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Use the quizzes on this page to test your knowledge of reflective writing. Academic reflection: Quick quiz Features of DIEP...
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Students are frequently required to use academic style for their university assignments. In the same way that recipes or letters use a particular style and form of language, academic assignments usually follow a particular style. Use the tips on this page to become familiar with this language style. Be specific...
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Do you have information such as raw data or graphs that you think are too long or distracting to put into the body of your assignment? Keep reading to find out how appendices could be used to solve this problem. An appendix is a section at the end of an...
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Argument analysis is the process of breaking down an argument to determine if it is logical and well-supported. This helps you think critically, which is one of the key skills required in university study. In this section, we will start by learning about the key steps and elements of argument...
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The first step of any assignment should be to become familiar with the assignment instructions. This will help you to know exactly what is required by the task and help you to focus your energy on the right tasks. The following example explains how to analyse a task in order...
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In this tutorial you will learn why it is important to use high quality information. Hint: you'll get better grades! You will learn the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly information as well as strategies to help you critically evaluate information. Why can't I just Google it? Google is a good...
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For some literature review assignments, you will be given a topic to explore. For others, you will need to find your own topic. Keep reading to find out how to select a topic to research that will help you meet the requirements of your assignment and how to gather the...
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This page explains the process of contextualising a field of enquiry — an important step to creating a studio knowledge object. Contextualising the field of enquiry The first section of a studio knowledge object is where the field of enquiry is contextualised, and this section serves as an introduction. It...
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Let's unpack some of the key terms involved in argument analysis. On this page, you'll find some of the terminology you'll need to get started, along with explanations and examples. Contention A contention is the main point of view or opinion the writer is wanting to convey to the reader,...
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An essay is a discussion in response to a question or statement. In it, you present an argument based on evidence and your analysis of relevant theory and research. First steps Carefully read and analyse the essay topic and identify the key words. Generally, essay topics are made up of...
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This page gives you an example report broken down into sections to provide a sample of how a report can be structured. Sample report Example: Writing a business research report This video explains how to write a business report for postgraduate level students. It covers the introduction, report structure and...
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Whether you are paraphrasing or quoting, integrating the ideas of others with your own argument is an important part of clear, cohesive communication. It’s easy to become repetitive, using ‘this author states’ and ‘that author states’ over and over. Keep reading to learn about how to use a variety of...
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A key component of literature reviews is incorporating the information, ideas and theories of other scholars. To do this, we need to use paraphrasing, and to a lesser extent, quoting. On this page, you'll find examples of how information has been integrated into a literature review paragraph. Paraphrasing and quoting...
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Linking words are an important way of developing a logical flow of ideas. They act as signposts for the reader so they can follow the way the writer has organised their ideas. Develop cohesion Linking words and phrases show the relationship between different ideas. They can show contrast, comparison, a...
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Use this checklist to revise your literature review before you submit it. Topic Have you: selected an appropriate topic? Not too broad/narrow? Introduction Have you: given background to your subject area? clearly stated the topic? included a thesis statement? Body Do you paragraphs begin with a clear topic sentence? Have...
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Have you been asked to write a literature review for an assignment but you are not sure what you are required to do? On this page, you will learn what literature reviews are and how they differ from other types of academic writing. The following pages will cover researching for...
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The recommendations that you make should be based upon your solutions for each of the identified problems. Here are some examples for how you can do this. The following example shows how headings and subheadings make the structure clear and how theory is used to support the recommendations. The shows...
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Literature reviews require students to collect, synthesise and interpret large amounts of information. This means that keeping organised from the start is very important. On this page, you will find practical tips for arranging the content for your review. A common problem that students run into when writing a literature...
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There are as many structures for a report as there are reasons for writing one. The differences between reports occur chiefly in the body. This page provides you with information about the different sections that can be found in a report and what information should be included in them. Reports...
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Paraphrasing is one of the key skills students need at university. It means expressing information, ideas, or work done by someone else in your own words. To paraphrase successfully, we need to do more than just change a few of the words. We can also: change a sentence from active...
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Understanding how the persuasive language authors use can help us to understand their potential motivations and biases. On this page, we'll examine how an author has used persuasive language in their argument. First of all, read the article The cost of change. Then, read the Persuasive language analysis section to...
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Propositional writing sets out a plan of action or design intent. It presents clearly what the project or idea is, outlines why certain actions or design elements are significant (the reasoning behind the project) and how they can be achieved. What is an abstract? An abstract is a short piece...
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Reports from different areas and industries vary in their structure. This page features some examples of common report structures. The highlighted headings and subheadings show some of the differences between reports in different fields of practice or for different purposes....
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A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing some of its parts. This page explains the three main reasons why a sentence may be incomplete. 1. Missing subject Original: Becoming extinct because of rising sea temperatures. Revised: Phytoplankton could become extinct because of rising sea temperatures. Sentences beginning with...
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The Australian preferential voting system ensures the chosen candidate reflects the choice of most voters. In this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots, instead of picking just one (Liu, 2024). , if no candidate gets more than half of the first-choice votes, the candidate with...
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An essay has three parts: the introduction, a body and a conclusion. Write using your detailed plan. Expect to write several drafts....
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By organising your literature review effectively, you'll enhance comprehension and engagement, making your work stand out. Discover how to structure your review logically, ensuring that your arguments flow smoothly, making it easy for your readers to follow your analysis. There are different ways that your information can be organised in...
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When you want to refer to the general ideas of a longer text, speech, or other creative work, without going into all the details, you can use a summary. A summary is an overview that contains the main points of a work. Summaries are much shorter than the works themselves,...
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Tables and figures are useful in your assignment writing because they can summarise data or complex information in a more readable way. However, you should only use them if they assist the reader in understanding. What's the difference between a table and a figure? There are different writing conventions for...
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A well-written paragraph contains a topic sentence. A topic sentence controls the main idea discussed in a paragraph. It provides the reader with a summary of the key idea and the point of view the writer is expressing. It is often the first sentence as it acts as an introduction...
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If you feel stuck for finding the right phrase to start your sentence, you can use a strategy called ‘Syntactic borrowing’ (Kamler & Thomson, 2006; Swales & Feak, 2004) in which you borrow the phrases used by others. To do this, look at some sentences in various sections of a...
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Good academic writing has a clear flow. Each phrase or sentence is linked to those that come before and after. Let's explore what makes academic writing cohesive. Write cohesively by using: Organic structure: used as the basis for paragraph organisation. Cohesive devices: repetition, substitution, and linking words are then used...
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Good academic writing gets straight to the point. It does not waste words. Write concisely by: 1. Making the actor and the action clear Attempts at writing in an academic style often result in the meaning being buried under a pile of nominalisations* and the prepositional phrases** needed to support...
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A paragraph is a group of connected sentences. It is generally made up of one main idea and a group of supporting sentences. Paragraphs are the basic unit for building longer pieces of writing. The importance of paragraphs This short video explains why writing good paragraphs in your assessment tasks...
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Sentences provide us with the framework for the clear written expression of our ideas. Sentences are one of the key building blocks of written assignments. Let's explore the features of a sentence. Sentence features A sentence is a written expression of a complete thought. A sentence contains: a capital letter...
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A successful literature review does more than just represent the ideas of other authors. It also includes the voice of the person writing the review. Let's find out how we can do this. Highlighting gaps, strengths and limitations This shows your evaluation of the studies you have engaged with. This...
