Wishing you well with your exams

Tips and Tricks session on academic writing at postgraduate level

On Wednesday 16 October the Writers' Circle went 'mainstream' in the Block Release period and Lynn facilitated a session with students as part of the Research Methodology subject. The session was entitled 'tips and tricks' and sought to introduce a few writing strategies that could help students enhance the clarity and sophistication of their academic writing. Unfortunately because of time constraints the few strategies we were able to discussion like, cohesion and cohensive devices, using reporting verbs and approaches to in-text referencing, were merely introduced, rather than practiced. In our next Writers' Circle (23 October) students will have more time to play around with implementing these strategies in their own writing. 

The slides are available here and additional resources will be uploaded to the blog on these topics. 

What's your topic?

For most research students, the question - "What is your topic" can easily be the most common question you are asked. Especially for students who have just embarked on their research journey, this can also be a question that evokes the most anxiety and confusion. In our session yesterday participants tried to unravel this confusion in a bid to become more confident and clear in expressing their research topic.

Guided by the suggestions offered in the Bloome et al book - Craft of Research participants undertook a few brainstorming tasks with the aim of identifying their research topic, and also to ensure that their topic wasn't too broad, un-researchable, would be of interest and significance to a wider readership. An important part of the session was sharing these brainstorming ideas with a partner and getting feedback on how to narrow the scope of the topic or align it more clearly to the ICT field.

A simply task to try to help identify and refine your topic is this three-step activity (see Bloome et al for more guidance). These skeleton sentences can help you start to think and articulate your topic focus and ensure it has significance to the wider ICT field.

STEP 1: Name your topic

I am trying to learn about /working on/ studying…

STEP 2: Add an indirect Question

(an indirect question indicates what you do not know or  do not understand about your topic)

I am trying to learn about /working on/ studying....(from step 1) because I want to find out ...who/what/when/where/whether/why/ how...

STEP 3: Answer the 'So WHAT?' question by motivating your question

(add a second indirect question that explains why you asked your first question in Step 2)

I am trying to learn about /working on/ studying...(from step 1) because I want to find out who/what/when/where/whether/why/ how...(from step 2)... in order to help my reader understand how, why, or whether...

Why you need a research proposal

WHY do masters students need to produce a research proposal? Aside from the obvious response 'for assessment purposes' in our session on Wednesday 25 Sept, we also discussed how the research proposal acts as an important indicator of whether or not your research project will be seen as worthwhile. SLIDES here

The research proposal marks a distinct break between what can be referred to as academic or scientific research and the many 'information' gathering research activities undertaken in our everyday lives. Our session also explore how this vital document is the primary means whereby post-graduate research students attempt to convince their lecturers that not only is their research project viable as a scientific endeavor, but that they (as students) are competent and ready to undertake the study. It therefore serves to demonstrate your understanding of your research topic and show that you have sufficient knowledge about research methodology to actually conduct the study.
So the proposal has to do some pretty heavy lifting!

I also shared a short demonstration on how I use Mendeley - hopefully the free reference manager and academic social network platform has gained a few new users in the process. It certainly is one way to avoid the 'reference list' headache so many research students have to deal with.


In the next couple of sessions, we will place focus on specific aspects and elements of the proposal document. The various writing activities you will be asked to completed during the sessions should also help you to move closer to a refined understanding and articulation of research project.

Who me - a researcher?

On Wednesday 11 Sept, Jair, Radford and myself had an informal, meandering but interesting conversation about what it means to do research and become a researcher. We were reflection on our reading of the chapter 'Thinking in Print' in the book - The craft of research (Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2008). The chapter attempts to introduce students to the field and activity of academic or scientific research. The chapter gently invites students to join the community. Like in the chapter we all acknowledged that we have already undertaken many 'research' activities in our daily lives, from searching for a new car, TV or smart phone.

But we also tried to tease out what makes academic and scientific research, like the type masters students are expected to undertaken, different. Some of the pillar of scientific research outlined in the chapter includes; being trustworthy, tested, evidence-based (not only opinions), published (thus written), follows processes and procedures that validate and verify information gathered and the critical disposition taken on the topic.

Going Forward

We agreed that the focus of our discussions and activities in the MICT Writers' Circle over the next four weeks would be on the WRITING the RESEARCH PROPOSAL. Below is an outline of the session topics for the remaining weeks of this semester:

Sept 25 - What is a research proposal? 

• Share different formats, discuss what information to include, short demonstration on using Mendeley

Oct 2    - Working through the elements of the proposal

• Topic, problem statement, research objectives

Oct 16  - Working through the elements of the proposal

• Research Design / Research Methodology
• Constructing Research Questions

Oct 23  - Creating coherence in your proposal

• Fine-tuning the writing, language and style

Next Session - Wednesday 11 Sept 2019 - The research proposal

Welcome back to the final term of the academic year. It feels as if we are racing non-stop to the academic year-end finish line, which is just six weeks away.

I've had a few requests to put the research proposal on the agenda. On Wednesday I would like to discuss this idea and also present an informal outline of how we can tackle this topic over the next few weeks we have together.

To kick-start this learning trajectory, I'd like to share a short but incredibly stimulating reading about the uses of research and why its so important that we 'write' research reports. Find the reading here - The craft of research - Chapter One 'Thinking in Print'. On Wednesday let's discuss and share our insights about this very informative and short chapter. Also bring along any other pressing writing related matters you think the whole group could benefit from discussing.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Writing an Introduction for an assignment - working with a 4-part approach

Yesterday the group experimented with a four-part approach for writing Introductions. After a short recap of the main functions that Introductions serve, especially in academic assignment writing, participants were asked to 'try-out' a four-part writing approach. This consists of a hook, focus on topic, thesis statement, structure of essay. Each element of this approach represents a clue or signal about the type of information that should be provided to the reader of the Introduction. More details and examples of how this might work can be found on the Writing Elements page of this blog.

A brief summary of the activities completed in the circle is also available here

Next week is the mid-term recess, so our next circle will take place on Wednesday 11 September at 4:30pm. Topics currently up for discussion are: giving and receiving feedback in an academic setting; writing thesis statements, working with paragraphs.

Enjoy the short break and happy, productive writing!

Introductions, Introduction - strategies to write them - 28 August 2019

In our next session on Wednesday 28 August 2019 we will be exploring different writing strategies that can be used to craft an Introduction for an essay or assignment. The session will be hands-on and participants will be asked to experiment and try-out specific approaches to writing an Introduction. Bring along drafts of any assignment you are currently working on, and use the session to creatively play-around with the writing of your Introduction.

Come prepared to write, share your writing, give some feedback and hopefully become more confident in writing the all important Introduction to your assignment. 

Understanding what your assignment expects of you

In our session on 14 August 2019 we worked with a strategy for unpacking assignments. The importance of having a thorough understanding of what was expected from the assignment was stressed. 

Students used a sample assignment and then subjected the assignment to the following question as a way of gaining clarity on what they might be required to do:

1. Instruction verbs – discuss, evaluate, assess, review, compare
2. Topic
3. Specific aspects of the topic – qualify or narrow down the topic
4. Restrictions imposed on the topic – limiting your discussion
5. Technical instructions – word count, layout, format, submission deadlines/requirements

We also discussed the purpose, function and work Introductions need to do. Again we used a few sample Introductions from the recent journal articles and tried to analyse them  and identify their specific purpose and function. Students were asked to try and identify WHAT functions or work the Introduction they read were doing. We used some guideline questions by Creme and Lea (2008). 

A key objective of this exercise was to raise students’ awareness of the work Introductions need to do. 

NEXT SESSION: 28 August 2019

In our next session we will work in a more concrete way with different writing strategies that you can employ when writing Introductions for your assignments. Because next week is BLOCK WEEK 2, we will only be meeting again on 28 August 2019.

Watch this blog space for a reminder and some instructions about what to bring long.

Next session - Assignments and Introductions

The next session of the MICT Writers' Circle will take place on Wednesday 14 August, 4:30pm, LENSLab.

We will focus our discussion on unpacking your assignment briefs and also look at the purpose and structure of, the all important, Introduction, in academic writing. 

Introductions and unpacking reading in IT

Lynn's annotations of the journal article

The MICT writers' circle held its first session yesterday afternoon. After some short introductions and welcoming a few students who unfortunately were unable to attend the residential block last week, we launched into a somewhat meandering, but interesting, conversation about our reading and writing practices.

Thanks to Radford, who shared two pages of a journal article he was currently reading, we were able to do a mini-analysis of the form the language and writing. We were interested in gaining a deeper understanding of how such insight could help us make decisions about the merits of the article, evaluate its usefulness (for example, was it better to read it after gaining a better understanding of the topic, or would the article provide basic and introductory information about the topic), or learn about how the writing style, its order and sequencing was helping the authors communicate their ideas.
This short activity became the spring-board for some lively conversations about journal publication, how different disciplines understood or used common words or phrases (e.g. critical discourse analysis), different expectations that  supervisors have of students' writing, the function of an Introduction, differences between journal articles and books and the writing demands of the thesis vs journal article and how this might shape the structure and form of an Introduction.

NEXT TIME
14 August 2019 we will look at the requirements of your first assignments. Another topic everyone was keen to discuss is writing The Introduction.

Wednesday 31 July - Writers' Circle @ 4:30pm

The first writers' circle of the MICT will take place this coming Wednesday, 31 July. We will start at 4:30pm and should end by 6pm.

Topic Discussion

• reading the MICT
• reflecting on yourself as academic writer

Please bring along copies of any of your readings and/or the short reflective piece you wrote last week.

Venue

The LENS Lab (room 2.24)

Bring along your own coffee/tea mug and your enthusiasm, thoughts and ideas!

Writing your MICT: An introduction - 24 July 2019

Great to meet everyone yesterday afternoon. A key question students were asked to consider was 'How do you think of yourself as a writer?' This short reflective written activity generated some vibrant discussions and laughter as participants recounted their multiple reading, writing and language experiences. An important take-away from this short task - everyone brought crucial language, writing and reading resources to their studies. Hopefully many put aside 30 minutes to further develop this emerging picture of themselves as writer.

NEXT TIME

Writers' Circle - Wednesday, 31 July 2019 from 4:30pm in the IT Building (venue to be found!)

Possible topic discussions:

• sharing reflective pieces on yourself as academic writer
• what your course readings 'reveal' about the reading, writing, academic practices expected

24 July Slides

Welcome

This online space was created to serve as a virtual meeting place for all students completing their masters in ICT in the Information Technology department at CPUT. Here, attention will be placed on academic and research writing and your journey through the masters programme, as you navigate your way through the different written tasks associated with your studies.

On the website you will find information about the face-to-face activities and writers' circle group you can attend. There will also be a host of online resources about academic and research writing that you might want to consult as you embark on the different written assignments and tasks required by the course. The site will develop as you move through the course - so expect changes and additions as the weeks progress.

May your writing and learning journey be productive and fulfilling...