Tips to Improve Academic Writing at the Tertiary Level
Tips
to Improve Academic Writing at the Tertiary Level
As
a College Librarian for over three years, and having worked in a similar
capacity at the high school level, I have observed the frustration displayed by
many students when submitting assignments for final grading. Many of these
students have the wrong perception of writing when they are instructed to
utilize a specific writing style, for example: the American Psychological
Association (APA) 7th edition or the Modern Language Association
(MLA). Some understand the concept of academic writing but they do not make the
effort to be accurate since they will not be penalized. In fact, many students
resist enrolling in courses such as Library Science and Information Literacy,
because they do not see the value.
How
can Librarians assist students who are frustrated with Covid-19 related
protocols and expectations given the privileges which are available on the
Internet?
Students,
you first need to be aware that authenticity in writing is real and this is the
expectation from College level writing. Not only that, but students
transitioning from high school need to be correctly guided on how to produce
excellent papers, with credible and up-to-date information.
How
many of you students have often heard that plagiarism is intellectual theft?
While you do know this, why do you ignore the rules which apply? If you are
including other people’s work into your paragraphs, you need to give credit by
stating the writer’s surname, title and year in which the content was
published. Whether you are paraphrasing or using direct quotation from a
plethora of sources, the general rules still apply. Your instructors are
pleased when they peruse the back of the paper for the references of all the
sources you utilized to compliment your work. On this page, the finer details
such as: who, when, what and where the information was sourced can be found.
During
the pandemic, I am aware that many students experience issues with having
consistent Internet access and therefore, they are vulnerable to readily
accepting ‘microwaved information’ which are not approved by appropriate
authority. Consult sites with the URL extensions such as .edu (education), .uni
(university), .net (network), .org (organization), but avoid the .com (commercial)
sites as they are distracting with advertisements and may not be edited by
professionals.
Students,
it is very important that you make the effort to consult the experts, like your
Librarian, Research Instructors and even trusted sources on the Internet such
as Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University, to guide you with correct
in-text citation and employing accurate references. No one is expecting you to
memorize the principles which should apply to the format of your paper, or to
know when to use capital letters and punctuation marks. However, as educators,
we are expecting you to make wise decisions when using content from the
Internet and other print sources. We are delighted when you indicate that you
respect other people’s work by acknowledging their worth in your script. In
fact, once you start learning the basics of how to master academic writing, you
will begin to feel confident at this craft as you continue to pursue your
studies at a higher level.
Academic
writing can be mastered even by those who claim not to be English specialists.
How can this be achieved? Simply think about others and know that you must
adhere to writing styles. Prepare to think a step ahead because there are
plagiarism software to detect the authenticity of your work. No one wants to be
given a red flag from Turnitin, Copyleaks, Grammarly or other related systems
for a work which was done ‘last minute’. We all know that only hard work pays
off in the end. However, thinking smart does not mean cutting and pasting from the
Internet and then expect to be given an ‘A’.
In
the real world, your instructors will police you and also reprimand you for
laziness. We will examine your work for short cuts: recycling you own work,
stealing other people’s work and not indicating who or where the information
was obtained. We will discover that your text is not in keeping with the
standardized font style and size as you forgot to make the changes on your
paper. We will observe that the tone and choice of words are really not yours.
Experts who are authority in their field will not express their points of view
like yours; model them, not plagiarize them.
Students
learn the art of paraphrasing but maintain the essence of the meaning while
utilizing different words. Here, you can take advantage of the thesaurus
online. If you decide to be versatile with your writing by including some
direct quotations (the exact words from the writer) you need to remember that
originality is the aim of your paper and it is not about impressing your
lecturer that you have sourced content filled with sophisticated words.
No
writer is perfect and academic writing requires diligence, time, and effort so
proof read before submitting and you will see an improvement in the quality of
your work. Practice what you are taught and never overlook your worth as an
academic writer because this is a step by step process and you can do it!
Recommended Videos
APA Style 7th Edition: In-Text Citiations, Quotations and Plagiarism By: Dr. Samuel Forlenza
January 21, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8914hv18xnU
MLA Format (Examples) [2020] EssayPro By: EssayPro
January 14, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4guvmele6c
Comments
Post a Comment