Academic Writing
Instructor: Dr. Algirdas Makarevicius
Credits: 3 hrs
Venue: Room 46
Course Description
The course improves students’ writing abilities at an essay level. They will learn how to write Comparison and Contrast, Classification, Process Analysis, Cause-and-Effect Analysis, and Argumentative Essays.
Course Overview
The course will develop written communication skills that are needed in an academic environment. In addition, students will develop critical reading skills, grammar skills, and will expand vocabulary.
Course Objectives
• Help students improve their writing which involves not only the accurate use of language but also the effective organization of information.
• Guide students how to select relevant data to support an argument.
• Help students to be aware of the readers’ needs both when selecting content and guiding the reader through the written piece of writing.
• Develop proofreading skills.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the course students will be able to
• Think ideas out for themselves and discipline their thoughts on paper, thus enabling themselves to compare the ideas before writing with the results after writing.
• Focus on expository and analytical texts.
• Develop what had been studied earlier at a paragraph level - generating ideas, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing.
Learning Materials
• Textbook ‘Refining Composition Skills. Rhetoric and Grammar,’ by Regina L. Smalley.
• Handouts, class notes, web pages and recommended reading (books, newspapers articles, and short stories).
Assessment
• Test 1: 15%
• Test 2: 25%
• Participation: 10%
• Examination: 50%
Course Requirements
Each student must fulfill the following requirements of the course.
1. Spend at least four hours per week on self-study. Self-study includes all assignments given by the instructor.
2. Actively participate in classroom discussions by asking questions and giving their comments or opinions whenever required by the instructor.
3. Conduct Internet and library research, revise class notes and handouts, study the textbook, and perform all other activities as requested.
4. Students are expected to comply with the university-wide requirements for academic integrity. The College is committed to academic integrity—the honest, fair, and continuing pursuit of knowledge, free from fraud or deception. This implies that students are expected to be responsible for their own work. Presenting another individual’s work as one’s own and receiving excessive help from another individual will qualify as a violation of academic integrity. Plagiarism is cheating. In this course, using another person’s words or ideas as your own without giving credit, producing a memorized piece (either your own or someone else’s), or having someone do any portion of your work is cheating. Each student is expected to complete their own, original work by using their own words.
5. Attend lectures, tutorials and examinations. Cheating at examinations is not tolerated and students who are caught cheating during the examination will automatically fail.
6. Any additional questions regarding the Course Outline and the course requirements can be answered during the lecture, after the lecture, or by email. Each student who contacts the instructor by email must write her/his student ID number, name and section number on the subject box of the message. Anonymous emails will not be replied.
7. The Course Outline is the main document of the course and the activities that are included into the Course Outline must be performed in class every week.
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