How to Study - As an Adult
13. Writing
Reading, writing and how to be better at reading and writing.
You will be doing a lot more reading whilst at university. Let this be your guide as to what to decide is worthwhile reading.
Current, reliable, credible and peer reviewed, is the general rule at university.
Current is obvious. Reliable, credible and peer reviewed is quality journal articles, high level organisations and supported data. The quality of your references will count in your assessment.
Use critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the ability to interpret, evaluate, and analyze facts and information that are available, to form a judgment or decide if something is right or wrong. More than just being curious about the world around you, critical thinkers make connections between logical ideas to see the bigger picture. Do not accept information on face value or using unreliable resources.
All written work in university is generally written in third person, watch tone, tense. All the information needs to be referenced.
There are different forms of writing at university that include argumentative, descriptive essays, also reports both scientific and business and reflective work.
- Reflective work if often misunderstood as a form of writing that is simply a "I believe, I thought, I experienced...."
- Writing reflectively involve:
- critically analyzing an experience, be objective about a subjective experience
- recording how it has impacted you and
- what you plan to do with your new knowledge. It can help you to reflect on a deeper level as the act of getting something down on paper often helps people to think an experience through.
General notes:
- Please note all acronyms need to be explained the first time they are used.
- Most writing that occurs in university work is written in third person.
- Most common referencing style at UNE is APA 7, for examples use this link.
- https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples
- Tone and tense is VERY important.When using evidence - past tense, recommendations - future tense etc...
- No opinions, use quality evidence/references to back up your work.
- Structure is very important, see below.
- Make sure you are answering the question.
Having trouble getting started writing an assignment?
Set up your title page, when drafting an essay using the structure titles such as Introduction, Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 4 and Conclusion- you might even put in topic sentence, content and connecting sentence, plus a reference list can support the development of your writing. Remember to remove those titles in the final edit if this is an essay. Often an introduction is written first but this remain dynamic and adjusted and finished last.
Now set off on some quality research, reading, reading, reading- abstracts first, save and take notes. Keep the task question close by......
Use the notes to start creating your task, separating out some short quotes and paraphrases to answer the question. You have started.
For example:
Introduction paragraph (If this task is an essay- remove titles in the final edit)
Topic sentence - 1 idea per paragraph
Content - what is this paragraph saying. Reference if necessary, paraphrase is preferred.
Connecting sentence- what will we talk about first.
Preferable to have none or minimal references.
1st paragraph - most important concept.
Topic sentence - 1 idea per paragraph
Content - what is this paragraph saying. Add references, evidence to support what you are saying.
Connecting sentence to the next point.
2nd paragraph - next point.
Topic sentence - 1 idea per paragraph
Content - what is this paragraph saying. Add References evidence to support what you are saying.
Connecting sentence to the next point.
3rd paragraph etc...
Conclusion paragraph (Please do not use in conclusion, it should be obvious)
Topic sentence - what did this task say, no new information.
Content - what was covered, nothing new.
Concluding sentence, wrap up your argument. Preferable to have none or minimal references.
REMEMBER! Say what you are going to say (Answer the question or the argument), Say it (Discuss appropriate content), Say you said it (Show that you have answered the task appropriately).
An example of an essay provided by previous pathways student, Lachlan, is available at this link. It has been annotated to illustrate the various points being made in this chapter. The essay was written in response to the question: How much money should be spent on space exploration?
(Note: Lachlan has given his permission for us to use his work)
