Communication and Research Skills (CARS)

CARS (Communication and Research Skills) is an online unit which assists UWA students to develop basic communication and research skills in an academic context.

All undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students who have not completed CARS in a previous course are required to complete the unit in their first semester of study. A score of 80% across the four quizzes is required for successful completion.

Eligible commencing students are automatically enrolled in CARS and the unit is available through the University’s Learning Management System.

Completion of CARS is recommended as early as possible to help you to complete your studies to the standards required; non-completion will impact your ability to graduate.

Check in your LMS for the required completion date for the CARS unit you are enrolled in.

UWA staff and students who are not enrolled in CARS can access the content for revision at any time from the links below.

Some of the many student responses to CARS:

students walking past Moreton Bay Fig tree

I learned:

"how to find scholarly sources for assignments"
"essay writing skills"
"where to find help and support at UWA"
"how to prepare for an oral presentation"
"effective group study tactics"

The CARS modules cover:

  • Starting your assessment and finding evidence
  • Writing your assessment
  • Delivering your oral presentation
  • Working in teams

Revisiting CARS:

If you have completed CARS you can access the unit for revision at any time by following the steps below to self-enrol in the open version of CARS. This option is open to all interested UWA students or staff.
  1. Login to the LMS using your Uni-ID account details.
  2. Go to this URL.
  3. Click on the + Enrol link to the left of your screen.
  4. From the Self-Enrolment screen click on the [Submit] button.
  5. The system will say success. Click on [OK] to be taken to the open CARS unit.

Toolkits

The CARS toolkits bring together the tools and guides featured throughout the CARS modules. You can browse, bookmark and print the tools and guides across the CARS unit or jump to a specific module to help you get started on specific assessments or tasks.

Starting Your Assessment and Finding Evidence Toolkit

Tools to get you started for planning your assessment

Finding resources for your assessment

Advice for evaluating information before using it in your assessments

How to reference in your assessment

Writing Your Assessment Toolkit

Tips for writing different assessment types:

Essays

Reports

Lab reports

Reflective essays

Annotated bibliography

Tests and quizzes

Tips for Exam preparation

Using Turnitin to submit your assessment

Delivering Your Oral Presentation Toolkit

Tips for managing nerves and presenting

Preparing for tutorial

Oral presentations

Working in Teams Toolkit

Tips for working in teams and tackling group assessments

Technical information

Internet browsers
The recommended browsers for best CARS performance are Chrome and Firefox. The modules work with mobile devices but the best experience will be on a desktop computer.
Guide for screen reader users
Please disregard the embedded instructions in the player as they are inaccurate. The slides will not read automatically and the Form Fields are incomplete and misleading, please Tab through the content on the slides. To make selections, press spacebar (not the up or down keys).
Technical support
If any of the activities don't seem to be working properly, try another browser. You can also report the issue online to AskUWA.

Need help?

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askUWA

askUWA has an in-depth list of FAQs about CARS. You can also “Ask a Question” if you need more help.

ask.uwa.edu.au

StudySmarter

StudySmarter offers a range of workshops, drop-in sessions and online resources to help get more out of your study.

StudySmarter

The Library

The University Library provides guides that can help with your research and study skills.

uwa.edu.au/library

creative commons iconCopyright: The text of CARS is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.