Revision - try testing yourself

Revision 

It's getting near that time of year again and exams are approaching. What is the best way to retain information? One study suggests there are 2 methods that are really effective:

1. Testing yourself
2. Spreading out your revision over time (this is the best method).

So it's not a good idea to leave it to the last minute and it's a good idea to come up with some ways of testing yourself.

Testing Yourself

Your lecturer may have access to past papers but these aren't always easy to get hold of so how else can you test yourself?

Flashcards

• Create physical flashcards - the BBC website shows you how to do this  here. 
• Create online flashcards using free online tools like Adobe Spark, Quizlet or StudyStack. You can also create them in Google Slides.
• Use existing flashcards on these websites - BUT remember you don't know who has created them so check that the answers are right first.
• When using the flashcards to test yourself, remember to keep those you don't get right to one side. This is a good way of showing you what you need to read through again. Then go back to these and  keep using them to test yourself until you get them all right.

Use existing quizzes from our Electronic Resources

Some of our online resources have quizzes and case studies built in so you don't have to create them yourself.

Primal has quizzes and case studies on anatomy and physiology. Just choose the relevant module e.g. cell biology or the skin.

Hairdressing Training has quizzes and activities in it. Choose quizzes from the home page, refine by which level you are on by using the menu on the left and then choose what you want to revise. Remember to do the quizzes several times until you get them all right.

The Health and Social Care resource has a risk assessment quiz, but the others are for reflective practice rather than for revision.

Christmas quiz in the LRC

LRC Christmas Quiz

Can you identify the films/ books/ productions portrayed around the different areas in the LRC? Well done to the LRC staff who put in a lot of time (often their own) and thought to creating these.

Last day for entries are early Friday (14th) so do come in and take part for the chance to win a prize.

As a taster, have a look at the following selection to see if you can guess what they portray. 

 

All photos by Peterborough Regional College.

Time Management

Introducing Time management

At the latest Staff Student Liaison Committee some of the student reps requested some help with time management. This is a life skill relevant to everyone whatever their role. We all seem so busy and have trouble fitting everything in to our week. We've put together some tips and resources you might find useful.


First of all how about finding out how good you are at managing your time using this short quiz? This will help you reflect on how/ whether you manage your time.

Tips and online resources

Plan your week - work out how you typically use your time in a standard week using ARU's weekly time tracker. You can then also use their weekly and termly planners (go to the bottom of the webpage) to plan ahead. See also their time management guide on the Getting Organised page of their Study Skills Plus section.


List your activities - there can be a satisfaction in listing jobs and ticking them off. In an ideal world you do your thinking and planning now and then next week you just do what you've scheduled (or at least you don't spend so much time thinking about what you should be doing). In your time tracker you will have identified how much time is needed for which activity so you can spread your activities out over a week realistically in your planner.


Prioritise your activities/ tasks -Identify which tasks are urgent, which are important, which are optional and which aren't important. If something is difficult (perhaps you just don't want to do it) or needs more attention, allocate time when you are freshest or have the most energy not when you are likely to be tired. See Skills you Need's Priority Matrix.


Don't procrastinate or get distracted - go to the labels on the right and choose study skills and you should find a post we did on procrastination in June 2017. Turn your phone off, work somewhere where there aren't things around to distract you (you may find working in the LRC may be a suitable environment for you to work in with less distractions).

Other resources

The Learn Higher website has various short activities you can do to help with time management.


If you prefer watching videos to learn see the BBC Skillswise video on time management.

Alternatively, you may find this video useful:

There are various TED talks you can watch too of course (but do you have the time?).

Coming Soon - Fantastic Beasts event

Coming soon - Fantastic Beasts event

Next Wednesday we are holding a Fantastic Beasts event to mark the release of the second film the Crimes of Grindelwald. Various curriculm areas are joining us. The hospitality section are making and selling biscuits, the Raptor Foundation are bringing owls and the animal care section are showcasing some of their insects and reptiles. The youth centre are holding a craft stall and we will have a tombola to raise money for Wood Green Animal Shelter.

We are also giving everyone the opportunity to enter our pet photography competition (open for entries now - send your photos to the LRC) or even win a prize for dressing up in fancy dress for the day!

Fantastic Beasts resources and activities for you to try (with some Google tips) - 

To get you in the mood, we've put together some activities and online resources with a Fantastic Beasts theme. Some will help you learn how to find things on the internet, some will help you learn, some will make you think about the websites you view and some are just fun.

• Use Google's image search to find what a niffler looks like.

• Use Google maps to find out where the place Grindlewald is (slightly different spelling to the film character).

• Find a trailer of the Crimes of Grindelwald on Internet Movie Database. Just put the keywords - (fantastic beasts crimes Grindelwald) - in to your search. You don't need to use the "of" as this will be ignored anyway.                                                                                                          IMDB can also tell you who is in the film and by clicking on their name you can see what else they have been in. Who plays Leta Lestrange and in what other films/ tv dramas will you see her? Was she in the first film?

• Find out when Fantastic Beasts Crimes of Grindelwald is on at the cinema by typing movie: crimes grindelwald in to the search box in Google. It will usually default to your nearest location but if you want to know when it is on in Norwich for examples type movie: crimes grindelwald norwich. You can use this for any film and location.

• Find out how to make baked nifflers:

• Read the BBC's article Can exotic animals make good pets? How many licensed tigers were there in the UK in 2016? Why might you think twice about using this web article in an assignment?

• The RSPCA has advice about keeping exotic pets. Do you think keeping exotic pets such as snakes and reptiles is a good idea? Discuss with your friends the pros and cons or why not ask some of the animal care students at the event?

• Some of you may want to get some advice on taking photos of your pet for our competition (we already have a lot of entries which will be on display on Wednesday). Have a look at these 2 websites and decide who are they written for.Which would you use and why?https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/wildlife_photography/photographing-pets-pet-photography-tip-566                                                                              https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/how-to-photograph-pets

• Have a look at some animal anatomy in our eBooks Introduction to veterinary anatomy and physiology textbook, Animal biology and care or  The complete textbook of animal health and welfare. You will need to use your network login and password.

• Finally for a bit of fun do the Beano's personality quiz - Which Fantastic Beast are you?

• The Independent also has a Which Fantastic Beast from Harry Potter are you? quiz but you will have to watch an advert first! They also have another more challenging quiz What mythical creature are you?

Presenting numerical information and misleading graphs

Presenting numerical information/ data.

Information can be presented in many ways and it is a skill to decide which is the best way to do this depending on its purpose. Directions may be best shown on a map, what someone looks like is best shown in a photo (than a written description) and the different parts of the heart, for example are probably best shown in a diagram. Numbers or statistical data are often best shown in graph format.

Numbers on their own can be difficult to interpret and so don't obviously mean something to the reader. See below for a table showing the number of visits we had in the LRC this year so far.

	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Totals
Totals	14666	16333	20823	11721	18611	13963	17732	10377	16719	140945

On their own the numbers mean little especially if you don't know the College. If you know the College, you may decide that from these figures we have a lot of visitors.

However, if I present this information as a graph like this, you can more obviously see the ups and downs throughout the year.

The information means even more if it is then compared with last year. It becomes more obvious to see that we have been busier in some months but quieter than last year in other months. This can be down to when holidays fall. It is then more useful to look at the total figures to see that this year we have been busier overall than last year. (140945 this year compared with 135101 last year for the months September to May only).

Misleading Graphs

Lots could be written about the usefulness of statistics and graphs and how they can be used to argue anything (that's a blog post for another day!), but have you thought about how the layout of a graph can be helpful or not so helpful. If I include the totals in the graph at the end, the scaling is less helpful and the difference in the bars for each year disappears.

Have a look at this quiz by the BBC on misleading graphs. Can you see what is wrong with how the information is presented and how this can skew how the information is read and understood.

The skill is to be aware of this, not only when presenting information, but also when looking at statistics and graphs as part of research. Check the facts and also check how this has been presented. Would it show a different picture if presented in a different way?

With our figures we have assumed that the people counter has been working properly and that the figures are as near as correct as they can be. Also the figures themselves are just quantitative data and just show numbers/ amounts. We have no information from this on what people do in the LRC, how long they stay, what they do and whether they like it. We have to collect that another way - usually through comments and interviews. This is known as qualitative data. Last week's blog post contained some of this from comments made in the UCP student survey, for example.

Stephen Hawking and Finding Theses

Stephen Hawking and Finding Theses

Stephen Hawking

This week we heard the news that cosmologist and scientist Stephen Hawking died at the age of 76. He worked as a Professor at Cambridge University and became famous for his research in to cosmology - especially black holes. His book A Brief History of Time became a bestseller.

Black hole CC0 https://pixabay.com/en/black-hole-nebula-stars-space-2483571/

The BBC have put together a Stephen Hawking quiz if you want to test your knowledge of the famous scientist.

In October 2017, Cambridge University put Hawking's PhD thesis online for the first time and the demand to read it crashed the system. It was read two million times.

Theses

What is a thesis?

According to the Collins Dictionary the definition of a thesis is a long piece of writing based on your own ideas and research that you do as part of a university degree, especially a higher degree such as a PhD. 

Are they useful?

• They are valid academic sources of information and can be used as sources of background reading and research for dissertations and assignments.
• They are published sources of information with copyright restrictions and must be cited and referenced when used as part of your academic work. ARU has instructions on how to do this using the Harvard system on their website.
• Theses will have reading lists and bibliographies like books and journals which may lead you to other sources/ authors you can read.
• Looking through recent theses in your field may give you an idea of the sorts of issues currently being researched. It may help you pinpoint what you want to choose for your research topic or give you background for a job interview.
• Some research written up in theses may also be summarised in academic journals so you may want to search the author (or the Professor who supervised the research) in a journal database too to see if you can find more context or read a summary.

Where are they stored? How do I find them?

Most universities have their own repository - usually online. ARU's for example is here. These online databases/ websites give open access to a University's research. Stephen Hawking's PhD thesis is on Apollo - the name Cambridge University have given their online repository.

However, you can be forgiven for thinking that trawling through every University's online repository one by one - especially if you don't know which University to look for - is not ideal. These online resources make this easier.

EThoS (Electronic Theses Online System) is the British Library's online repository for over 475,000 doctoral theses awarded by universities across the UK. Most are available in digital format but details of how to get a copy is given if the digital copy isn't available.

NDLTD (Networked Digital Library or Theses and Dissertations) offers access to theses mainly from America and Canada but there are some from other countries.

Finally...

We leave this week's blog with a quote from Stephen Hawking

On life...
❝One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away❞ - Interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, June 2010

Human Anatomy Online Resource

Primal Pictures Human Anatomy Resource

Are you a Health and Social Care, Sports or science student? Perhaps you have to learn about the skin as a beauty student or about health and fitness as a public services student? Do you want some different activities to help you revise the human body for your exams? 

Human Skeleton
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=241967&picture=human-skeleton

The LRC has the ideal online learning resource for you on their Electronic Resources Moodle page. If you are a tutor and would like to put the link on your course pages, please let the LRC know and we will send you the relevant information.

Primal Pictures provides a complete and medically accurate online 3D model of the human anatomy. It is derived from genuine medical scan data that has been interpreted by a team of anatomists and then translated into 3D images by graphic specialists. Parts of the body can be seen in different layers by digitally peeling the layers back or adding them on. All text is written by medical specialists. 

In addition to graphics, there is information on

• aging (how that part of the anatomy ages), 
• clinical conditions, 
• case studies (sports, health & social care or medically related) to discuss or on which to answer questions
• module quizzes to test your knowledge.

In the top right hand area, you will  notice some pages have interactive learning activities. These can be colouring and labeling activities (a great way to mix revision and mindfulness!), 'click a structure' activities where you can click over an image to see what areas are called and also links to the module quizzes.

There is a demonstration video from YouTube below but a link to the tutorial video to help you use the resource is available on the Electronic Resources page with the link to the resource itself. If you are tutor and would like a member of LRC staff to give a demonstration (to students or staff) or take a hands-on training session for this resource, please contact the LRC. Further help is also available by just coming in and asking us! We'd be happy to help.

E-safety

Safer Internet Day

This week (6th) was Safer Internet Day, providing a focus for young people especially on saying safe online. The official campaign this year promotes the use of social media to build others up, not to tear them down. It is not enough just to stop cyber-bullying, but we should also be looking to use social media in a positive way. We can all make a positive difference.

The slogan this year is "Create, connect and share respect: a better internet starts with you".

The website has some short videos including a rap.

For 14-18 years olds, the theme particularly is showing empathy. This is putting yourself in someone else's shoes and showing them understanding.

See the video below (there are also signed versions available).

The site also has a quiz which is downloadable or you can do it online - How does the internet affect your day to day life and your friendships online?

One teenager, Trisha Prabhu, gave a TEDtalk a few years ago called Rethink before you Type where she explains how she sees the problem and proposes a solution.

Harry Potter Book Night and Time to Talk Day

Harry Potter Book Night

This week we have celebrated Harry Potter book night with Fantastic Beasts themed activities: word searches, colouring sheets, displays and a niffler hunt. 

LRC mascot Chester displaying the niffler hunt prize.
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Harry Potter Book Night display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Time to Talk Day

1st February was Time to Talk Day. According to a BBC article two thirds of UK adults have no one to talk to about their problems. The government is even talking about introducing a loneliness minister.  Time to Change introduced Time to Talk Day this year to encourage everyone to talk. Their focus is talking about mental health, but conversational skills (part of good verbal communication skills) are an important skill to have in life generally - including at College and in the workplace. Kent University website quotes a study from the Association of Graduate Recruiters saying that communication comes second in the top ten of skills shortages amongst graduates.

Some important tips are to listen first, use open questions, respond with encouragement and enforcement and share back.

Resources on verbal communication skills

The LRC has several e-books on communication skills including Alan Barker's Improve your Communication Skills.  You will need to use your network login to read this. 

The Skills you Need website has a section on conversational skills as well as other areas of communication.

Kent University careers service has a section on speaking and listening.

BBC Skillswise has a very simple communication skills quiz.

Cengage has a listening quiz on their website.

Learning activities for the lead up to our Star Wars event

Star Wars - The Last Jedi

The new Star Wars film is out next week and the Learning Resource Centre is putting on a Star Wars themed event in the Enterprise Lounge between 1.30 and 3pm. Different curriculum areas will be providing activities including a Yoda maze, a make up stall, quizzes, crafts and the Imperial March on Boomwhackers! We hope you can be there.

Darth Chester
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Online Star Wars-themed learning activities

In the run up to the event or even afterwards, we thought you might enjoy some of these activities which help with English and other skills or are just a bit of fun to do.

• Download a Star Wars Apostrophes worksheet on the TES website here. There are also other Star Wars themed activities here which may be useful where they aren't aimed at too young an audience. 
• Learn how to draw R2D2 on the Andertoons website (beginner). Tescos also have a link to the official Lucas drawing instructions which look a bit more complicated.
• The English Caddy website has a whole lot of ideas for Star Wars English language activities (they seem to be aimed at learners of English as a second language but could still help anyone brushing up on their English). However, I am unsure of the authority of this site. The Correct Yoda activity could be useful as a grammar exercise and there are other ideas including a critical thinking activity mainly around a scenario from the Force Awakens film.
• The BBC have created a What Star Wars character are you? quiz - aimed at children, but when it comes to Star Wars, age doesn't seem to matter!
• For those of you more musically minded, try watching this parody by the Piano Guys called Cello Wars: the Phantom Cellist

Hopefully we can report back in next week's blog on how the event went.

Live streaming and Fake News 

Meanwhile in the news this week, attention has been drawn to the risks of streaming apps. Go the thinkuknow website for more information. This website also has videos to help explain online safety to young people with learning difficulties.
The BBC have also announced that they are so concerned about fake news that they are launching a service to help children understand what is true and what is fake. IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) have a poster available for download on their website in different languages and we have some of these displayed in the LRC.

Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green event

Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Be Green

Yesterday was the College's annual Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Be Green event and the LRC had a stall at this. We enjoyed talking to students who came to our table and asked them what their prescription for a healthier life would be. Here are some of the suggestions:

Stay healthy

Love yourself

Love life

Be positive

Enthusiasm

Physical exercise (football)

Eat healthy food

Drink water

Stop smoking

Eat less fast food!!!

Smile and have fun

Always make the most of everything

Friendship

Read more

Less stress, less worry!

Eating better!

No drugs

Work hard, relax, exercise

Eat fruit and vegetables - 5 a day.

Student prescriptions for a healthier life
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

National Wellbeing Statistics

Statistics are useful sources of information and the Office of National Statistics website is a good place to start for all sorts of UK statistics (crime, population, employment etc.). Each year they report on the nation's wellbeing. Follow the link to read the latest report which covers happiness, life satisfaction and anxiety levels.

If you want to take your own Happiness Survey the Oxford happiness survey is available to print here  or you can take it online.

At the Be Healthy Stay Safe event, LRC staff enjoyed meeting Wendy, the College's new Counsellor. If you need someone to talk to, you can contact her and she will help you. In the LRC we have a collection of Reading Well Books on Prescription which GPs have recommended (set up by the Reading Agency) including some especially for young people. Books cover topics such as overcoming anxiety, overcoming depression, self esteem, stress and OCD. We also have a number of the mood-boosting books which are feel-good, uplifting fiction reads.

Anti-bullying Week

Finally, this week has also been Anti-bullying week and we had our own display with socks coloured in by students (as recommended by the national campaign).

Anti-bullying Week display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

National Map Reading Week and Digimap

National Map Reading Week

This week is National Map Reading Week and organisations like the Ordnance Survey are using this to publicise and highlight the importance of having skills like being able to use a compass, plotting a map reference and using the right type of map for different activities.

• The latest research suggests the average British person ends up going the wrong way, or getting lost, 24 times a year.
• Mountain Rescue England and Wales call outs were up 170 in 2016 on the previous year and of the 1812 call outs, 360 were serious or fatal.

Given that we live in the age of the Sat Nav and smartphone, is it still necessary to know how to use a map? The statistics above suggest it is.

Being able to read a map and plan a route is still an invaluable life skill and maps can give us a lot of information. For example, a map will help you visually plan your route and see where you are in relation to other places. It can give you an idea of distance or how a hill is as well as what features are found in different areas.You do not need a battery, a mobile/ satellite signal or the ability to hear.

Sometimes a map or diagram is the best way to present information so directions can be understood easily.

Imagine explaining to someone new how to get from the Learning Resource Centre to Parcs Restaurant. Perhaps the best solution would be to take them there yourself. 

However, the alternative would be to explain to them that they need to turn left out of the LRC, past the Apprenticeship Centre, then turn left, follow the corridor round past the Enterprise lounge until they get to Alexandra Foyer when they need to go past the entrance gate and take the corridor to the left of the Pantry and follow this down to Parcs!

Or… you could draw a map!

Resources for learning map reading skills

For the beginner, Ordnance Survey provides a range of guides and videos to show you how to read maps. For example, understanding contours so you know whether you will be walking up a steep hill or not.

See below for Steve Backshall's short video guide to taking a 4 digit map reference.

Ordnance Survey have also devised a short quiz for you to test your map reading skills. Have a go!

Digimap

The Learning Resource Centre subscribes to Digimap which is an online service giving access to Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain. Students and staff can access it from the Electronic Resources Page under the Learning Resource Centre tab on Moodle. It is only accessible in College. Students and staff can save and/or print out their A4 maps.

The great thing about it is that you can search by postcode or place and then once you have centred your map, you can annotate it with shapes, labels, photos as well as measure distances. You might want to add starting points, places to camp, places to stop for lunch based on how long a walk is. Will you have to cross a river? Will you walk through woodland? Will there be steep hills? Will you pass through any villages? 

Public Services students have used this when planning for their week away walking the Pennine Way in the past.

Fake Social Media and How will you vote in the General Election?

Fake social media

In this blog, we have covered the topic of being aware of fake news and fake social media several times and this week this has never been more relevant. As the events of Monday night in Manchester unfolded, the internet was flooded with false reports of missing children and photos of the scene. This only added confusion to the whole situation and was not helpful to anyone.

This should prove a warning to us all not to trust everything we read and to think twice about sharing something we cannot be sure is true.

For more information read http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/05/23/manchester-attack-social-media-trolls-spread-fake-posts-missing/

General Election and how will you vote?

Polling Station at Glinton Village Hall by Paul Bryan reproduced under Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 2.0
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5377045

Whilst the political parties have taken a break over the last few days out of respect for the victims of the Manchester attack, canvassing is slowly starting again ready for the election on the 8th June 2017. If you are 18 you can vote - but only if you have registered to do so. The deadline for doing so is now past but for future reference you can register on the Peterborough City Council website.

So, how will you vote? The Times Educational Supplement (we subscribe to this in Library+) ran an article last week about how important it is for young people to vote. They write that at the Brexit decision, if 16 and 17 year olds had been able to vote, there would have been a different result. Many of those young people are now old enough to vote and can make a difference.

So, how do you decide what to vote? The Complete University Guide has information aimed at students. 

Also you may like to try an online quiz which takes you through the main issues asking you to choose your viewpoint and then at the end it tells you which party you match with most. Take the quiz here.

Revision tips and memory techniques

Revision tips

Exams are fast approaching and lots of students are finishing off their coursework and starting to revise everything they’ve learned during their course.

We’ve been searching for some tips for you on the internet. Take a look at this short BBC Newsbeat video.

The BBC also have lots more resources at http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zw8qpbk with links to advice on the National Citizen Service website too.

If you are prone to worrying about your exams, the BBC published an article earlier this week : Exam Stress: a revision guide for the anxious which might be helpful.

Memory Techniques

More generally, a lot of us would like to know how to remember things better whether it's remembering someone's name, reminding ourselves to do something or memorising information for an exam. 

In 2105 The Daily Telegraph published an article Nine tips to improve your memory which also has a quiz to test how good your memory is. You may want to have a go.

BBC Radio 4 has an old archived page on improving your memory which includes tips such as 

• Break things down in to chunks
• Space out your learning (don't try to cram it all in at the last minute)
• Write it down
• Use imagery to associate something you are learning with a visual image
• Assign meaning to something (great for numbers eg remember the numbers 1945 by thinking about the last year of the 2nd World War).
• Learn it right the first time (so focus when you are learning).

For those of you interested in more information on how the memory works and further techniques to improve it, we have books in the library by Tony Buzan, for example, who is an expert in memory techniques. The books are found around 153.1.

You may also want to listen to this Tedtalk by Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do.

Ed Sheeran and Plagiarism

Ed Sheeran and Plagiarism

Earlier this month it was reported in the news that Ed Sheeran was being sued for over 20 million dollars for copying an existing song (Amazing) and using parts of it in his song Photograph. 

Plagiarism

Using someone's work without gaining their permission to do so or giving credit to them is a serious and expensive business and the principle behind it applies to your academic work too. As you move forward in your studies, failure to credit your sources of information can result in disciplinary action. Most Universities (including UCP) require students to submit their work through a software program which checks whether it is their own work or copied from somewhere else (from the internet, for example).

When you are learning and writing assignments, you are of course expected to read and quote other people's work. This is part of the learning process. However if you do not give credit by citing and referencing the works you've read and used in your work, you will be committing plagiarism. Including references at the end of your work, even at College, can also earn you extra marks.

Learn about plagiarism and referencing

To help you understand and apply this correctly, Library+ has created an online learning activity which can be accessed from our Library 24/7 page on Moodle. The activity is made up of 4 parts:

1) Plagiarism

2) Referencing

3) Plagiarism quiz

4) Referencing quiz

The quizzes are intended to test your knowledge having completed the corresponding learning activities first

. 

Lecturers can also ask Library+ for some code which will put a button on their course page to link to the resource. They can then see their students' test scores, if they need or want to.

For more information, please ask in Library+.

So why not have a go - either to learn from scratch or to remind yourself how to reference. The resource is new so if you have any comments on how it can be improved, then please also let Library+ know.

The importance of punctuation - the Oxford Comma

Using the correct punctuation

In order to write well and make yourself understood, it is important to use the correct punctuation, but for many of you this can be a struggle (and I suspect there isn't one of us in College that doesn't find themselves at some point not sure when to use a form of punctuation).

Last week, the humble comma was shown to be far more important than the little squiggle it is, when it made headline news in a court case concerning whether drivers in a dairy in the USA were entitled to overtime pay. The whole decision rested on the use of what is known as the Oxford comma. It cost Oakhurst Dairy 10 million dollars. Read about it here.

The Oxford Comma

The Oxford Comma (or serial comma) is an optional comma used after the penultimate item in a list of 3 or more items, before 'and'  or 'or'.

Usually in a list we are told not to put a comma before the final 'and', but in some cases (and the Oakhurst Dairy case is a prime example) putting a comma here helps to make the sentence clearer and better understood.

Bristol University explains simply how this is the case.

It is Bristol University's jelly and ice cream example which helps me remember this (perhaps I'm feeling hungry!)

His favourite puddings were ice apple pie, rhubarb crumble, and jelly and ice cream.

The comma after crumble keeps jelly and ice cream together as one item, one dessert, one dish (albeit made up of 2 items).

Punctuation games/ quizzes

For those of you wanting to brush up on your use of the comma (Oxford or otherwise) or who need some exercises to use in class to help test punctuation, you might find these useful:

BBC Skillswise quiz   -some funny example in here. It does need Flash to work.

How good is your punctuation? - from the Telegraph
Commas game.