Academic Skills with the Academic Writing Centre

Academic Skills workshops and individual consultations can help you to perform to the best of your ability during your degree programme. During these sessions you can check that you understand how lecturers expect you to interpret assignment task instructions and find out what lecturers are looking for in your coursework assignments.

One-to-one Academic Skills consultations

Who are individual consultations aimed at? 

One-to-one Academic Skills consultations are available to home and international students who would like to discuss aspects of academic writing. The academic writing consultants can offer advice and suggestions on academic language and literacy practices. Find out more and sign up for a consultation.

Academic Skills workshops

Who are the Academic Skills workshops aimed at?

Academic Skills workshops can help you with the first coursework assignment in first semester of your master's degree in the School of Social Sciences. The workshops run in tandem with a core course on each degree programme. During these workshops, you can check that you understand how lecturers expect you to interpret assignment task instructions and understand how you will be assessed.

What topics are covered?

Workshops usually run each week for one hour, starting from the third week in the first semester. Topics may include but are not limited to the following:

• Writing for a critical reader – critical evaluation of essays from previous years.
• Critical search strategies – understanding essay questions, keyword searching, finding, evaluating and selecting sources appropriate to essay purposes.
• Critical reading of a research paper – using structure to read efficiently and evaluatively.
• Critical evaluation - identifying perspectives in definitions of contested concepts.
• Finding a critical voice – using sources but giving your own perspective.
• Exam strategies – writing to show what you have learned.

You can choose the workshops that are most appropriate for you. Useful links to help you with academic skills will also be available in Canvas (Virtual Learning Environment) for the core course on each degree.

Each semester, you can also meet an academic writing consultant individually or in small groups to receive feedback on a draft of your coursework. You can discuss an assignment you are working on and receive feedback on how appropriate the structure and style is for your purpose and the academic audience.

Information on Academic Skills workshop sessions is available through Canvas for several MSc courses in semester 1 including Contemporary Consumers, International Business Context, Strategic Project Management, Intercultural Communication in the Workplace, Coaching Psychology and Operational Management. Look for Academic Skills in the Canvas course menu.