COR160
Essential Academic
Writing Skills
Study Guide (2.5 CU)
Course Development Team
Head of Programme :
Dr Teng Su Ching
Course Developer(s) :
Manee Lugg
Production :
Educational Technology & Production Team
Curriculum Administration Team
© 2013 SIM University. All rights reserved.
No part of this material may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
permission in writing from the Educational Technology & Production, SIM
University.
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SIM University
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First Print @ January 2013
Reprint @ July 2013
CONTENTS
SECTION 1: COURSE GUIDE
1.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................1
1.2 Course Description and Aims .......................................................................1
1.3 Learning Outcomes ........................................................................................3
1.4 Overall Assessment ........................................................................................4
1.5 Learning Materials ..........................................................................................5
SECTION 2 : STUDY UNITS
Objectives ······································································································· SU-1
Overview ········································································································ SU-1
STUDY UNIT 1 : The Nature of Academic Writing
Chapter 1 : The Nature of Academic Writing ··········································· SU-2
What is Academic Writing
Reading critically
Working with different sources
STUDY UNIT 2 : Academic Writing Generes
Chapter 2: Preparing students for Academic Writing
Genres ············································································································· SU-4
Writing a summary and personal response
Writing an analytical report
COR160
Essential Academic
Writing Skills
COURSE GUIDE
COR160 ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
COURSE GUIDE
SECTION 1: COURSE GUIDE
1.1 Introduction
Welcome to your study of COR160 – Essential Academic Writing Skills, a 2.5
credit unit (CU) course.
This Study Guide is divided into two sections – the Course Guide and Study Units.
The Course Guide provides a structure for the entire course. As the phrase implies,
the Course Guide aims to guide you through the learning experience. In other
words, it may be seen as a roadmap through which you are introduced to the
different topics within the broader subject. This Guide has been prepared to help
you understand the aim[s] and learning outcomes of the course. In addition, it
explains how the various materials and resources are organised and how they may
be used, how your learning will be assessed, and how to get help if you need it.
Course Schedule
To help monitor your study progress, you should pay special attention to your
Course Schedule. It contains study unit related activities including Assignment,
self-evaluations, and examinations. Please refer to the Course Timetable in the
Student Portal for the updated Course Schedule.
NOTE: You should always make it a point to check the Student Portal for any
announcements and latest updates.
You need to ensure you fully understand the contents of each Study Unit listed in
the Course Schedule. You are expected to complete the suggested activities either
independently and/or in groups. It is imperative that you read through your
Assignment questions and submission instructions before embarking on your
Assignment. It is also important you comprehend the Overall Assessment
Weighting of your course. This is listed in Section 1.4 of this Guide.
Manage your time well so you can meet given deadlines and do regular revisions
after completing each unit of study. They will help you retain the knowledge
garnered and prepare you for any required formal assessment. If your course
requires an end-of-semester examination, do look through the Specimen or Past
Year Exam Paper which is available on MyUniSIM.
Although flexible learning – learning at your own pace, space and time – is a
hallmark at UniSIM, you are encouraged to engage your instructor and fellow
students in online discussion forums. A sharing of ideas through meaningful
debates will help broaden your learning and crystallise your thinking.
SIM UNIVERSITY
1
COURSE GUIDE
COR160 ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
1.2 Course Description and Aims
This University core course offers the essential writing skills required by
undergraduates in a university to help them function effectively in an academic
environment and beyond. The course introduces students to the basic principles
of critical reading and writing skills, such as summarizing and synthesizing
information from different texts, critically evaluating information for use in
project papers, selecting and incorporating information from other sources in a
text as well as accurately documenting such information within and at the end of
a text following referencing conventions. These skills are generic and transferable
to other disciplines and students can apply them immediately in their class work,
assignments, project papers and examinations.
It aims to develop :







2
core competencies in academic writing such as critical reading, analysis of
texts and argumentative/persuasive writing
ability to read an extended text critically and summarize its main points
ability to make informed judgment about what they read and challenge
assumptions
ability to compare and contrast different perspectives on issues and give a
compelling personal responses to them
ability to synthesize information from different sources to complete a task
ability to document information within and at the end of a text accurately
ability to apply what they have learned to other disciplines
SIM UNIVERSITY
COR160 ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
COURSE GUIDE
1.3 Learning Outcomes
Knowledge & Understanding (Theory Component)
At the end of this course, student should be able to:
 Demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts and principles
underlying academic writing and presentation skills.
Key Skills (Practical Component)
Reading (for Knowledge & Understanding)
Students should know be able to:
 Summarize the key points of the text in response to a given task
 Use process writing to develop a rhetorical structure of an essay and a
report.
 Write for an audience by understanding their attributes, needs and
expectations.
 Cite sources in documentation, including proper citation and referencing
 Interpret information from various sources to respond to a task.
SIM UNIVERSITY
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COURSE GUIDE
COR160 ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
1.4 Overall Assessment
The overall assessment weighting for this course is as follows:
Assessment
Assignment 1
Assignment 2
TOTAL
Description
This assesses the student’s ability to
write a summary of an article in 250
words and make a 500-word personal
response to the theme discussed in the
article. The article will be expository
in nature and at least 1500 words
long.
Weight Allocation
Weight : 50%
Q1: Summary
writing in 250 words
(50 marks)
Q2: Personal
response in 500
words (50 marks)
This assesses the student’s ability to Weight: 50%
write an analytical report of about
1000 words. Specifically it will test the
student’s ability to gather and analyze
information, interpret the findings,
and use the information purposefully
to answer the question in the
appropriate report format. It will also
test the student’s ability to use proper
referencing conventions.
100%
The assessment strategy for this course consists of two (2) assignments that make
up the overall course assessment score. Both assignments are equally weighted.
All assignments are compulsory. Your overall rank score is the weighted average of
the two (2) assignments.
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SIM UNIVERSITY
COR160 ESSENTIAL ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
COURSE GUIDE
1.5 Learning Materials
The following is a list of the required learning materials to complete this course.
Required Textbook(s)
Author(s)
Last name, First
name
Year
Publisher
“Essential Academic Writing
Skills” – a custom textbook
comprising selected chapters
from the following texts :
2010
Pearson
Publication
1) Bethrens, L.,
Rosen,L. J. & Beedles.
A Sequence for Academic
Writing. (2nd Ed.)
2005
New Jersey:
Pearson
Publication
2) Bovee, C. L. &
Thill, J. V.
Business Communication Today.
(10th Ed.).
2010
New Jersey:
Pearson
Publication
3) Rosen, L. J. New
York:
The Academic Writer’s
Handbook. (2nd Ed.).
2009.
New York:
Pearson
Publication
4) Wilhoit, S.
A brief Guide to Writings from
Readings. (5th Ed.)
2010
New Jersey:
Pearson
Publication
SIM UNIVERSITY
Title
5
COR160
Essential Academic
Writing Skills
STUDY UNITS 1 & 2
COR160 STUDY NOTES
STUDY UNIT 1&2
OBJECTIVES
At the end of these units, you are expected to:
•
•
have an understanding of critical reading, the writing process and features
of academic writing including appropriate documentation
be able to write in different genres specifically summary writing, personal
response to a topic and analytical report writing
OVERVIEW
This University core course offers the essential writing skills required by
undergraduates in a university to help them function effectively in an academic
environment and beyond. The course introduces students to the basic principles of
critical reading and writing skills,
such as summarizing and synthesizing
information from different texts, critically evaluating information for use in project
papers, selecting and incorporating information from other sources in a text as well
as accurately documenting such information within and at the end of a text
following referencing conventions. These skills are generic and transferable to other
disciplines and students can apply them immediately in their class work,
assignments, project papers and examinations.
SIM UNIVERSITY
SU-1
STUDY UNIT 1&2
COR 160 STUDY NOTES
STUDY UNIT 1
THE NATURE OF ACADEMIC WRITING
Chapter 1
The Nature of Academic Writing
This chapter aims to give students an understanding of critical reading, the writing
process and features of academic writing including appropriate documentation
Part 1
Writing
(i) What is Academic Writing
(ii) The Writing Process
At the end of this study topic, students will be able to:
1) Identify the characteristics of academic writing
2) Understanding the taxonomy of rubrics associated with academic writing
3) Plan an essay
4) Build a rhetorical structure of an essay
5) Develop the argument of a text
6) Use evidence to support a thesis
7) Draw upon a variety of sources to enrich their argument
8) Write for an audience by understanding attributes, needs and expectations
of the audience
Part 2
Reading Critically
At the end of this study topic, students will be able to:
1) Examine the context
2) Identify the author’s major claim or thesis
3) Identify the author’s supporting argument/evidence
4) Identify the intended audience
5) Form judgment about the author’s intention
6) Annotate a protracted text
7) Draw up the rhetorical structure of a text
8) Explain & paraphrase the main points of the text
9) Interpret assumptions behind the text
SU-2
SIM UNIVERSITY
COR160 STUDY NOTES
STUDY UNIT 1&2
Distinguish between points, examples, counterarguments
10) Make inferences from a text
11) Challenge a writer’s claims by analyzing the argument, identifying fallacies
in the argument, making a counter-argument
12) Anticipate arguments in a text
13) Self reflect on issues raised by bringing own experiences, assumptions,
knowledge and perspectives to bear on the text
14) Select critical information for a purpose such as to complete a task
Parts 3 & 4
Working with different sources
At the end of this study topic, students will be able to:
1) Describe the aspects of proper documentation including proper citation and
referencing
2) Explain plagiarism , its severity and how to avoid it
3) Apply the APA system of documentation
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SU-3
STUDY UNIT 1&2
COR 160 STUDY NOTES
STUDY UNIT 2
ACADEMIC WRITING GENRES
Chapter 2
Preparing Students for Academic Writing Genres
This chapter aims to prepare students to write in different genres specifically
summary writing, personal response to a topic and analytical report writing
Parts 5 & 6
Genres of Academic Writing & Editing Skills
At the end of this study topic, students will be able to:
1) Differentiate between types of writing, tone and style of language used
2) Identify main and subordinate points of a text
3) Paraphrase texts for the purpose of summarizing
4) Conduct secondary research to respond to a task
5) Develop an argument to support a view point
6) Meet expectations for organization, style, punctuation and grammar in their
writing
7) Use the mechanics for making a text coherent eg cohesive devices such as
transitionals and other singposting techniques
Part 7
Writing an analytical report
At the end of this study topic, students will be able to
1) Use basic research skills for the purpose of writing the report
2) Describe the structure of an analytical report
3) Define the problem by analyzing the situation that gives rise to the report
4) Write a clear problem statement
5) Identify the specific audiences of the report and address their attributes, needs
and expectations
6) Write in the right tone /level of formality
7) Manage the quantity of information required for a specific audience and
purpose
8) Use specific strategies to strengthen the recommendations or proposals of a
report eg demonstrating knowledge and credibility in research, use evidence to
support,
9) Demonstrate ethical practice in the use of information
10) Write in a proper report format
SU-4
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