduates is a ‘must-have’ for all graduate students. The writing is clear and concise, with excellent descriptions and examples provided throughout. Students will find the suggestions for time management, study skills, and organizing research and the writing process invaluable.” Associate Professor Kristen P. Williams, Clark University.
• “Study Skills for International Postgraduates is an excellent introduction to the culture and demands of Anglo-American post-graduate education. The sections on how to construct papers are especially useful, even for those already familiar with Anglo-American practices. This is a valuable “how-to” manual for those undertaking study abroad.” Professor Herman Schwartz, University of Virginia.
• “Extensive in its coverage, Study Skills for International Postgraduates is written in a friendly, accessible style and is sure to be a great, practical resource for international students.“ Professor Hayo Reinders, Middlesex University, UK
• “The most concrete and practical guide on the market on how to achieve a postgraduate degree, with a maximum of how-to skills and competencies.“ Lotte Rienecker, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• “This book outlines the core skills vital for successful postgraduate study. It will not only assist international postgraduates but will prove a useful guidebook for any student embarking on the postgraduate journey.”  Dr Dennis Grube, Griffith University, Australia.
• “The advice and tips I read here are invaluable for both research and course-work international students. This book could also be a good refresher to local postgrad students, especially if they have been out of the university system for a while. … I feel if had just read this book 3.5 years ago and followed its tips, it would have saved me precious time with counselors and coping strategies.” The Thesis Whisperer,  Sandra J. Velarde, Crawford School, Australian National University.
• “[Study Skills] seems to be an area of publishing, as with dictionaries, where a new title is always desirable. It could be argued that what customers frequently get is the same advice in a new package. That is not the case here. This book by Australian academic advisor, Martin Davies, goes into greater depth and detail in relation to the chosen topics … Particularly useful sections are writing a critical review, annotated bibliography, literature reviews and the argument analysis in the chapter ‘Critical thinking’. Overall, the book contains many useful strategies that are, in fact, relevant to both international and local postgraduate students. Let’s hope that all students see themselves as the ‘international’ target group and benefit from the study advice”. Dr Caroline Malthus, Higher Education Research and Development, Vol 32(1), 156-159.
• “I am POSITIVE that I want to do the translation [into Arabic]. Every year, thousands of Arab International students are joining U.S. universities; however, they face an academic shock instead of a cultural shock. Your book is a great source that will strongly support them in their academic journey. It will further introduce them to the Western and to the American teaching and learning styles”. Dr Shahbaa Zaidan, University of Texas at El Paso.
• “As a guide to the essentials for postgraduate study, Martin Davies’ book is a valuable source of information for both postgraduate students and their advisors alike. It includes practical advice on all aspects of the experience from ‘basic survival skills’ such as ‘managing information collected’ to critical thinking, oral presentations and writing a research proposal. As a model of a thoroughly researched, logically ordered and beautifully written work, this book is second to none”. Dr Helen Thursby Learning Advisor with the Newcastle University Postgraduate Students Association (University of Newcastle, Australia). Amazon.com. ★★★★★

REVIEWS

Review 1

Study skills for international postgraduates, by Martin Davies, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 328 pp., £16.99 (paperback), ISBN 13: 978-1-4039-9580-3

Whether students can make use of study advice in written form depends on the extent of their individual learner autonomy and responsibility or a strong sense of need that makes the title resonant for them. As the title suggests, this book addresses international postgraduate students and provides advice intended to help this group succeed at university. This target group must have been challenging to keep in mind during the writing given the dimensions of diversity among global education consumers. These days, Palgrave Macmillan is perhaps the most prolific publisher of books of tertiary study skills advice. To some extent, each new book it produces is competing with other books on its own list. However, this seems to be an area of publishing, as with dictionaries, where a new title is always desirable. It could be argued that what customers frequently get is the same advice in a new package.

That is not the case here. This book by Australian academic advisor, Martin Davies, goes into greater depth and detail in relation to the chosen topics, which cover the usual aspects of time and study management, reading, research, referencing and use of sources, academic writing and presentation skills. The book is anchored by its focus on helping students think critically about the ways that academic arguments are constructed.

Davies’ book gives many practical examples of strategies, format and language to help students develop awareness of Western academic conventions and use them appropriately. Many of the useful examples of target texts are drawn from business studies. He gives specific steps in paraphrasing and, in the useful section on writing critical reviews, sets out introductory phrases for articulating critical responses to text. This could be seen as a ‘follow-the-recipe’ approach, but inexperienced cooks benefit from having processes broken down into steps and being given time-saving tips before they start.

Given the complexity of academic reading and writing, it is helpful for many postgraduate students to have academic discourse features, such as critical review language, made explicit. Seeing processes and tasks deconstructed may help students develop some skills and confidence to formulate ideas in their own words. If an example could be improved upon, Davies points this out, often indicating the sorts of amendments that would enhance the writing.

The section titled ‘Being heard: speaking for assessment’ includes useful suggestions for language to use in tutorials or presentations so that the audience is clear about where the speaker is heading. For experienced presenters the approach may seem pedestrian but Davies correctly judges that sentence starters help with planning and drafting a presentation as well as rehearsal and the actual delivery.

The book is an effective introduction to study at postgraduate level. While some books targeted to postgraduate students emphasise thesis and dissertation writing, Study skills for international postgraduates could usefully be recommended to students at orientation or coursework stages of postgraduate degrees. It has been well designed to scaffold students towards thesis or dissertation work.

Davies mostly avoids temptation to present complex issues rather simplistically – an occupational hazard of the study-advice genre overall. There is no misrepresentation of the level of analysis and length of time and attention to detail that academic writing might demand. By the end of the book I realised that if Davies had included the usual academic adviser caveats throughout (‘it depends on the discipline’, ‘check with the lecturer’ etc.), the book would have been twice as long and much less useful for its readers.

The book could have been more accessible if the text had been broken up, as the layout is in places rather crammed and text-heavy. The book would have benefited from shorter preambles and greater use of more white space to avoid overwhelming the reader. A good model in this respect is another book in the Palgrave Macmillan series, Stella Cottrell’s Study skills handbook, which is focused towards undergraduate student needs.

If the book is re-edited it would be good to amend occasional messages that frame international students as somehow more ‘problematic’ than their local peers. In Chapter 15 ‘The final polish: editing and proofreading’, for example, there is the overstatement, ‘native speakers who have no trouble in writing often make mistakes. Most would never fail to edit and proofread’ (p. 228). In terms of academic writing having ‘no trouble’ is rare, and failing to edit and proofread is legion among students (and their lecturers) of all stripes.

Lecturers and tutors of postgraduate students could also consult this text for ideas for in-class activities to help students develop academic literacies. Particularly useful sections are writing a critical review, annotated bibliography, literature reviews and the argument analysis in the chapter ‘Critical thinking’. Overall, the book contains many useful strategies that are, in fact, relevant to both international and local postgraduate students. Let’s hope that all students see themselves as the ‘international’ target group and benefit from the study advice.

Dr Caroline Malthus, Higher Education Research and Development, Vol 32(1), 156-159.

Review 3: “All in all, the book provides an excellent tool to support students wishing to reflect upon and improve their academic writing skills in relation to a variety of assessment types, mostly used in social sciences and humanities. It offers clear guidance, examples and easy to follow visuals and tables that unpack different formats and writing styles. There is a wealth of practical tips in relation to each form of assessment and step by step activities that students can complete at their pace to enhance their writing and communicative confidence in English for academic purposes.”  Dr Silvia Colaiacomo, UCL. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 24 (2022)

Review 4: “The book delivers wisdom, both historic and forward-looking, making it ideal as a reference tool to take the newly arrived international postgrad, for whom it is primarily intended, from the early days of settling in and making friends, through their academic programme, closing with suggestions about doctoral research. Offering the book to all incoming international students as part of a ‘welcome pack’ would be an excellent idea. …  Academics who might be teaching these same international postgraduates would benefit from reading the book, firstly to enhance their knowledge of the challenges faced by their students and secondly to identify approaches which they could incorporate into their future pedagogical approach. Indeed, with international students’ relevance and their importance to many HE Institutions it would make good sense for this book to become required reading for both newly appointed academics, through their PG Certificates in Higher Education or Academic Professional Apprenticeships, so that they could develop their pedagogy from its inception with the international student in mind.”  Dr Ivan Newman, Higher Education Specialist. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 24 (2022).