Academic Writing

  • Outline of workshop

    Features of Academic Writing
    Explanation
    Opinions based on evidence
    Use of sources
    Formal language

    Writing for IP1

    The Brief

    Your clients have been asked by a University Eye Clinic to create a new computerised appointment system

    Eye Clinic

    The Eye Clinic’s appointment system

    The Eye Clinic - available for general public

    The Eye Clinic - available for staff & students

    Appointments – available for
    Eye Examinations
    Dispensing Services
    Specialised Clinics etc.

  • Tasks Part 1 – Group Report ( 70% of mark) Introduction – 5 marks

    Include : team members, outline of functions and non functional requirements, project issues & any assumptions you have made.

    Business Case for proposed system 10 marks ( part 2)

    Include these headings:
    Reasons for Project,
    Business Options,
    Expected Benefits,
    Costs,
    Timescale,
    Major Risks

    Part 3

    Include
    Case diagrams - 10 marks
    Class diagrams - 10 marks
    Prototype screen layouts - 10 marks
    ( refer to page 3 for additional information)

    Part 4 – 30 marks

    The Implemented system
    a) Java programming code
    b) User interface
    c) The zipped Blue J/Net Beans project to be submitted on GCU Learn

    Part 5- 7

    5 - Test plans 10 marks

    6 - An evaluation of the system that has been developed 10 marks

    7 Minutes of Meetings 5 marks

  • Opinions Based on Evidence

    General opinion:

    “The Eye Clinic’s new computerised system should look fancy as well, but still has to be practical.”

    Academic opinion:

    A visually attractive interface is pleasant for the user, but not the main priority, particularly for a busy clinic, whose main aim is not to attract customers, but to provide a high quality effective to the user. The additional benefit of a high number of graphics may be outweighed by the disadvantages, such as the cost and time required to maintain the system: the frequent use of graphics and the need to compress them makes maintenance impossible for non-experts (Yang, et al. 2008). As a result, ALC University’s Eye Clinic may need to rely on outside technical assistance even for small changes to their system .

    Academic Opinions

    Avoid vague language
    For example: important, difficult, good, great, negative…
    Most of these terms can be used if they are accompanied by an explanation

    Make underlying assumptions visible
    what determines practicality? From whose point of view?

    Refer to further evidence
    Do not use evidence INSTEAD of your argument, but to support it, e.g.
    The additional benefit of a high number of graphics might thus be outweighed by the disadvantages, such as the cost and time required to maintain the system: the frequent use of graphics and the need to compress them makes maintenance impossible for non-experts (Yang, Min-Jiu et al. 2008).

    Using Sources

    Why do you need to reference your sources?
    Respect for another person’s work (similar to copyright): you acknowledge that ideas, words, diagrams, photos etc. belong to them
    Transparency: you allow your reader to look up where you found some of the ideas you use

    Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarising

    Quotations: use the original words
    to mark them you use “ ”
    in Harvard, (Author’s Surname. Year. Page)

    Paraphrase: you give the same information in your own words
    (Author’s Surname. Year)

    Summary you only give key points in your own words
    (Author’s Surname. Year)

  • How is plagiarism detected?

    The most common triggers are:
    Changes in writing style and syntactic (word arrangement) structure usually of a higher standard
    Undue reliance on one source
    Use of sources not recognised by the (subject expert) marker
    References to sources not readily verifiable
    Use of American spellings, phrases and contexts
    Overall level of language and argument and consequent mark much higher than expected from previous work (giving due consideration to any development in the writer's abilities over time)

    Use Formal Language

    Use straightforward language
    Try not to use pompous language
    Use impersonal language
    Be precise - try not to make generalisations; use cautious language
    Be concise and to the point
    Provide definitions - be careful when using acronyms
    Use cautious language
    Use appropriate verb tenses
    Ensure you are linking points together
    Do not address the reader directly or use questions
    Avoid using contractions
    Try to avoid making sentences overlong and complicated

    How to paraphrase

    Express the author's ideas using your own words. Do this through
    Completely changing the vocabulary;
    Completely change the word order
    Completely change length of original source material

    Imagine you are explaining the idea to someone familiar with the work, but unable to access the original material.

    Always cite original source in text and in references

    Examples of plagiarism include:

    the extensive use of another person's material without reference or acknowledgement,

    the summarising of another person's work by simply changing a few words or altering the order or presentation without acknowledgement,

    the substantial and unauthorised use of the ideas of another person without acknowledgement of the source,

    copying the work of another student with or without that student's knowledge or agreement,

    deliberate use of commissioned material presented as the student's own work.

  • Direct quote from Yang et al., 2008

    Traditional website creation and maintenance techniques are technically demanding and require a prior knowledge and command of programming languages, graphics manipulation packages, Internet protocols, and so forth. As a result, business users are invariably reliant upon the services of a technically competent support team to set up and maintain the website and to manage and control the contents of the associated database on their behalf. However, this necessarily increases the cost of implementing and maintaining the website. Moreover, the finite lead time required to modify the database or to update its contents inevitably introduces the risk that the data may be out of date before it is published to the website.

    References

    Yang, M., Chang, W., Luo, W., Hsu, S. Yarn, K., Cheng, T. and Yang, P. 2008. "A User-Friendly Web Content Management System," Innovative Computing Information and Control, 2008. ICICIC '08. 3rd International Conference on pp.367

    Zhang, P. and von Dran, G. M. 2000. Satisfiers and dissatisfiers: A two-factor model for website design and evaluation. Journal of the American Society for Information Science. 51: 1253–1268)

    Now paraphrase

    Which means – write the main points using your own words but remember to reference the source for these ideas.

    Individual End of Module Reflective Report – 20% of overall module mark

    Report should be approximately 1,500 words

  • Why use reflective writing?

    Applies theory to practice

    Links experience to literature

    Assists personal development; encourages deep learning

    Creates self-evaluation – identify and implement future learning needs

    Includes skills development

    Reflective Cycle

    Reflective Cycle

    Applying Reflective Writing

    What did I set out to do for the project?

    What happened? Did things go according to plan? Were there unexpected events?

    Why did this happen?

    What is positive about this outcome? What is negative? Why??

    Which strengths and weaknesses did I identify?

    What will I do to improve? Where can I get tips on improvements?