Academic Development in the School of Health
How to structure written work
Academic Development in the School of Health
Today’s session
• Structuring written work
• Constructing paragraphs
• Common mistakes
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Structuring written work
The main components:
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
References
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Introduction
• General statement about the topic that introduces the reader
to it (1-2 sentences)
• Why the topic is an important issue to be addressed (1-2
sentences)
• More specific statement to clarify purpose of essay (1
sentences)
• How the essay will be structured (1-2 sentences)
• You could write the introduction last
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Main body
• You won’t be able to plan thoroughly until you have
done all the reading and understand the question
• Break the question down into different parts
• Sometimes the details given can serve as a structure
(e.g. Your answer should consider x y z...)
• Start off by ‘setting the scene’ – providing relevant
background info
• Be critical – don’t just describe unless the task word
says ‘describe’ (e.g. Try to explain, show strengths and
weaknesses, pros and cons)
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Conclusion
• Restate the purpose of the essay
• Summarise the main points/arguments
• Reiterate your evaluation of the main points (e.g.
Why one argument is stronger than the other(s))
• Do not introduce any new ideas
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Title/ question
Make sure you keep focussed on it throughout.
Introduction
Explain what you are going to do in your essay:
How do you interpret the question?
Which issues are you going to explore?
Length is approx 10% of the essay.
Develop your argument
Paragraph 1
Covers the first thing you said you’d address.
The first sentence introduces the main idea of the
paragraph.
Paragraph 2 and other paragraphs
The first sentence links to the previous paragraph,
then introduces the main idea of the paragraph.
Conclusion
The conclusion contains no new material.
Summarises your argument and the main themes.
Length is approx 10% of the essay.
References /
bibliography
List resources you referred to within the essay.
Academic Development in the School of Health
Page 1
Introduction (about 150 words)
-Definitions
-What the essay will cover and in
what order
Page 2
Paragraph 3 (about 200 words)
-Introduce three main
theoretical models of
reflective practice.
Paragraph 2 (about 200 words)
-What is a reflective
practitioner?
-What reflective theory is
-How it relates to healthcare
Paragraph 4 (about 200 words)
-Describe Gibbs’ model in
detail.
-Main features – stages, dynamic
cycle.
-Developed in education.
Page 3
Paragraph 5 (about 200 words)
-Describe Johns’ model in
detail.
-Main features – looking in and
looking out.
-Developed in practice.
Page 4
Paragraph 7 (about 200 words)
-What are the
commonalities/ differences
between theories?
-How does this affect validity and
use?
Paragraph 6 (about 200 words)
-Describe Rolfe et al’ model in
detail.
-Main features – three key questions.
-Which is most key?
Conclusion (about 150 words)
-Sum up.
-Link back to question.
Academic Development in the School of Health
Suggest a structure:
“The multidisciplinary team is an essential component of modern healthcare.”
To what extent is this a true statement?
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Possible structure
•
Introduction
–
•
•
Outline purpose of essay and how it will be
structured
Section 1 (background):
– Features of modern healthcare
– What is meant by multidisciplinary
working, definitions
•
– Why multidisciplinary working is
considered important
•
Section 2:
– Presentation of evidence showing
•
that the teams do work together
effectively
– Discussion of the advantages of this
working together
– Examples of this in practice
Section 3:
– Presentation of evidence showing
that the teams may not always work
together effectively
– Discussion of why this is the case and
what the drawbacks/problems in
practice may be
Section 4:
– Summarise arguments for and
against working together and how
important it is in healthcare today
Conclusion:
– Summarise key points and finish by
stating to what extent the statement
in the question is true.
Academic Development in the School of Health
Possible structure
•
Introduction
–
•
•
Outline purpose of essay and how it will be
structured
Section 1 (background):
– Features of modern healthcare
– What is meant by multidisciplinary
working, definitions
•
– Why multidisciplinary working is
considered important
•
Section 2:
– Presentation of evidence showing
that team work is essential
– Advantages
– Examples of this in practice
•
Section 3:
– Presentation of evidence showing
that other components may be just
as/more essential
– Advantages
– Examples from practice
Section 4:
– Despite importance of teamwork,
examples and reasons why this may
not occur in practice
– Implications, recommendations
Conclusion:
– Summarise key points and finish by
stating to what extent the statement
in the question is true.
Academic Development in the School of Health
Constructing paragraphs
• Good paragraphs must have a topic sentence:
• Introduces the main point of the paragraph
• Typically appears at the start of the paragraph
• Subject of paragraph is unclear without.
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Constructing paragraphs
When they hear it, they open their eyes and look
around for sound. Judging from where they look in
order to hear certain voices, researchers have
concluded that they prefer certain kinds of speech,
including rising tones spoken by women or
children (Sullivan & Horowitz, 1983).
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Constructing paragraphs
Babies are more sensitive to speech than to other
sounds. When they hear it, they open their eyes and
look around for sound. Judging from where they
look in order to hear certain voices, researchers
have concluded that they prefer certain kinds of
speech, including rising tones spoken by women or
children (Sullivan & Horowitz, 1983).
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Constructing paragraphs
• Paragraphs must be adequately developed
• Must include detail and explanation that follows
on from topic sentence
• Should ideally only have one topic
• 2-3 sentences per paragraph is not enough
• Aim for 3-5 sentences or more.
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Constructing paragraphs
•
•
•
•
•
Explanations
Evaluations (e.g. of a point of view)
Examples
Supporting evidence (e.g. statistics)
Effects and consequences
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Example 1
Perhaps the most significant factor contributing to youth
crime in Scotland is poverty [Topic sentence]. Research
demonstrates that children living in poor ‘offender prone’
neighbourhoods are much more likely to become involved
in crime than children who do not live in such areas
(Weatherburn, 2004) [supporting evidence]. In Scotland,
the number of children living in poverty and at risk of
offending is .....[relevant data]. Numerous explanations for
the relationship between poverty and youth crime have
been proposed. Firstly....[explanation 1]. Secondly,
....[explanation 2].
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Example 2
There is an association between increased age and the
occurrence of multi-pathologies (van den Akker et al, 1998).
[Topic sentence containing main idea]. In 2001 60% of
elderly people in Britain were reported to be living with a
long term illness (National Statistics, 2001). [Statistics to
support main idea]. The expected changes in population
dynamics could therefore result in a greater number of
elderly people with complex needs accessing health services.
[Consequences of main idea]. The Scottish Government has
acknowledged the challenge this will create for future health
services in Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2005), and set out
agendas to recruit more allied health professionals (AHPs) to
work in this area (Scottish Executive, 2006) [Evidence to
support severity of consequences].
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Common mistakes
Academic Development in the School of Health
1. Not answering the question
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Going off at a tangent
Not providing enough evidence
Missing a key part of the question
Not questioning assumptions
Writing a plan will keep you focussed.
Academic Development in the School of Health
2. Jumping around from sub-topic to sub-topic
- Lots of detail, but no consideration for order
- Doesn’t show relationship between sub-topics
- Means there’s no logical argument
- Difficult to build a coherent argument
Academic Development in the School of Health
3. Not providing enough evidence
- Presenting opinion as fact
- Potential for plagiarism
- Inaccuracies
-No evidence based practice
- Vague detail
Academic Development in the School of Health
4. No conclusions
- Writing just trails off with no summary
- No chance to make recommendations for
practice
- No demonstration of having answered the
question by linking back.
Academic Development in the School of Health
How to structure written work