0 pg coursework survival guide

8/10/2019 0 PG Coursework Survival Guide

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Postgraduate Study by Coursework: ASurvival Guide

Hitting the Ground Running Ouch!

Part of the appeal of studying for a postgraduate quali cation by coursework isthat the courses are short: you can nish quickly and get on with the rest of yourlife. But if you havent come straight from a bachelors degree in ustralia! thatshort time frame can add to the challenge. "ou dont have much time to get usedto the requirements of postgrad study before your rst assignment is due! or toconsolidate your competence in written academic #nglish! if it is not your rstlanguage. $e know how hard this transition can be! so we have put together this

guide. %t will e&plain some of the

purposes and e&pectations you are likely to encounter ways of using other peoples ideas in your own writing common structures of academic te&ts common di'culties with language and how to deal with them (whether

#nglish is your rst or an additional language)

%t will also tell you about other sources of help at the uni! in the library! andonline! and o*er resources for speci c purposes:

for organising your individual study and+or group pro,ects for giving oral presentations for making posters! PP-! and Pre is for tackling particular kinds of assignments such as annotated

bibliographies! reviews! or literature reviews

: www.latrobe.edu.au+students+learning/0 ovember /2134esource 5eveloped by 6ate 7hanock 8 c.chanock9latrobe.edu.au
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/learningmailto:[email protected]://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/learningmailto:[email protected]


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How is %ostgrad coursework di&erent 'ro$ %ro'essionaldevelo%$ent$hile each course is di*erent! and so is each workplace! it may help to be awareof some likely di*erences between your previous e&perience and the universitycourse you are embarking on. %f you have done an undergraduate degree at uni!

youll nd that a postgraduate coursework degree is more vocationallyCoriented!with more practical e&perience and realCworld problemCsolving. Dowever! youprobably e&pected this and chose the course for this reason. $hat may be lesse&pected! if you have come from a workplace! are some of the ways that unicourses di*er from the professional development o*ered to employees onoccasion. %n many P5 courses! the time that is set aside for the course is the timeyou can e&pect it to take> and the materials you will use are all there ready foryou. t uni! however! the time and materials are the tip of the iceberg! and therest of that iceberg is your responsibility. "ou may have to spend two! three! orfour times as long in independent study as you spend at uni! and you will have todo your own research beyond the resources provided in the course. Eimilarly! theaims of a uni course are more ambitious than with most P5. %ts not done whenits done! because the aim is to learn about approaches you will continue todevelop throughout your career> and to develop a critical perspective to guideyour professional ,udgements about thinking and practice as you go on.

P( 'or the work%lace PG by coursework Fimited aims to be achievedduring the course

%ntroduction to approaches! tobe developed beyond thecourse

$ork done mainly duringsession

$ork done mainly in learnersown time

ost materials supplied any materials to be found by

learnerPractical emphasis -heoretical as well as practical5evelop technical skills 5evelop technical skills

cquire knowledge 5evelop a critical perspective onknowledge acquired

Fearn how to get answers Fearn how to frame problemsow thats over withG.. o closureA



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Pur%oses o' assign$ents

%f you think of your own studies as part of that wider pro,ect of making

knowledge within your eld! how does that help you to approach yourassignmentsH "oull nd that many assignments are focussed on the relationshipbetween theory and practice! and that your ,ob is to assess

how the theory informs your practice as a member of your eld! and how that practice! in turn! re ects back upon the theory.

hat is theory

-heory is the way that scholars try to make sense of the great variety of e&perience in their eld. -hey look for patterns from which they can derive

generalisations about how and why things happen in the ways that they do. -hese generalisations are intended to help us understand what we see inpractice! and mostly! they do help. Dowever! there may be aspects of practicethat are not satisfactorily e&plained by a theory were working with. Eo! althoughtheory and practice work together! they are also! always! potentially in tensionwith each other. $hen the theory seems to be inadequate! then scholars askwhat might be needed to improve the theory so that it leads to betterunderstanding! and in turn! to better practiceH Eome of your readings are likely toe&plore such problems! and you may be asked to evaluate competing ideas thatyou nd there.

$hat does it mean! then! when you are asked to re ect critically on a theoryH %tdoesnt mean that you have to nd fault with it> rather! you need to ask yourself how the theory helps you to understand what you are looking at! and+or what thetheory helps you to do. t the same time! you should ask yourself whether thereare limits to its usefulness! and if so! why. "our course is designed to help youoperate competently in your eld of practice! but not ,ust by following themanual. "ou need to know why particular approaches are recommended! andwhat problems remain unresolved! and why. -hus! you can approach yourassignments more e*ectively if you recognise that many are designed to raiseyour awareness of that unstable relationship between theory and practice! witheach continually re ecting on and revising the other.

Examples

%f we look at some of the assignments students are given at this level! we cansee how they are focussed at this interface between theory and practice. (-heorymay appear in various forms: as ;theory=! or as an ;approach=! or as ;theliterature=! which means the body of scholarly writing on whatever the topic is.)

?oundations of art therapy:



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rt therapists approach their practice from various theoretical standpoints! fore&ample! a psychodynamic! gestalt or cognitiveCbehavioural orientation. #ach of these theoretical approaches has di*ering assumptions or emphases about suchthings as: how we develop knowledge (or epistemology)! the place of art in ourlives! how personal change takes place and the structure of the psyche.%n this paper you are asked to focus on two approaches to art therapy which holdsome interest for you and to co$%are and contrast these in light of:(i) how the ideas of each art therapy approach developed historically!(ii) their key theoretical underpinnings (eg in a psychoanalytic approach thestructure of the personality and the role of the unconscious is one de ningelement)!(iii) an e&ample of how this approach may be used in an art therapy session(iv) issues you think may arise when applying each art therapy approach within across cultural conte&t and!(v) what attracted you to these two approaches in particular

aternal and 7hild Dealth: %ntroduction to Practice

Promoting child development is a ma,or component of maternal and child healthnursing practice.


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makes sense of the ways that te&ts are structured 8 both the te&ts you read! andthe ones you write. $ell look now at each of these areas in turn.



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+sing other %eo%le1s ideas in your own writing

?or most assignments! you are e&pected to make use of the ;literature=> and in

this conte&t! that doesnt mean ction! it means scholarly publications on thetopic you are e&ploring. "ou will usually be assigned readings to do each week!often with lists of ;further reading= to do if you have time. "ou are also e&pected!often! to nd more readings for yourself! developing your research skills and yourability to ,udge what sources are most relevant and reliable for your purposes.%ts in all these sources that you nd the information! the views! the questionsand debates that make up the published conversation around your topic. Byconsidering these sources! and responding to what you nd there! you are in aposition to ,oin this conversation. %n marking your work! your lecturer willconsider how far you have engaged with the recommended reading and! if

applicable! how well you have succeeded in bringing other appropriate sourcesinto your discussion.

How do you fnd suitable reading?


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meaningful support for their populations at the grassCroots level. %nconsequence! from both theoretical and applied perspectives there is nowwideCspread support for the notion of NbottomCup development which isvariously referred to as NselfCreliance! Nendogenous development andNlocal economic development (F#5) (Etohr! 1OM1> ooneratne and

bilinyi! 1OO/> Etock! 1OOI). ?rom a policy perspective! the concept of communityCdriven economic development has been endorsed by bodiessuch as the $orld Bank and the Etock! 1OOI). Dowever! inreality! it would be unrealistic to anticipate that a multitude of communityCbased economic development endeavours can emerge spontaneously andsustain themselves inde nitely. Euch factors as shortages of local capacityand resources! poor understanding of the broader economic environmentand the frequently limited lifeCspan of pro,ects all play a part in ensuringthat! other than for isolated success stories such as achakos in 6enya(-i*en et al.! 1OO3)! community selfCreliance initiatives are ;unlikely toachieve more than small sporadic victories for the disadvantaged

ma,ority= (Etock! 1OOI! p. 0J0). %n most cases! as Burkey (1OO0) notes!there is a very de ned role and place for limited e&ternal guidance andsupport: ;EelfCreliant participatory development processes normallyrequire an e&ternal catalyst to facilitate the start of the process and tosupport the growth of the process in its early phases= (Burkey! 1OO0! p.K0). $ithin this conte&t! the delicate balance between ensuring localcontrol and involving limited! yet appropriate! e&ternal support andguidance needs to be carefully mediated. %t is suggested that two of thekey factors impinging on the success of such a scenario will be the role of local social capital (Buckland! 1OOM> ?ine! 1OOO) and the appropriatenessof e&ternal support! which in many cases in now provided by nonCgovernmental organisations ( Ls) active in community developmentinitiatives (#dwards and Dulme! 1OOJ). %n the absence of these inputs! itmight be suggested that prospects for the widespread emergence of selfCinitiated! communityCbased pro,ects will be limited and! where they doemerge! their longCterm prognosis could be doubtful.

s you saw! the other sources to which these authors refer are given in bracketsusually located at the end of the sentence that refers to one or more publicationselsewhere. ?or each source! we are given ,ust the author(s) and year of publication! and if the sentence quotes directly from the source! we are also toldwhich page was quoted from. t the end of the article! in a list of references! wewould nd the rest of the information needed to track down each publication.

(?or e&ample! the full reference for Etock (1OOI) is Etock! 4. (1OOI): A rica Southo the Sahara: A Geographical Interpretation . uilford Press! ew "ork. )

2ow3 how could you use this %aragra%h to 4nd $ore reading $hichsource(s) would you look for:

%f you wanted to know more about the concept of NbottomCupdevelopmentH

%f you wanted to know what approach to community development isfavoured by policyCmakersH

%f you wanted to learn about a successful development pro,ect other thanthe one discussed in this articleH

%f you wanted to e&plore issues involved in the role of LsH



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How can you use the sources in constructing your own answer?

-he sources themselves dont usually provide the answer to your question. "oullhave to decide how the sources relate to each other! to the question you startedwith! and to your own ideas. "ou should also work out how the question you areaddressing relates to the larger questions or concepts of the sub,ect in which thisassignment is set. $hen you have all that clear in your mind! you will be able towrite an introduction that makes it clear to your reader as well. Eee the bo& forsome possible ways this might look! depending on your question and yourreadings:

.ry to structure your discussion as a contribution to a wider conversationthat the sub5ect has been introducing you to6 .he way you introduce youressay de%ends on the nature o' the 7uestion and the sources8 but so$eco$$on %ossibilities are shown below:

-opic Question

7onte&t of acommon view onthe topic

Dow your essayrelates to this view

lternativesentences!depending onwhat thatrelationship is

Eignposting howyour discussionwill proceed

-his essay focusses on RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR andasks+ considers+ e&plores how+why+whether) RRRRRRR RRRRR

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. %t has been suggested (refs)that RRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRR RR RR RRRRRR RRRRR.% + this essay will show+suggest+ argue that RRRRRRRRRR RR

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRR RRR RRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR .[Alternati es might inclu!e:

"e see this in ############################## "hile there are goo! reasons or this ie$, there arealso pro%lems:

##################################### An e&amination o #################, ho$e er, !oesnot support this ie$'

"hile this ie$ is illuminating in some $ays, I $illsuggest that $e nee! also to consi!er

##################### # '(%+it will look at+ draw on (whatever sources) + L4 ?irst %+it will

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRand then RRRRRRRRRR RRR RR (what youll discuss inwhat order).

When you use sources in your writing, what does this look like?

Because your assignments ask you to use other writers ideas and information inconstructing your own discussion! you need to pay attention to how this is donein academic writing. $hen do you quote the words of a source! and when do youdiscuss its content in your own wordsH Dow do you show your reader where thismaterial can be foundH Dow do you show your reader where you are puttingforward your own ideasH $hat do you do if you read similar ideas in more thanone sourceH $hat do you do if you didnt read the original source but you found adiscussion of that in some other sourceH Ehould you quote long passages! and if not! how can you condense the material you want to quoteH $hat if the material



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you quote doesnt t smoothly into your own sentenceH "ou will have to deal withall these challenges! so its a good idea to take those questions with you to yourreading! and see how other scholars do it. Dere! we can show you brie y what todo! and refer you to further guidance in the library.

To quote, or to use your own words?

enerally! your lecturers would prefer you to discuss the ideas from your readingin your own words! for various reasons.

"ou show that you understand the ideas "ou can show how they relate to each other "ou can e&press ideas more brie y by summarising what you read.

Eometimes! though! there is a good reason to show your reader the originalwords from the source. -he original wording may convey an attitude! or emotion!or a way of thinking that would not come through so clearly if you rephrased it.

-his is particularly likely when you are discussing ;primary sources=! that is!things said or written by people who were involved in the events you are lookingat. By quoting! you share with your reader the immediate e&perience of hearingfrom participants in these events. %t is also necessary to quote directly when youwant to comment on the way that something was e&pressed by its author. $henyou are writing about creative works! this happens often! because the words of the novel! play! poem! or lm constitute the evidence for points that you aremaking. %t may also happen when you are discussing the particular way that ascholar uses terms in putting forward some idea.

Eo! quote if theres a good reason to do so! and otherwise! use your own words.

How do you show your reader where this material can be ound?

%n both cases! whether you quote directly or use your own words! you need toshow your reader where you read the ideas you are discussing. By referencing!you ful l a responsibility to both your sources and your readers. "ou give credit tothe authors of the sources you read! for the ideas and information that you foundthere. n authors writing is his+her ;intellectual property=: it belongs to thatauthor! as it is the way that authors build their professional reputation. ?or this

reason! unis take the obligation to reference sources very seriously! and if youneglect it you can be penalised for ;plagiarism= 8 that is! reproducing somebodyelses ideas or words without a reference. %ts important to be aware of thisrequirement! and you can read about it in detail athttp:++www.latrobe.edu.au+learning+integrity.html .

ost important! though! is that referencing keeps the scholarly conversationopen as well as honest. "ou tell readers where they can go to look at the originalsources you used! so they can decide whether they would have understood themin the way that you did> and if they want to know more about a source than they

found in your essay! they can follow it up for themselves. (Eometimesinternational students are uncomfortable about ustralian referencing practices!

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feeling that they may seem disrespectful of their readers. %t may be that mosteducated people in your home country were familiar with the common sources of knowledge! and would not need to be reminded of where you learned your factsand ideas. %t might even seem a little impolite to remind them! in this situation.But you will nd that! in ustralia! it is considered both polite and essential to doso.)

"ou do this by putting a reference in the sentence where you discuss a reading(as you saw in the e&tract from els! Binns! S otteu& ! /221! above)! and bylisting that reference again in the bibliography+reference list at the end of yourassignment. %f you are quoting! you put quotation marks around all the wordsthat you have copied from the source! and a reference after them> if you areusing your own words! you dont use quotation marks but you put a reference atthe end of your sentence ,ust the same.

5i*erent disciplines require di*erent styles of referencing. %n all of these!references must be given in the body of the assignment and again in a list at theend. Dowever! styles di*er

in the items of information that must be included (author! title! publisher!date! etc)

in the order of those items in the punctuation that must be used between them and in the abbreviations that can be used.

nother di*erence is that some disciplines prefer to give full details of each

publication in footnotes at the bottom (@ ;foot=) of the page! with each notematching a number in the te&t! while others prefer a short note in brackets in thete&t itself. $e dont give detailed instructions for each style here! because thelibrary provides these on its page of ;4eferencing Etyle uides= athttp:++www.lib.latrobe.edu.au+help+styleCguides.php . "ou need to nd out fromyour lecturer or your sub,ect F E which style to use for each particular sub,ect!and go to the library page to see how to use it. (5ont ,ust copy a style used inyour readings! because it may not be the one that your sub,ect requires.)

hould you quote long passages, and i not, how can you condense thematerial you want to quote? !nd what i the material you quote doesn"t ft smoothly into your own sentence?

-ry to quote only as much as you need in order to illustrate the point you aremaking. %f that runs to three lines or more! you should ;blockCindent= the wholequotation in from the margin (press ;enter= at the beginning! so that it starts ona separate line> then select the te&t and use the ;increase indent= icon on yourtoolbar to indent it). $hen you blockCindent like this! remove the quotation marksfrom around the quotation! because the indentation is the signal to your readerthat all of this is quoted. %f you have not already noticed such blockCindentation in

the te&ts you read! have a look for some e&amples now. %ts good to be con dentof how it should look! before you do it in your own work.

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ostly! however! you will be using your own words and integrating short piecesof quotation into your own sentences when you want to share with your readersome phrase that is! in itself! good evidence for the point you are making. ?orthis purpose! select only what you need from the source. "ou can even shorten aquoted sentence! if it has material that you dont need! as long as you put in dots(;ellipsis=) to show where you left something out. %f the omitted material comesfrom ,ust one sentence! leave three dots each time you leave something out(;blah blah blah G blah=). But if you are putting together bits from more thanone sentence! leave four dots. -hat fourth dot is the full stop that you have leftout! along with the missing wordsA Dowever! make sure that whatever remainsmakes sense! and that it ts smoothly together! and smoothly into yoursentence. %f repairs are necessary to make it t! you can add word(s) or changethe form of a word! putting the addition in square brackets.

$hat would this look likeH $e can make an e&ample by condensing the rst

sentence after the heading! and the third sentence of the last paragraph above:% advise you to ;quote only as much as you need! to illustrate G TyourUpoint G. even shortenTingU a quoted sentence G as long as you put in dotsG where you left something out.=

How do you show your reader where you are putting orward your ownideas?

"ou may be wondering! at this point! whether there is any place in an assignmentfor your own ideas! and if so! how will your lecturer know that they are yoursH

-his is a reasonable question! because most of your ideas! in any assignment!will be your thoughts about the ideas of others that you have read. -his may notseem very original! but after all! the point of studying at uni is to build on! and tochallenge! the knowledge you bring with you. -his is why you are given so muchreading! and e&pected to discuss it in assignments. $hat is original about yourwork is

the way you relate ideas and information from the sources to the questionyou have been asked>

the way you e&plain the ideas! and your choice of e&amples and evidence> your testing of other peoples ideas against evidence! and against the

ideas of others> your ,udgement of the strengths and limitations of other peoples thinking> your ability to ask questions arising out of your encounters with other

peoples ideas> your ability to apply the ideas of others in new conte&ts> and your ability to construct answers of your own.


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Co$$on structures o' acade$ic te#ts

ost uni courses require a lot of reading! and its much easier to get what you

need out of a te&t if you know where its likely to be. -his means you need toknow a bit about the typical ways that academic te&ts of various kinds areorganised. Probably the most common types you will encounter in print are

,ournal articles! books! and reports! and perhaps primary sources. "e%)%ase!materials come in a greater variety of forms! often with many layers of information that readers can move around by clicking on links. Eometimesmaterial on the web is identical to the print version! but has been put on the webso that more users can access it> many of the ,ournal articles and publicdocuments you read are of this kind. Lther materials! however! have beencreated for presentation online! and are not usually addressed to an academic

audience.Dow do webCbased te&ts di*er from printCbased onesH Eee the bo& below for acomparison.

any webCbased materials do not have the ;linear= structure that is familiar fromprint resources! which are designed to be read from beginning to end (thoughyou may choose to read only some parts). Because we cannot see the whole te&tat once! usually web pages provide some guidance as to how the material hasbeen divided and how the parts are related. -o help us ;navigate= around te&tsonline! there may be

a list of contents in the middle of the page a list down the leftChand or rightChand side of the page and+or tabs across the top of the page that may have dropCdown menus

with the ;contents= of a particular section.$hen using a web resource! take a few minutes to get a sense of what isincluded and how it is structured! before you plunge in.

$ithin the te&t! as you read! you will come across coloured ;hyperlinks= that youcan click on to move to someplace where that topic is dealt with in more detail!often in some other source beyond the document you are reading. %ts veryhelpful to have this immediate access to further layers of information. Dowever!it can also distract you from the main te&t you are reading! and its possible to

get lostA otice whether you need to close the linked document to return to youroriginal te&t! or whether you can use a ;back= arrow at the top left on yourscreen.

%n this guide! we focus on some characteristic structures of aca!emic te&ts!which are designed for ;linear= reading even if a version is also available onlineas well in print.

9ournal articles * book cha%ters-6


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but to fellow scholars! and you may nd them di'cult to read because its likestepping into the middle of an unfamiliar conversation. Dowever! it is here thatyou nd particular scholars new (and often contested) ideas. rticles tend tohave a characteristic structure of ;moves= that serves to share new information!and interpret its meaning and signi cance for others in the eld. %f you e&pectand look for these ;moves=! you can often get a good sense of a writers purposefrom the start.

%f academics want to get something published! they have to convince editors andreviewers that they are making a contribution to the discipline community byadding something to its discussion of a topic of common interest. -his may benew information! or a new perspective on known information! or a challenge toestablished interpretations in this area. -he opening paragraphs of an articlecommonly do this work! with some combination of the following ;moves=:

what topic this article is focussing on> the scholarly conte&t! i.e. what has already been said about this topic by

other scholars> what aspect this article is investigating> what question or problem the writer is raising about this> what the writers own idea about it is going to be> how they are going to show this.

(Etudents are sometimes confused by encountering ideas at the start of anarticle that seem to be in con ict with other ideas that follow after> but if youunderstand that those early ideas! held by people other than the author of the

article! make up the conte&t for the authors new suggestion! you will not mistakethem for the authors own viewpoint.)

ee below or an example o #mo$es% in an article abstract&

-his comes from the rst page of an article referred to earlier in this uide: el!#.! Binns! -.! and otteu&! . (/221). 7ommunityCbased development! nonCgovernmental organi ations and social capital in postCapartheid Eouth frica.Geografska Annaler Series B: Human Geography, 83 (1)! 0C10. Fike many articles!it has an ;abstract= before the article begins! summarising its purpose andcontent.

bstract ; oves=7ommunityCbased development strategies are gaining incredibility and acceptance in development circles internationallyand notably in postCapartheid Eouth frica. %n parallel! theconcept of social capital and the role of supportivenongovernmental organi ations are receiving attention as keycatalytic elements in encouraging and assisting communityCbasedinitiatives. %n this paper! a wellCdocumented initiative! the Dert og

gricultural 7oCoperative in #astern 7ape province! is reCe&amined after the passage of several years to assess the impactof social capital and the involvement of a particular nonCgovernmental organi ation in ensuring the sustainability andeconomic survival of the pro,ect. $hile both elements haveproved critical to the pro,ectVs lifeCcycle! particularly in recentyears! concerns over possible dependency and pro,ect

7onte&t of currentpractice

7onte&t of currenttheory

?ocus

Question (how does acase re ect on keyaspects of theoryH)

?indings



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Deading $hat is in this section bstract %ntroduction ethod 4esults 5iscussion

Eummary of article $hat we wanted to nd

out $hat we did to nd that

out $hat we found out $hat we think it means

Eometimes there is another section! a ;Fiterature review= between the%ntroduction and the ethod section! where the authors discuss what other workhas been done before by other scholars! and how their own research relates tothat. Dowever! this discussion is often included in the %ntroduction! without aseparate section.

n e'cient way to read this kind of article is to read the %ntroduction! so youknow what question the authors set out to answer! and then move straight to the5iscussion! where you nd out what they think their answer is. -hen you can goback and look at the method and results! which may make more sense once youknow what they led to. #specially in a ;quantitative= study (one that sets out to

nd numbers+percentages of something)! the methods and results sections arelikely to have a good deal of information about statistical operations. -his has tobe there so that scholars can ,udge how well the study was conducted! but youare unlikely to need to make notes on it! and its helpful to get an overview of thestudy before returning to the more technical parts.

Re%orts . report has a di*erent structure! and again! the structure is shaped bythe purpose and audience for the te&t.


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material in reports is presented in point form! which! again! makes it easier to;see= than in the denselyCargued paragraphs often found in academic te&ts. ("oumay wonder! for this reason! why all writing is not like thisA But academic writingis perhaps more suited to the e&ploration of theoretical comple&ities at greaterdepth! and often without resolution. Point form shows how a topic breaks downinto parts! but paragraph form is better suited to showing how the parts arerelated.)

Pri$ary sources3 the raw material that researchers go to! may be ction!letters! diaries! media reports! public or private records of many kinds CC all sortsof things. -hey werenVt written to present any main idea to an academic orprofessional readership! so youVre not looking for a problem! an argument! orconclusions. "ouVll read with questions that you bring from the sub,ect youVredoing! and make notes of anything that helps you to answer those.



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How can you take notes e=ciently 'ro$ various kinds o' sources

5i*erent noteCtaking methods suit di*erent kinds of te&ts! and serve di*erent

purposes. %f you are asked to write a close! detailed commentary on a te&t! youmay want to paraphrase and copy bits as you go. ake sure to note the pagenumbers from the te&t! as you will need them for your referencing> and if you setup your notes with a column for the notes themselves! and a column for yourown thinking ( $hy !i! I take this note* Ho$ is it use ul or my assignment* )! youcan review them more easily when you are ready to write.

Bibliographic details for your notesPage numbers

.Lodz, P 1997, Sociological Concepts of Class, Puddle Press, Melbourne

0 blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah definition of class Marx

6 blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah exam le

! blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah "eber#s def different

9 blah blah blah blah blah blah blah exam le of class acc$to "

m% class osition more li&e M#s definition or "#s'

But what if you have a lot of articles to read! and youre uncertain of what youare going to nd there! or what you may need to use in your assignmentHEometimes people waste a lot of time making copious notes that they will neveruse. lternatively! people may read several articles without taking notes! andthen have trouble remembering what was in any of them. Wery diligent studentsoften cannot tell when they have read enough and should start to writesomethingA -he format below is useful for recording very brie y! as you nisheach article! what it was about and how it relates to your assignment and toother things you have read. t the same time! you can note what kin!s of evidence it presents (not the details)! and page numbers you can go back to if you decide to use that material.


for direct quotation

"our notes of reading "our own thinking


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Bibliographic details: ( uthor! date! title! publisher Tof bookU city of publicationU> or uthor! date! article title! ,ournal title! volume! pages Tof articleU)

-his reading asks:

-he answer it gives is that: 4eason: #vidence: page

4eason: #vidence: p

4eason: #vidence:

p

4eason: #vidence: p

Delps me understand:

Problems+limitationsH

7onnections with other readingsH

Pattern notes

Eome people nd it helpful to make ;pattern notes= or ;mind maps= as visualreminders of how the ideas in a reading are related (for e&amples! go to Xames

7ook


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Grid notes

nother method of noteCtaking can be particularly helpful in enabling you to doyour thinking as you go! so that you are well on the way to producing a draft bythe time you have made your notes. -his method is suitable for most questionsthat involve some sort of comparison (and many do! even if they dont have;compare= or ;contrast= in their instructions. ?or e&ample! you might be tracing

the development of something over time 8 then the comparison would bebetween an earlier and a later stage of that development.)

Dere is a general template! and below! an e&ample of a more elaborated version.

Thing One Thing TwoPoints of com arison ()idence Points of com arison ()idence *o +hat'

">A


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national miningcompany

land to mine. Focalslost rights to useland> dependent onselling labour> poordiet

enderrelations

1OI2s en hunted$omen gathered

ens greater physicalstrength> gatheringcould be combinedwith childCrearing

ender roles di*erentbut both valued

now en sell their labour>women are unemployed

$here physicalstrength is essential!women are lessproductive

en have soleeconomic power infamily

?amilystructure

1OI2s #&tended family lived inlarge group

?ood supply adequateS no knownalternative

4esources shared

now uclear f amilies of middleCaged adults S youngchildren

Poverty leads todecreased support forelders S young adults

"outh move to city to ,oin cash economy

4eligion 1OI2s $orshipped spirits of landand animal life

Epirituality integratedwith maintenance of food sources

uthority of eldersderived frome&perience of livingo* the land

now 7hristian issionaries o*ereducation to converts

-raditions no longerrespected! authorityshifts to 7hurch

Eo whatH 7onclusion:


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Structuring your own writing

fter the content! probably the most important aspect of your writing is theway you organise it. -o be successful! the writing must be perceived ascoherent: that is! readers must think the writing holds together and makes

sense. $e say that it ;must be perceived= this way! because there is nosingle standard of coherenceA "ou achieve coherence by organising yourmaterial in a way that your readers e&pect! and that varies with the type of te&t (essayH reportH something elseH) and the educational culture withinwhich you are writing.

re you e&pected to provide lots of background and currentinformation about your topic! and let your reader draw their ownconclusions about how that answers your questionH Lr should youspell out! early and e&plicitly! what your reader ought to concludefrom the information you are going to presentH

re you meant to display vast knowledge about your topic! or presentonly what is needed to address a limited questionH

Ehould you enrich your readers e&perience by using poetic language!or be direct and concise in your styleH

-here is no universal answer to these questions! but di*erenteducational cultures have strong preferences for one option or anotherA?or each of the choices above! ustralian academic readers are likely toprefer the second and may even ,udge the rst incompetent. ustralianacademic readers e&pect the things they read to be structured so that

%oints are $ade 4rst3 and are then develo%ed 'urther . "ou haveseen how this works in an abstract or in the summary at the start of areport. %n an essay! it means that the rst! ;introductory=! paragraphshould make the overall point the essay will develop. -hen! in each;body= paragraph! the rst (;topic=) sentence should make the point of the paragraph! and then supporting sentences e&plain that point andillustrate it with evidence. -he whole essay is closely focussed on thequestion and its conte&t! and only material that is relevant to that iswelcomed. nd! as the essay unfolds! there are connecting words andphrases that show the reader how ideas relate to each other and to the

main! organising idea of the essay. (Eee the diagram below.)



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Structure a pieceof academic writing

To answer these questions in areaders mind

Introduction

Topic

Context

Question/problem

Thesis

Signposting

Whats this about?

What larger discussion does it relate to?

What is this writer asking?

What does s/he think is the answer?

How is s/he going to show it to me?

Point

!explanation"

#$idence/example

With re%erence!s"

Wh& does s/he think this?

!what does this mean?"

'ased on what?

Where did s/he learn this?

Point !and so on" !same (uestions again"

Conclusion So what? How does all this relate towhat s/he asked at the beginning?

-his ;deductive= structure is considered appropriate in ngloCwestern academicculture! where it re ects the idea that each individual plays a role in theconstruction of knowledge and must be e&plicit and assertive in doing so.

eaning is the writers responsibility! not the readers. %n some other academiccultures! where readers take more responsibility for deciding what the te&tconveys! people are made uncomfortable by a way of writing that insists upon itsconclusions from the start. %t seems to them more respectful to approach thatconclusion indirectly! giving lots of background and allowing readers to do more

of the thinking for themselves (as we do! for e&ample! in detective stories). %f youare used to that ;inductive= structure! and the cultural values underpinning it!you need to know that ustralian tutors will not think it disrespectful if you tellthem what you want them to think right from the start. -hey will nd it helpful!and feel con dent that you know where you are going and will take them thereA

$hen you have written a draft! you can check how coherent it is by making anew document and pasting into it>

"our introductory paragraph -he topic sentence of each paragraph after that "our concluding paragraph



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-hat will give you a very short version of your whole essay. %f the structuredoesnt seem coherent! be ready to revise it. ost pieces of writing have to gothrough several drafts before they are good enough to submit. "ou can feel freeto make whatever mess you need to! in your rst draft! because its only for you!to get your ideas out where you can see them. Fuckily! there is a good routine forrevision that will help you to reCarrange them so that your reader can see themtooA

Revising 'or structure: Ste%s in brie'

Print out your assignment> get ready to literally cut and pasteAFabel each paragraph in your draft with a few words in the margin! saying whatit deals with. %n this way! you can

ake an outline of your whole draft Eee if youve dealt with any point in more than one place. %f so! bring

that material together! and weed out any repetition. Eee if any paragraph doesnt make any relevant point. %f there is a point

to be made! make it in the topic ( rst) sentence> if not! discard thatmaterial.

Eee if any paragraph makes more than one point. %f so! separate thematerial into two (or more) paragraphs! and write a topic sentence foreach.

Eee if the material ows logically> if not! try rearranging it till itdoes.

Eee if youve shown connections between ideas! transitions fromone section to the ne&t. $rite any missing links.

Lnce youve got all that under control! you can go back to thebeginning of your draft and check that the rst paragraphintroduces what you have now producedA

?anguage o' coherence6

s you saw in that routine for revising! coherence has two aspects 8 arrangingthe te&t according to the relationships between your points! and showing yourreader how youve arranged it. %ts important to signpost! early in the te&t! how itis going to unfold. nd! as it goes on! you should make the connections between

ideas e&plicit as you move from one part of a paragraph to another! and as youmove from one paragraph to the ne&t. %ts possible to overdo this! if theconnection is so obvious that it doesnt need to be e&pressed. Lften! however! aword or a phrase is needed to ;glue= ideas together: ho$e er, on the other han!,

urthermore, in act, or e&ample, in the e ent . (?or a collection of useful wordsand phrases! go to http:++www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk+ ). Eometimes thismay take a whole sentence! or! in a long and comple& section! even a shortparagraph. Eee below for an e&ample of how this can work.

"#a$%le

-he following are ,ust the topic sentences from a series of paragraphs in .5.Emiths book +ational I!entity (Fondon: Penguin Books! 1OO1)! in which he sets

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out ;the elements of national identity=. "ou can see how! with each newparagraph! Emith recalls the point of the previous paragraph (or paragraphs) andthen adds something new! which he is going to discuss ne&t. #ach point is givena di*erent colour below! to help you trace the development of this structure. tthe same time! another use of language to signpost the structure of the te&t ishighlighted in pink: frst, secon!, concurrent $ith, fnally'

Gwhat we mean by YnationalY identity involves some sense of politicalcommunity ! however tenuous.

-his is! of course! a peculiarly $estern conception of the nation.

%t is worth spelling out this $estern or YcivicY model of the nation in more detail. %tis! in the rst place! a predominantly spatial or territorial conception.

second element is the idea of a patria ! a community of laws and institutions witha single political will.

7oncurrent with the growth of a sense of legal and political community we maytrace a sense of legal equality among the members of that community.

?inally! the legal equality of members of a political community in its demarcatedhomeland was felt to presuppose a measure of common values and traditionsamong the population! or at any rate its YcoreY community.

Distoric territory ! legal Cpolitical community ! legal Cpolitical equality of its members!and common civic culture and ideology > these are the components of thestandard ! $estern model of the nation.

Structuring a @


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1. echanics of coherence at all levels:

Fabelling 8 contents! titles and headings $hole te&t 8 make main point in introduction #ach section(chapter) 8 make main point at beginning #ach paragraph 8 make main point in rst sentence (;topic

sentence=)

/. Fanguage of coherence 8 guide your reader through the te&t by;signposting=: forecasting! linking! making transitions! recapping! anddrawing conclusions. Eome language choices you may fn! use ul are inthe ta%le %elo$, an! more can %e oun! athttp:++www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk+

Bunction ?anguage

)ntroducing an idea %t is argued+ % argue that+ %t is suggested+ %suggest%t is arguable that+ %t seems that+ %t may be

that -his essay will ask+ argue+ e&plore+ analyse+e&amine+ look at G the arguments+evidence+ development ofG

;uilding u% an idea (e&plaining! givinge&amples! adding! bringing in anotheraspect):

?or e&ample+ -o illustrate+ Gsuch asG+ %nother words+ %n addition+ nother+ %t isrelevant to add+%t should be noted+ %n this connection+Eimilarly+ likewise+ -hus+

oreover+furthermore!Chronology *ti$e order- ?irst+ Eecondly+ fter that+ -hen+ e&t!Si$ilarity Eimilarly+ FikewiseContrast %n contrast+ 7onversely+ Ln the other hand+

$hile+ lthough+ Dowever+ evertheless+onetheless+

5espite+in spite of+ otwithstanding+$hereas!

Cause e&ect $ith this in mind+ %n view of this+ s aresult+ -herefore+ 7onsequently!

Su$$ary(not necessarily at the end of the essay>

perhaps also between stages of theargument)

%n conclusion+ -o sum up+ %n summary+ %nshort +%n brief!

"valuating Ln balance + overall!

hat the Parts o' a .hesis .ell the Reader

%n scienti c disciplines! a thesis may follow the ;% 45= structure described forresearch articles (above)! with %ntroduction> ethod> 4esults> and 5iscussion. %nhumanities and social sciences! the thesis has no rigid boundaries between the

literature! the facts! and the interpretation! but its structure covers roughly the

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same ground. %n either case! your thesis needs to answer these questions in youre&aminers mind:

$hat current disciplinary+ professional conversation does your thesis relate toH Dow does it relate to that conversationH

$hat problem+question does it addressH Dow does it go about thisH $hat do your ndings suggestH $hat does this imply for practice in this eldH


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riting style

$riting for humanities and social science sub,ects is ideally clear andstraightforward. "ou may nd yourself reading some sources that dont live up tothat ideal! but youll appreciate the ones that do! and your lecturers feel thesame about your writingA


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An ob5ect answers the question Nwhat after the verb e.g. Ndecide whatH ?or e&ample!

-he voters decide the result.

'sub(ect) '$erb) 'ob(ect)

A co$%le$ent says what something is+was etc. ?or e&ample!

-he students were confused.

'sub(ect) '$erb) 'complement)

An adverbial tells us ho$, $hen, $here ! or $hy . ?or e&ample!

%n most places 3 the voters lled out their ballots carefully.

'ad$erbial * where) 'sub(ect) '$erb) 'ob(ect)'ad$erbial + how-

otice that we use a comma when the adverbial element comes before the sub,ect.

ome o the most common grammar errors

D6 Co$$a s%lice error(a ;splice= is a ,oining of / separate things! like ropes or sections of lm)

comma splice error occurs when two complete sentences are ,oined together by acomma. ?or e&ample:

.hugs intimi!ate! oters, the election aile!'

7omma splice errors are quite common! particularly for native speakers of #nglish. -heyoften result from the desire to avoid writing short sentences. Lften! too! people writethese sentences because they know that a sentence must contain a complete thought!and if their idea isnt nished! they keep going until it isA Dowever! it can take severalsentences 8 indeed! a whole essay 8 to discuss an idea fully. ;complete thought= is noteverything you have to say! but enough to make sense.

comma splice error can be &ed in di*erent ways! depending on the length of thesentences and the way their contents are related.

%f the two sentences are short! you can ,oin them with a con,unction (;,oiningword=) such as ;and=! ;so=! or ;but=! that e&presses the relationship between thetwo ideas:.hugs intimi!ate! oters, so the election aile!'

n alternative is the semicolon! which is useful when there is no word thate&presses the relationship between ideas:

.hugs intimi!ate! oters/ this occurre! at many polling stations'



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"ou can use a colon if the relationship is general: speci c 8 that is! the rst partsays something general! and the second part says something more speci c aboutthat:

.hugs intimi!ate! oters: they %eat them up or threatene! their amilies $ithiolence'

-he ;something more speci c= could be an e&planation> more details> or ane&ample. -his is why writers often use a colon to add a quotation that e&plains ore&empli es a point they have made:

.hugs intimi!ate! oters: 0"e $ill kno$ i you ha e trie! to ote an! $e $illmake you sorry1, illagers $ere tol! in one constituency 2 uller, 4553, p' 67 '

%f the two sentences are already rather long! it is better to put a full stop betweenand have two separate sentences.

Backe! %y the party in po$er, thugs intimi!ate! oters' .here ore, the electionaile! !espite the e9orts o o%ser ers to ensure a ree an! air polling process'

E6 Run on sentence4un on sentences are the same as the comma splice errors described above! e&cept thatthere is no comma placed between the two sentences. -hese are less frequent thancomma splice errors and can be &ed in the same way.

.hugs intimi!ate! oters they %eat them up or threatene! their amilies $ithiolence'

.hugs intimi!ate! oters: they %eat them up or threatene! their amilies $ithiolence'

/6 Sentence 'rag$ent fragment is an incomplete sentence. ?ragments do not convey a complete thought!

either because theyve been separated from the main idea or because they lack a verb ora sub,ect.

Because the ruling party re use! to han! o er po$er' ?4 # -

-o correct this sentence it needs another part. ?or e&ample:

Because the ruling party re use! to han! o er po$er, the election aile!'

-here are many words similar to ;because= that! when used in this way! require anotherpart to make a full sentence. Eome e&amples are given in the table below. 5ont beconfused. -his doesnt mean that you cant start a sentence with NBecause (a commonurban grammar mythA). "ou can start a sentence with NBecause as long as you make sureto include the other part of the sentence.

?ragment e&ample



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Because+since

Because the ruling party clung to power.

lthough+$hereas+while

lthough a ma,ority wanted change.


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aking sub,ects agree with verbs is fairly easy when the sentence is short and thesub,ect is right ne&t to its verb. Dowever! when sentences are long and comple&! sub,ectverb agreement can be more di'cult! as in the following e&ample.

unctuating long sentences, such as the ones in the ollo$ing e&amples, cause!i;culties or many $riters' 2 er%

unctuating long sentences, such as the ones in the ollo$ing e&amples, causes!i;culties or many $riters'2 er%

%n order to check whether the sub,ect agrees with the verb! you rst need to identify themain verb in the sentence (;cause= in the sentences above) and then ask who or whatcauses di'cultiesH -he answer is ;punctuating= (not ;e&amples=). ;Punctuating= is

singular (;it=! not ;they=)! so the verb must be singular too.

,6 Proble$s with co$$asany people are unsure how to use commas correctly. lot of the time! this doesnt

matter as many sentences ;requiring= a comma can be easily understood even withoutthe comma. Dowever! a comma acts as a visual aid to the reader by making the sub,ectand verb more visible! because they are the most important part of the sentence.

i) Eeparate any introductory phrases o* with a comma! so readers can easily nd thesub,ect and verb that come ne&t:

"here threats $ere ma!e the turnout $as lo$'

< "here threats $ere ma!e, the turnout $as lo$'

*introductory bit- *$ain %art o' sentence-

ii) 5ont separate the sub,ect from the verb with a comma! because it suggests thatthey dont belong together:

.he turnout, $as lo$'

*sub5ect- *verb-

< .he turnout $as lo$'

iii) %f you put any information in between the sub,ect and verb that is additional but notcrucial to the meaning of the sentence! separate it o* with a comma at each end.

-his alerts the reader to hold the sub,ect in mind until they nd the verb at the otherend.

.he turnout, in!epen!ent o%ser ers reporte!, $as lo$'

*sub5ect- *verb-

%n the ne&t e&ample! the inserted information is crucial! that is! it couldnt beremoved without damaging the meaning of the sentence. -his is because the low

turnout was caused by the threats. s the information is essential! it is not enclosedin commas.



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.he turnout $here threats $ere ma!e $as lo$'

5ont! in any case! put in ,ust one of those commas and not the other 8 it confusesthe signals you want to send about what belongs with whatA

.he turnout, in!epen!ent o%ser ers reporte! $as lo$'

.he turnout in!epen!ent o%ser ers reporte!, $as lo$'

%t may seem strange that punctuation can direct a readers attention in these ways! butthese are conventions that we learn from reading which help us navigate through longand comple& sentences without losing the plot. ostly! commas in writing are matchedby pauses in speech! because they mark the ;chunks= and shifts of meaning in asentence. Dowever! it doesnt work to throw in commas wherever you would pause if youwere reading aloud! because we pause in speech more often! and for more di*erentreasons (for emphasis! or ,ust to breatheA). "our safest guide is the grammaticalreasoning above.

6 Parallel structureProblems with maintaining parallel structure often occur when constructing lists! either asdot points or within a sentence. %tems in a list should be the same type of word in termsof grammar! for e&ample! a list of nouns or a list of verbs. -he following e&amples shouldillustrate.

.he o%=ecti es o this analysis are:I!enti ying the main categories o cultural !i9erence.o gi e an account o the !angers o stereotyping.he !i9erent $ays to conceptualise !i9erence

#ach of the dot points has a di*erent grammatical form. -o give the items in the listparallel structure! they should have the same grammatical form as in the list of verbs(actions) below.

.he o%=ecti es o this analysis are to:i!enti y the main categories o cultural !i9erencegi e an account o the !angers o stereotyping!escri%e the !i9erent $ays to conceptualise !i9erence'

6


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I6 A%ostro%hespostrophes are notoriously di'cult to use correctly. -here is even a website showing

e&amples of Napostrophe abuse on signs from around the world:www.apostropheabuse.com+

postrophes are used for two main reasons:

D6 .o denote one or $ore $issing letter*s-$hen we put two short words together! we use an apostrophe to show that a letter ismissing. %t is not co$$on to use these shortened forms in academic writing. Dere aresome e&amples.

do not dont > is not isnt> you are youre> it is its

we are were> he would hed> would have wouldve

( ote that $oul! e and coul! e are contractions of $oul! ha e and coul! ha e ! not$oul! o or coul! o .)

$e do not use an apostrophe to make a plural! even with abbreviations! acronyms! oryears! where you may think it looks funny ,ust to add an ;s=. $e do ,ust add an ;s=A

75s 75s


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A %oint o' con'usion

-he words that cause the most confusion when using apostrophes are it"s and its 6

-t"s 8 the apostrophe denotes a missing letter (i.e. short form of it is )

-ts 8 is used to show possession but has no apostrophe (e.g. Its ears are big).

A word about


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features of other languages (Fatin! reek! ?rench! erman! and others) withwhich it has come into contact.

#nglish uses changes at the ends of words to show

whether something is singular or plural (number)! whether an action is in the past! present! or future (tense) and whether it is complete or continuing (aspect).

%t adds %re4#es to the beginning o' a word that change its meaning! fore&ample:

as sist! !e sist! re sist! per sist! su%sist! insist.

?urthermore! variations o' the sa$e word do di*erent grammatical ,obs! fore&ample:

d,ective (what kind of) oun (what) Werb (does what) dverb (how)care ul care rs care car ingly

-hese ways of signalling meaning may or may not occur in your rst language>and when they do occur! the system that structures them may be quite di*erentfrom #nglish.

hen a $eaning in one language has no $atch in another ! it can be hardto learn because it is hard to understand. ?or e&ample! speakers of otherlanguages often nd that using ;a= and ;the= in #nglish is a problem as manyother languages have no equivalent words and their use in #nglish is a ma e of rules and e&ceptionsA

.he @article : )nde4nite (e4nite 2ot even there at all

; = before a noun means that we dont know $hich one is meant:) law was passed last &ear* ( $hat lawH $e dont know yet .)

;-he= means that we know which one is meant!either because its been mentioned before:

) law was passed last &ear* The law made drug use a capital crime*or because the sentence speci es which one it is:

The law making drug use a capital crime was passed last &ear .or because there is only one that could be meant:

the Pope+ the President o% #g&pt+ the moon

o article is used when we mean to generalise about something:,aw is needed to regulate social beha$iour*



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ost of the changes in the form of words that are required in #nglish are not aproblem for people who learned the language naturally! as children> but they canbe di'cult to remember if #nglish is not your rst language. "ou have studied#nglish grammar and youre aware of most of these things! but they are notautomatic and errors are likely to persist in your writing. ?or speaking! it may notmatter very much if you dont get all the forms right! because your choice of words themselves will usually communicate your meaning adequately. %f listenersare confused! they can ask for clari cation. But lecturers marking your writtenwork can become distracted! and even annoyed! by errors that require them tomake repairs in their mind as they read your assignments.

So what can you do

$hen you have got your ideas down on paper! and organised them to yoursatisfaction! then its time to edit your grammar. -his is more e'cient if youknow what errors you should be looking for 8 that is! which errors arecharacteristic of your work. %f you have got an assignment back with commentsand corrections! go through it carefully to see what kin!s of errors you havemade. 5o you have di'culty with where to put ;a= or ;the=H 5o you often forgetto put ;s= on the end of a word to show that it is pluralH 5o you forget to puttense endings on verbsH 5o you have di'culty with changes of tense in reportedspeech! or changes of word order in reported questionsH ll of these are commonproblems for writers from language backgrounds other than #nglish. %dentify yourpatterns of errors! make a list! and go through your draft looking for each kind of error that you are likely to make.

?anguage hel% elsewhere *whether "nglish is your 4rst or additionallanguage-

-here are too many kinds of common errors to deal with in this resource! buthelpful sources are available on the internet. Eome of the best advice can befound on the websites of

Purdue their front page is not as helpful as the site map! % feel)


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here to 4nd $ore hel%

Jour lecturers have consultation hours every week! when you can ask their

advice. -hey will not read drafts of your work! but if you make a brief plan of your assignment they may tell you if you are on the right track! or if there issomething you have not yet understood! or some source you haveoverlooked.

.he library sta& are available to help you develop your skills in searchingfor information! and di*erent sta* members specialise in di*erent sub,ectareas. "ou can ask to speak to a librarian with e&pertise in your eld. -helibrary also o*ers training sessions ( http:++www.lib.latrobe.edu.au+training+ ) ina range of things you might want to know more about! such as

managing a long document (think minor thesisA) installing and using #ndnote! a software system for handling your

references which is available free to sta* and students of Fa -robe dealing with qualitative data statistics and moreA (check out the page to see what training is on o*er at your

campus)

Acade$ic ?anguage and ?earning *A??- sta& are available in each?aculty (at Bundoora) and each regional campus. "ou can ask your lecturer tosend a referral to FF! and a sta* member will contact you about anappointment when you can talk about how to improve your work for yoursub,ects.

A%art 'ro$ acade$ic su%%ort3 you $ay want to be aware o' otherkinds o' assistance in relation to a range of needs includingaccommodation! nancial! legal! health (including mental health)! child care!cultural! religious and other areas of life. %f you have moved in order to study!you may not know what kinds of help are available in your new location> inparticular! if you have come from overseas! you may not be aware of supportavailable! for e&ample! to help you with the emotional stress of leaving family

members behind! or the practical demands of looking after them if you havebrought them with you. lso! you may not know about ustralian law andservices to help you if you are a victim of crime or if a dangerous situationdevelops involving people you know! whether at work! in your neighbourhood!or even in your family. $hile such problems are uncommon! they can happento anybody on rare occasions! and its good to be able to ask for advice fromone or another of the services at your university. Fa -robe has:

a 7ounselling Eervice that can help with stresshttps:++www.latrobe.edu.au+counselling+

http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/training/https://www.latrobe.edu.au/counselling/http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/learningmailto:[email protected]://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/training/https://www.latrobe.edu.au/counselling/http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/learningmailto:[email protected]


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an #quality and 5iversity 7entre that helps with disability! support forrefugees! issues of equal opportunity! and related mattershttp:++www.latrobe.edu.au+equality+inde&.html an %ndigenous #ducation L'ce http:++www.latrobe.edu.au+indigenous+ )a 7haplaincy representing a range of faiths

http:++www.latrobe.edu.au+chaplaincy+ a legal service o*ered through the Etudent


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Organising your individual study and or grou% %ro5ects

%f youve got as far as doing postgrad work! youre probably really good atorganising yourself! whether you learned those skills on a ,ob! or wranglingchildren! or managing a previous course of study (or all of those at onceA). ?orpostgrad study! there are ,ust a few particular things to be aware of! which maynot have been part of your earlier e&perience.

Planning on the scale o' a se$ester

ost of us use diaries to keep track of what we have to do and when. But if youre mapping out your work for a whole semester! youll probably nd a posterCsi ed planner is useful to allow you to see all your tasks at once. "ou can makeyour own planner showing what is due in each week of semester. (Eee below fora possible model> and if you use this! youll notice that youll have to addsub,ects down the leftChand column as needed! and also the weeks aftersemester break that are not shown here for reasons of space.)

Se$ester Planner

$##6

E


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and try to nd spaces in your day or your week when it is possible to get thesedone. grid can be a useful tool for this.

%t is important to be realistic. 5ont set impossible goals for yourself. "oull bemore likely to stick to your timetable if you take into account

the limitations of your attention span (nobody can read all day with closeattention. ot ,ust you. obody.)

the importance of food! fresh air! sleep! and the people you love.

Lne consideration! for students who visit the campus infrequently! is to organi ethat time to include whatever combination of things you need to be on campus toaccomplish: not ,ust class attendance! but sociali ing with fellow students!visiting your supervisor! collecting sources from the library! sorting outadministrative queries or paperwork! etc. ?or all kinds of meetings! rememberthat its essential to be on time. ?or one thing! its an (essential) courtesy to theother people involved> but also! the most important things typically happen inthe rst few minutes 8 announcements! e&planation of tasks! introduction to themost important concepts for that class! etc.

?inally! be aware that planning is not ,ust a matter of allocating time! but also of getting a grip on how your course is planned to develop over time. "oull doyourself a huge favour if you read the whole sub,ect learning guide for eachsub,ect in the rst few days. t the beginning of the guide! note the aims of thesub,ect! and the learning ob,ectives you are e&pected to achieve. -hen read thequestions and tasks that unfold week by week! so you can see:

$here the sub,ect introduces its main concepts! and how it builds on them

over timeDow the readings and other learning activities are designed to engage youwith di*erent aspects of those concepts! and give you practice in applyingthem



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Organising to work with a grou%

-his! too! is something you may be very good at already. Dowever! if you oranybody in your study group is not used to working as a team! it may be helpfulto share with them some routines that are commonly used.

Planning6 -his involves identifying roles! identifying subtasks! and agreeing onprocedures.

"ou may need

a chairperson to take the group through each meetings work> a recordCkeeper to take notes each time and circulate them afterwards> a timeCkeeper to ensure that each part of the work! and each member of

the group! gets enough time (but not too much)> and perhaps a pro,ect manager to keep track of each members progress

on the subCtask s+he is responsible for.

%dentifying subCtasks. -hese may include:

gathering various kinds of information (readingH statisticsH imagesHinterviewsH observationsH)>

designing ;tools= such as questionnaires! categories for analysinginformation! or formats for presenting your results

di*erent roles or contributions to the end product for assessment (writingH

editingH proofreadingH illustratingH speakingH)

5eciding on procedures

Dow often to meet $here to meet (in personH electronicallyH some combinationH) Dow to manage plans (an agenda for each meetingH)! records (minutes or

dot pointsH)! and responsibilities. ood e&amples of an agenda and a setof minutes can be found at the Digher #ducation cademy website!http:++learnhigher.ac.uk+Etudents+ roupCwork.html . simple format thathandles everything could be:

5ate

%tem $hose4esponsibility

5one -o do

http://learnhigher.ac.uk/Students/Group-work.htmlhttp://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/learningmailto:[email protected]://learnhigher.ac.uk/Students/Group-work.htmlhttp://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/learningmailto:[email protected]


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(istributing sub0tasks6 $hen team work goes well! its because everyoneknows what needs to be done! and what they are responsible for. "ou may wantto consider:

$hat skills+knowledge each member brings to the task $hat skills+knowledge each would like to develop $hat constraints each member has (time> distance from uni> cultural

constraints on certain activities> language> disability). obody should doless because of a particular constraint> but you should nd ways of enabling each member to do the best they can.

$hat could be usefully done in pairs (someone with e&pertise in someaspect of the task partnered with somebody ine&perienced! so skills areshared)

?airness. Eome subCtasks need to be done earlier in the process! somelater. Eome are bigger than others.

Overco$ing di=culties6 -hese may be of various kinds:

Problems with communications (make a contact list for all members to use!and make sure its clear who has to communicate what! with whom! bywhen)

Problems with keeping to the timetable youve planned (if somebody is indi'culty! nd out why! and how the rest of you can help> but make surethe person who falls behind contributes fairly in return)

Problems with technology (see what the group can do before asking thetutors advice)

Problems with personalities. %f you feel that a member of your group is toodominant! or too passive! or too la y! or plain incompetent! you need to

nd a way to deal with that. t the same time! bear in mind that everyoneis di*erent 8 if somebody is naturally shy or quiet! they may be great atresearch or writing ! and may not need to do much speaking. lso! itsimportant to be aware of cultural di*erences! as peoples willingness to becritical! outspoken! outgoing! etc! can depend on cultural values andpreferences which should be respected. ?inally! be aware that if #nglish isnot somebodys rst language! they may need a little while to form whatthey want to say! and discussion should allow for that. %ts often too simpleto attribute di*erent ways of interacting to personality! when so manythings shape who we are and how we work together.

9ointly constructing and delivering work 'or assess$ent6 -here are manyways to do this! depending on the tasks! how you have shared them out! andwhat skills your members bring to the work. "ou will need to decide whether to

sit down together and draft a ,oint presentation! or compile individuals contributions into one le or document! or entrust the nal writeCup! PP-! or whatever to one member of the group!

who is therefore asked to do less of the earlier work

ReMecting on grou% work



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-his may be a component of your submission for assessment. %f so! the purposeis to get you to think about what you have learned (for better or for worseA)about working in a group. $hat went well! and whyH $hat didnt go well! andwhy notH $hat could you have done di*erently! for a better resultH $hat wouldyou be sure to do whenever you are called upon to work in a group! based on thise&perienceH

+se'ul links:

Digher #ducation cademy: http:++learnhigher.ac.uk+Etudents+ roupCwork.html

Darvard


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Oral Presentations and visual aids *Posters3 PP.3 PreKis-

$hile you will usually submit a written version of your work! you may also be

e&pected to present it to your class orally or online. -his can be a greatopportunity to learn presentation technologies such as posters! PowerPoint or;pre i=. "ou can make visual aids to support your spoken delivery! ranging frombasic points to more comple& multimedia creations incorporating lm clips!pictures! graphics and animations. ost of these technologies o*er freetemplates! or starter versions! along with online tutorials in how to use them. -hewebsites below are only a few of those you can nd via a web search (the oneswe found most helpful at a basic level).

Posters: -hese can be made on PowerPoint or icrosoft $ord. -heyre notdi'cult to design! but before you decide to make one! check how you will get itprinted! as that can be e&pensive if you have to pay a printer.


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the problem you are working on. 5ont assume that the audience isalready familiar with your topic or pro,ect.

ive a clear statement of the $ain %oint of your presentation. Provide a %lan of your presentation by outlining the main points to

follow.

(iscussion Bindings *body o' the %resentation-: aims to inform youraudience.

Present only a 'ew $ain %oints . %t is better to discuss each point indepth.


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Pre i cademy Fesson 1:EtepCbyCEtep -utorial on Pre i Basics by ngeliegarwal at http:++pre i.com+learn+gettingCstarted

Pre i: 7hoose a license to start using Pre i athttp:++pre i.com+pro le+signup

?inally! onash


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Avoid reading the presentation as there is an automatic drop in both audienceattention and marks. Dowever! it is unwise to attempt to memorise the wholespeech. T?or some very nervous people! a script may be useful to fall back on!but if you use one! make sure that you write in conversational ;spoken=language! not formal ;written= language. ?or e&ample! use contractions ( !i!n t instead of !i! not > build in some repetition so listeners dont have to hold toomuch in memory.U

Eome useful hints:

D6 +se %ower %oint slides as cues: Eummarise each main supportingpoint.


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you to think about a (speci ed) problem in your pro,ect! or steer you towardmore reading on some particular aspect. t the end of your talk! repeat therequest! and+or ask if they would share their own e&periences with a problem of this kind.



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Annotated ;ibliogra%hies

hat is this "ou could think of this as the thing you wish a friend whod done

the sub,ect last year had handed you ,ust before you started your research. %ts alist of sources on some topic! each one accompanied by a paragraph saying whatthat source is good for.


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Reviews

n academic review is a bit di*erent from the kind you nd in newspapers ormaga ines! which usually focus on how interesting the book was! and how wellwritten (or not). $hen you review a book or article for a university sub,ect! thequality of the writing is not the main focus. "our purpose is to tell another readerwhat the central idea of the book is> how it is argued (i.e. what points! supportedwith what kinds of evidence! arranged in what kind of structure)> and how usefulit is in helping you to think about its central questions! S+or whatever questionsyou took to it. ?ollow any special instructions your lecturer gives you> but theseare the aspects you should probably cover:

Review o' a reading: -opic 7onte&t (what discussion does it contribute toH)Purpose

ethodEtructure7ontent (themes S+or argument)

ssess: Dow is it usefulH -o discussion in the discipline

-o you as a reader Dow useful is itH

Etrengths 8 problems 8 limitations



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?iterature reviews

%n the conte&t of this assignment! ;literature= does not mean ction. $hen weput ;the= in front of it! ;the literature= on some topic means the publications thatacademics have written about it. %n a literature review! youre looking at a lot of di*erent sources to see how they have dealt with some particular topic.

)t1s nor$ally an early stage o' so$e larger %ro5ect 8 a preliminary to yourown research. -he aim is to nd what other people have published about thetopic that interests you! to see what themes and issues have interested them> how their work helps you to think about your topic> what they agree about! and what they dont> and what still remains to be asked about your topic! in the light of what theyve

said.

Bind what you can3 read it and decide how it1s relevant to your own%ro5ect . Eome sources may o*er a framework within which you will e&plore yourtopic! or a method you will use in your research. lternatively! some may haveapproached the topic in a way that you see problems with! and your research willtry to correct their mistake or ll a gap theyve left. #ither way! they are aspringboard for your own investigation! and your literature review will need toe&plain how.

How is it di&erent 'ro$ an annotated bibliogra%hy -he literature review issimilar in purpose ! but it takes a di*erent orm. "ou start with a paragraphintroducing your pro,ect and giving an overview of the literature youve found.(;-here is some debate about the e*ect on court proceedings of ,udges wearingwigs and gowns. -he literature has focused mainly on the bene ts of anonymityfor ,udges and of respect for ,udicial authority! on the one hand> and on thedisadvantages of creating an intimidating distance between citi ens and the law!on the other.=) -hen! in paragraphs with or without headings (check with yourlecturer on this) you go into detail! not source by source but theme by theme!looking at how various sources! or clusters of sources! deal with each theme.

"oure likely to have sentences like ;$hile Bloggs and Pugg (1OO/) see wigs asoldCfashioned and ridiculous! Emith (/221) has found that ,urors are in awe of them! and Foonish (1OMO) notes that spectators behaviour is more subdued incourts where ,udges sit in wigs and gowns=. ?or another way of dealing withmultiple references! try ;Eeveral writers have noted the intimidating e*ect of wigs and gowns in court (Emith /221> Foonish 1OMO> 4umpole 1OMI S 1OMK).=$hen youve covered the ground! conclude with a brief paragraph! drawing outwhat seems to be the most interesting idea(s) emerging out of your review of theliterature> and if youve been asked to do this assignment in order to formulate aresearch question of your own! this is the place to say what that is! and how it

relates to the sources youve discussed.

http://www.latrob

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