Student workshops
Explore our workshops on a range of assessment, study and communication skills to help you get the most out of this semester.
Academic reading, writing and referencing
Learn a range of practical skills for managing your reading, producing written work and using academic literature in your assignments.
Register for upcoming workshops in this series below the table.
| Workshop | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Academic writing 101 | Not sure what academic writing actually is? You’re not alone! In this practical session, we unpack what your lecturers are really looking for - how to stay on topic, structure your ideas and use sources effectively. | 3 Aug Repeated on: 24 Aug |
| Academic writing for graduate coursework students | Starting postgrad study? This session breaks down what academic writing at UniMelb is all about at the Graduate level. Whether you're brushing up on your writing skills or starting fresh, you'll get practical tips to help you write clearly, think critically, and meet higher-level expectations with confidence. | 10 Aug |
| Critical thinking | Critical thinking is the key to academic success! In this workshop, you’ll learn how to evaluate ideas, as well as explore strategies for applying critical thinking skills to your reading, note-taking and writing. | 3 Aug Repeated on: 25 Aug |
| The Research to Writing process | Presented by Library and Academic Skills staff, this session will offer you tools to tackle your assignment submission! The session explores the writing process, including task analysis, planning, research, note-taking, writing, and referencing. | 17 Aug Repeated on: 1 Sep |
Winning Strategies for Uni Reading | Starting uni means a lot of reading! This session focuses on making strategic reading choices, taking notes and strategies for dealing with difficult texts. | 18 Aug |
| Understanding referencing | Confused about referencing? You’re not alone! This workshop will demystify the process and show you how to:
Join us to build your referencing skills and avoid common mistakes to ensure you are citing your sources like a pro! | 17 Aug Repeated on: 1 Sep |
| Writing your first assignment | New to university writing? This workshop will guide you through the essentials of tackling your first assignment with confidence. You’ll learn how to:
Join us to build the skills you need to write with clarity and succeed in your first assessments! | 27 Jul Repeated on: 19 Aug |
| Writing your first literature review | Reviewing literature is a key academic skill used in many disciplines. This workshop introduces you to the basics of writing a lit review, focusing on the elements of a lit review, the language needed and the key aspects of criticality and interpretation. | 10 Aug Repeated on: 26 Aug |
| Writing your final assignment | Your final first-year assignment is likely the biggest, and most important, writing task of the semester. In this workshop, we’ll show you how to strategically approach your final assignment to understand what’s expected, efficiently plan and write, as well as tips for supporting your argument. Join us to learn practical approaches that make the process manageable and set you up for success! | 12 Oct |
Upcoming events in academic reading, writing and referencing
Speaking, presenting and engaging in class
Learn a range of practical ways to participate more effectively and confidently in classes, assessments and social situations.
Register for upcoming workshops in this series below the table.
| Workshop | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Lecture Hacks: Listen, Learn, Level Up | Lectures can be fast-paced and packed with info so how do you keep up and understand the ideas? In this session, we share smart strategies for prepping before lectures, taking notes that make sense to you later, and turning your notes into effective revision tools. | 6 Aug |
Class discussions: communicating with confidence | Want to feel more confident speaking in class? This session gives you practical tips for asking questions, joining discussions, and sharing your ideas. You'll practise real uni-style conversations and build the skills to get involved and be heard. | 30 Jul |
| Presenting Effectively | A great presentation is about more than just what you say! This interactive workshop looks at how to craft content that captures attention, deliver your message with confidence, and use visuals that enhance communication. Walk away with practical tips to make your next presentation shine! | 13 Aug |
| Preparing for Interactive Oral Assessments | Curious about interactive oral assessments (IOAs)? While IOAs can take many different formats, they usually involve two parts: you talking through your ideas, and your assessor asking questions to see how well you understand your topic. In this workshop, we’ll walk you through key features of interactive oral assessment, share practical ways to prepare, and help you feel more confident on the day. | 23 Sep |
Upcoming events in speaking, presenting and engaging in class
Study skills
Learn a range of practical strategies and tools to engage with the University and your studies most effectively.
Register for upcoming workshops in this series below the table.
| Workshop | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Learning with AI at University of Melbourne | This session explores essential strategies and practical principles to make the most of GenAI tools while staying on the right side of academic integrity. Learn how to use GenAI effectively and ethically, with clear guidance on policies and best practices to guide your learning experiences. | 7 Aug |
| Successful exam preparation with early revision | Get started early with techniques and resources for effective exam taking. Through interactive activities, you will reflect on your preparation approaches and discover a range of active study strategies. | 18 Aug |
| Translating study skills into employability skills | Your university experience is building more than academic knowledge—it’s shaping the skills employers want most. Research, critical thinking, teamwork, time and project management, communication, and writing are all powerful tools for job seeking and career success. In this workshop, we’ll look at the essential skills you’ve developed through study and show you how to reframe them for the workplace. | 11 Aug |
| Exam preparation and active revision | This workshop will provide you with techniques and resources for effective exam taking. Through interactive activities, you will reflect on your study approaches and discover a range of study strategies. | 20 Oct |
Upcoming events in study skills
English language
Learn a range of strategies and practise techniques to build your confidence communicating in English at university and beyond. These workshops are for students who speak English as an additional language.
Register for upcoming workshops in this series below the table.
| Workshop | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar and expressions for talking to your teacher | All students need to speak to their teachers to ask questions and seek advice. In this interactive workshop, you will learn and practise grammar and expressions that you can use when communicating with your teachers. | 29 Jul |
Grammar and expressions for giving opinions in class | University classes often require students to share their opinions. In this interactive workshop, you will learn and practise expressions and grammar that can help you effectively and confidently share your opinion with your teachers and peers. | 5 Aug |
| Grammar and expressions for concise and cohesive writing | Strong academic writing is concise (short and sharp) and cohesive (connected). To help us write in this way, we often use a grammatical structure called ‘nominalisation’. In this interactive workshop, we will practise using nominalisation to improve our academic writing. | 12 Aug |
| Improve your English in 10 Minutes a day – Listening & Speaking | In this session you will practise listening and speaking activities that you can complete in around 10 minutes per day to improve your English over an extended period. | 28 Jul |
| Improve your English in 10 minutes a day –Reading & Writing | In this workshop you will practise reading and writing activities that you can complete in around 10 minutes per day to improve your English over an extended period. | 4 Aug |
| Listening in lectures 1: Foundational strategies | Learn how to listen for main ideas and key detail, use context clues from surrounding content, recognise lecture structures and understand signposting language. | 29 Jul |
| Listening in lectures 2: Speech, accents & body language | This session will help you become more familiar with local variations in speech and different accents, suggest ways to cope with fast speech, and show you how prosodic features such as stress and pausing affect meaning. | 5 Aug |
| Listening in lectures 3: Note taking techniques | This workshop is for students who speak English as an additional language. This session covers common abbreviations and symbols, different note-taking styles and techniques, and suggests ways to use recorded lectures effectively. | 12 Aug |
| Demystifying the passive voice | The use of active voice and passive voice can be confusing for many academic writers. You may wonder, ‘What is active voice? What is passive voice? Is passive voice incorrect? Which should I use in my writing?’ In this interactive workshop, we will answer these questions and give you the tools you need to use active and passive voice with confidence. | 14 Aug |
| Academic reading 1: Pre-reading strategies | Set yourself up for success by using our three steps for approaching a new reading text. In this interactive workshop, you will use one of your reading texts to practise useful pre-reading strategies. | 28 Jul |
| Academic reading 2: Skim, scan & evaluate | University study often requires a lot of reading, and increasingly, it also requires evaluating the quality of text produced by digital tools such as GenAI. In this interactive workshop, you’ll practise skimming and scanning to read more efficiently and learn how to evaluate texts (including AI‑generated outputs) for clarity, accuracy, and relevance. | 4 Aug |
| Academic reading 3: Note taking techniques | Taking notes while reading is a key skill at university. But how should we actually do it? And what should we write? In this workshop, you will practise using a range of note taking strategies and techniques that can help you make more effective notes while reading. | 11 Aug |
Speaking Clearly 1: The rhythm of English | Just like music, spoken English has a rhythm, made up of stress, pauses and intonation. This rhythm helps the listener understand the speaker’s meaning and attitude. Attend this interactive workshop to learn about stress, pauses and intonation in English and practise your pronunciation with others. | 30 Jul |
Speaking Clearly 2: Linking sounds for fluent pronunciation | English speakers link and blend words in spoken English, which can make it less obvious where one word ends and the next begins. Attend this interactive workshop to learn why and how English speakers connect their sounds and practise your pronunciation with others. | 6 Aug |
Speaking Clearly 3: Aussie pronunciation | Have you ever listened to an Australian person speaking and thought ‘…what??’ You’re not alone! Attend this interactive workshop to learn about the sounds of Australian accents and practise your Aussie accent with others. | 13 Aug |