Academic Writing

The Harvard or 'author - date' style of referencing work is the standard required by the University of the Arts, as stated in the Academic Affairs Handbook. This guide explains how to use Harvard, with examples for books, web sites and other media.

These resources have been used to explore with students the nature of academic writing. The focus is on identifying key features of academic writing, and looking at sample paragraphs in order to determine whether they are ‘academic’. This can be followed up with an exploration of the nature of plagiarism, and exercises on how to use citations. These exercises tend to work best with smaller groups, but have been used in lecture sessions as well.

This powerpoint was produced to support first year graphic design students with writing their Unit 4 2000 word essay. The focus of the resource is on identifying areas of research and how to turn that research into writing. The Unit 4 assignment required students to research the structures, systems or working processes of an art movement of their choice. The resource provides step by step guidance on how to research and set up a writing frame for this essay using the context of the feminist art movement.

These study guides were produced by Palgrave Macmillan on a range of study skills themes; Critical analysis, Presenting skills and speaking clearly, Referencing (avoiding plagiarism), Tricks of the writers trade, Creative Thinking and Skills for success. They are short 3-5 minute MP3 audios and PDF transcription documents; either can be used depending on a student’s preferred learning style.

The SWOT was used as a tool to initiate student reflection on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in preparation for writing an evaluative report in unit 1. Students in Graphic design worked in groups to identify common issues, then independently, to create an individual action plan to revisit at future points during the term which would form the basis for a more extensive written piece for assessment. *The SWOT is a widely available, established learning tool

Introduction to Research & Writing Skills PowerPoint presentation was developed to support and build students’ confidence with the first essay exercise at Camberwell, on all the BA courses. It uses the tutor’s own research interests to illustrate points made and bring an otherwise ‘dry’ subject to life and helps show students how to align their area(s) of interest to their essay writing and content.

The following resources are used to provide guidance to students for an essay requiring them to analyse an object or an image. Each one provides them with a methodology for this type of analysis.

These materials have been used to explore with students visual approaches to essay planning. The approach used here is discussed in ‘Easy Essay’ – a DVD exploring staff and student perspectives on essay writing. This is available at www.arts.ac.uk/cetl/visual-directions.