UNE Business School Student Learning Guide

7. Academic Writing Skills

The Academic Skills Office (ASO) is UNE’s learning support unit. They provide face-to-face service and online resources to assist with writing and other aspects of university study. First year students are also supported by the First Year Advisor.

ASO offers support in basic maths and stats for undergraduate students. If you are a non-maths student (i.e. not actually studying maths and stats as subjects) and are finding the maths/stats components of your course a bit tricky, make an appointment (face-to-face if on-campus or via phone, email if online).

UNE’s Academic Skills Office (ASO) also holds short university preparation online courses in Maths called ‘tUNEupMaths’ from home. You will need to book/register for this short course. More details here: http://www.une.edu.au/current-students/resources/academic-skills/tuneup

Mathematics and Statistics

As all Business study areas involve varying levels of data use, some core units that you study will develop your abilities to operate successfully in the business world. To achieve this, some basic maths is used (this does not require Years 11 or 12 standards). Students will need some knowledge of the following areas:

Percentages
Fractions
Order of operations
Basic algebra
Logarithms

There are many open access internet resources available for students to refresh their knowledge in these areas, such as:

A Mathematics Bridging Course is available through myLearn. The course is hosted by UNE’s School of Science & Technology, but is available and useful to all UNE students. Login using your UNE details.

Also, students will need to use an electronic calculator from the UNE approved list. https://mylearn.une.edu.au/course/view.php?id=15183&section=3

Writing styles

Essay

The most common form of assignment you will be asked to write is the essay. Below are some helpful links for academic writing, structure, editing, and presentation.

Reports

Reports are another common assessment task in business-related disciplines. A report is a form of communication whereby information has been collected through research and analysis and presented in a way that the data and research results are easy to find through the use of headings and sub-headings.

Case Studies

Case studies are used to test your ability to relate theoretical concepts to practical situations.

Presentations

Oral presentations are becoming increasingly important in university studies as well as the workplace. Anyone who works with people needs proficient speaking skills.

Oral presentations are similar to academic essays in their structure. A presentation should still include the following three sections:

Introduction (an outline of the presentation – “Tell them what you’re going to tell them”)
Body (presenting the information – “Tell them”)
Conclusion (the answer – “Tell them what you just told them”)