2. Listening Course: Academic Mini Lectures with PPTs

This mini lecture listening course is designed to improve your note-taking skills using PowerPoint slides. There are ten mini PPT video lectures on a range of subjects, detailed PowerPoint slides (PPTs) for note taking, and comprehension questions (open answer questions, gap fill, table completion and multiple choice) to check your understanding after watching the lecture.

What will you learn on this course?

• You will learn how to prepare for academic lectures.
• You will have valuable practice in taking notes on PPT slides.
• You will improve your topic-specific vocabulary.
• You will improve being able to identify main ideas, subsidiary ideas, examples, and data.
• You will practice listening to a range of topics.
• You will have the opportunity to check your understanding and comprehension through a range of test-type questions.
• Course duration: 30 days.

Who is this course for?

• Level B1 (intermediate) to C2 (advanced) Learners.
• Second language speakers who want to improve their listening skills.
• International students who want to go to an English speaking university.
• International students who are studying at an English speaking university.
• Anyone who wants to improve their listening note-taking skills.

Key Concepts Covered:

• Subject-based academic lectures.
• PowerPoint note-taking practice.
• Note-taking strategies.
• Subject-based vocabulary.
• Understanding of notes via comprehension questions.
• Understanding of lecture via comprehension questions.
• Post-lecture activities to explore the subject in more detail.

There are ten lessons included in this course with each lesson taking approximately 1 hour to complete. You have to do the course in order of mini lecture 1-10. When you complete the course, you will receive a certificate.

Duration: This course last for 30 days once you pay. Therefore you have 30 days to the complete all 10 lessons.

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Course Content

The course consists of ten lessons. Each lesson includes a digital lesson booklet to download.

The Lesson Procedure

Each lesson has the same number of tasks and format. This is an example from the Big Data lesson:

Task 1: Introduction	There will be four or five questions to introduce you to the topic. Task 1: Introduction Do some research and take some notes on the following questions.
Task 2: Vocabulary	You will be given 20-25 words to check that are used in the lecture. It is a good idea to check meaning and pronunciation in an English-to-English dictionary. E.g., Cambridge English Dictionary Task 2: Vocabulary Check these words from the lecture: There is also a reference section where you should look at the sources used and make a note of the names as these will be referred to in the lecture.
Task 3: The PPT Slides	In this section you are provided with four PPT slides. You should take your time to study these slides. Again, check any unknown words and do any internet research of some of the key terms used. It’s also a good idea to try to predict what the lecture will be about. Task 3: PPT Slides Study these slides and try to predict what the lecture will be about:
Task 4: The Lecture	You are now ready to watch the lecture. You should have your slides ready to take notes on whether this is on your computer / tablet or a printed version. While you watch the lecture, add notes to the slides. Task 4: Lecture Video Listen to the lecture and take notes using the four PPT slides provided: You should listen to the lecture two times only.
Task 5: The Comprehension Questions	After you have listened, you then use your notes to answer the comprehension questions. There are a range of question types (open questions, gap fill, table completion, multiple choice) to check your understanding of the lecture and ability to take effective notes. Task 4: Comprehension Questions Now use your notes to answer these comprehension questions: Once you have completed the questions, you can check the answers and give yourself an overall score. You can check the answers in the transcript provided.
Task 6: Post-lecture Tasks	Task 6: Post Lecture Here are some post lecture tasks you can do: 1. Write a 100-word summary of the lecture. 2. Apply critical thinking strategies to the lecture. Use this critical thinking question document: here 3. Research other types of big data. 4. Find and read a case study on one area of big data. These key post-lecture strategies will help you to explore the subject in more detail.
Completed	When you have completed the course, just hit ‘complete’