Webinars: Library and Academic skills

Our webinars are offered to University of Cumbria students as a way of learning more about the study skills needed to succeed at university. We aim to offer an accessible and inclusive environment.  

What to expect 

To sign up you will need to use your University of Cumbria account.  

You will receive a confirmation email and calendar entry when you sign up. Plus, a reminder one hour before the webinar start time. You can find your booking at any time within your university Teams or Outlook calendar.  

Webinars are not recorded. We want to offer you a safe space to take part. The aim is for you to feel relaxed and comfortable enough to ask questions.  

We would love for you to ask questions and take part in activities; we will indicate how you can do this at the beginning of the webinar. There is no obligation for you to do so.   

We do not use breakout rooms. 

You are welcome to have cameras on or off during the webinar. 

We encourage everyone to ask questions using the chat facility; we will read out questions before answering.  

Alternately, you can switch on your microphone to take part in activities and ask questions. But we ask for this to be muted during teaching. 

A copy of slides and useful links will be sent after the event has concluded. 

Presenter cameras will be switched on where possible, bandwidth allowing, to allow you to see us. 

Live captions are available within Microsoft Teams. You can select captions from the Accessibility settings. Under captions you can turn on to always show captions in my calls and meetings. Your captions will be generated live within the meeting.  

See our Microsoft Teams page for further guidance. If you are having technological issues, please contact the IT Service Desk.  

This webinar will cover:

• Structuring your work
• What should be in a paragraph
• Using literature in your work
• Academic writing style
• Before you submit

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder one hour before the start of the webinar. 

To watch a recording of the key points of this webinar, click here.

You can also access our Writing at University page for further support and view our videos about writing at your level:

This webinar will cover:

• Techniques to fully understand assignment tasks
• Creating your assignment lay out
• Building a plan for your research/reading

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

Assignment Journey: Techniques for Figuring Out Assignment Briefs and Planning (Video)

Please note that this session would be understood better, if students could also sign up for the Strategies for Research, the Reading Process and Organising Notes webinar and the Creating Effective Paragraphs, Using Evidence, Paraphrasing and Referencing webinar.  However, you may not be available to sign up for all three, so register for the ones that you can make, and we will do our best to review the key points of the sessions that have been given previously.

Further advice and tips are available to visit at any time on our  Writing at University page and Quick guide to Academic writing. This page includes a short interactive session about planning your assignments, which can also be found here.   

The content of this webinar will be:

• Short review of the key points surrounding using briefs to structure the assignment and research
• Techniques for saving time when locating and reading relevant texts
• Strategies to aid effective and efficient notetaking

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

 Assignment Journey:  Strategies for Research, the Reading Process and Organising Notes (Video)

Please note that this session would be understood better, if students could also sign up for the Techniques for Figuring Out Assignment Briefs and Planning webinar and the Creating Effective Paragraphs, Using Evidence, Paraphrasing and Referencing webinar.  However, you may not be available to sign up for all three, so register for the ones that you can make, and we will do our best to review the key points of the sessions that have been given previously.

Further advice and tips are available to visit at any time on our Reading and Notetaking page. Our Finding Information page may also be useful in helping with your research and reading process.  

The content of this webinar will be:

• Identifying key principles of effective paragraph writing
• Clarifying the difference between types of evidence, their rules and how to use them correctly in your writing
• Demystifying and simplifying referencing

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

Assignment Journey: Creating Effective Paragraphs, Using Evidence, Paraphrasing and Referencing (Video).

Please note that this session would be understood better, if students could also sign up for the Techniques for Figuring Out Assignment Briefs and Planning webinar and the Strategies for Research, the Reading Process and Organising Notes webinar.  However, you may not be available to sign up for all three, so register for the ones that you can make, and we will do our best to review the key points of the sessions that have been given previously.

Further advice and tips are available to visit at any time on our Writing at University page, which includes the Quick guide to Academic writing. We also have Essay Structure, Introduction,  Paragraph and Conclusion templates that may be useful for you.  Further useful resources include: the Reverse Outline, which helps check for flow and Signposting, which supports you with your academic tone.  

This webinar will cover: 

• Being a critical thinker 
• Critically engaging with reading at university 
• Critical writing in assignments 
• Being a critically reflective practitioner 

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

Further advice and tips are available to visit at any time on our Being Critical page. Access our Head Start page for information about Head Start Plus for students working at level six and Head Start to Postgraduate Study for those working at level 7.  

This webinar will cover:

• Beginning your research
• Search strategies
• OneSearch and advanced searching
• Finding subject specific resources

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar. 

This webinar will cover:

• Being concise
• Developing precision with language
• Using measured and cautious language
• Distinguishing between formal and informal expressions

To find out more about academic writing style visit our writing at university and spelling and grammar page. 

You can also watch a video of this webinar.  

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

Delivered by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Team and Skills@Cumbria, the content of this 45 minute webinar will be:

• What is procrastination?
• Why do we procrastinate?
• Tackling procrastination and managing your time

This is a safe confidential space and participation can be anonymous.

Find out more about managing your time on our dedicated page. To learn more about procrastination visit TogetherAll. 

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

Delivered by the Skills@Cumbria and Wellbeing Team this webinar will cover:

• Understanding academic stress
• Strategies to manage stress
• Tips to stay on top of your studies

Rest assured, our webinars take place within the Live Well Learn Well community, ensuring a supportive, anonymous and constructive environment for everyone involved.  

Please click on the date below to book a place on this webinar.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

This Skills@cumbria webinar is an opportunity to join a safe space to practice your presentation skills.

Bring along a prepared talk of 3-5 minutes to practice your public speaking.  This could be something for your course, or a topic of your choice e.g. hobbies, pets - you pick!

It will include:

3-5 minute slot to practice your public speaking
Common fears and worries and tips on preparation
Additional resources available to you at the University of Cumbria

Learn more about presentations skills and dealing with presentations nerves on our Skills@Cumbria presentations page. Find out more about managing academic anxiety around presentations with the Wellbeing Hub. 

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder one hour before the start of the webinar.

This webinar gives you the chance to ask your quick question to a member of the Skills@Cumbria team.  For example, if you are not sure where to find a resource or guide, or want to find out how to book an appointment.

You may find an answer on our Skills@Cumbria pages. 

If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you can post your question on our Quick Questions Padlet - these posts are anonymous, and we will post a reply within 5 working days:

If your query is more detailed please email skills@cumbria.ac.uk, or submit your query to the Student Enquiry Point. 

Please also see our terms of service.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder one hour before the start of the webinar.

This webinar will cover:

• Why do we reference at university?
• Creating in-text citations
• Writing your reference list
• Using the Cite Them Right ebook and Quick Guide to referencing

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

RefWorks is a reference management tool similar to Endnote.  This webinar will cover:

• What RefWorks does
• Creating an account
• Importing references
• Creating a reference list
• Using within Word

You can find out more about Refworks and access an introductory guide and videos by visiting our RefWorks page.  There is also a short Introduction to RefWorks video and a video on Using the Reference Citation Manager in Word.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.

Join the Skills@Cumbria Team for a focused student writing retreat. This is a great opportunity to make progress on your own writing goals before submission. Open to all students but especially useful for those working towards dissertation or independent research. The workshop will use the Pomodoro Technique to guide independent writing but offer the support of a study group.

• Set a SMART goal for your study
• Guided use of the Pomodoro Technique to make progress on your own work
• Regular breaks to support successful study 
• Study as part of a community online
• Reflect on progress made

Learn more about the Pomodoro Technique in our video. 

These webinars are designed for students studying at the University of Cumbria. Students from partner colleges are encouraged to contact their own institutions for academic skills advice and guidance. If you are a Robert Kennedy College student please access your resource page for your courses.

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address within 24 hours of the start time.

Writing at level 7: this webinar is aimed at students either new to writing at level 7 or those who are looking for a refresher.

It will cover:
brief refresher of foundational writing skills;
critical thinking and being a critically reflective practitioner;
writing at level 7

Learn more about writing at Level 7 in our Headstart to Postgraduate course. 

A link to the webinar will be sent to your University of Cumbria email address at the time of booking, plus a reminder will be sent one hour before the start of the webinar.