The course is included in these curricula and study modules

Level/category

General studies

Teaching language

English

Type of course

Compulsory

Cycle/level of course

First

Recommended year of study

2

Total number of ECTS

5 cr

Competency aims

The aim of Academic Writing is to equip students with the tools necessary to succeed in writing the thesis, i.e. to know the writing process and the prerequisites of sound research writing, style, structure, accuracy of English and technical presentation.

The aim of the Project is to apply the skills gained above, and using secondary research, write an extended report (about 4,000-5,000 words) on a selected business topic.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student is expected to be able to:
- correctly structure a written academic report and apply the principles of academic writing.
- demonstrate a command of writing techniques to achieve the writing purpose, and develop the content structure of an academic paper.
- write in stylistically appropriate and grammatically correct English.
- incorporate source material and cite sources in the text correctly with a corresponding List of References.
- apply Arcada's guidelines provided in the Thesis Guide to produce a technically well presented and structured written project (thesis).
- competently proofread the text for integrity, and correct errors in the language before final submission of the project.
- competently produce the final thesis work, and submit a technically complete project (thesis) for examination to the supervisor according to her/his instructions.

Course contents

Academic Writing:
Structure, content, and purpose of a research paper (IMRD)
Principles of researching, planning and outlining
Research proposal
Citing sources and listing references
Literature review
Writing process - Coherency and fluency in writing
Writing techniques - language and style
Technical presentation

Written project:
Seminar presentation of research plan.
Extended written assignment (4,000-5,000 words)

(Information retrieval - arranged by Arcada library)

Prerequisites and co-requisites

Business English Communications (year 1)
Skill level C1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Previous course names

-

Additional information

Attendance to classes is mandatory. Deadlines for submission of assignments are given in Itslearning - late submissions are not accepted.

Recommended or required reading

Literature/coursebooks on Academic Writing available in Arcada's library:
1. How to write a thesis. Rowena Murray (Open University Press - McGraw-Hill Education 2010)
2. Study Writing - a course in writing skills for academic purposes. Hamp-Lyons & Heasley (Cambridge 2006 ISBN 0-521-53496-8)
3. Academic Writing for Graduate Students - Essential Tasks and Skills. A Course for Nonnative Speakers of English. John M. Swales & Christine B. Feak (The University of Michigan Press)
4. Thesis Guide. Published by Arcada Polytechnic available from Arcada's Library web page.
5. The complete guide to referencing and plagiarism. Colin Neville. (Open University Press - McGraw-Hill Education 2010)

Other literature:
The Good Grammar Guide. Richard Palmer (Routledge Study Guides - Routledge)
The Craft of Scientific Writing. Michael Alley (Springer)
Schaum's Guide to Writing great Research Papers. Laurie Rozakis (McGraw-Hill)
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary. (HarperCollins)

Study activities

  • Lectures - 30 hours
  • Individual- and group instruction - 15 hours
  • Small-group work - 15 hours
  • Project- and production work/artistic activities - 20 hours
  • Individual studies - 53 hours

Workload

  • Total workload of the course: 133 hours
  • Of which autonomous studies: 133 hours
  • Of which scheduled studies: 0 hours

Mode of Delivery

Participation in tuition

Assessment methods

Essays, reports, productions and portfolio

Assessment requirements

Students are assessed on the basis of all assignments submitted, and the final written project.

Teacher

Kimberley Nigel

Examiner

Kimberley Nigel

Group size

No limit

Assignments valid until

Until date 2014-05-30

The timetable of the course

see ARBS

Assessment methods

2014-03-16 - Reports and productions

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