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The Flying Start academic writing workshop

Emeritus Professor Lin Norton

Assessment Plus project http://www.writenow.ac.uk/assessmentplus

Flying Start project

http://www.hope.ac.uk/collaborativeprojects/flyingstart/

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Brief biography Originally Psychology lecturer Retired in December 2011, now emeritus

professor Formerly, Dean of L&T and professor of

pedagogical research Research Director of Write NoW CETL (writing

for assessment) and partner in Assessment Plus project

Leader of Flying Start project (transitions in academic writing to university level)

Interested in supporting students in writing for assessment (coursework essays and exams)

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Sources for this workshop

Using assessment criteria to support student learning

Easing the transition to university writing and assessment

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Purpose of this workshop

To help you write better essays in university Focus on assessment criteria Four elements:

1. Your concerns about writing university essays

2. A basic demonstration of the core assessment criteria

3. How important do you think each criterion is

4. What each criterion means

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The Flying Start project

Two year government funded project at Liverpool Hope and Derby University looking at ways of easing transition to academic writing at university

Bridging the gap between students’ experience of academic writing at FE/School level and the demands of academic writing that they face at HE level.

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What are your concerns about writing?

Spend a couple of minutes jotting down your concerns about essay writing at university and then share with the person next to you

? ?

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What have other students said? “I am still not sure if my work is considered academic. I still don’t know what makes one of my essays better than another. Yet, I have experienced the system, I have been part of it for the last 4 years: I have experienced an academic environment”

“I had no writing skill, just a jumble of opinions scattered to the four winds which I called an essay… I think that…the skill of writing can be taught and is not some high prize only for the gifted, it is for everyone”

Acknowledgments to Edd Pitt, Liverpool Hope University for his interviewing for the Assessment Plus project

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And what did the undergraduate music students in the Flying Start project say?1. Different views about the amount of tutor

support they felt they should be given2. Some worries about writing exam essays 3. Most felt more comfortable discussing

practical aspects of music and composition rather than writing essays

4. Writing not always seen as a primary activity in studying for a music degree

5. Differences in how comfortable students felt about writing essays

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What are assessment criteria?

They are what lecturers look for when marking your work ( written, oral)

Some are more important than others

We all use assessment criteria in our everyday lives

What would be your assessment criteria for judging how good this teaching room is?Activity

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The all-important CORE assessment criteria

They are recognised as being fundamental features that characterise a good essay in just about every subject

Know about these and you won’t go far wrong

Accept that your understanding of these will develop as you get more experienced in writing at degree level

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Which of these core criteria are the most important?

Looking at your handout put what you think are the most important assessment criteria in their order of importance where 1 is the most important

and 9 is the least important

Activity

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What did the research show? Taken from Norton, L.S. (1990) Essay writing; what really counts? Higher Education, 20 (4), 411-442

Rank Students’ criteria (N=98) Rank Tutors’ criteria (N=6)

1 Answer the question 1 Answer the question

2 Content/knowledge 2 Understanding

3 Relevant information 3 Argument

4 Understanding 4 Relevant information

5 Wide reading 5 Structure/organisation

6 Structure/organisation 6= Evaluation/own views

7 Argument 6= Presentation/style

8 Evaluation/own views 8 Wide reading

9 Presentation/style 9 English/Spelling

10 English/spelling - -

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What do we understand by each of these core criteria? Student Guide has a chapter devoted to each one

as an ongoing resource for you. If you want to look at this electronically, use the URL at the bottom of your handout:http://www.writenow.ac.uk/assessmentplus/

Flying Start has a zone called the student zone which gives further information and help.

http://www.hope.ac.uk/collaborativeprojects/flyingstart/the-student-zone/the-student-zone-home

Acknowledgments to Dr Becca Westrup, Liverpool Hope University for developing the

content of the student zone

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Answering the question

In order to do this you need to understand the question

Flying start has some useful definitions for common instruction or command words

But what else might you do to make sure that your essay answers the question?

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Demonstrating your understanding of the essay topic Sanjeev says “It is showing the marker that

you have understood the topic and the question itself and that you haven’t just simply written stuff down from a book. If you do that you haven’t really understood what is required.”

Janet says “It’s hard because sometimes you can have so much information at your fingertips and you have to decide what you understand, as you shouldn’t put stuff into an essay that you yourself don’t understand, otherwise you might have it totally wrong.”

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Putting forward an argument Academic argument is not the same as

what we commonly understand as having an argument

Jill says ‘You have to show that you appreciate there are two sides to every argument. As you progress through the years you tend to realise that just because it is written in a book or a journal article doesn't mean that is right , because it is just one side of the argument and you need to go and find the other side. You need to look at many different perspectives, challenging ones etc.”

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Structuring your essay Needs introduction, main body, and conclusion ( the

macro structure) but also need flow, where points follow logically one from another:

“Always keep the question in mind and think about what story you’re telling – make it logical and linear. If you go along a certain route make the conclusion logical to that route. It should work as a coherent essay, rather than ‘I know I need to throw in something about this and I need to include that’. And sometimes that happens halfway through – you’re reading an essay and it’s all going terribly well, and it’s like the student suddenly thought ‘oh no, I haven’t mentioned…’, and they just put things in.” [‘Sharon’, tutor]

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Including relevant information (evidence and wide reading) Skill is to distinguish what is relevant to your

particular answer and what is not Use evidence from your reading, don’t rely on

personal opinion or on your own views How do you judge the quality of information?

Flying Start has some pointers Flying start also suggests that you need to use

evidence whenever you: Refer to a theory Make a claim Mention a particular study or researcher Quote or paraphrase

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Evaluation (own views in some subjects) Often separates the excellent from the good

essay Learning to read with a critical eye:

What is this paragraph about? What is the author’s angle (how do I know?) What is the author’s argument? Where is the author’s evidence? Is the evidence valid (how do I know?) Is the evidence relevant (how do I know?) Do I agree or disagree with the author (why?)

Acknowledgment to Sandra Sinfield, London Metropolitan University for these materials

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Presentation/Style/English/Spelling

Not just about good grammar (although this helps!)

Often assume the tutor will understand what you mean (not true unless you express it clearly)

Style is about writing academically and appropriately for your subject

Have a look at the example essay on Beethoven and see what you think is wrong with it….

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The next stage

Now that you know what the core assessment criteria are, what are you actively going to do?....

Use the checklist on your handout

Refer to the student guide on the Write Now website

Refer to the student zone on the Flying start website

Never be satisfied with what you achieve in your writing, always seek to improve it