Hello and a massive welcome to all our PGCE students, we look forward to meeting you and getting to know you all. We are the Student Engagement team and we are here to provide support with all aspects of academic skills. Although this year may feel a little different please be reassured that we are here to support you!
Induction
Head over to the Learning and Support Services Induction pages to find out more information about who lives in Catalyst, what they do and how they can support you. There’s an interactive induction toolkit that you can work through at your own pace, which will introduce you to Library and Learning Services, Student Services and Careers, or you can even watch an induction video if you prefer.
UniSkills
The best place to find out more about how we can support you is to head over to the UniSkills web pages where there’s a vast wealth of information around academic writing and research skills. Here you’ll find our interactive online UniSkills Toolkits which contain loads of tips and tricks to help you with assignment planning, critical thinking, punctuation, proofreading and much more. There’s also some handy guides and videos too!
You can also check out what Uniskills Webinars we have on offer throughout the year or if you require more specific support you can also book a 1-2-1 virtual appointment with an Academic Skills Advisor who can work with you on a piece of work or research.
Finding Your Resources
Once you start your tutor will provide with your reading list and I’m sure many of you will be keen to get started! To find your resources the Library Catalogue is a great place to start. From here you can access your Reading List online and, by clicking on the book titles, you can jump straight through to the catalogue where you will find details on the items location and availability.
You can collect items directly from the shelves and check them out on the self-issue machines located around the building or you can currently reserve items straight from the shelves using our temporary Click and Collect’ service. All you need to do to use this service is place a reservation on the book you want, we’ll grab if from the shelves for you and let you know when it’s ready to collect.
As well as the academic textbooks, which you’ll need for writing your assignments, there’s also a dedicated Education Resource Collection which has lots of resources that you can borrow. There are Key Stage 1 and 2 children’s books, larger picture books for whole class reading sessions, phonics resources, subject packs and interactive kits which are available on longer loan, so ideal for using in the classroom while you’re on placement.
As an Edge Hill student you also have access to thousands of high quality academic e-resources which are particularly useful whilst on placement as they can all be accessed off campus. The Subject Resource web pages contain all the relevant journals and databases for your course or you can browse the e-resource collections using the Discover More search tool.
On the Subject Resource web pages you will also find links to newspaper collections, classroom resources, useful websites and the Times Higher Education, so you can keep up to date with current affairs and recent developments in the education sector. If you need any help finding your academic information or navigating your online resources don’t forget we have lots of handy UniSkills Toolkits, videos and guides on the UniSkills web pages – all available 24/7!
And, if there is ever a book or journal article that we don’t have in our collection you can ask us add a copy by using the You Want It, We Get it service. Just fill in the details on the form and we’ll do our best to get it in for you – how cool is that?
Further Help & Support
If you have any general enquiries about resources for your study, IT related enquiries or academic skills support you can contact the Catalyst Helpdesk Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm and Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 6pm.
We wish you all the best for this coming academic year and look forward to supporting you soon!