Top 10 Undergraduate Writing Tips

Beth OylerWriting Consultant

Writing CenterCenter for Student Success

Introduction

• Agenda: 10 Undergrad Writing Tips!• Goal:

• Introduce students to academic writing• Overview of the basics• Introduce students to the Writing Center’s

website• 30 minutes• Questions• Issues? GoToWebinar support:

http://support.gotomeeting.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5641

Overview

1. Constructing an argument2. Thesis statement3. Organization4. First person5. Personal experience6. Biases7. APA formatting8. Citing sources9. References list10.Grammar and sentence structure

1. Constructing an Argument

• What is academic writing?

• Arguing• Proving or showing

something to the reader

• Explaining why your argument is important

• Using research

• What isn’t academic writing?

• Summary• Overview of a topic

2. Purpose Statement or Main Idea

• An essential part of constructing an argument is having a purpose

• Your argument should be centered around your purpose

2. Purpose Statement

• What is a thesis statement?• Arguable: argue for or against something• Supportable: support with information from

sources• Specific: not too broad for the scope of your

paper• Example of a thesis statement• “Electric cars are a fuel-efficient alternative to

gas-fuelled cars.”

• What wouldn’t be a purpose statement? • “Electric cars are important.”

• Not specific enough• Can’t be proved

• “Five percent of all gas stations support electric cars.”

• Not arguable

2. Purpose Statement

3. Organization

• Academic arguments should always include three parts:

• Introduction• Body • Conclusion

• Introduction:• Introduce the reader your topic• Include the thesis statement• Prepares the reader for the argument you’ll be

making

3. Organization: Introduction

(1)The federal and state governments have made school districts and individual schools more accountable for the academic success of all students (Fletcher, 2007). (2)However, there are not unlimited funds available for all of the programs that administrators would like to implement. (3)Educational leaders, including both district superintendents and school principals, have a responsibility to focus all available resources to the strategic areas that will garner the best results. The more fiscally efficient school districts and schools are run will likely have a positive impact on student achievement (Hanushek, 1997).

3. Organization: Body

• Body: • Main points supporting thesis• Explanation• Sources

• Outline• 3-paragraph paper

IntroductionMain Point 1Main Point 2Main Point 3Conclusion

3. Organization: Conclusion

• Conclusion:• A synthesis of all your main points• Rephrasing of your thesis statement• Not meant to introduce new ideas

3. Organization: Conclusion

(1)If current conditions prevail, the nursing shortage in the United States will increase. (2)The problem of educating sufficient numbers of nurses continues because of a lack of faculty and clinical placement sites, as in Bartlett’s (2010) state of New York. Aging nurses ready to retire add to this dilemma. (3)The Center to Champion Nursing in America created multidisciplinary task forces in 18 states to address the problem of limited enrollment. (4)Clearly the fluctuations in nursing shortages cause concern to both the public and nursing leadership (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

4. First Person

• Usually acceptable in academic writing• “I” and “my” • Replace phrases like “the researcher” and “the

author”• Walden’s official policy is to accept first person

I visited the school and met with the students.

NOT

The author visited the school and met with the students.

4. First Person

• Not used to express personal opinions or experiences

• Phrases like “I believe…” and “In my opinion…” • Tend to be too informal • Indicate an argument based on beliefs or

opinions

“I believe that Freud was correct in saying…”

changed to:

“Freud was correct in saying…”

5. Personal Experiences

• Usually aren’t used• Limit to experiences that only relate to your

argument• What personal experience not to include

• Anecdotes• “When I was a kid…”

• Hypothetical situations• “Imagine you were a student in…”

• Beliefs• “I believe that…”

6. Biases

• Focus on presenting ideas in an unbiased, objective way

• What topics does being objective extend to?• Age• Gender• Racial and ethnic identities• Sexual orientation• Disabilities

6. Biases

• Avoid biased by using: • “People-first” language

“the child with autism” Not

“the autistic child”

• Parallel language“Black and White” and “African-American and

Caucasian”NOT

“African-American and White”

6. Biases

• Gender-neutral pronouns• “His/her,” “him/her,” “their,” or “they” not

“his,” or “he”“A nurse always helps his/her patients”

Not“A nurse always helps her patients”

• Acknowledging differences• “Most” or “many” not “all” or “never”

statements “Most teachers use blackboards in the

classroom”NOT

“All teachers use blackboards in the classroom”

Additional Resources

• Writing Resources: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Scholarly-Writing.htm

• Includes additional resources about:• Constructing an argument• Thesis statement• Organization• First person• Personal experience• Biases

7. APA Formatting

• APA formatting• Used by all Walden University programs

• APA includes rules for:

7. APA Formatting

• What is APA? • APA takes a lot of practice to learn, just like

academic writing. • Whole section of our website devoted to explaining

its basic rules • We also provide templates for you to follow

• Course Paper template

8. Citing Sources

• Sources used need to be cited using APA • Citing sources:

• Gives credit to the source• Indicates where the source is in your reference

list• Shows you are supporting your statements with

source• Any source used in the body of your paper should

be included in your reference list and vice versa

8. Citing Sources

• Basic citations include the author’s last name and the year: (Author, Year)

According to Smith (2010)…OR

…nurses need more training (Smith, 2010).

8. Citing Sources

• Include page or paragraph numbers for quotes: (Author, Year, p. xx)

“…nurses need more training” (Smith, 2010, p. 1).

9. References List

• Tell the reader how to find the sources you used• Includes an entry for each source

• Formatting varies• Basic format:

Author. (Publication Year). Title of source. Publication information.

9. References List

• Print Book:

Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the book here. City, XX: Publisher.

• Print Article:

Author, A. (publication year). Title of article in plain font and sentence case. Title of Journal in Italics, X(x), xx-xx.

9. References List

• Basic formatting rules and common examples on our website:

• Electronic sources require additional identification information

• Electronic articles:• DOI: permanent link to the article• URL: the URL of the journal’s home page

Swann, W. B. (2006). The roots of the precarious couple effect. Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(1), 93-103. doi:10.1177/0146167205279584

Additional Resources

• APA Style: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/APA.htm

• Includes additional resources about: • Formatting• In-text citations• Reference list entries

10. Grammar and Sentence Structure

• Important in presenting a polished paper• Website has information about specific grammar

areas• Grammarly: helps identify areas of your writing

that have grammatical or word choice errors• The big green button on our home page

Additional Resources

• Grammar: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Grammar-and-ELL.htm

• Includes additional resources about: • All aspects of grammar and sentence structure• Grammarly (home page)

Additional Resources

• Writing Tutoring• FREE!• Help you with all of the areas we’ve covered• To use our services:

1. Read the Student User Guide: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/285.htm

2. Register for the WIRE: http://www.rich37.com/waldenu/

3. Make a reservation and upload your paper

Additional Resources

• Library: http://library.waldenu.edu/

• Disability Services: http://www.waldenu.edu/Support-Services/20847.htm

Questions?

Contact us at:

WritingSupport@waldenu.edu

An archived version of this presentation will be available on our website.