Writing Skills

You must follow formatting guidelines when submitting written work at a tertiary level. The general guidelines ensure your work has a logical flow and structure and is easy to read and understand. The general formatting guideline for this programme is on the page at the end of this resource.

Reflection

Reflecting on our experiences, actions, behaviours, and performance is crucial in learning and improving.

Part of reflection is to look back on an event or experience and ask questions of ourselves. We might do this when reviewing our performance in a hockey game or a weight training session. We can also reflect on our workplace skills or academic performance in class.

The well-known American philosopher John Dewey is believed to have said: We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.

Reflective questions

What is the purpose of reflecting and what questions would be asking ourselves when we reflect?

Purpose: turn experiences into learning, improve, draw conclusions, generate new ideas, solve problems, analysis, evaluate, think critically.

Click the following heading for reflective question examples.

Reflective writing

Reflective writing is turning your reflective thinking into written form. The writing shows the reader how you have linked and applied your past experiences, knowledge and learning to a new experience. It also shows what new learning you gained from your reflection and how you might apply it to the next experience.

Reporting writing

Reading and writing reports is something you will do throughout your studies. A report is the final document you produce once you have completed various forms of research.

Report structure & format

The general features of a report are:

• Structure - logical sequence of information, specific structure depending on the type of report, easy to read.
• Format - layout of page using numbered headings and subheadings, may include bullet-pointed lists, graphs, tables, and other graphics.
• Language - clear, concise, and objective.
• Elements included in a report:
  • Introduction - topic and purpose of the report, the focus of the report, identify an issue.
  • Body - divided into numbered and titled subheadings, explains data collection and research methods used and the subsequent findings.
  • Conclusion - Summarise key findings, do not introduce any new information, and identify any issues arising from the findings.
  • Recommendations - solutions to issues that were identified in the conclusion.
  • Reference list
  • Appendices – material that is too detailed to include in the main report, such as interview questions, survey results, maps, or detailed data tables.

The written word has the ability to deliver strong messages and provide detailed information and accounts of research. The writing however, must be bought together in a structured manner

Paragraph structure

Writing is one way to demonstrate what you have learnt, know, and think. Therefore, expressing yourself in writing is a vital tertiary study skill. Your writing should be structured so that your reader can understand what you are saying.

To do this, you need to know how to turn your ideas into words, words into sentences and your sentences into paragraphs.

In a piece of writing such as an essay or a report the paragraphs that come after the introduction paragraph are called ‘Body Paragraphs’

A well-written, academic paragraph will follow a specific structure. There are many acronyms to help writers structure a paragraph. One acronym is the S.E.E.C paragraph structure.

We can think of the letters S.E.E.C as representing the layers in a hamburger. Just as quality ingredients and careful assembly make up a delicious burger so too do quality sentences, arranged in a careful way, make up a delicious, interesting and readable paragraph.

Statement

A statement or topic sentence that tells the reader what the single main idea of the paragraph will be.

Example

Give an example to support the statement and illustrate what you are talking about. It gives the reader evidence or facts.

Explanation

1-2 sentence explaining the evidence and discussing the topic.

Conclusion

Sum up or conclude the paragraph. Tells the reader why they should be interested, sometimes called the "so what?" of a paragraph. Your summary will also help you link to the next paragraph.

When you are writing at the tertiary level you are demonstrating to the reader what you have learnt, know, and think.

You may present your ideas, argue a point of view, give information, or write a personal reflection. All these forms of writing require well-structured paragraphs.

Knowledge Check Activity