Top 10 Undergraduate Writing Tips Beth Oyler Writing Consultant Writing Center Center for Student Success

Introduction Agenda: 10 Undergrad Writing Tips! Goal: Introduce students to academic writing Overview of the basics Introduce students to the Writing Center’s website 30 minutes Questions Issues? GoToWebinar support: ID= ID=5641

Overview 1.Constructing an argument 2.Thesis statement 3.Organization 4.First person 5.Personal experience 6.Biases 7.APA formatting 8.Citing sources 9.References list 10.Grammar and sentence structure

1. Constructing an Argument What is academic writing? Arguing Proving or showing something to the reader Explaining why your argument is important Basing ideas on research Includes: analysis, explanations, and a thesis What isn’t academic writing? Summary Overview of a topic Based on personal experiences

2. Thesis Statement An essential part of an argument is a thesis statement Thesis statement: arguable statement of what you will show or prove to the reader in your paper Your argument should be centered around your thesis statement

2. Thesis Statement What is a thesis statement? Arguable: argue for or against something Supportable: support with sources Specific: not too broad for the scope of your paper Example of a thesis statement “Electric cars are a fuel-efficient alternative to gas-fuelled cars.”

What wouldn’t be a thesis statement? “My electric car works really well.” Personal opinion Isn’t supported by sources “Electric cars are important.” Not specific enough Can’t be proved “Five percent of all gas stations support electric cars.” Not arguable 2. Thesis Statement

Which one of these statements would be a thesis statement? Turning off lights when you leave a room is important. People can save money by turning off lights when leaving the room. By turning off lights when leaving the room residents can help the environment and lower their electric bill. Turning off lights when leaving the room is too much of a hassle. Pop Quiz!

3. Organization Academic arguments should always include three parts: Introduction Body Conclusion Introduction: Introduce the reader your topic Include the thesis statement Prepares the reader for the argument you’ll be making

3. Organization Body: Main points supporting thesis Explanation Sources Conclusion: A summary of all your main points Rephrasing of your thesis statement Not meant to introduce new ideas

4. First Person Usually acceptable in academic writing “I” and “my” Replace phrases like “the researcher” and “the author” Walden’s official policy is to accept first person

4. First Person Not used to express personal opinions or experiences Phrases like “I believe…” and “In my opinion…” Tend to be too informal Indicate an argument based on beliefs or opinions “I believe that Freud was correct in saying…” changed to: “Freud was correct in saying…”

5. Personal Experiences Usually aren’t used Limit to experiences that only relate to your argument What does a personal experience include? Anecdotes “When I was a kid…” Hypothetical situations “Imagine you were a student in…” Beliefs “I believe that…”

6. Biases Focus on presenting ideas in an unbiased, objective way What topics does being objective extend to? Age, gender, racial and ethnic identities, sexual orientation, and disabilities

6. Biases How do we avoid biased statements? Use: “People-first” language “the child with autism” not “the autistic child” Parallel language “Black and White” not “African-American and White”

6. Biases Gender-neutral pronouns “His/her,” “him/her,” “their,” or “they” not “his,” or “he” Acknowledging differences “Most” or “many” not “all” or “never” statements

Pop Quiz Which of these statements does not have any bias? 1. All disabled children improve their scores after the program. 2.Many of the children with disabilities were able to improve their scores after the program. 3.A child with disabilities will improve her score after the program. 4.The African-American children improved their scores more than the White children after the program.

Additional Resources Writing Resources: Includes additional resources about: Constructing an argument Thesis statement Organization First person Personal experience Biases

7. APA Formatting APA formatting Used by all Walden University programs APA includes rules for: In-text citations of sources Reference lists Capitalization Numbers and statistics Cover pages Headers Headings

7. APA Formatting APA takes a lot of practice to learn, just like academic writing. Whole section of our website devoted to explaining its basic rules We also provide templates for you to follow Course Paper template

8. Citing Sources Sources used need to be cited using APA Citing sources: Gives credit to the source Indicates where the source is in your reference list Shows you are supporting your statements with source Any source used in the body of your paper should be included in your reference list and vice versa

8. Citing Sources Basic citations include the author’s last name and the year: (Author, Year) According to Smith (2010)… OR …nurses need more training (Smith, 2010).

Pop Quiz! Only one of these citations is formatted correctly. Can you pick it out? 1.…education. (Smith, 2010) 2.…education (Smith, Jane, 2010) 3.…education (Smith, J.)(2010). 4.…education (Smith, 2010).

8. Citing Sources Include page or paragraph numbers for quotes: (Author, Year, p. xx) “…nurses need more training” (Smith, 2010, p. 1). Quotes of 40 or more words are block quotes Formatted differently: Indented.5 inches No quotation marks Start on a new line

9. References List Tell the reader how to find the sources you used Includes an entry for each source Personal communications are an exception Formatting varies Basic format: Author. (Publication Year). Title of source. Publication information.

9. References List Print Book: Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the book here. City, XX: Publisher. Print Article: Author, A. (publication year). Title of article in plain font and sentence case. Title of Journal in Italics, X(x), xx- xx.

9. References List Basic formatting rules and common examples on our website Electronic sources require additional identification information Electronic articles: DOI: permanent link to the article URL: the URL of the journal’s home page Swann, W. B. (2006). The roots of the precarious couple effect. Social Psychology Bulletin, 32 (1), doi: /

Additional Resources APA Style: Includes additional resources about: Formatting In-text citations Reference list entries

10. Grammar and Sentence Structure Important in presenting a polished paper Website has information about specific grammar areas Grammarly: helps identify areas of your writing that have grammatical or word choice errors The big green button on our home page

Pop Quiz! Has anyone used Grammarly yet? Yes! It was really helpful. Yes, but I had trouble using it. No, but it sounds great! No, I’m not interested. How helpful did you think Grammarly was? Very helpful! A little helpful. Not helpful at all.

Additional Resources Grammar: ELL.htmhttp://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Grammar-and- ELL.htm Includes additional resources about: All aspects of grammar and sentence structure Grammarly (home page)

Additional Resources Writing Tutoring FREE! Help you with all of the areas we’ve covered To use our services: 1.Read the Student User Guide: Register for the WIRE: Make a reservation and upload your paper

Additional Resources Library: Disability Services: Services/20847.htmhttp:// Services/20847.htm

Questions? Contact us at: An archived version of this presentation will be available on our website.website