[MUSIC] Welcome to the specialization academic skills for university success. My name's Luke Alexander and I'm an instructor at the University of Sydney Center for English Teaching. We're really excited to have you on the course, and are looking forward to helping you prepare for your university studies by equipping you with the tools you need to fully participate in the academic environment of the university. This particular course, critical thinking skills for academic success, will help you prepare for your studies by developing your critical thinking skills. After completing this course, you'll have a greater understanding of what critical thinking is and be able to use a variety of thinking tools in order to improve your thinking, your argumentation, and your ability to evaluate other people's arguments. You'll be able to apply these skills to real world problems and issues and be able to communicate your thoughts in an academic context. Now before we go any further, I'd like to tell you a bit about the structure of the course. The course is made up of six modules and each module is designed to be done within a week. So the course is designed to take six weeks in total. Of course if you're really keen, have lots of time, or you're already a bit familiar with the material, you may choose to finish a module in less than a week. Each module is made up of four lessons. And each lesson should take a total of about one hour. This includes watching the videos, doing the quizzes, and reading over any additional materials. We recommend that you do the course in the order that we've designed it, as lessons build on material covered in previous lessons. The next thing I'd like to tell you about is assessment. We'll talk about non-assessed activities and assessment items. Firstly, the non-assessed activities are the in-video questions and polls, and the short quizzes that come after each lesson. These non-assessed activities give you a chance to check your understanding of the topic and compare your ideas with other learners. The assessed items are the slightly longer quizzes at the end of each module. The discussion board posts and the more involved final assignment. The longer quizzes after each module give you the chance to apply what you've learned in the lectures to some complex questions and problems. These are each worth 10%. The discussion board posts allow you to share your learning and ideas with your peers and to find out what they think about the topics covered. We expect you to post at least two times per week, and the discussion board posts are worth 3% per week. The final summative assignment gives you the opportunity to put the skills and knowledge that you've learned throughout the entire course into practice in a deeper away. And apply these to your future field of study or to an area you're interested in. The final assignment is worth 35%. In order to pass the course, and achieve a certificate, you must pass all the assessed items. So we've had a look at the course structure, the assessment requirements, and also the expectations for participation. And I hope you now have a greater understanding of what the course involves. I look forward to working with you throughout the course, and helping you to fully prepare for your university studies. [MUSIC]
