Teaching Academic Skills

Overview

Students arrive to post-secondary education with diverse learning experiences and backgrounds, resulting in variable baseline academic skills (e.g.: time management, notetaking, studying strategies, collaboration). Rather than assuming students will acquire academic skills independently, teaching them key academic skills is essential to supporting equitable student success.

Rationale

Teaching academic skills can help increase learner success and can help learners become more effective, lifelong learners by developing self-awareness of their own strengths and learning habits and developing strategies to effectively engage in their studies. Proactive academic skills development provides equitable access to the norms and expectations that structure higher education, enabling full participation in the formal and informal spaces that shape student success. Embedding academic skills within the curriculum empowers all students to engage confidently and strategically in their learning, enhances academic achievement, and promotes equitable participation by making expectations explicit and accessible.

"I'm [...] bad at managing time, so for presentations it can be very difficult for me to keep in a strict time limit if I don't have some sort of external cue to let me know if/when I need to wrap up. This has become a real problem at the graduate level."

Guidance

Academic skills are most effectively learned through explicit instruction and opportunities to practice within course activities. Instructors can model strategies in real time, break complex tasks into manageable stages, provide low-stakes opportunities for practice, and make expectations transparent through exemplars and clear rubrics.

It can be helpful to embed explicit instruction of academic skills throughout the learner’s education. However, introducing them early and building on them throughout a program can support early retention and academic progression. Ideally, these skills should be taught within first-year gateway and high-enrolment prerequisite courses, particularly those that serve as entry points into programs. These courses can integrate short modules at key points in the term, such as at course launch, before major assignments, and prior to examinations.

Teaching practices should emphasize reflection, flexibility, and practical application, including demonstrations of relevant technologies and structured opportunities for communication and collaboration. The goal is not simply to describe effective strategies, but to actively teach, model, and reinforce them in ways that students can immediately apply within their coursework.

This includes scaffolding opportunities to learn and apply key academic skills. These skills can include:  

1. Metacognition & Self-Regulation 
   • Developing self-awareness of how learners learn, recognizing when a learning strategy is/isn’t working, and making intentional adjustments to support time management, cognitive load, focus, and energy.
   • Example skills: pacing academic work; working backwards from deadlines; breaking large tasks into manageable steps, recognizing cognitive overload, planning for fluctuating capacity and potential disruptions such as illness, identifying when to take breaks or change learning strategies.
2. Reading and Information Processing
   • Developing the ability to navigate, process, evaluate and use academic information
   • Example skills: skimming and scanning readings; using headings and document structure to navigate and evaluation information quickly; identifying key ideas and supporting details in texts
3. Note-Taking & Information Organization 
   • Developing the ability to record, organize, and revisit information in a way that supports understanding and allows for future use.
   • Example skills: distinguishing main points from supporting details; organizing notes; developing systems for locating information later
4. Communication Strategies
   • Developing proactive strategies for communicating effectively in academic contexts, including clear expressing ideas and needs, seeking clarification and support, and adapting communication appropriately to different audiences, situations, and goals.
   • Example skills: writing clear and professional emails; asking effective questions; seeking clarification when expectations or instructions are unclear; identifying and using appropriate communication channels; adapt tone, level of detail, and format for different audiences 
5. Academic Writing
   • Developing strategies for planning, organizing, drafting, and revising academic writing for different purposes
   • Example skills: Brainstorming and generating ideas; organizing ideas/arguments; integrating evidence and sources; revising for structure and clarity; citation and attribution
6. Presentation Skills
   • Developing strategies for planning, organizing and communicating ideas effectively in presentation contexts
   • Example skills: organizing ideas/arguments into clear structure; creating effective supporting visuals/media; adapting content and language for different audiences; pacing and transitions; responding to questions in real-time; using speaking notes
7. Study Strategies
   • Developing and applying strategies for understanding, retaining, retrieving and applying academic knowledge
   • Example skills: identifying personal study habits; using different note-taking and information organization techniques; preparing strategically for different assessment formats
8. Technological Literacy
   • Developing strategies for using digital tools and platforms effectively to support learning and communication
   • Example skills: Navigating digital learning environments, like the learning management system; organizing digital files; using task-management tools; managing digital calendars and email; selecting appropriate digital tools for different academic tasks
9. Collaboration
   • Developing strategies for contributing effectively to shared academic work
   • Example skills: defining roles and responsibilities; coordinating tasks; communication; managing disagreement and conflict

Try

• Explicating expectations through annotated examples and transparent discussion of rubrics and assessment criteria
• Teaching learning strategies directly or providing learners with resources like Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum
• Scaffolding complex assignments into manageable stages
• Normalizing the use of accommodations and learning supports
• Modelling effective communication, including use of office hours and professional email practices
• Integrating accessible technologies intentionally within course platforms such as OWL
• Structuring group work clearly with defined roles, timelines, & flexible participation options
• Embedding brief reflective activities to strengthen metacognitive awareness and self-regulation

Avoid

• Assuming students already know how to learn at the university level
• Framing academic skills as remedial or optional
• Relying on high-stakes assessments without opportunities for practice
• Leaving expectations implicit or using vague criteria
• Treating accessibility as separate from teaching practice
• Shifting responsibility for skill development entirely to support units
• Overloading students with dense materials, unclear instructions, or last-minute changes

Resources

Campbell, N. et al. Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum.  

Dunlosky et al., “Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques” - An academic monograph that discusses evidence-based study strategies. 

The Learning Scientists – free comprehensive resources (slide decks, podcasts on accessible learning, books, blog, videos, and downloadable resources) 

Learning Scientists - Effective Learning Slide Decks– a variety of slide decks for educators to teach study and learning skills. 

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) – provides comprehensive guides on academic writing, argument structure, revision, and citation. 

Writing and Communication Centre Resources (University of Waterloo) - provides a series of resources on the writing process, genres and modes of communication, and using GenAI. 

 Zimmerman, “Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner” – journal article discussing research on how learners monitor and control their own learning. 

WebAIM (accessibility in mind): - resources to expand the potential of the web for people with disabilities by empowering individuals and organizations to create accessible content.