Description
The ability to express yourself clearly and concisely is vital, at university and in your professional life. This skill is frequently measured through your writing, particularly in academic study, but this can be challenging as you will be expected to communicate through a variety of methods, from traditional essays to reports to personal reflections, each of which require different styles of communication.
This microcredential will help you to refine your current writing skills through the analysis and discussion of a range of texts and exercises, enabling you to then apply these techniques to assignments for your other modules. We will cover how to use assigned reading to improve your communication skills in different areas, from making your meaning clear to how to understand (and meet!) the requirements of the different types of writing you’ll need to do as a student and as a graduate; we’ll review some key grammatical areas and test your knowledge of punctuation rules so that you can be more confident in your ability to proofread your own writing; and finally, we’ll look again at the complexities of incorporating and citing sources, from quotations and images to summarising key points in your own words.
Aims
To enable you to understand and appropriately use academic and professional language, to create texts in an appropriate format and style, and to present your ideas clearly and ethically in your assignments. You’ll do this through practice and evaluation in various forms.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module the student should be able to:
- Identify and implement specific writing techniques to appropriately complete academic and professional writing tasks.
Indicative Content
1 Speaking the language
How to develop your academic and professional vocabulary: understanding the genre; understanding your reader's expectations
2 Meeting expectations
Why different assignments have different requirements: decoding instructions; selecting appropriate writing techniques
3 Tightening up the nuts and bolts
How to improve your writing accuracy: reviewing key grammar and punctuation issues; improving your editing and proofreading
4 Standing on the shoulders of giants
How to borrow from the greats: reviewing the principles of citing sources; using writing techniques to incorporate research into writing
| Teaching and Learning Method | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 |
| Tutorial/Seminar | 0 |
| Supervised Practical Activity | 0 |
| Unsupervised Practical Activity | 0 |
| Assessment | 10 |
| Independent | 30 |
Guidance Notes
SCQF Level - The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.
Credit Value – The total value of SCQF credits for the module. 20 credits are the equivalent of 10 ECTS credits. A full-time student should normally register for 60 SCQF credits per semester.
Disclaimer
We make every effort to ensure that the information on our website is accurate but it is possible that some changes may occur prior to the academic year of entry. The modules listed in this catalogue are offered subject to availability during academic year 2025/6, and may be subject to change for future years.