SK181-4-FY-CO:
Undergraduate Writing Skills for the Humanities and Social Sciences
2018/19
Student Development
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 4
Current
Thursday 04 October 2018
Friday 28 June 2019
30
-
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module is available in Autumn Term and again in Spring Term. It provides academic literacy training at first year undergraduate level, with a particular focus on the connection between reading and writing for academic assignments. Tasks and source materials are tailored to suit the requirements of students in the Social Sciences and Humanities.
In the Autumn Term the module focuses on reading and writing about complex texts, and building discursive arguments. In the Spring Term, a range of texts from across the disciplines are examined in order to explore what makes good academic writing.
Module aims
To help you master the skills required for successful academic study as follows:
- Explore the conventions of writing within your course discipline, and others
- Develop your ability to express ideas with clarity, elegance and precision
- Improve your written language accuracy in terms of style, sentence structuring, punctuation, word choice, spelling.
- Help you to self-asses strengths and weaknesses in your academic writing; to allow you to explore strategies for improving areas of writing which may otherwise restrict your academic achievement
- Develop your skills in critical reading and accurate note-taking
- Give you practice in synthesising ideas from sources and in developing a well reasoned argument
- Provide advanced practice in paraphrase, summary writing, use of quotation and in-text referencing.
No information available.
No information available.
Learning support
All materials relating to the class content and module assignments are made available through a dedicated Moodle.
A two-hour class meeting each week and individual tutorials.
Syllabus
Mechanics of good writing at word, sentence and discourse level (punctuation; complex sentence structuring; precision in lexical choice; appropriate style and register for academic writing)
Common surface errors in student writing: identification and correction, editing and proofreading
Following the argument: understanding academic discourse; developing critical reading skills
Assignment research skills: the library and the internet.
Note-taking: strategies and common problems in taking notes from reading and in lectures; writing up notes for essays and for exam revision
Effective argumentation: the role of critical thinking; distinguishing fact, claim and opinion
Analysing assignment titles: identifying key words and answering the question set
Structuring an academic essay: approaches and common problems; consultation, revision and redrafting processes, the recursive nature of academic writing
Bringing together ideas from several sources: making connections and synthesising information
Writing from sources: using summary, paraphrase and quotation to support thesis and argument; acknowledgement of sources through in-text citation and bibliographic references
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Participation - SP |
|
5% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 1 - AU |
|
5% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 2 - AU |
|
12.5% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 3 - AU |
|
7.5% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 4 - AU |
|
5% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 5 - AU |
|
15% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 1 - SP |
|
6.67% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 2 - SP |
|
6.67% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 3 - SP |
|
6.66% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 4 - SP |
|
5% |
| Coursework |
Assignment 5 - SP |
|
20% |
| Practical |
Participation - AU |
|
5% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr David Rush, email: drush@essex.ac.uk.
Dave Rush; Adam Wattam
tdc@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 40 hours, 40 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
Student Development
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.