HENB10552U Academic Writing for Undergraduate Students (CIP)

Volume 2024/2025
Content

Good academic writing is creative, informative and persuasive. It helps us to think through our research and communicate our thoughts effectively. Our texts encourage conversations with peers not only in our field of study, but also in related disciplines.

This course, designed as a series of interactive workshops, offers you an opportunity to write in English within your own discipline and to discuss your writing with international peers. It also invites you to reflect on your writing habits and writer identity.

 

  • Choose a research problem to investigate (for example, a subject in your major courses). As the semester unfolds, follow the stages of researching and writing as two interlinked processes:
    - focus your research question,
    - find and review relevant literature,
    - collect the best evidence to argue for the importance of your research project.

 

  • Read like a writer. Analyze model texts and sample texts written by your peers to better understand rhetorical strategies and stylistic conventions of selected academic text types.

     

  • Practise writing and giving feedback. Draft four sections of your research paper: an extended definition of a key concept, annotated bibliography, argumentative synthesis and an introduction. You will discuss these drafts with your peers and receive comments from your tutor.

 

The semester of reading, writing and exchanging ideas with international peers from various disciplines will help you to become a better academic communicator. This course will assist you in your future writing, not only in English, but also in your other languages.

 

 

Testimonials

The hypothetical research paper we have been assigned to write has been an extremely useful practice; the importance of finding a ‘niche,’ when writing an introduction, has been a great eye-opener for me. I now find that the research topic I have settled on is incredibly interesting, so much so that I am considering using it for my bachelor project next semester.

Martin (BA, Denmark)

 

Since I had never experienced academic writing before, neither in French nor in English, this course helped me a lot. And I think that the methodology used in French academic writing is probably similar, so this course might also help me in my studies back in France.

Barthelemy (BA, France)

 

This course is really good for people who would like to improve their writing, not only academically, but also in general, to understand how efficient and communicative writing works! It gave me a clear idea how different sections in a research paper are written and organized, so that ideas are in place and easy for readers to understand. It helped a lot!

Fok Wai Ting (BA, China)

 

Questions regarding the course content can be emailed to AcademicEnglish@hum.ku.dk.

Flipped classroom (online course room with a wealth of materials), writing (at home and in class), workshops, discussions (in small groups), peer reviews, reflective journal, individual study
Only BA students can register for this course. Please note that ‘Academic Writing for Undergraduate Students’ is identical to the writing component in ‘Academic English’; therefore, you should not register for both the courses.
Students enrolled in the BA programme of English Studies at UCPH cannot attend this course.
MA students are not eligible for this course; instead, they should choose ‘Academic Writing for Graduate Students’ and/or ‘Presentation Techniques for Graduate Students.’
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 28
  • Preparation
  • 204,75
  • Total
  • 232,75
Written
Oral
Individual
Collective
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Portfolio, 6-10 pages, A joint portfolio uploaded in digital exam.
Type of assessment details
The course will be examined by a portfolio exam consisting of a number of assignments to be submitted on set dates throughout the semester. The total number of pages will be 6-10, and all assignments must be written in English.

Activities, page limits and deadlines are as follows:

[1] 6 journal entries of 0,5 pages each (3 pages in total) submitted throughout the semester
[2] An extended definition 0.75-1 page submitted during week 4 of the semester
[3] An annotated bibliography 1,5 pages submitted during week 8 of the semester
[4] An argumentative synthesis 1,5 pages submitted during week 10 of the semester
[5] An introduction of 1,5 pages submitted during week 13 of the semester
[6] Peer feedback throughout the semester

If an assignment is not submitted on the set date, the student will not receive feedback, and will have to improve the assignment for the final portfolio without feedback.

All assignments must be included in the final portfolio submitted through digital exam.
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Re-exam

Portfolio, 11-15 pages.

At the make-up exam/resit, the portfolio must include a 4-5-page answer to an extra task set by the teacher. This answer is in addition to the required elements in the ordinary exam and will cover a topic or an angle that has not been treated in the required elements.

Criteria for exam assesment

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