Skills IV: Academic Writing
Full course description
Students will continue to further develop their writing skills by writing a critical review paper. Writing their first, individual paper is aimed to prepare them for writing their Bachelor’s thesis in year 3.
Under supervisors’ guidance, and supported by their peers, students formulate a critical research question related to a topic of their choice, and address the question with the help of several scientific articles. Emphasis is placed on developing a logical and compelling storyline, and extracting and comparing information from different sources, rather than just listing and summarising existing literature. Hence, Skills IV is not only an exercise in developing writing skills, but it also encourages the development of critical thinking. By peer-reviewing the paper of a fellow group member, students gain more insight into the process of writing and shaping an article, continue to expand their peer-reviewing and feedback skills, and benefit from additional feedback themselves.
This academic year, students will also actively use artificial intelligence tools as support for developing and sharpening their brainstorming, reasoning, and writing skills.
At various stages of this process students will receive feedback.
The corresponding practicals for this course are: Information Literacy: Advanced Literature Search and Reference Management, Practical: Portfolio Year 2 Part 1, Practical: Portfolio Year 2 Part 2
Course objectives
Students are able:
- to formulate a critical research question;
- to write a complete critical review paper on academic level;
- to argument logically by developing a logical and compelling storyline;
- to write in correct English (grammar and spelling);
- to extract and compare information from different sources;
- to apply APA-guidelines;
- to evaluate and criticize papers.
- to leverage artificial intelligence capabilities for brainstorming, scrutinizing, and formulating arguments, as well as refining the final paper draft while using artificial intelligence as a support tool and not as a substitute for intellectual engagement.