Academic Writing: How to Compose Your Seminar Paper, Research Article, or Thesis

Writing at university can be a perplexing and demanding activity. This academic writing course demystifies the process, breaking it down into manageable parts and offers a structured and supporting environment to work on your own texts. It is suitable for students who are planning to write a text in the foreseeable future or who have already started their research and are writing a paper to submit to a lecturer, supervisor or publisher. The course follows the write – review – revise cycle to nurture productive writing strategies and ensure quality output. It combines the following components to help you turn concepts and/or data into a first draft or a readable manuscript.

<b>Instruction by the lecturer</b>
During input sessions, the lecturer familiarizes you with the structural and language-related requirements for each section of your text. You are introduced to templates, style guides and digital writing resources and supported in adapting them to your discipline and text type.

<b>Structured and regular text production</b>
Throughout the course you are motivated to grow your text by regularly writing parts according to goals and milestones you set for yourself.

<b>Feedback from peers and the lecturer</b>
Feedback sessions with peers and the lecturer develop your ability to formulate and receive constructive written and oral comments that improve the quality of texts and steer them towards completion.

Course information

Course level
C1
Date
  • Friday 18.10.2024, 14:15–16:30
  • Friday 01.11.2024, 14:15–16:30
  • Friday 08.11.2024, 14:15–16:30
  • Friday 22.11.2024, 14:15–16:30
  • Friday 06.12.2024, 14:15–16:30
15 Lessons
Lecturer
Stephan Meyer, MA
Credit points
1 ECTS
Registration deadline
Thursday 10.10.2024
Course fee
Students and PhD candidates: CHF 207.00
Members of staff: CHF 363.00
Alumni: CHF 363.00
Alumni FHNW: CHF 363.00

Target group

This course is for bachelor and master students across all faculties who want to develop their writing competence and work towards completing a longer academic text such as a seminar paper, a research article, or a thesis.

Course materials

The course materials will be provided by the instructor.

Attendance

Number of absences allowed: 0

Coursework

Participants are expected to:
  • participate actively in class;
  • complete learning assessments;
  • spend 1-2 hours per course session on preparing and reviewing the lesson and on autonomous learning.

Credit points

To earn the credit points, students must fulfill the attendance requirement, complete the coursework, and pass the required number of assessments. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis.

Placement test

To gain entry to this course, participants must submit a writing sample on at least level C1. You will receive instructions in this regard shortly after registration.

Replacement date

The supplementary replacement date for lessons that might not take place is: 07.12.2024 from 10:00 - 16:00.

to top