Definition of Academic AbilityThe capacity to learn, understand and apply knowledge in various academic contexts and domains.
Academic pursuits are quite diverse and benefit from many different academic talents, strengths and skills. Where you may have a strength in one area such as scientific research you may have weaknesses in another such as artistic or literary expression. The following are common examples of academic abilities beginning with foundational learning skills.
Learning Skills
Skills that allow an individual to learn and to demonstrate this learning in an academic environment. This benefits from character traits such as self-discipline that can be cultivated over time. Learning is also a skill in itself and learning to learn is a fundamental outcome of academic processes. For example, a student who can take notes that identify the five important points made in an hour long lecture.
Critical Thinking
In practice, the term critical thinking is used as a catch-all for modes of disciplined thinking that are used to tackle academic work. For example, critical thinking includes both analysis and synthesis which are opposite modes of thinking that correspond to breaking things down and constructing new understanding respectively.
Language & Communication
Foundational skills related to reading, writing, discussion, debate, presentations and public speaking in an academic context. These are often specialized towards academic work processes. For example, skimming and scanning skills that are required to process large amounts of reading or research materials with reasonable efficiency.
Academic Analysis
The disciplined process of breaking information down to develop academic understanding. This has different modes and approaches that are used to tackle different subject matter as follows.
Collaborative Skills
Talents and character traits that may be helpful in various types of group work or discussions. For example, perspective taking and the ability to build consensus on how to complete a group work assignment.
Research Skills
Talents and skillsets that allow you to produce valid experimental, quantitative, qualitative or descriptive research. This includes the everyday process of investigating a topic by compiling and evaluating sources and extends all the way up to running large scale research programs surrounded in both extensive administrative processes and complex science.
Other Academic Abilities
Other academic abilities including large domains such as engineering and general skills that are applicable to most academic pursuits such as digital literacy.
