Academic writing

1. Academic writing

2. Black Testicles • A male patient is lying in bed in the hospital,  wearing an oxygen mask over his  mouth and nose,  still heavily sedated from a difficult four hour surgical procedure. • A young student nurse appears to give him a partial sponge bath.   Nurse,' he mumbles, from behind the mask 'Are my testicles black?'   •  Embarrassed, the young nurse replies 'I don't know, Sir.  

3. Black Testicles • I'm only here to wash  your upper body.'    • He struggles to ask again, 'Nurse, are my testicles black?'    • Concerned that he may elevate his vitals from worry about his testicles, she overcomes her  embarrassment and sheepishly pulls back the covers. • She raises his gown, holds his penis in one hand and his testicles in the other, lifting and moving them around and around gently.   • Then, she takes a close look and says, • 'No sir, they aren't and I assure you, there's nothing wrong   with them, Sir !!' 

4. The man pulls off his oxygen mask, smiles at her and says very slowly, 'Thank you very much! • “ That was wonderful, but listen very, very closely..... “ • ' A r e - m y - t e s t - r e s u l t s -b a c k ?'

5. The Cake 99% of population like cakes Why ? Looks good – “Wow” factor at a distance Smells good - More closer feel Taste good - after eating What makes a cake different to another Writing is no difference

6. Important concepts on writing • Head • Body • Tail

7. Head • Opening sentence – “wow factor” • Introduction • Background • Justification • Importance of this topic “ why I should read this ????

8. Body • Details • Subject matter / theory / arguments • Maintain logical flow • Content - Simple / Accurate / Direct • Use more diagrams – figures – charts – pictures • Think • you are teaching students • Not all information may always be relevant

9. Numbering • Chapter number • I . ….. IX ( Roman letters) • Topic number • 1.1 . 1.2 ect. • Subtopic number • 1.1.1. , 1.1.2 , ect You can use word or power point – use numbering assistance

10. Font • Size • Title in cover page – 18 • Topic / chapter – 14 ( bold) • Sub topic – 12 ( bold) • Other paragraphs – 11/ 12 • Font type • New times • Arial / Arial narrow • Calibri

11. Paragraph • Distance – 1.5 / 1.15 • Main topics – one para • Sub topics – no para • Page set up • Portrait • Margins • 1.25 “ on left hand side of the paper and 1 “ on all other sides. • A 04 sheets • Binding • Spiral • Hard cover

12. Alignment • Topics – at the center • Subtopics – at the left hand corner • Figure & tables – center / equal size of each • All paragraphs “ justify”

13. Important standards • Tidy and neat report, • Carelessness not tolerated • Manual corrections - not tolerated, • All reports must be type written from using a good grade white paper sized A4

14. Cover page • Assignment • Topic • Author • Institution • Year of writing • ..\..\..\cover page & Index.doc

15. Inner page • Topic and Author • A phrase……………..

16. AbstractExecutive summery • Essence of what you want to say

17. Acknowledgement • To whom have helped you !

18. Tables • Top of the table • Number the table - Table 01 : • Topic of the table - Description of the student • Bottom of the table • Source of the table • Source : Annual health bulletin, 2009 GUIDELINE Academic writing.doc

19. Figures • Number the Figure- Table 01 : • Topic of the figure - Description of the base ball • Source of the figure -Source : Annual sports bulletin, 2009 • GUIDELINE Academic writing.doc

20. List of references • This could be at the end of the book

21. Referencing system

22. Referencing System • Harvard system • Vancouver system

23. Objectives of the referencing • Avoid plagiarism • Copying of another person's thoughts, ideas or written material and claiming that they are your own • Lend credibility • Locate the source if required.

24. The Rules of Referencing: • A reference must be included every time you use someone else’s ideas or information • A reference must be included in • Paraphrase or summarise (express someone else’s idea in your own words) • quote (using their exact words) • copy (reproduce someone’s diagram, graph or table) • Each reference must appear in two places – ‘shortened version’ in the text and a ‘full version’ at the end of the page

25. Main components • Citation - which provides brief identifying details about the work in the body of the text each time it is used • Reference Page/Bibliography - which lists all the references used and includes all the details needed to properly identify the source, end of the text .

26. A. Referencing a book • Author - Last name and initials of given names • Date of publication • Title of the book • The edition of the book • The publisher • The city in which the book was published

27. Author's surname and initials of given name, year of publication,title (in italics or in quotation marks or, if handwritten, underlined). Edition (where relevant), publisher, place of publication. • Zgola, J.M., 1987, Doing Things: A guide to programming activities for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders,John Hopkins University Press, London.

28. Edited Volumes of books • The style is the same as for books except that the editor's name should be followed by (ed.) or for more than one editor by (eds.) • Mulhoney, D. J. & Gottson, J. (eds.), 1991, Urban Man and Environmental Concerns in Australia, ANU Press, Canberra. • Hiatt, B., 1994, Woman and gatherer. In Fay Gale (ed.), Woman's Role in Aboriginal Society, pp.4-15, AIAS, Canberra.

29. B. Referencing journal • Author - Last name and initials of given names • Year of Publication • Title of article • Title of journal or periodical • Volume and issue number or month or season • Page numbers of the article

30. Author's surname and initials of given name, year of publication, 'title of article', title of the journal or periodical (in italics with each word capitalised except for articles , volume and issue number etc, page number or numbers. • Nadel, L. ,1993-4, 'Do men and women speak different languages?' International Brain DominanceReview, vol 9, no 2. pp. 21-25.

31. C. Video and Television Recordings • Title  ‘name of television program’, transmission details (for TV) or publisher (for video). (names of months used as identifiers write: Jan., Feb., Mar etc) • American apartheid, [television recording], 25 Mar. 1996, ‘Four Corners’, ABC Television. • Understanding Alzheimer’s, Group 3 video, [video recording], 1992, Grundy Television, Alzheimer’s Association, NSW

32. D. Electronic Information Sources • Type of medium • may be [online], [CD-ROM], [disk], [magnetic tape] • Author’s name • (where present) on a WWW site may be at the top or bottom of the Web page - check both places.  • Date of publication • (where present) on a WWW site may be at the top or bottom of the Web page - check both places.  • Title of a WWW document • is usually printed along the edge of a printout of the page; if this is not the case, use the screen heading as the title of the document. 

33. D. Electronic Information Sources • Publisher • Internet items include date accessed because Internet addresses may not be permanent. • URLs • (Internet addresses) are not split; they should be written on one line.

34. These are then referenced similar to that of a book: • Author, Year, Title [type of medium], Publisher/Place, Accessed: day month year, <URL> • Mirza, Q. 1995, Race relations in the work place [online], CRER Database of Resources in Ethnic  Relations, Warwick, England, Accessed 10 June 1996,<http://www.warwick.ac.uk/www/faculties/social_studies/CRER_RC/search.html>

35. E. Conferences / Paper articles • Conferences papers • Edmond, D. G.,1998, The mechanism of nutrition consumption by plant roots, Trans. 9th Int. Congress, Soil Science, Adelaide., Vol. II, pp. 183-190. • A newspaper article with a named author: • Dayton, L., 2005, Blisters precede onset of dementia, The Weekend Australian, 26/27 February, p.3

36. BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCE LIST: • A Bibliography lists all references consulted in your research in alphabetical order by the surname of the author. • A Reference List denotes only thoseworks directly quoted in your text

37. RULES FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY • A Bibliography lists all references consulted in your research in alphabetical order by the surname of the author. • This is on a separate page • Place at the end of the assignment, essay or report. • It contains a list of all references you have used while researching your assignment –books, journals, electronic media listed alphabetically together. • DO NOT list your references in specific groups separately eg. books then journals then URL’s etc.

38. Examples • Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1997, Government Finance Statistics 1995-96, Cat. No. 55120, ABS, Canberra. • Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd ,1998, Annual Report 1997-98, Coca- Cola Amatil, Sydney. • George, D. ,1996, Productivity in Business, Vol II, Academic Press, London. • Jones, M.D. (ed.) ,1998, Management in Australia, Academic Press, London.

39. Thank you !

40. Making PowerPoint Slides Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides

41. Outlines Slide Structure Fonts Colour Background Graphs Spelling and Grammar Conclusions Questions Tips to be Covered

42. Outline • Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of your presentation • Ex: previous slide • Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation • Only place main points on the outline slide • Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main points

43. Slide Structure – Good • Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation • Write in point form, not complete sentences • Include 4-5 points per slide • Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases only

44. Slide Structure - Bad • This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

45. Slide Structure – Good • Show one point at a time: • Will help audience concentrate on what you are saying • Will prevent audience from reading ahead • Will help you keep your presentation focused

46. Slide Structure - Bad • Do not use distracting animation • Do not go overboard with the animation • Be consistent with the animation that you use

47. Fonts - Good • Use at least an 18-point font • Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points • this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point, and the title font is 36-point • Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial

48. Fonts - Bad • If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written • CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ • Don’t use a complicated font

49. Colour - Good • Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background • Ex: blue font on white background • Use colour to reinforce the logic of your structure • Ex: light blue title and dark blue text • Use colour to emphasize a point • But only use this occasionally

50. Colour - Bad • Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read • Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying. • Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary • Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary • Trying tobe creativecan alsobe bad