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Learning Centre Workshops

MAY PROGRAM 2012

MAY PROGRAM 2012 - click here to download a PDF copy of the workshop timetable.
Enrol on or after Monday 30 APRIL 2012 from 9am onwards. Click here to enrol in a workshop online.

Workshop descriptions

Reading Strategies (3 hours)
Provides basic strategies, e.g. skimming, scanning, identifying the structure of a passage, differentiating main from secondary ideas. NOTE: Students need to bring a text from their field of study

Critical Reading of Research Articles (3 hours)
This workshop, which is aimed at senior undergraduate (3rd year or later) and postgraduate students, covers interpreting and asking critical questions about a text and its subject matter. The focus is on exploring alternative interpretations of texts, not on providing answers. NOTE: Students need to bring a journal article from their field of study.

Essay Writing (12 hours)
Introduction to essay writing for social science and humanities students with a focus on the basic principles of writing persuasive analytical essays. Topics include: how to be analytical, how to use evidence, how to develop an essay structure and how to develop an argument. NOTE: If you register for this long workshop you do not need the following short essay writing skills workshops:Analytical Writing, Planning an Assignment, Analysing the Assignment Question, Developing an Argument.

Analytical Writing (2 hours)
Looks at the differences between analytical and descriptive writing, and the process involved in developing an analytical approach to ideas and information.

Planning an Assignment (2 hours)
Covers the planning and structure of common written assignments.

Analysing the Assignment Question (2 hours)
Provides strategies for identifying the focus of the question and investigating how the wording of the question affects the structure of the response.

Developing an Argument (3 hours)
Focuses on developing an argument from relevant literature, and on presenting that argument with evidence to support it. It involves synthesising and evaluating information to substantiate a point of view.

Writing in an Academic Style (9 hours)
Focuses on some of the characteristics of successful academic writing across all disciplines, e.g. formality, objectivity, conciseness and impersonality. NOTE: Students need to bring a piece of their own writing (marked) to work on during the workshop.

Clearer Writing (8 hours)
Assists the development of students' abilities to write clearer English by exploring some different aspects of cohesion in writing, that is, linking sentences and paragraphs together to produce writing which is logically connected and focused. NOTE: Students need to bring a piece of their own writing (marked) to work on in the workshop.

Functional Grammar for Academic Writing (10 hours)
Looks at how you express meaning through grammar in academic writing. Students should be near-fluent speakers/writers of English. NOTE: Students need to bring a piece of their own writing (marked) to work on during the workshop.

Foundations of Grammar (8 hours)
Will cover four main problem areas in the grammar: basic sentence structure, tenses, articles, and subject and verb agreement. NOTE: Students should bring along a piece of their own writing to work on in the workshop.

Quoting, Summarising and Paraphrasing Evidence (3 hours)
Helps students to understand the use of evidence for their own specific writing purpose, to identify the differences between quoting and reporting, and to practise language strategies to help avoid plagiarism.

Language Strategies for Referring to Evidence (2 hours)
Focuses on the different choices available to the writer when referring to evidence. It aims to help students identify the range of grammatical structures, reporting verbs and tenses that are available, and presents guidelines for choosing appropriately.

Quoting, Summarising and Paraphrasing Evidence (3 hours)
Helps you to identify the differences between quoting and reporting, and gives practice in language strategies to help avoid plagiarism.

Workshops for postgraduate students

Note: The courses for research postgraduates offered by the Learning Centre should ideally be attended in the following chronological order.

  • The courses "Preparing a Thesis Proposal" and "Preparing for Postgraduate Study (Research)" are aimed at students at the beginning of their research. If your proposal involves a literature review, do the Literature Review workshop now.
  • "Overview of a Thesis" and "Writing a Literature Review" should be attended when the thesis itself is underway, that is, when a substantial amount of reading, planning and (in the case of non-empirical theses) some writing, has been done.
  • The course "Writing up Research" should be attended when the writing of the theses is well underway and the overall structure of the thesis has taken shape.
  • "Introductions, Conclusions and Abstracts" is most useful towards the end of the writing process, while "Writing a Journal Article" depends on when the student is planning to publish: this differs from faculty to faculty, student to student.


Preparing for Postgraduate Study (Research)- 3 hours
Aimed at students in the preliminary stages of independent research. Includes time management; classifying research approach and methodology; establishing and managing the student-supervisor relationship, accessing and managing electronic and print information and creating a bibliography.

Preparing a Thesis Proposal - 3 hours
Provides models and guidelines for writing a thesis proposal with particular emphasis on the introductory stage and the expression of aims, research questions or hypotheses.

Writing a Literature Review - 6 hours
Covers principles involved in critically reviewing the literature as a section of the thesis or thesis proposal; includes examination of purpose of literature review, structuring and analysis.

Overview of a Thesis - 4 hours
Provides a generalised description of the typical structure and purpose of each part of a thesis.

Writing Introductions, Conclusions and Abstracts - 6 hours
Provides in-depth study of the sections of a thesis and includes overview of staging and analysis of examples.

Writing up Research in the Sciences - 6 hours
Target group: masters by research, doctoral students (in the process of writing up). Bring: draft of middle section of thesis. Focuses on the structure and language of the middle section of a thesis in the sciences. (Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion).

Writing up Research in the Humanities - 3 hours
Target group: masters by research, doctoral students. Bring: draft of middle section of thesis. Focuses on the purpose and characteristics of the middle section of a thesis in the humanities with emphasis on analysis and development of an argument.

Writing up Research in the Social Sciences - 3 hours
Target group: masters by research, doctoral students. Bring: draft of middle section of thesis. Focuses on the purpose and characteristics of the middle section of a thesis in the social sciences.

Writing a Journal Article - 3 hours
This workshop is for those students who are writing up their research for publication as a journal article. The workshop provides an introduction to the common structure and language of journal articles and to the process of getting an article published.