Lecture 2

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Writing at
University
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Typical writing assignments at University

 The type of writing assignment that you are required to write at university will
depend on your discipline. However, the following are common in most
scientifc subjects:
 Essays
 Research reports
 Lab reports
 Reviews of articles or other types of literature
 Reviews of the literature on a topic
 Reflective accounts
 Dissertations
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Assessment

Written assignments will relate

directly to the learning outcomes of
a particular module, and they will be
assessed with reference to
assessment guidelines and
assessment criteria, which in turn
relate to the learning outcomes. This
alignment is designed to ensure that
there is clarity and transparency
regarding how students’
performance and progress is
measured.
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Responding to feedback on your writing

 One of the most important roles that lecturers perform is to give feedback to
students on the work they produce. This can be:
 1- ‘formative’, i.e. advice on how to improve their work in future tasks,
or
 2- it can be ‘summative’, i.e. feedback on an assessed piece of work to explain
why a particular mark has been awarded; the latter tells a student how they have
met, or failed to meet, the marking criteria attached to the task.
 It is crucial to your studies that you know how to access, understand and
respond to feed-back. No matter what mark you receive for an assignment, it is
very important to know in what ways you did well or didn’t do well and to know
how to respond in a constructive manner.
 Some
z Common Writing Issues Which Emerge in Feedback :
1- A lack of coherence: ideas are hard to follow and not linked in a clear way
Bad organization ,Missing or irrelevant information
2- A lack of criticality: the writer is not providing a clear support to his argument in the research.
This often manifests itself in uncritical use of sources, which depends more on descriptions of the
literature, rather than the writer’s own analysis, interpretation, evaluation and synthesis of the arguments
and evidence.
3- Issues with style: This may mean that :
1- the language is too informal 2- the tone is too conversational or ‘chatty’.3- the language is somewhat
‘strange’.
scientific style is often largely neutral in style, albeit with important use of technical and academic language
4- Issues with grammatical accuracy. This usually means that there are too many basic errors. The
most important thing is that writing is understandable and easy to read,. However, too many basic errors
make a text look unprofessional, and the assessor may feel that the writer has demonstrated insufficient
care and a failure to proofread. Comments on grammar can also refer to more serious problems with
syntax and cohesion, and these can seriously hinder communication..
5- Issues with referencing: not following accepted conventions on referencing or Not following local
guidelines given
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Finding Support

 If you find you need help with your writing, you are likely to fnd a range of support at
your university. This may take the form of online resources, classes, workshops or
individual consultations. The latter involves meeting with an expert in English
language and academic skills to discuss a piece of your writing. This could be an
assignment for which you have already received a mark and feedback, or an
assignment which you are currently working on. In the former case, the tutor will be
able to help you understand why you received the mark and the feedback you did.
In the latter case, the tutor will be able to help you improve the piece of work before
submission. In both cases, the real focus should be less on that particular piece of
work, and more on you as a developing academic writer. The tutor may help you to
correct some errors of grammar and punctuation, but they are quite likely to focus
on wider issues of clarity, coherence, style and readability. They will often act as a
‘critical friend’, asking you to articulate your argument, or giving you a sense of the
reader’s experience as they move through the text. This process, along with any
direct advice you receive, should help you develop your academic writing skills and
Break
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The Writing Process

communication skills are widely considered to be as important as technical skills in the world of
science, and the good work students do in the lab or the feild or the library will be wasted if they do not
successfully convey their new knowledge and understanding through the texts they produce for
assignments. The fact is that it takes most people a lot of time and effort to produce a text which is
clear, readable and professional. It requires a careful, systematic approach covering a number of
stages:
 Analyzing the assignment
 Researching the topic
 Selecting, evaluating and organizing information
 Drafting and editing your text
 Compiling a list of references
 Formatting your text
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the process is not linear: elements of it are
interchangeable, overlapping or cyclical.
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1- Analyzing the Assignment

 Swales and Feak showed the importance of Audience& purpose in

determine your research strategy very nicely in their book Academic writing
for graduate students:
 Audience, purpose, and strategy are typically interconnected. If the audience
knows less than the writer, the writer’s purpose is often instructional (as in a
textbook). If the audience knows more than the writer, the writer’s purpose is
usually to display familiarity, expertise, and intelligence.
(Swales and Feak, 2012: 10)
 When writing assignments at university, you are in Swales and Feak’s
second category, and so your goal is to display your knowledge and
understanding to the best of your ability.
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In order to refine your purpose, it is necessary to look closely at the assignment task, to
analyze it, or ‘unpack’ it, and break it down into its constituent parts. One strategy can be
to underline key words and try to identify:
 The general topic
 The focus of the assignment
Instruction or command words which indicate what you need to do
 Exc.1
 Look at the following writing assignment tasks and identify the general topic, the focus
of the assignment and any instruction words.
Many medical devices are fitted with different kinds of alarms. Discuss how these
alarms should be designed to ensure a good working environment for staff and safe
healthcare for patients.
 Outline the current plastic pollution challenge and propose possible solutions with
reference to green chemistry.
 Exc.2
Matchz the instruction words in bold with their definitions.
 1- Describe and explain the working principle  A. Look at something in detail by breaking
behind typical robot sensors . . . it down into its constituent parts
 2- Describe and explain the working  B. Describe the main features of
principle behind typical robot sensors . . . something
 3- Outline the causes of air pollution . . .  C. Discuss similarities and differences
 4- Define the term ‘ecosystem’ . . . between things
 5- Analyze the impact of globalization on  D. Use something for a practical purpose
 6- . . . then evaluate the public health
implications of this intervention . . .  E. Present a topic in detail considering
 7- Compare and contrast fission and different angles and opinions
fusion . . .
 F .Make a judgement about something
 8- . . . then apply the adapted framework
 G. Establish what something means
to the dataset . . .
  H. Give reasons for something
9 - Discuss the environmental benefits of
carbon capture . . .  I. Say what something is like
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 Not all assignment tasks will contain instruction words. Some may provide a title such as ‘Potential
green chemistry solutions to the plastic pollution challenge’, with guidelines providing more
detailed information on what is expected. On some modules, you may be required to formulate
your own title related to a particular topic area. In all cases, a close reading of the assessment
guidelines and assessment criteria is key to meeting the task requirements. As previously
mentioned, these relate directly to the learning outcomes of a course module. The assessment
criteria should give you a clear idea of what is expected of you when you complete an assignment.
In writing, these will often relate to:
 the quality and relevance of the content you have included, indicating how widely you
 have read and how well you have understood the topic and the assignment
 the organization of the content
 the coherence of the ideas and arguments you put forward
 the style, accuracy and precision of your language .
Use the assessment criteria of an assignment task as a checklist when making fnal revisions to your
work.
 z 2- Researching the topic

 1- You might start with your lecture notes and the reading list for the module .
 2- Searching the literature, it is important to consider the status of sources:
trustworthy or not in the academic world. articles are the most trusted
medium for reporting and sharing scientific research. The reviewers are
academics in the same field.
 3- University library’s search facilities
 It is important that you use strategies to either narrow or widen your search
when appropriate.
 it is important that you devise strategies for selecting the most relevant since
you will end up with huge material .
 Use titles, abstracts, introductions, conclusions and headings to find material
which relates directly to your writing purpose.
 3- Selecting, evaluating and organising information and ideas
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 As you take notes, try to identify the themes which emerge in relation to the topic and focus
of the assignment.
Use your notes to organize and relate information.
 Think about how what you find out supports or challenges possible responses to the
assignment task.
 Consider too signs of consensus or disagreement in the literature.
 Identify arguments and examine their strengths and weaknesses.
 Assess the evidence critically. Reflect on how arguments and evidence in the literature might
support or challenge your own emerging position.
 Use your notes, with their themes to construct a basic outline for your writing, with possible
headings and subheadings, and links to relevant supporting literature.
 Your outline should remain in a flexible state
 Consider deadline and word count for your assignment
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4- Drafting and editing your text

 When writing, many people find a circular approach productive,

stopping frequently to read and edit text:
 Write-Read –Write –Read Approach
 There are two reasons why this approach can beneft you as a
writer. Firstly, it can help you clarify your own understanding of
the topic and associated ideas and concepts. It is a way of
testing your ideas and understanding.
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5- Compiling a list of References

 You can of course compile your reference list when you’ve

finished everything else, but this is probably a rather inefficient
way to do it. Instead, try to keep track of references from the
start, using referencing software like Mendeley or Zotero if it
helps you.
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6- Formatting your text

 Formatting is an important element of a text. If you consider it from the point

of view of the reader, it can greatly enhance clarity, coherence and readability.
Clear, consistent headings and subheadings, consistent spacing, and good
use of font and white space help the reader to move quickly and easily
through the text. The ideal situation is that they won’t even notice the
formatting as it does not interfere with their journey through the text. Poor,
inconsistent formatting may distract them or cause confusion regarding how
things are organised.
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7- Proofreading your text

 Be sure not to confuse editing and proofreading. Editing involves changing content,
organization of information and expression as you process knowledge and refine ideas; this is
the process through which you improve clarity and coherence. Proofreading is surface-level
checking of grammar and punctuation. This can be done to some degree whilst writing, but
there should always be detailed proofreading of the final text when you are fairly sure you do
not want to make further substantial changes to content and organization
 Many people ask someone to ‘check’ their writing, or employ a professional proofreader to do
this. There is nothing wrong with this in principle, but be aware that this should ideally take
place at the final stage, when you are satisfed with the overall content and organization.

 .
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Correct the mistakes in grammar and punctuation in the
text.

 Most universities has Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) such as blackboard

and module. It provide online space for course modules where students can
access informations on course content, assessment, further study. VLE are also
used for the electronic submission of assessed work, that enables lecturers to
use software such as turnitin to check for plagiarism in student’s work. A further
function of VLEs is to provide a space for students enter into discussion with
each other. Whilst this would appear to be an excellent opportunity for all
students to develop their idea and understanding, and for non-native speakers
to practice their language skills, it would seem that many are reluctant to
engage in this type of activity, the reasons of this remain unclear.
