Study Guide

Objective

The aim of this course is to activate and develop the students’ writing for academic purposes, namely, thesis-writing. The students will also learn about and practise using and citing sources. Additional course objectives are to demonstrate understanding of and apply effective paragraph structure, employ academic and professional language, evaluate sources for relevance and reliability.

Content

Writing academic texts:
• the process of writing
• principles of academic writing
• sentence structure, sentence clarity and sentence problems
• paragraph structure paragraph unity, paragraph coherence
• essay structure and maturity test
• evaluating sources
• avoiding plagiarism
• using and citing sources
• abstract-writing and evaluation

Materials

teacher’s own and web-based material

Teaching methods

teacher-directed classroom activities, independent work, pair work, group work, project work activities (quizzes, meetings)

Exam schedules

No exam. There is continuous assessment.

International connections

The contents and the assessed outputs of the course are designed to provide the students with English language written communication skills they need in writing their thesis as well as spoken communications skills they will need to present their thesis. . In addition, the students have to complete tasks individually, in pairs and as a group which enhances their communication and interpersonal skills. The assessment is continuous and teacher and peer assessments are provided after the completion of each task.
The course deals with the theme of sustainable development in discussing, reading articles and writing about general concepts ( e.g. green IT, energy efficiency), technologies & strategies (such as cloud computing, virtualization); social & ethical issues ( e.g. data privacy, digital divide, inclusive access)

Completion alternatives

A: The student can complete the Basic Academic Writing (5ECTS) and complete Accreditation of Prior Learning based on Competence (not a transfer of credits):
Within two weeks of the course start, the student submits a written report showcasing competence in academic writing and demonstrating the skills this course aims to achieve. If the submission fulfills the assessment criteria (i.e.: no plagiarism, demonstration of well-composed paragraphs, use of references, appropriate register etc.-see evaluation criteria below), the student can attain the credits. If the submission does not meet the criteria, the student joins the course.
B: The student can complete the Basic Academic Writing (5ECTS) and complete Transfer of Credits within the first two weeks of the course if the student has completed a course with the same credits and similar content at a same level (higher education) educational institution within the last 5 years. The student will also need to provide an official transcript and course content description.

Student workload

classroom activities: 24 h
individual work: 76 h
pairwork work: 25 h

Content scheduling

January- March 2024
Theme 1: Reading Skills, Writing Process & Academic Writing
Theme 2: Reading Strategies & Sentence structure
Theme 3: Note-taking & Paragraph structure
Theme 4: Summarizing & Essay Structure
Theme 5: Citing & Referencing, Evaluating sources
Theme 6: Text polishing and editing

Further information

Course Requirement: The students need to have completed the English Professional course.

We will be using Itslearning for this course.

Compulsory physical attendance

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

The student needs physically attend and complete all the tasks/assignments in order to pass the course.

The students have two options to complete the course
Option 1: Writing an essay. This option is recommended for those who completed the English Professional Skills B2 with grade 4 or above. Deadline for submitting the essay 29.02.2024 Grade range for this option 0-5

Option 2: Summarizing research articles. This option is recommended for those who completed the English Professional Skills B2 with grade 1-3. In this option, the students will have to summarize a total of 5 research articles from Finna on a selected topic of interest. The actual summaries will be written in class and at end the students will have to produce a short piece of writing discussing their views/opinions on the specific topic with references to the summarized research articles. (0-3)

For both Options: the writing will be carried out in class using pen and paper

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

The student has insufficient attendance (has been absent in 3 classes) and/or has not submitted writing tasks within the given deadlines). Insufficient attendance and intermittent return of assignments will result in immediate failure of the course.
The student has completed tasks but they are not of an acceptable standard.
The student keeps changing the topic of the essay/summaries and therefore cannot provide evidence of their writing process.
The student has committed plagiarism. The student has submitted work with a high percentage (20% +) of similarity to other sources.
The student has used AI-generated content.
The student has provided references that when checked they do not match the title listed in the references ( fake references).
The student is not able to properly cite sources in the text.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student can describe and identify features of academic writing, elements of paragraph and essay structure, unity and coherence, and is aware of ways to avoid plagiarism.
The text contains several grammatical and use of language mistakes and several instances of informal writing.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student can produce text that contains some features of academic writing, has some elements of paragraph and essay structure. The student can produce text that displays a degree of unity and coherence. The student can reference sources and compile a reference list although there are inconsistencies in the format and style.
The text contains some grammatical and use of language mistakes and some instances of informal writing.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student can produce text that contains most features of academic writing, has well-developed elements of paragraph and essay structure. The student can produce text that displays unity and coherence consistently throughout the essay. The student can reference sources and compile a reference list in a consistent format and style.
The text contains few grammatical and use of language mistakes and few instances of informal writing.

Qualifications

English Professional Skills, B2 or level B2 according to European Framework of Reference for Languages