IF0AS2: Academic Skills 2

Module code: IF0AS2

Module provider: International Study and Language Institute

Credits: 0

Level: F

When you’ll be taught: Double Presentation: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Ms Lina Ying Ying Tang , email: l.y.y.tang@reading.edu.my

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s): IN THE SAME YEAR AS TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE IF0AS1 (Compulsory)

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded: IN TAKING THIS MODULE YOU CANNOT TAKE IF0ACA OR TAKE IF0RAS (Compulsory)

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 11 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module aims to help students develop academic study skills essential for success both on the International Foundation Programme (IFP) and as an undergraduate. It consolidates the content of IF0AS1 and introduces students to research, groupwork and oral presentation. Course content will be delivered through a combination of seminar and workshops. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Produce written report of a good academic standard with appropriate use of sources
2. Present ideas in oral group presentation
3. Work effectively as a member of a group to achieve shared goals

Module content

The course will cover the academic skills needed by IFP students progressing to an undergraduate programme. These include working in groups, carrying out a research project, presenting research in written format following academic convention, delivering a group presentation, assessing groupwork process.  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module is taught through lecture, seminars and workshops using communicative methodologies which encourage pair work and groupwork. Introductory lecture on the module will be scheduled on first week of the semester to introduce students to the module and its assessments as well as to set students’ expectations. Seminars cover all the basic learning materials while workshops enable students to put the skills into practice. For completion of group tasks and assessment, students are expected to schedule group meetings during independent study hours. Students will also meet staff in scheduled meetings for support in groupwork. Furthermore, students will evaluate group members’ performance using formative and summative peer assessments. Feedback and feed-forward will be provided throughout the module to aid learner’s skill development. Video materials/screencasts/self-directed learning materials are included on VLE for students to access in their own time.

This module is taught twice to two different cohorts of students - first in Semester 1 and then repeated in Semester 2. The 200 contact hours are listed for the first iteration of teaching in Semester 1, and these same contact hours are repeated for the second iteration of teaching in Semester 2.

In addition to the total 200 hours, students studying at the Malaysian campus will be required to complete an additional 40 hours of independent study totalling 240 hours of student learning time per semester per module in compliance with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA).

Study hours

At least 42 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Level 3 (i.e. foundation modules for Part 0) and Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Online practise questions related to IF0A1M’s content are included in the module to help students consolidate learning. 

In preparation of research report for final submission: 

• groups submit draft research questionnaire and group feedback are provided online. 
• peer and tutor feedback on section(s) of research report are provided during workshop sessions. 

In preparation of group presentation: 

• students prepare for mock group presentation and receive feedback from peers and tutor in class. 
• peer assessment is adopted to evaluate individual’s performance in groupwork. 

Reassessment

Additional costs