How to write a literature review

The essay is one of the most commonly used assessment formats at schools and universities alike. This is largely because essays offer the scope to assess a wide variety of academic skills in a given discipline. At a basic level, they allow teachers to assess written ability and understanding of concepts: how well pupils can articulate ideas as well as organise those ideas in a structure that is clear and logical. But they also tend to draw on more advanced academic abilities, like critical thinking, research skills, statistical analysis, and argumentation. This article is designed to give you some pointers on how to execute a well-written essay.

As students and employees in a pandemic our work lives and personal lives feel as though they have converged into a grey area. Our bedrooms are now lecture halls, our kitchens the new office, and our free time seems to no longer exist as we struggle to co-manage our work, duties to others, and personal wellbeing. Once, working from home was seen as a good method for improving the work-life balance, but as Crosbie and Moore evaluated back in 2004, working from home is a double-edged sword. How can you strike a good balance between work and life, especially when the line has become blurred?

Ten years ago, the landscape looked very different: the world released 30.4 Gtons of CO2 in 2010; Tesla was an obscure company; and five of the top ten firms by market cap were fossil fuel (or related) companies.

In no particular order, here are five technologies that I think could make a significant impact on our lives this year.

You are working towards your deadlines on a typical weekday, when suddenly you find yourself scrolling a random Instagram feed for a long, useless and irrecoverable time. The worst part of it is that it has happened before and it will happen again.

The Pareto principle is a distributive theory of consequence holding that around 80% of outcomes result from 20% of causes. It is also called the 80/20 rule, or the law of vital few. It has been found that many natural phenomena exhibit the principle, for example, the distribution of global income: it is a fact that the wealthiest 20% of the global population generates 82.7% of the world's income. The Pareto principle was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who whilst at university in 1896 found that 80% of Italy's land was owned by 20% of its population.

Natural Language Processing, or NLP, is a field combining computer science, linguistics and artificial intelligence. Natural Language refers to human language: the code of communication we use as people to transmit thoughts and ideas to one another; English is one obvious example. Essentially, NLP scientists are concerned with building technology that 'understands' linguistic data, with the goal of extracting information from the content of documents.

A network effect: the phenomenon whereby a product or service gains additional value as more people use it. Let’s think of a few examples.

Hearing the world is one of the key methods by which we make sense of it, both in terms of our present reality and our past memories. Sound is orienting, and paying attention to what role it plays in our lives can impact how we remember, how we work, and how we care for those whose lived experience is not what it once was.

Research is a competence required in many modern world vocations. But while some see it as a mere step in the completion of work and neglect it, research is a learned skill that could and should be developed. The ability to carry out effective research means saving time and raising the quality of the end product. Arguably, it is the most important stage of the process, since the material you find will be the content you draw from for the basis of your work.

We’ve all been there: exams are mere days away and no matter how many times you read, highlight and rewrite your notes, your brain is a sieve, and "nothing's... going in", as Will would say. But fear not: spaced repetition is here to help you get more out of your memory and hit those exams for six.

Being punctual with assignments is something many of us find difficult. Why is this? There are many things that can delay the timely submission of a piece of work: struggles with content, poor time management, and sometimes life just getting in the way. Here is a guide to help you hit those deadlines without panic.

Everyone has faced rejection at some point in their lives, especially in the professional world: whether it be from your top university, numerous internships, graduate jobs, or even being laid off. As the world becomes increasingly competitive, it’s becoming ever more important to be able to deal with these rejections in the most constructive and productive way. But what way is that?

We all know what language and communication are and how to use them. Because of this, however, we often take them for granted. If you had to explain what language is, or how communication works to a friend, what would you say? It is a little more challenging to account for than you might think.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is only just beginning to penetrate the workplace, prompting executives to rethink their corporate governance. Many of the tasks that make up today's jobs will be taken over by AI. Whether it is replacing workers with computer-controlled processes or machines being able to make complex decisions and perform tasks normally reserved for people like artificial intelligence, the way work is done is changing. Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a threat to jobs that were once human domain, making it harder for humans to stand up to machines.

Memory is something each of us have and each of us need, yet some of us have better memories than others. Knowing how to use it properly can improve our ability to learn, study and work. We use our memories every single day to perform tasks which allow us to live properly and live well. But what is memory?

Technology's ability to complete complex tasks is well established. But how does it compare to human intelligence? In his widely cited 1950 paper 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence', Alan Turing asked the question ‘Can machines think?’ The mathematician proposed a method of determining an answer, via the ‘Imitation Game’: ask a machine to convince a human interrogator that it is a human, and even further, convince the interrogator that another human is in fact a machine. Thanks to the popularity of this idea in the media, it is now commonly referred to as the Turing test, and seen by some as a true test of an AI overcoming humans.

As a populace, we in the UK do not eat well: neither for the performance of the body or the productivity of the brain. The Health and Foods Supplements Information Service (HSIS) recently published an in-depth research report finding that the "majority of people in the UK are not eating a healthy diet, with significant impact on vitamin and mineral intakes." While people often consider the physical ramifications of poor nutrition, the consequences of an imbalanced diet on cognitive health tend to be overlooked.

As it begins to feel more and more like we’re heading towards a second lockdown (“£10,000 fine 'for leaving house' and 'new Covid clampdown’”), people everywhere are preparing for another go at remote learning. The content of class is no different: the cycle of taking notes, memorising them, and revising them remains the same. The added difficulty with remote learning is one’s environment, which will be the focus of this article. With the advantage of knowing what likely lies ahead, which important lessons should we keep in mind to excel at university at a distance?

No matter who you ask, almost everyone at university will agree that one of the most, if not the most, time-consuming aspects is all the reading and research. How many hours, evenings, and weekends, have been spent trawling through databases, through books, through chapters, articles & essays? It's a fact of life that all students face.

The LLB law degree is known to be difficult, not necessarily in terms of conceptual complexity, but certainly of volume. The degree is based primarily on independent study guided by endlessly long reading lists. Whilst there is no substitute for hard work, a smarter approach will make your life easier and your degree more interesting. 

A longer read, this guide pinpoints the key differences between school and university. It is designed to give you a sense of what to expect, how to manage the academic side of things and the best ways to handle the lifestyle shift, with advice tailored to the circumstances brought on by the pandemic.

This follow-up article from Thomas Rigard-Asquith builds on the fundamentals of notetaking and explains how to perfect the processes of encoding, storage and retrieval to maximise your memory and give yourself the best chance of retention and recall.

We all get stressed at work sometimes, but we don't always cope our best. Read more for how to identify stress, how to communicate to alleviate it, and what changes you can make outside the workplace to be happier at work.