Undergraduate - UnitATS1297 - Academic writing

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	School of Media, Film and Journalism
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2015 (Day) Clayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Andrew Johnson

Synopsis

Students will acquire skills and knowledge in the genre of the tertiary-level academic essay: these will be transferable to all writing in all subjects students undertake. We will study techniques of planning and idea generation. We will acquire a solid foundation in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage and style. We will develop research techniques, and correct techniques in the use of sources (referencing, quoting, paraphrasing, and the avoidance of plagiarism). We will study and apply techniques of argumentation. We will study skills in the genre of academic writing, and we will develop skills in oral presentation, drafting, and editing and proofreading.

Outcomes

By successfully completing this unit students will:

Be able to employ techniques to generate ideas, overcome writer's blocks, and structure argumentation.
Acquire or revise basic concepts of grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage and style, and be able to apply these in correcting faults and in developing exposition, authorial voice and expression in essays.
Develop research skills in relation to primary, secondary and tertiary sources, both in hard copy and online sources.
Develop professional practice in the skills of referencing, quoting, paraphrasing, and the avoidance of plagiarism.
Develop techniques of argumentation by studying logic, fallacies, and techniques of persuasion and influence.
Acquire skills in the genre of academic writing, such as expositional sequences, rhetorical strategies, register, audience, and authorial voice.
Acquire and improve oral presentation skills of content in essays.
Develop skills in drafting, redrafting, editing and proofreading.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Andrew Johnson

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Arts enrichment units

Prohibitions

ENH1240, ATS1340