Academic Writing Course

The purpose of this course is to better prepare our students to be successful learners while attending Post-Secondary. Academic writing is an integral part of the Post-Secondary system, along with other concepts such as research. Through this course students will become more familiar with several topics related to writing such as how to reference, structuring papers, plagiarism, and more. Students will be able to strengthen their skills and ultimately incur more success during Post-Secondary school.

Duration: This course will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm daily. There will be a one-hour lunch for students from 11:30am-12:30pm.

Dates: July 11-15, 2022 and July 18-22, 2022

Location: NNOC School

Topic Objective
Desire 2 Learn Students will become familiar with how to utilize Desire 2 Learn platform; a common learning platform used in post-Secondary

  • How to access D2L
  • How to access, organize, and submit assignments
  • How to use discussion board
  • How to extract and upload assignments
Desire 2 Learn/Goal Setting Students will complete a task on goal setting for post-secondary school and upload the required documents to D2L

  • Complete discussion post on goals and objectives
  • Complete assignment on goals and objectives
  • Complete email thread on goals and objectives
Research Students will learn how to properly access applicable articles which are peer reviewed

  • Access Google scholar and apply filters
  • Find articles related to different topics
  • Differentiate between acceptable articles and non-acceptable
  • Research ethics and Research process
Plagiarism Students will learn what plagiarism is and how to avoid plagiarism

  • Students will become familiar with what plagiarism is and how someone may plagiarize, along with the consequences.
  • Students will review example of plagiarism to become aware of errors to avoid
Citing Students will become familiar with APA and MLA citing for various forms of literature and research

  • Students will review and practice the formatting for APA and MLA citing in text and on reference pages
  • Keeping track and organizing sources
Quoting and Paraphrasing Students will become familiar with how to quote and paraphrase with APA and MLA formatting

  • Students will become familiar with how to quote and paraphrase a variety of different information
Writing Process Students will become familiar with the 5 key components of the writing process and how to utilize these components

  • Pre-write/brainstorm: Students will be able to identify different ways to brainstorm and how to determine which topics to cover
  • Drafting: Students will be able to identify what sources to use, how to structure their writing, and what they want to accomplish
  • Revising: Students will learn how to write and revise their work to ensure their content is correct and covers their goals and objectives
  • Editing: Students will learn how to review and edit papers for grammar, sentence structure, arguments, and flow.
  • Publishing: Students will learn how to submit and publish or turnover their final product
Reviewing Essays Students will review a variety of different essay formats and analyze the content, structure, word use, and referencing

  • How to analyze and synthesize research and ideas
Structuring essays Students will learn how to structure a variety of different essays such as research essays and argument essays
Introductions and Thesis Students will learn how to write an appropriate introduction and thesis for an essay.
Arguments and Main points Students will learn how to identify the main points of an argument and essay, and then be able to create their own main points or arguments when writing
Conclusions Students will learn how to write appropriate conclusions to solidify their topic that is being covered
Peer review Students will learn how to peer review their peers work, as well others work, and provide feedback and reviews.
Microsoft Word Students will learn how to utilize Microsoft Word regarding writing essays

  • Utilizing headers, footers, page numbers, tabs, margins, and more
  • Creating title pages for your document
  • How to save a document in Word and PDF
Microsoft PowerPoint Students will learn how to utilize Microsoft PowerPoint regarding how to create a presentation

  • Utilizing different themes
  • Creating transitions, using different fonts, headers, and titles
  • How to structure a PowerPoint
  • Presentation tips

Instruction

NNCEA will have three staff members who will implement this program for students. This program will involve in classroom instruction as well online asynchronous material which students will complete. The ratio will be 5 students to 1 teacher!

Goals and Objective

  • To better prepare our graduating students to be academic writers while attending post-secondary school and their future endeavours
  • Understand and utilize the writing process while constructing papers
  • Understand and utilize APA referencing
  • Understand writing techniques and citations to avoid plagiarism
  • Understand and implement a variety of writing techniques and components such as thesis, main ideas, and conclusions
  • To prepare students for a balance of in class and online learning
  • Utilize in class learning techniques such as lectures, PowerPoints, and note taking
  • Utilize Desire 2 Learn for assignments and asynchronous learning
  • To enhance the critical thinking of our graduates through research, peer review, and editing.
  • Utilize peer review techniques on professional papers as well fellow students
  • Provide constructive feedback to others and accept constructive feedback
  • Analyze and identify errors in papers and citations

Academic Reading and Writing

Students will become familiar and expected to use a variety of reading and writing techniques. Through the course of this 2-week period students will be expected to prepare a final essay which will be comprised of the components of this course. Students will be guided to break their research and papers down into blocks or segments and focus on time management and organization in regard to writing.

Student Enrollment

This program will be available to all Grade 12 graduates who are attending post-Secondary school in September 2022. This program is also available to all Mature Student Diploma Program students who are attending post-secondary in September 2022. If space is available prior to the start date, past graduates or students currently enrolled in Post Secondary may attend.

As this course will interfere with summer employment, NNCEA is prepared to supplement students with an hourly student rate during the time they’re present. Students will receive $11.95 an hour and be paid upon completion of the course. If a student attends every session, they would earn $11.65 x 10 x 5 = $582.5

Student Expectations

The purpose of this course is to prepare students for post-Secondary courses. As students’ progress throughout their academic journey, they are expected to become more independent. Students will be expected to be on time for class daily, participate in seminars and group work, and utilize their time effectively. If a student is hindering the learning opportunity of others, they will be removed from the program and their pay withheld. Staff will use progressive discipline, just like in the work force, to implement learning behaviours (verbal warning, written warning, suspension from class, removal from class)

Materials

  • Each student enrolled must have a laptop that they can utilize during this course.
  • NNCEA will provide Microsoft Office for MacBook and Windows.
  • NNCEA will provide any other needed materials such as writing journals, etc.

Transportation and Nutrition

  • NNCEA will provide transportation services for all students to and from school during this 2-week course. NNCEA will also provide students with breakfast, snacks, and lunch.

Sign Up

Sign up will begin June 13-June 24, 2022 and will be available to NNOC Grade 12/MSDP graduates first. Community members who are enrolling in Post Secondary or continuing their Post Secondary studies in September (ex: going into second year) can enroll if space is available.

If you have any questions about this course, please contact Nic Campbell at the Alice Moore Education Centre at 204-484-2095 or email [email protected]