Weekly outline
Welcome
Welcome to Study and Research Support for Health & Community students. Here you will find resources to build your academic and research skills needed to complete university assessment tasks.
Scroll down the page, or navigate to individual sections using the menu. If you have questions, or require further support, please contact us.
Acknowledgement of first peoples
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands and waterways where USQ is located. We acknowledge the cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and pay respect to Elders past, present and future. We celebrate the continuous living cultures of First Australians and acknowledge the important role played by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australian society. The University respects and acknowledges our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, staff, Elders and visitors who come from many nations across Australia.
Finding Information
Health and allied health professionals make decisions that directly impact upon the health and wellbeing of others. In your profession you will need to ensure that your decisions are based on the best available evidence.
You will need to use a variety of information for your assignments throughout the course of your degree. Different types of evidence can be used to respond to different questions or problems.
While much of the content on the internet is inappropriate to use in your scholarly and professional lives, there is specific information that you will need to source from the web.
Databases are collections of resources grouped by information type or subject area. Here are a few key databases that may be useful to get started in your health and communities study and research.
Do you find yourself spending hours going through search results to find the actual information you are looking for? A search strategy targets your search so your results are more relevant, and less numerous.
What is good information? This tutorial offers some guidance on how to evaluate the quality of the information you have found for your assignments.
Start searching, or explore other support available through USQ Library.
Need further help? Contact USQ Library in person or online.
Assessment & Study Skills
We introduce some core study skills in this section, such as time management, and important contacts in other areas of the university.
Group work can be challenging in some situations, but there are ways to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible.
In your Health and Community courses you will need to demonstrate skills in academic writing. Academic writing is different from the writing you may use in your job or in everyday communication. Click on the Academic Writing link to learn more about developing your skills.
In your courses you will have to read unfamiliar and at times difficult text.
In your Health and Community courses, you will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency. Click on the English Language Foundations link for more information to help with your English language development.
The ability to think critically is a fundamental skill required at university and needs to be demonstrated in your assessment items. Critical thinking requires you to consider evidence and adopt a questioning approach in your reading and writing.
In this section we provide some tips and advice on revising and preparing for exams.
Mathematics
Supporting materials to help you get up to speed with the mathematics requirements for your courses.
Short videos to help you get up to speed with the statistics requirements for your courses.
Materials to assist with any pre-requisite statistics required in your courses.
QuickTips are short pdf documents which can be used to support your learning.
Mathematics is often a part of university study, so it is important to develop the mathematical skills necessary for study within most disciplines. Resources are available for students who have maths anxiety or for students who are studying mathematics off-campus.
A series of booklets for Sharp and Casio calculators are available to assist USQ students to learn how to use their calculator effectively.
Referencing
Referencing is required in all university study.
Referencing is giving credit where credit is due. When you reference, you acknowledge the work of others and their contribution to the development of your ideas.
Most health and communities courses require the APA referencing style. Check with your course examiner if you are unsure.
APA 7: In-text citations
APA 7: The reference list
Select from APA 6, APA 7, or Harvard AGPS styles. Please consult your StudyDesks, course materials, and course examiners for advice on which of the APA styles you are to use.
Specialist Resources
As a health or allied health professional, you will need to be able to find, access and use specialist resources. This section offers links and guides for finding these resources for your study.
Medications databases provide practical and current information on medications, including administration and dosage.
Correctly interpreted statistics provide context for your research.
Government reports are published by government departments, institutes, and agencies. These reports provide information about the policies and activities of the reporting body.
Keeping up to date with news and current affairs in your field is important. You may also need to access news sources for research or assignments.
Postgraduate Support
Honours and higher degree research students require advanced research skills to complete research projects. This section will take you through the research process and offer guides, tutorials and resources to help you conduct in depth research.
USQ Staff and Students only. Log-in required.
This is designed to introduce you to the advanced learning, information retrieval, and management skills required to undertake a Higher Degree by Research.
This MUST be completed prior to Confirmation of Candidature.
A literature review is a comprehensive assessment and documentation of the literature related to your area of research or your problem.
Here are a few key databases that may be useful to get started in your postgraduate research (USQ Log-in required).
Can't find a complete copy of the article? Here are some tips for accessing the full text of books and articles.
Endnote is a bibliographic management software provided by the university. It allows you to create, search, sort and annotate a personal library of research. Using Endnote you can insert properly formatted citations directly into the text or reference list of your document in Word.
USQ's Statistical Consulting Unit (SCU) offers workshops and consultations on research design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. This service is available to postgraduate research students at USQ via self-enrolment.
This community offers a good space to connect with other USQ research students for advice and support. This is a closed facebook group for USQ research students. You will need to request access to join.
Contact Us
Online Study Support Sessions
Each week the Learning Advisor and Librarian provide a brief online lesson on a useful topic for study. There is time to discuss the topic and for you to ask any library or study-related questions.See the Library Events Calendar for details.Appointments
Book a video (Zoom), phone, or email appointment with a Learning Advisor, Maths Learning Advisor or Librarian.
You can also Contact USQ Library.
