General Skills Checklist
1. Collecting, analysing and organising information is about:
- finding information on your topic from different sources like books, people, films or internet sites
- working out if the information is suitable
- organising the information for the people who are going to receive it
“How to collect, analyse and organise information” checklist
Decide on your topic and don’t get side-tracked.
Collect appropriate information on your topic e.g. phobias, from sources such as pamphlets, magazines, internet, books, libraries, guest speakers and relevant community/health services. Check that your sources are current and reliable.
Decide what particular information you will or won’t include.
Consider the best way of communicating with the people who are to receive this information e.g. a collage, pamphlet, web site, video, audio tape etc.
Decide how you’ll group the information e.g. under what headings, tables, visual displays.
Select the best layout for the information.
Check if there is any other information you need or should include.
Present the information in the style you have chosen e.g. a collage.
2. Planning and organising activities is about:
- planning the task and setting a realistic overall goal
- anticipating problems that you might run into
- organising and managing your time
- keeping track of your progress and adjusting your plans if necessary
“How to Plan and organise activities” checklist
Work out what the finished product will be.
Work out how much time you’ve got to complete the task.
Work out the individual jobs that need to be completed to get the finished product.
Decide on who’ll take part if working with a group and what jobs each person will do.
Get any materials /equipment that you need.
Monitor progress towards your final goal at set intervals and revise the plan if necessary.
Deal with any unexpected problems that arise.
3. Communicating ideas and information is about:
- giving and receiving ideas and information through text, speech, video, web page etc
- considering who you want to communicate with and the best form of communication to get your ideas and information across to them
- communicating simply and clearly
- checking the message is getting across in the way you want it to and making adjustments when it’s not working
“How to Communicate ideas and information” checklist
Know who you are communicating with, that is, your audience - young people, teachers, adults, government officials etc.
Know your message ie what you want to communicate. Collecting, analysing and organising your information clearly will ensure this.
Use language that is simple, clear, and suited to your audience.
Organise the message in a logical order.
Use visual means of communicating to enhance your message.
Decide on a layout or design that helps convey your message e.g. for text use titles, headings, graphs, pictures and white space. For audio-visual use appropriate body language, voice, silence, music and colour.
Trial your message with someone and ask for feedback. Proofread / edit / revise your communication if your message was not clear.
4. Working with others and in teams is about:
- working with one or more people
- combining your skills and sharing your ideas to achieve a common goal
- listening to each person and taking note of their skills and needs
- sharing the workload effectively and fairly in relation to time and skills so the job gets done well
“How to Work with others and in teams” checklist
Share your ideas about your goals and listen to one another.
Make a list of the tasks to be done.
Allow people to volunteer for the jobs they’d like to do and work together to allocate the remaining jobs.
Check that everyone understands his or her role in the overall activity.
Plan the timeline and meet regularly to monitor how everyone’s managing.
Complete your own tasks and support one another.
Complete the activity e.g. the collage.
Celebrate your achievements.
Using mathematical ideas and techniques is about:
- being clear about what you want to solve and what sort of result you expect to get
- deciding what maths skills you need to use
- doing the maths steps in the right order
- deciding how accurate your answer needs to be in this particular situation
- checking that your answer is a reasonable one and interpreting it in the context of what you are trying to solve
“How to use mathematical ideas and techniques” checklist
Express the problem clearly to yourself. You may like to re-write it or draw a diagram.
Work out what information you have and what you might need to get.
Work out what maths operations you need to do e.g. multiply, divide, calculate percentages and work out the logical order (remember BODMAS).
Work out the rough answer you might expect e.g. round off the numbers and do a simplified calculation.
Be clear about what unit your final answer should be in e.g. $ for money, litres for liquids, hours for time.
Perform the calculations in the logical order (you might do them on paper and check with a calculator or maybe use Excel).
Think about the original problem and check that the answer makes sense.
Interpret what your answer means.
Using technology is about:
- deciding what you want to achieve
- deciding what technology you’ll use the and how it can help you
- working out what tools, equipment, software, resources etc to use
- putting together the equipment, if necessary, and working out the logical steps to follow to complete the process
- using the technology in a way that protects and respects the health and safety of people and the environment
- using equipment, software and material to a level that is appropriate to the task and the user’s ability and seeking help where necessary
“How to use technology” checklist
Decide what your purpose is and what you need to produce (e.g. a PowerPoint presentation, an email, a music video, a cooked meal, a sculpture).
Decide what technology and equipment you need to create your product.
Assemble all the equipment and materials you need e.g. computers, printers cameras, photos, ingredients.
Do the separate parts of the task in the correct sequence using the right piece of equipment till you’ve completed the process.
Make sure that you are aware of and using the equipment in a healthy and safe manner e.g. if using a computer - sit correctly, take breaks, adjust monitor, if using a chain saw, learn all the safety procedures.
Don’t waste resources, e.g. if using a printer or photocopier, recycle paper where possible and only print after proofreading.
Make sure you know how to use equipment efficiently e.g. learn how to print just thesection you need rather than huge slabs of irrelevant information from the internet or, learn to virus check your disks if you’re moving between computers.
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