EssayWritinginHealthSciences

Youwillbeexpectedtowriteessays...
Site:
MonashUniversity
Unit:
PharmacyLibrary
Book:
EssayWritinginHealthSciences
Printedby: ArashSaadatiFashtami
Date:
Thursday,24September2015,2:01AM

Tableofcontents
1Whatisexpectedinanacademicessay?
2Analyzingtheassignmenttask
2.1TheMEASUREAssignment
3Planningyouressay
3.1DevelopinganArgument
3.2DevelopingKeyIdeas
3.3Exampleofaplan
4StructuringanEssay
4.1Whatmakesagoodintroduction?
4.2ExampleofanIntroduction
4.3TheMEASUREAssignment
5HowdoIorganizeideasinthebodyoftheessay?
5.1Whatmakesagoodparagraph?
5.2Whataresupportingsentences?
5.3TheParagraphTest
6Connectingideasinthebody
7Whatmakesagoodconclusion?
7.1Example:TheIllnessEssay
8Editingyourwork
8.1StyleofwritinginHealthSciences
8.2Pitfallstoavoidinyourwriting
8.3Stickingtothewordlimit
9AdditionalResources
9.1Usethischecklisttoedit
9.2Feedback

1Whatisexpectedinanacademicessay?
Yourlecturershavesimilarexpectationsofallstudents,especiallypostgraduatestudents.Clickheretohearamini
lecture(3mins)oftheinformationontheslide.

2Analyzingtheassignmenttask
Thefirststepyouneedtotakewhenapproachinganewassignmentistoreadtheinstructionscarefullyandmakesure
youunderstandwhatisrequiredofyou.Sometimes,it'salsoagoodideatohavealookatthemarkingrubricsatthis
stageastheycantellyoualotaboutthemarker'sexpectationswhentheylookatyourwork.Thisrecordingwill
provideusefultipsforapproachinganewassignmentandunderstandingwhatisrequiredofyou.
Therecordingisabout3minslong.

2.1TheMEASUREAssignment
HereishowyoumightapproachtheMEASUREassignmentinWoundCareusingthestrategiesdiscussedearlier.
Remembertohavealookattheaccompanyingrubricsifyouhaveaccesstothem.(Thisisagoodhabittogetinto).
Therecordinglastsabout5mins

3Planningyouressay
Itisvitallyimportanttoplanyourwritingbeforeyoubegin.Awellplannedessaywillflowlogicallyanduseevidence
effectively.Therearemanywaystoplananessayandyouarefreetodevelopyourowntechniquethatworksforyou.
Herearesomebasicprinciplestokeepinmind.
Thisrecordingisapproximately2minslong.

3.1DevelopinganArgument
Avitalcomponentoftheplanningstageisknowingwhatyouwanttosayabouttheessaytopic.Thisiscalledan
argumentoralineofreasoning.Itisapositionoranattitudeyouhavedecidedtotaketowardsthetopicbeing
explored.Planningyouressaywillhelpensurethatthelineofreasoningisconsistentthroughoutyourworkandthat
youarenotcontradictingyourself!
Hereisanexampleofalineofreasoning(anargument)foranessayinhumanbehaviour.Therecordinglasts
approximately6mins.

3.2DevelopingKeyIdeas
Anargumenthastobemadeupofkeyideas.Themorespecificyouareabouteachmainpointthatyouwanttomake,
thebetteryouroverallargumentwillbe.
Clickontherecordingbelowtoseehowkeyideasaredevelopedusingsupportingevidence.
Thisrecordinglastsabout2mins.

3.3Exampleofaplan
Hereisadetailedplanofanessay.Youmayliketosetoutyourplaninadifferentway,forinstanceyoumayprefera
mindmap,aflowchartoratablewithcolumns,whereyoucanlistyourkeyideasandthesupportingevidenceyou
plantouse.Itdoesn'tmatterwhichformatyouuse,aslongasyouensurethestructureoftheessayissound.
Clickontherecordingbelowtohearmoreabouthowthisplanworks.Therecordingisabout3minslong.

4StructuringanEssay
Goodessayshaveaclear,linearstructure.Theyalwaysstartwithanintroductionandfinishwithaconclusion.Thepart
inbetweenisreferredtoasthe'body'ofthetext.Inanacademicessay,itismadeupofthekeypointsyouwantto
makeaboutyourassignment.Goodessaysarecharacterisedbydistinctparagraphswhichflowwell.Thereisasenseof
unityandcompletenesstothetext.
Clickheretohearmoreabouthowtostructureanessay.
Therecordinglastsabout4mins:

4.1Whatmakesagoodintroduction?
Agoodintroductiontoanacademicessaywillfollowcertainkeyacademicconventions.
Clickontheicontofindoutmore.

4.2ExampleofanIntroduction
Clickontherecordingtolistentoanexampleofagoodintroduction.

4.3TheMEASUREAssignment
HowcouldthisintroductiontotheMEASUREAssignmentbeimproved?

5HowdoIorganizeideasinthebodyoftheessay?
Itisimportanttoarrangeyourthoughtsintoclearanddistinctparagraphs.Eachparagraphwillhaveakeyorcentral
ideathatitdevelopsbeforemovingontothenextparagraphwitharelatedbutdifferentcentralorkeyidea.The
sentencethatindicatesthis'keyidea'iscalledatopicsentence(eachparagraphMUSTcontainatopicsentence).Click
ontheicontohearmore.Therecordinglasts1.5mins

5.1Whatmakesagoodparagraph?
Allgoodparagraphsinacademicwritinghaveatopicsentencefollowedbysupportingsentencesthatdevelopthekey
ideaorargumentdiscussedinthatparagraph.Itisimportantthatparagraphsfocusononlyoneidea/issueandthatthe
supportingsentencesdothejobofconvincingthereaderofthiskeypoint.ClickheretoseewhatImean.This
recordinglastsapproximately3mins.

5.2Whataresupportingsentences?
Eachparagraphconsistsofevidencetosupportthecentralidea(i.e.thetopicsentence).Thesesentencesareoften
referredtoas'supportingsentences'.Belowarealistofthemostcommontypeofsupportingsentencesinacademic
writing.Youwillbeabletorecognisemanyofthem.
Clickontherecordingbelowtohearanexplanationoftheslide.
Thissectionlastsabout4mins.

5.3TheParagraphTest
Herearesometipstohelpyouensurethatyouarewritingsolid,cohesiveparagraphs.

6Connectingideasinthebody
Aswellasensuringthatthestructureislogicalandflowswell,ideasneedtobelinkedthroughoutthetextaswell.This
willmakeyourwritingeasiertofollow.
Clickontherecordingtohearmoreabouthowtheseconventionswork.
Therecordingisabout3minslong.

7Whatmakesagoodconclusion?
Conclusionsfollowconventionsofacademicwriting,justasintroductionsdo.
Clickheretolistentosomeofthese.

7.1Example:TheIllnessEssay
Hereisanexampleofaconclusiontoanacademicessay.Notethefollowingfeatures:
Theopeninglinewithkeywords
Thesummaryofthekeyideas(referto3.3)
Lackofreferencing

8Editingyourwork
Itisimportanttosettimeasidetoproofreadandedityourworkbeforeyousubmitit.Thenextsectionofthistutorial
willlookathintsandtipsfordraftingandeditingyourwork.Aswithallthings,practicemakes'purrrfect'sodon'tbe
putoffbytheattentionrequiredtodetail.

8.1StyleofwritinginHealthSciences
Everyacademicdisciplinehasitsown'style'.Oneofthebestwaystopickthisupisbyreadingwidelyinyourfield.
Clickontherecordingtoseewhatsomeofthemainfeaturesofwritinginthehealthsciencesare.Thisrecordinglasts
about2.5mins

8.2Pitfallstoavoidinyourwriting
Herearesomecommonwritingpitfallstoavoidwhencreatingcomplextextsandexpressingcomplexideas.
Clickheretohearmore
The1strecordinglasts2minsandthe2ndgoesfor5mins.

Note:Ifyoufindadescriptionofthegrammarusefulrefertothesekeytexts:
MichaelSwan,PracticalEnglishUsage,OxfordUniversityPress
GeoffreyLeech,AZofEnglishGrammarandUsage,LongmanPress

8.3Stickingtothewordlimit
Itisimportanttokeeptothewordlimit.Oftenthereisa10%rulethatallowsawritertoeitherbe10%underorover
thewordlimit.Alwayscheckwithyourlecturerthatthisisthecase!
Herearesomesuggestionstohelpyoukeeptothewordlimit.Thisrecordinglasts1.5mins.

9AdditionalResources
Herearelinkstousefulresourcesavailabletoyouonline.Itisstronglyrecommendedthatyouconsultsomeofthese
whenyouneedto.
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/currentstudents/learning/studyskills/developyourskills/essaywriting
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_writingEssays.pdf
http://latrobe.libguides.com/content.php?pid=333007&sid=2723888
http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/learning/studysmarter/getsmart/guides/jumpstart/essays
https://academicskills.anu.edu.au/taxonomy/term/100

9.1Usethischecklisttoedit
Hereisachecklistthatmaybeusefultousewheneditingyourwork.Itisalsoagoodideatodevelopyourown
checklistthataddressestheweaknessesinyourwriting(weallhavethem!).
http://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/quickrefs/

9.2Feedback
Pleasecompletethisveryshortfeedbacksurveysothatwecanimprovethemodule.
https://docs.google.com/a/monash.edu/forms/d/1MzwDk1ZeuwtrxgQKCWLomhafESC78XGREhZY7HtZ3kA/viewform
Thanks!