Course Description:
This course is for academic research staff who would like some support whilst writing for academic purposes. It introduces basic research writing skills including: conducting research, note taking, paraphrase, summary, direct quotation, positioning, and MLA or APA style citation.
The programme is designed to help participants produce their next paper. The course will also place emphasis on macro-level composition skills such as: essay structure, paragraph structure, coherence, unity; and micro-level skills such as: sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary, spelling and mechanics.
Prerequisites:
Participants must have material for a paper that they can work on during the course.
Aims:
The course mainly aims to:
understand the academic writing process
develop writing skills and practice them
to produce a piece of work for publication.
practice a variety of prewriting techniques
break large writing projects into manageable pieces
apply backward planning to reach a goal
recognizing approach, style, and need for external accountability
Requirements for a Certificate:
Minimum attendance requirement is 75% of course events.
Assessed portfolio work for practical tasks like group and individual planning, observation, demonstration, micro-teaching, discussion and feedback sessions.
1000-word end of course Reflective Essay.
Details:
Course Outline:
830.01 – Read and analyze related literature focusing on structure and mechanics
830.02 – Planning essay structure, including introduction, body and conclusion
830.03 – Understanding the writing process, including pre-writing, writing and re-writing
830.04 – Employing descriptive, narrative and expository modes for an academic audience
830.05 – Understanding and applying the principles of effective paragraph structure
830.06 – Writing concise sentences and employing quotation, paraphrase and summary
830.07 – Introducing, positioning and integrating source material into an essay
830.08 – Avoiding errors of verb tense, pronoun agreement, usage of prepositions and articles
830.09 – Improving academic and idiomatic vocabulary for a socially appropriate language
830.10 – Identifying effective writing techniques in participant’s own work and in peer writing
830.11 – Employing correct citation style, parenthetical, in-text citation and works-cited pages
830.12 – Avoiding plagiarism and evaluating sources for relevance and reliability