Expert

9 sessions · free of charge

Structuring large amounts of material. Reading and evaluating academic literature. Managing literature, planning your thesis, giving presentations, slides and posters, teamwork, reflection as a habit.

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✅ Checklist: the key points of this course

Nine sessions, one resolution per lesson, to check off. This is the ideal approach; you will find the reasons and evidence in each session.

Session 1 · Structuring Large Amounts of Material

☐ I look for the places where many things are assumed at once and combine parts into named units.
☐ I sort the material by principles. My headings contain principles, not objects.
☐ I use a concept map to organize the material and test myself to retain it.
☐ I proceed in this order: a framework with at most ten principles, the map, depth, a weekly check from memory.
☐ I build the framework and the map in the first two weeks, check myself from memory for twenty minutes every week, and from week 13 on I only test myself.

Session 2 · Reading Academic Literature

☐ I read a paper in this order: abstract, figures, discussion, methods, introduction. For a new topic, I read the introduction early.
☐ After each section, I ask what is being claimed and why it is supposed to follow, instead of highlighting.
☐ I ask five questions of every study: Who, and how many? Was there a comparison group? Was assignment random? How large is the difference? Has it been replicated?
☐ Before citing any paper, I check it on the journal’s website, and I base a claim on several independent papers.
☐ For each text, I keep a reading log with six lines: short citation, claim, evidence, limitation, my use, verbatim quotes with page numbers.

Session 3 · Managing Literature, Linking Notes

☐ I keep working with my notes and put them in my own words.
☐ I keep two separate collections, a reference manager and an idea archive, and link them with short citations.
☐ I record every reference the first time I come across it and check each entry once against the source.
☐ I write one idea per note, in my own words, with a link and a short citation.
☐ I schedule fixed times: two minutes per reference, ten per text, thirty per week for my own notes, twenty per month for reviewing.

Session 4 · Planning Your Thesis

☐ I turn the topic into a question that is smaller than feels right, and I sketch the figure with empty boxes.
☐ Before estimating the time, I explicitly draw on my own past experience.
☐ I break the work down by results, not by time periods, and I really check every deadline.
☐ I write if-then plans with a time, a place, and a small action that I can start.
☐ If things stall, I first identify what kind of stall it is and get in touch with my supervisor early.

Session 5 · Preparing a Presentation

☐ I first decide on the one sentence that the audience should still be able to say a week later.
☐ I put the most important points at the beginning and at the end.
☐ I build the presentation from one key message, stated twice in the same words, and three sections, each with one claim and one piece of evidence.
☐ I rehearse out loud, without a script, with a clock, and spread over several days.
☐ I time myself, plan a reserve, and write down the five to eight foreseeable questions in advance.

Session 6 · Giving a Presentation

☐ When I hear rules about stage presence, I ask what they are based on before I organize my preparation around them.
☐ I interpret the nervous first minute as the part that will pass anyway.
☐ I speak more slowly than feels natural, pause after each section, and know the first sentence by heart.
☐ I decide in advance which section I will drop in an emergency. I never speed up.
☐ After the presentation, I write three descriptive lines and decide the next day on one change I can carry over.

Session 7 · Slides and Posters

☐ I do not read my slides aloud. What I say does not also appear on them as text.
☐ I speak instead of writing, label directly on the figure, highlight what matters, and leave out entertaining material that makes no point.
☐ Every slide has a statement as its heading and exactly one idea.
☐ Every chart has a message, an axis starting at zero, absolute numbers, and spread and sample size.
☐ On a poster, the title states the result. I prepare the thirty seconds I speak next to it.

Session 8 · Project Work and Teamwork

☐ On the first day, we clarify: What has to be submitted, what result do we want, who does what by when, when do we meet?
☐ I admit a gap myself early on and explicitly welcome questions.
☐ I keep disagreements focused on the issue and do not get personal.
☐ We build the framework together, agree on the interfaces, and at the end one person reads everything in one go.
☐ If things are not working, I ask without blame, renew the agreement in writing, and involve the instructors before the deadline.

Session 9 · Reflection as a Habit

☐ I reflect on my approach, not on myself as a person, and I end with a change.
☐ I use the cycle as an organizing scheme and do not go by a learning-styles test.
☐ For a debrief, I set a goal in advance and use a recording instead of memory.
☐ Every week, I spend twenty minutes evaluating at a fixed time and set exactly one change as an if-then plan.
☐ I attach the evaluation to an existing appointment, keep a visible list of changes, and have a backup plan for when it falls through.