Academic writing skills and referencing workshop
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Academic Writing Skills Gemma Holtam.
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Transcript of Academic writing skills and referencing workshop
Academic Writing Skills
Gemma Holtam.
Are these statements true or false?
What is expected in a piece of academic writing
What makes a good assignment
Structuring a paragraph
Signposting words
Referencing
What We’ll Cover Today
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5
What makes a good
assignment?
On individual post it notes list all of the things that you think makes a good assignment. For example:• an introduction• answers the assignment
question
Academic writing
• Introduction and conclusion
• Split into paragraphs with a new paragraph for each new point
• The different paragraphs constantly refer back to the assignment title
• Includes signposting words to guide the reader to the different point
• Uses Harvard referencing system consistently
• Proofread – checking spelling, punctuation, grammar and layout
Academic Writing
What is a paragraph?
What words come to mind? Write them on a post-it note.
What is a paragraph?
A paragraph is:
• a distinct section in a piece if writing
• explains one idea or topic
• contains a number of related sentences
The perfect paragraph
The perfect paragraph
What
Evidence
Example
Do
How to structure a paragraph
Each paragraph should contain:
-The topic sentence stating what point
you are making
-Evidence/an explanation to support
your topic or sentence
-An example to illustrate the point you
are making
-Summing up sentence: what do you do
with the evidence, ask yourself so what
W = The existence of Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the classroom does not in itself ensure that pupils benefit.
E = Consideration is needed as to how the TAs are deployed.
E = The DfEE (2004) argues that, it is essential that teachers and TAs work together.
D = The best way to ensure this collaboration is to be clear about roles when planning pupils’ lessons
An example WEED
The perfect paragraph
All sentences in the paragraph should focus
on the main idea or topic
All sentences in the paragraph are clearly
related to each other
Make sure your main idea is supported by
sufficient details to give your writing authority
What is signposting?
Signposting words
Signposting means using phrases and words to guide the
reader through the content of your assignment.
There are two main types of signposting:
Major signposts: introductions, conclusions and outlining
main arguments/ the direction of the argument in
paragraphs/opening phrases.
Linking words and short phrases: connecting words help
guide the reader through the argument by linking ideas,
sentences and paragraphs.
Signposting words
Task – match the words with the heading
Introducing a new idea
Firstly , secondly, finally,
In addition to this
Introducing a contrasting view
However,
Another angle on this debate suggests
that
On the other handIn conclusion
From the above
It is clear that
The evidence presented has shown that
Answers
Signposting words
More study skills words can be found on
the HE Study Skills Moodle Page.
Identifying and listing all of the sources you have referred to in your assignment. There are two parts to this:
1. In text citation
Jones (2015), (Jones, 2015), Jones (2015, p. 15)
2.Reference list at the end of your assignment
Jone, G. (2015) A Guide to Referencing Basingstock: Palgrave Macmillian
What is referencing?
“Taking and using another person’s thoughts, writing or inventions as your own without acknowledging or citing the source of the ideas or expression”
(Pears and Shields, 2013, p.113)
What is Plagiarism?
• Godwin (2009, p.15) believes that “As teachers we recognise the complex nature of plagiarism”
• Goodwin (2009) concluded that due to the complexity….
• Teachers recognise that plagiarism is a complex issue (Godwin, 2009).
Quoting and Paraphrasing
Quote
Paraphrased
Paraphrased
Look at the following piece of writing. Which references are in the right format and which ones are incorrect?
Referencing skills
“Most human behaviour is leaned observationally through reflecting on ones actions: by evaluating what happened, analysing the situation, coming to a conclusion about how things could have been done better, then creating an action plan for what you could do in the future” (Gibbs, 2014; learning theories.com, 2014). This quote shows that Gibbs believed that human behaviour is effected by how someone reflects on the situation.
• Quotation marks suggest it’s a direct quote but two sources are cited – unlikely that the information is written exactly the same in two sources
• The title of the website or the author of the page should be cited
• Web address should only be included in the reference list
What is expected in a piece of academic writing
What makes a good assignment
Structuring a paragraph
Signposting words
Referencing
We have covered
1
2
3
4
5
