1. Week 11 Academic Conventions ES1204: Reflections on Autobiography

2. Discussion… What do you value most highly? Referencing Handing work in on time The amount of time you spend on preparation Including evidence /quotations Wider/further reading Tutor’s comments/feedback Doing the essential reading Lecture notes Making personal progress The mark you get for it Writing in an academic style

3. Academic Conventions: Referencing Why is referencing so important? – References acknowledge that part of your work is based on the work and material of others An accurately referenced essays shows the reader that you have not only read and researched your essay appropriately but that you are aware of and acknowledge where the ideas/concepts etc. that you are drawing upon come from. – An accurately reference essay give credence to your own work and ideas – it shows that you are able to select, understand and work with the ideas of others Published material that you use must be referenced – Texts – Websites Occasionally you might use unpublished material –e.g. contents of archives/ unpublished articles – these too must be referenced (you don’t need to worry about how to do this until it becomes relevant ) Our lecture notes cannot be quoted from or referenced

4. What should a reference do? It should take the reader directly to the published source from which the quote/evidence is taken. – The Harvard referencing system is one of the more straightforward systems ‘directly after quotation’ (surname of author, date of publication: page no.) In the final reference list Surname of Author, Initial. (date of publication), title of book, place of publication: Publisher E.g. ‘directly after quotation’ (Newman, 1996: 36) Reference list Newman, J. H. (1996) The Idea of a University, London: Yale As you work through the degree accurate referencing becomes increasingly important Referencing is not always straightforward – Websites can be tricky – You might at some point use books which do not have all of the information you need listed clearly – Ask tutors if you’re unsure

5. Plagiarism… Academic Misconduct… Poor Academic Practice… Taking an idea or work from someone/somewhere else without acknowledging it… Ed. Studies view: Most cases are unintentional and often occur because students are unaware a) what plagiarism is b) the seriousness with which it can be taken We don’t ignore cases of plagiarism/academic misconduct/poor academic practice but we don’t automatically assume that if someone makes an error (with referencing for example) they’ve intended to plagiarise work Failure to acknowledge that opinions/ideas/concepts/ theories you include in your work have come from other sources could be regarded as plagiarism.

6. To Discuss… How much time might a full time student expect to spend studying weekly? How much time do you expect to have to devote to reading for each module? How do approach note taking? How much time do you expect to spend writing an essay?

7. Writing in an academic style Points to think about Punctuation Personal/impersonal Integrating evidence Referencing Rhetorical questions Terminology

8. Research One aspect of higher education that distinguishes it from other sectors is Research Content and method Academics should be researching As well as teaching communities, Universities are research communities – Emphasis on research for students too – Lectures can only give you a certain amount – onus is on you to research around the issues/themes/concepts/ historical and wider contexts – Wider research/reading becomes increasingly important as you work through your degree