Event date and time: Thursday 14th May 2026, 14.00 – 15.00
Presenters: Tanja Tolar, Ciara McNally, Kayleigh Hizzet from University of Bradford
The aim of this paper is to explore the teaching of academic skills to Undergraduate and Postgraduate Radiography students at the University of Bradford. The focus is on the review, design, and delivery of academic skills to students between years 2021 and 2024, alongside the development of a fully embedded academic skills provision delivered by academics at the Diagnostic Radiography department.
The initial development of academic skills support focused on the alignment of academic skills development to required assessment outcomes in each academic year, helping students recognize the connection between their practical knowledge, the supporting theoretical framework, and the academic skills necessary to develop their literacy. The importance of core skills is crucial, as academic literacy is “highly specialised” (Basset and MacNaught, 2024). As such, it integrates seamlessly into the curriculum rather than being delivered as ad-hoc instruction, which was trialled before and did not seem to provide satisfactory outcomes. Presentation will include assessment and expectations academics had about this project and how they experience their delivery to the students. We aimed to ensure that core skills are introduced at the right stage of the students’ learning, which was the foundation of the project’s development. Throughout this process, students are guided to understand the value and application of academic skills for both their academic and professional development and examples of this development and delivery will be shared in the webinar.
The project was initially designed as a fully integrated approach to teaching academic skills but has since evolved into a more elaborate academic-led approach. This presentation outlines the development and stages of this approach, the lessons learned from their delivery, and feedback from academics currently involved in delivering the skills sessions. It is hoped the presentation opens a discussion around questions of academic skills support within modules and how effective such support really is. It is the aim and scope of this presentation to suggest different options of study skills provision that form the basis for a study skills curriculum and thus more holistic, centralised academic learning experience within the HE environment.