Research writing (in English) (4 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Objective

After successfully completing the course, the doctoral candidate will:
- have developed an effective, clear writing style
- be able to produce relatively fluent, logically sound, argumentative text
- be able to collaborate effectively with peers in a community of writers who provide feedback on each other’s work
- be prepared to publish in international journals.

Execution methods

This course will run on Moodle with weekly deadlines for tasks and more extensive writing assignments.
The course requires active and collaborative participation in discussions and feedback sessions throughout the duration of the course both on Moodle and in online small group sessions. Please note that you cannot follow and complete the course at your own pace as peer feedback is an important component of the course and requires all participants to meet the set deadlines.
Each participant will be provided with the possibility to receive feedback on their writing from the teacher in individual feedback sessions.

Accomplishment methods

You are required to:
- produce three written works (1. pre-task, 2. article, research proposal, conference paper etc., 3. a text about your research aimed at a non-academic audience) to be reviewed by other participants and the teacher.
- read and give constructive feedback on the written works of other participants
-participate actively in online small group sessions.
- complete weekly tasks on Moodle.

Content

The course is intended for doctoral candidates who are writing a research-oriented text in English. Before the course starts, participants will be required to submit a preliminary task discussing their research interest. Submitting the preliminary task by the deadline is a prerequisite for being accepted on the course.
The course will help doctoral candidates improve their writing for both academic audiences (e.g. articles, research proposals, abstracts, funding applications) and general audiences (e.g. blog posts, response texts) by dealing with issues such as the writing process, argumentation, academic language and vocabulary, paragraph structure, advanced grammar, and style. The course will introduce the basic principles of publishing in international journals.
The course includes a considerable amount of independent work (approx. 90 hours) and will run on Moodle. Collaboration in small groups will take place online (the dates and times for the sessions will be scheduled when the course starts). In addition, each participant will receive feedback on their writing in one-on-one meetings with the teacher either face-to-face or online.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Pass/fail

Qualifications

The course is arranged for doctoral researchers at the University of Lapland.