writing academic course

Fundamentals of Academic Writing

Designed for students seeking preparation for EXPO E-25 and for others wanting to review such basics of academic argument as thesis, evidence, and structure.

Associated Schools

Harvard Extension School

Course description.

This course is designed for students seeking preparation for  EXPO E-25  and for others wanting to review such basics of academic argument as thesis, evidence, and structure. Short writing assignments help students develop the skills essential for producing well-reasoned and substantiated academic essays. Students also learn strategies for reading and analyzing difficult texts. (4 credits)

Prerequisite(s): Proof of  English proficiency  is required of students whose native language is not English.

Note:  This course is taught in multiple sections during each semester. When you select your course, please note which instructor teaches that particular section.

Instructors

Allyson K. Boggess

Laura healy, elisabeth sharp mcketta, julie anne mcnary, laurel rayburn, steven wandler.

TUMx: Academic Writing Made Easy

Struggling with writing an academic text? This MOOC will ease the pain – and make your writing shine.

There is one session available:

Academic writing made easy, about this course.

This MOOC takes you through the basics of academic writing step by step. From structuring and organising an academic text to avoiding common pitfalls that can negatively affect your credibility, this 6-week course offers a guide for those who want to improve their writing. It looks at various components that will make your academic writing stand out for all the right reasons, including paragraphing, style, tone, paraphrasing and punctuation. Using samples of student writing it also gives you tips on what to avoid and explains why. Each week is comprised of video lessons, followed by exercises and peer-review tasks, taking you through various aspects of academic writing.

The course requires upper-intermediate (B2) to advanced English (C1).

At a glance

• Institution: TUMx
• Subject: Language
• Level: Intermediate

Upper-intermediate to advanced knowledge of English.

• Language: English
• Video Transcript: English
• Associated skills: Paraphrasing, Writing, Punctuation And Capitalization, Academic Writing

What you'll learn

You’ll learn:

• to understand the basic tenets of academic writing
• to identify the different genres and the expectations of each one
• to overcome writer's block
• to structure your ideas cohesively
• to write reader-friendly sentences
• to use appropriate tone to gain credibility
• to avoid plagiarism and
• to ensure your text respects the rules of general punctuation in English.

The MOOC “Academic Writing Made Easy” covers the following topics to help you improve your writing:

Week 1 Rhetorical Preferences: Meeting the expectations of your target group

Week 2 Genre: Differentiating between types of scholarly texts

The Writing Process: Overcoming writer's block

Week 3 Cohesion: Making your ideas flow logically

Week 4 Sentences: Writing reader-friendly sentences

Week 5 Credibility: Convincing your peers to accept and believe what you write

Week 6 Punctuation: Polishing your text

Putting it all together: Overcoming the last hurdles

Learner testimonials

"The course was extremely well-designed and useful. I have been writing academic papers for several years and yet, in each video, there was something new to learn. Thank you, teachers. I am presently doing a report for the World Bank and I find that the entire course has been extremely helpful, especially the sections on genre, cohesion, nominalisations, active and passive voice, credibility and formal writing. A huge thanks to those who designed the course, presented the videos and planned the exercises." - Previous learner

"Dear Academic-Writing-Made-Easy team, Thank you for the course! I am not a student at uni. I took part in this course out of interest in English writing in all its forms. However, I can say that I am happy to have completed this MOOC. I am taking many interesting concepts and helpful ideas with me. Thanks again for the interesting course. All the best to all the team!" - Previous learner

Ways to take this course

Interested in this course for your business or team.

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• Study with The Open University

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Essay and report writing skills

Course description

Course content, course reviews.

Writing reports and assignments can be a daunting prospect. Learn how to interpret questions and how to plan, structure and write your assignment or report. This free course, Essay and report writing skills, is designed to help you develop the skills you need to write effectively for academic purposes.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand what writing an assignment involves
• identify strengths and weaknesses
• understand the functions of essays and reports
• demonstrate writing skills.

First Published: 10/08/2012

Updated: 26/04/2019

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Lund University

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Open online courses on academic writing

Two MOOCs (Massive open online courses) in academic writing have been developed at Lund University: Writing in English at University and Akademiskt skrivande (in Swedish).

The courses are intended to be a resource for students and teachers at Lund University, but are open to everyone. See below for more information about each course.

All the lectures are freely available on Youtube: Playlist for Writing in English at University Playlist for Akademiskt skrivande

Access to all the course material is obtained by enrolling in the course on the Coursera platform. To create an account all you need is an e-mail adress. The courses have flexible enrolment, so sign up today!

Coursera’s course page for Writing in English at University Coursera’s course page for Akademiskt skrivande

The Writing in English at University course

The MOOC Writing in English at University is a resource for university students who are currently involved in writing assignments or degree projects as well as for students who wish to learn about academic writing in order to prepare for future writing tasks at university. Although the course provides guidance to all student writers, it targets specifically those who are writing in second language learner contexts and whose native language is not English. As well as helping learners to put together their own “toolbox” of academic writing skills, Writing in English at University will give participants a chance to test out some of these tools, and to reflect on their own development as writers. With flexible enrolment, learners can spend as much time as they need on a module or they can speed up the pace of their studies, depending on what suits them and their particular learning styles. The course is divided into four modules:

• Writing in English at university: An introduction
• Structuring your text and conveying your argument
• Using sources in academic writing
• The writer’s toolbox: Editing and proofreading

The MOOC  Writing in English at University  offers the option to obtain a certificate of completion upon completing the entire course, including the graded assignments at the end of each module. To receive the certificate of completion there is an administrative fee. It is still possible for anyone who does not wish to obtain a certificate of completion to access and complete the entire course free of charge.

Satu Manninen, Ellen Turner, Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros, Nicolette Karst, Fredrik Vanek

Contact information

Linda Dahlberg, course administrator

Linda [dot] dahlberg [at] stu [dot] lu [dot] se (Linda[dot]dahlberg[at]stu[dot]lu[dot]se)  

MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course, a free university course delivered online and open to everyone.

Please note that you cannot include a MOOC as part of a degree or receive university credits for it.