AWC6000 Akademisk skriving for forskere Emneplan

Approved by the Academic Affairs Committee 11 October 2016. Minor amendment 13.11.2018.

Introduction

Publication in international journals has become increasingly imperative for academics worldwide. Scholarly success is often measured in terms of publication in high ranking, international - i.e. English language - peer-reviewed journals. At the same time, the internationalisation agendas of higher education institutions - in Norway and around the world - place an emphasis on collaboration and initiatives across international borders. The ability to communicate in English is central to successful involvement in such work.

This course sets out to equip PhD candidates and faculty members at OsloMet with the writing tools needed to meet these challenges.

The course will focus on familiarising participants with the academic writing conventions, as well as addressing the most common problem areas confronting Norwegians when writing academic English. This is a practical course in which participants¿ own writing is a key element. Time will be spent discussing participants¿ texts as well as the principles of academic writing.

The course provides participants with the opportunity to practice academic English and develop competence in working with English academic texts.

The course also contributes to the wider university college milieu by developing a forum for work-in-progress discussions and facilitating participation in international fora as well as internal internationalisation projects. Furthermore, the course enables academic/research contact across faculty lines.

Campus-based lectures and seminars are the main teaching methods, in addition to digital simulation exercises, study questions, and student presentations. The lectures will partly be based on Interteaching sequences using readings from the curriculum. Texts used for Interteaching are announced in the digital learning platform of the university. Feedback is used on written assignments.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• 2 individual written assignments submitted digitally, each with a maximum length of 6000 characters, including spaces. References are to be included in the 6000 characters.

Participants will develop a sophisticated awareness of the conventions of academic writing, and how they vary between different disciplines. Participants throughout the course will apply this awareness to their own projects, refining their writing and increasing their likelihood of publication. Moreover, the analytical tools each participant develops during the course will keep on working after the course: each participant will continue to develop their awareness of academic writing and improve their own writing long after the course has finished.

Among the topics covered by the course are:

• Variations in academic style
• Audience, purpose and style
• The writing process
• Disciplinary identity
• Academic language
• Vocabulary, grammar, sentence, paragraph and text
• Coherence and cohesion
• Directness and formality
• Avoiding common errors: e.g. digression, lack of thesis statement, misunderstanding one¿s audience
• Analysing, discussing and responding to academic texts
• Article structures, including IMRAD

Individual school examination, 3 hours, with combination of essay assignments and multiple choice/digital tests. Exam questions are in English. Students may submit their exams in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Attendance:

• In order to take the exam, and be eligible for study points, the participant must have attended at least five of the six sessions.[1]

Compulsory tasks:

• A completed needs analysis form, and an academic text (an unedited manuscript, approx. 5 pages, double spaced font sized 12) must be submitted prior to the first course session.
• Active participation in all group sessions.
• Resubmission of the academic text in progress for discussion in the group.
• Final resubmission of this text, revised further, for the exam.
• A reflective statement, describing the candidate¿s experience of and responses to the course.

[1]Minor amendment 20.02.2017.

Grade scale A-F

Essay assignments: All answers are assessed by one examiner.

An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.

Multiple choice/digital test: quality assured by an examiner and automatically assessed.

The exam will be assessed by two internal examiners.

Target Group

The target group for this course is PhD candidates and researchers among the academic staff at OsloMet, who are actively engaged in writing articles, papers or dissertations in English.

Admission

• A completed Master¿s Degree.
• Employment at OsloMet.

Admission of PhD candidates and academic staff employed at other higher educational institutions and/or research institutions in Norway can be considered subject to the available places on the course.

Admission of internal and external candidates is based on individual application approved by the applicant¿s Head of Studies or Head of Division.

Participants should be reasonably fluent in written and oral English and familiar with academic conventions and requirements.

Ranking

• PhD candidates and academic staff at OsloMet.
• PhD candidates and academic staff employed at other higher education and/or research institutions in Norway.