Academic writing Archives - Enhancing Postgraduate Environments

How to avoid plagiarism (and why we reference in academic writing)

PostGrad — Wed, 12 May 2021 13:28:37 +0000

Students are often told that we reference to avoid plagiarism. They are also told that if they plagiarise, they can be excluded from the university. Both of these statements are unhelpful in developing as academic writers. This video looks at what plagiarism means before providing practical examples of how we can take on the referencing practices of our fields to become better academic writers (and in the process avoid plagiarism).

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University

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Who might find this useful?

This video is made for postgraduate scholars and supervisors but might be useful for undergraduates too.

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What is intentional plagiarism and why do people do it?

PostGrad — Wed, 12 May 2021 13:28:36 +0000

Plagiarism happens along a continuum from intentional to unintentional. Learning how referencing is used to build claims can help to prevent unintentional plagiarism, but what about plagiarism that is done on purpose? This video looks at why people may choose to plagiarise and why universities need to act on intentional plagiarism.

Written by Sioux McKenna and produced by Samantha Carolus, Rhodes University

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Who might find this useful?

This video is made for postgraduate scholars and supervisors but might be useful for undergraduates too.

The post What is intentional plagiarism and why do people do it? appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Reading for a PhD

PostGrad — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:06:34 +0000

Postgraduate students often ask How much reading they should be doing. There is no one answer but this brief audio recording offers a few ideas as to what is a suitable length. Importantly, it argues that you cannot make a contribution through your research if you don’t know about the current debates in the literature.

This audio and transcript offer a means of assessing how much reading is enough for postgraduate studies. It looks at the hours that should be spent reading and the purpose of reading. The transcript also offers links to a number of other resources.

https://postgradenvironments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/65A-Reading-for-a-PhD.m4a

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University. Download the transcript here.

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I strongly recommend watching the video on how to keep reading journal to help you with this process.
Writing resources book – see especially the section on keeping a reading map
Two minute tips – these short videos outline how your relationship to the literature changes at postgraduate level:
Just Write video – this video shows the indivisible link between reading and writing at postgraduate level (Remember the mantra: “For every reading there must be a writing.”)

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How-to-guide on Writing Tools

PostGrad — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 10:04:14 +0000

This narrated PowerPoint presentation discusses the challenge many postgraduate students face: fitting enough time into every week for reading and writing towards a finished thesis. The resource offers three ‘tools’: the Pomodoro Technique, Freewriting, and Shut-Up-and-Write sessions, as tools or strategies postgraduate students can use to make the most of their writing and reading time, and to ensure that they can fit time in for these tasks every week. Additional reading and resources for further consideration accompany the video. It should be watched along with ‘Just write’, also on this website. These tools can also be used with reading and research journals, which you can look up under ‘Starting a PG journey’.

Developed by Sherran Clarence, Independent higher education consultant.

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Just Write

Useful websites:

Questions for users:

For supervisors/PG support staff: could you use one or more of these tools in supervision or writing support sessions? How could a workshop or supervision meeting include freewriting, for example, on a topic that students would benefit from brainstorming on? Could you encourage students to use these tools, and if so, how would you see them working for your students?
For students: Arrange your own writing group meetings. Think of 2 or 3 people in your department or programme that you could spend an hour or two with each week, writing. Set up a day and time for a Shut-Up-and-Write session, and a place to meet. Debrief with one another afterwards, and see if the session helped, and if it did, arrange a further meeting. Start small, and build from there, as this is more manageable in the long run.

Who might find this useful?

This material is primarily for postgraduate students, although the tools could be used in workshops with students run by postgraduate and/or writing support practitioners, to assist with time management within workshops, or model the use of the tools.

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Thesis Statement

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 10:12:08 +0000

Every thesis has to make a contribution – it has to have a central argument that it offers to the field of study. It is often difficult to figure out what your exact thesis statement is but once you do so, you can get a clear sense of what smaller arguments will need to be built up through chains of evidence in order for the reader to be convinced of the thesis statement. This video uses an example from Education and so it will probably be of use to students from across the Humanities and Social Sciences. For those in the Natural Sciences, the building of an argument is generally (but not always) in a more linear fashion. But regardless of your field, you will have to make some contribution to the field and it is worth trying to sum this up in just one clearly constructed sentence.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University.

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Who might find this useful?

This video would make a useful resource for a writing workshop. It is primarily aimed at the kinds of argument building and thesis statement construction found in the Humanities and Social Sciences – but it might help those in the Natural Sciences too to construct in just one clearly crafted sentence what it is that their study offers the field.

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2 minute tip #3: Direct and Indirect Quotes

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:56:49 +0000

Two-minute tips provide short suggestions on how to improve your research. This two-minute tip looks at when it is appropriate to use a direct quote from the literature or when it is better to paraphrase and share the literature in your own words.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, ably supported by the wonderful graphics of Leo Baasch, leobaasch@gmail.com.

Explore these additional resources

Who might find this useful?

The two-minute tips might be useful for any supervisors or students who would like a bit of inspiration. They also make quick additions to a workshop.

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2-minute tip #2: Relationship to texts

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:44:14 +0000

Two-minute tips provide short suggestions on how to improve your research. This two-minute tip looks at how there is a shift in relationship to texts from undergraduate to postgraduate level. At undergraduate level, students are often expected to be ‘knowledge tellers’ who have to demonstrate that they have read and understood the literature. Many novice researchers continue to engage with the literature in this way at postgraduate level and this is problematic. What we need is a more authorative stance where the researcher sees herself as a (novice) member of the field. In this way she draws on literature to make her own contribution.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, ably supported by the wonderful graphics of Leo Baasch, leobaasch@gmail.com.

Explore these additional resources

Who might find this useful?

The two-minute tips might be useful for any supervisors or students who would like a bit of inspiration. They also make quick additions to a workshop.

The post 2-minute tip #2: Relationship to texts appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

2-minute tip #1: Joining the conversation

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:19:38 +0000

Two-minute tips provide short suggestions on how to improve your research. This two-minute tip looks at how writing is about contributing to a field. The tip argues that because academic knowledge is a contribution to an existing conversation, we need to have read widely and deeply to find out what has come before us. Rushing to collect data or to comment on our views without first engaging in the deliberations in the field is problematic.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, ably supported by the wonderful graphics of Leo Baasch, leobaasch@gmail.com.

Explore these additional resources

Who might find this useful?

The two-minute tips might be useful for any supervisors or students who would like a bit of inspiration. They also make quick additions to a workshop.

The post 2-minute tip #1: Joining the conversation appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Reading a journal article: techniques and skills

PostGrad — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 08:00:34 +0000

This brief PowerPoint presentation with voice over describes how to read journal articles and collating information using the rhetorical moves approach. The presentation explains the benefit of the rhetorical moves to enhance academic writing ensuring coherence, logic and flow of information. Lastly, the presentation shows how information can be consolidated from various authors using the rhetorical move approach.

Developed by Olushola Rotimi Adeniyi (PhD), Division of Post Gradute Studies (DPGS), University of the Western Cape (UWC). Thanks to UWC, DPGS.

Who might find this useful?

This checklist should be used in consultation with the screencast video “Solution lies in the problem”. The liberal use of free clipart from https://openclipart.org/ in the video is acknowledged with thanks.

The video can be found at https://postgradenvironments.com/

Explore these additional resources

https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/18514/GenrePerformancesAccepted.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y

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Plotting a paper from your thesis

PostGrad — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 07:45:06 +0000

Publishing out of a thesis, or a research project, can be a significant challenge for many early career researchers and postgraduate students. This prezi takes viewers through one possible process for ‘plotting’ or outlining a paper out of a thesis, or research project, from the development of the idea, purpose and audience, to the argument, and a ‘holding structure’ for the text. Through trying and adapting this process, it is hoped that viewers can make progress in choosing and developing ideas into papers, either on their own or with co-authors. Additional blog-posts and materials are suggested beneath the video.

Developed by Sherran Clarence, Independent higher education consultant.

Who might find this useful?

This material is primarily for postgraduate students and early career researchers to work through, with the worksheet and additional suggested reading. It could, however, be used in a practical paper-writing workshop run by postgraduate and/or writing support practitioners.

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Worksheet

Blogposts that may be helpful for further reading:

Plotting a paper from your PhD (http://wp.me/p3VNfn-7N)
Publishing during or after your PhD (http://wp.me/p3VNfn-7M)
Practices for getting published (https://patthomson.net/2015/01/12/writerly-readerly-and-strategic-some-tips-for-getting-published/)
Getting published in English language journals (https://patthomson.net/2014/02/27/getting-published-in-english-language-journals/)
Writing from the thesis (https://patthomson.net/2012/09/07/writing-from-the-phd-the-publishing-plan/, https://patthomson.net/2012/09/03/writing-from-the-phd-thesis-letting-go/)

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