How to Ace Academic Writing

5 Jan 2024

Are you in first year?

You  have received your exams results from semester one and have some constructive feedback regarding your academic writing style? Does this sound familiar?

My name is Norma and I’m a Research Masters student in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences  here in UCC.  This blog will cover how to approach improving your academic writing style, which is applicable for students well beyond first year!

The skill of academic writing can be overwhelming and indeed disorientating particularly if you are at the point of just  crossing the bridge to third level education.  I found that the  gap between second and third level education can be hugely challenging where the style and structure of writing  is very different from that I had  experienced in secondary school. Suddenly, you are expected to be proficient when faced with  unknown conventions and formats.

When writing academic assignments, you are required to show a clear understanding of the topic and good academic writing skills are essential. There are many components to academic writing including critical thinking, structure, vocabulary, referencing and paraphrasing, grammar and punctuation and editing. Furthermore, there are specific types of assignments such as literature reviews, reflective journals and reports which  all have different writing conventions and styles. The process of critical thinking is central to most if not all  your academic output in UCC.  Critical thinking is the ability to analyse and evaluate scholarly material and foster meaningful connections between theory and practice, which in essence, is the ability to think critically and independently. Critical thinking will not only make your academic life easier but it is a transferable skill that will be necessary for your careers after university.

Some of you may be disappointed with your results and want to address your competency in academic writing.  The good news is with a willingness to overcome this setback and engagement with resources in place in UCC, it is very possible to improve your skillset. Without further ado here are my key nuggets of advice!

• If you’re unsure how to interpret feedback your received from an assignment- consider asking your lecturer for further information.
• I would encourage you to read your topic area as much as possible to familiarise yourself with the language and terminology of your field.
• You can improve your confidence in writing through interactive writing processes such as freewriting, have a regular writing routine and engaging with peer review with your friends.
• The Skills Centre is your haven to demystify the writing process and help you to become better at academic writing.
• Online resources work well for you and we have a comprehensive range of resource here on the Skills Centre website. We also have an asynchronous service where you can submit up to 1,000 words of your essays for a maximum of 3 times per month, where you will receive feedback in the form of comments from our postgraduate tutors.
• It is also possible that going through a draft assignment face-to-face is far more effective for you. You can more than welcome to call to our drop-in clinics based in the Skills Centre in Boole Library Q-1 or the MakerSpace. Here our tutors can offer you reassurance and support to address things you may be uncertain about in addition to specific, tailored feedback to your assignment. The tutor also help you to reflect on different aspect of your assignment such as the relevance of your points/ ideas you have included and their connection to the essay question, the objectivity of the research you have undertaken,  the structure of your essay, your use of academic language and  your ability to build up your arguments by sequencing ideas

It will be an ongoing process but a good standard of academic writing is really important to achieving success and maximising your potential at University College Cork.  

However, it is important to state that while  success for one person can be getting a 1.1, success for someone else  could be getting a 2.2 on a subject you struggled with immensely.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that this information proves useful to you during your time here in University College Cork. Enjoy it!