RESM 520 Academic Writing

Necessary skills for academic writing, including proper use of sources and avoiding plagiarism, organization, the basics of APA style, punctuation, and gender inclusive language. Academic writing ability and knowledge of research procedure is developed through class activities and feedback.

Units: 2

This course is designed to help you develop effective academic writing skills, including proper use of sources and avoiding plagiarism, organization, the basics of APA style, punctuation, and gender inclusive language. Academic writing ability and knowledge of research procedure is developed through class activities and feedback.

WHO NEEDS THIS COURSE?

Graduate students:

  • MAEd
  • MPH
  • MBA
  • MSA
  • EdS
  • PhD Education
  • PhD Business
  • Graduate Certificate (Education; TESOL; Business & Public Health)

This course may also be taken by

  • Teachers for continuing education
  • Teachers as non-degree course for professional development
  • Graduate students of other schools as transfer credit

TIME INVESTMENT

According to the Academic Bulletin, each semester hour unit is the equivalent of sixteen 50-minute class sessions. Additionally, the student is expected to spend an additional 2-3 hours (depending on the program) of individual work and study outside of class for each 50-minute class session. This course is a 2-credit course. The average amount of time invested per week could be a minimum of 5 hours. However, this may depend on many factors such as: background knowledge, time management skills, personal reading and writing skills, etc.

 

COURSE GOALS

Upon completion of this course, the students will be able to:

  1. Distinguish the major types of written assignments and projects in the Graduate School.
  2. Demonstrate mastery of academic writing skills such as proper grammar use, spelling, punctuation, organizing, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, and APA skills such as proper citing, referencing and formatting.
  3. Write a complete and original scholarly theoretical paper that integrates best practices of academic writing.
  4. Use critical thinking in evaluating scholarly materials in their respective fields.
  5. Exhibit deep realization of the value of academic honesty by submitting papers free from plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty.

 

TOPICS TO COVER

  • Types of academic writing
  • Academic writing conventions
  • Writing scholarly
  • Finding & using scholarly sources
  • Paragraph development
  • Summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing & Paraphrasing
  • Outlining an academic/scholarly paper
  • Literature review and critical thinking
  • The mechanics of academic writing (page layout, punctuation, spacing, capitalization, abbreviations/acronyms)
  • In-text citations and block quotations
  • APA style – citations, references, reference list, table of contents, title page, cover page, abstract, tables, figures, appendixes, headings
  • AIIAS standards – page layout specifications, copywrite, approval pages, list of tables, list of figures
  • Computer formatting tips

 

FACILITATOR/DEVELOPER

ALINA DUMITRESCU, PhD

Dr. Alina Dumitrescu is an assistant professor of the Graduate School and director of the English Center of AIIAS. She has taught several education courses both through online and face-to-face modalities.