363-1063-00L  Academic Writing Course

SemesterSpring Semester 2020
LecturersR. Mihalka, S. Milligan
Periodicityevery semester recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish
CommentCompulsory for all MTEC MSc students.


AbstractThis course for MTEC MSc students focuses on developing and refining students' English writing skills and their understanding of the requirements and conventions of academic writing. The course is particularly designed to support students during the writing process, so participants are expected to bring work in progress (reports, semester papers, etc.) to the workshops.
ObjectiveThe aim of this course is to improve the academic writing skills needed to complete academic texts successfully and efficiently. The course provides theoretical input, practical writing exercises, and detailed individual feedback organised into one group lecture and four workshops in smaller tutorial groups.

Initially, the lecture provides an overview of the range of demands on writers of reports, papers, and MSc theses and outlines the academic expectations that students must meet. Guidance is then provided in the workshops on planning the writing process effectively, and individual feedback is provided to enhance writing ability.

The course develops a range of practical and transferrable writing skills. Students can use these skills to improve the overall quality of their academic writing and to produce their reports, papers, and theses more rapidly and efficiently. The writing skills developed here can be used beyond the MSc, whether students go on to complete a PhD or to produce reports and other documents in industry.
ContentGroup lecture:
an introduction to writing at MSc level in D-MTEC
anglophone expectations of academic writing
avoiding plagiarism

Workshop 1:
the writing process
overview of common academic text structures
building academic vocabulary

Workshop 2:
writing methods sections
embedding figures and tables
structuring sentences and paragraphs
noun phrases and articles

Workshop 3:
introductions; results and discussion sections
analysis v description
writing critically
relative clauses

Workshop 4:
abstracts and conclusions
editing your own text
punctuation, spelling, and grammar
Lecture notesNotes will be available after registration.

The course is highly recommended to all MTEC MSc students once they have begun writing assignments such as reports and semester papers.
Prerequisites / NoticeIt is also compulsory for students who started in Spring 2015 or later. It is offered each semester (spring and autumn).