UNIVERSITY OF CASTILLA-LA MANCHA

Albacete’s Faculty of Education

Subject: Contemporary trends in education
Teacher: Antonio Cebrián Martínez
Academic year: 2017-2018

EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC RESOURCES

Student:
Antonio Morcillo Martínez
Master degree in Primary Education
2nd course group B
Date of submission: 25/02/2018
 CONTENTS

1. GIVING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

1.1. Aspects that should be avoided
1.2. Keys to a good presentation
1.3. Checklist
1.4. Presentation language tips
1.5. Variety of resources and visual aids
2. TIPS FOR WRITING ACADEMIC PAPERS
2.1 What is academic writing?
2.2 Organization: Planning
a) Academic paper sections
b) “Inverted pyramid” structure
2.3 Organizational Patterns
2.4 Aspects to avoid

1
1. GIVING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

1.1. Aspects that should be avoided

- Reading directly from your slides. By reading your slides, you impart no additional
information, and therefore give your audience no reason to keep listening once they
have finished reading the slide themselves.
- Using small fonts or colours that the audience can’t read. You have to choose a
design that is appropriate for the audience, avoiding small letters and little visible
colours.
- Putting too much text in one slide. The best rule of thumb for text is to keep it
simple, don't try to cram too much information into your slides.
- Sitting down during the presentation. It’s important to use gestures and body
language to communicate his excitement and passion for his subject establishing a
positive connection between the lecturer and the audience.
- Unnecessary pacing. Which includes everything from your volume, pausing, pacing,
body language, can also help captivate or bore your audience.
For example, noticeably raising or lowering the volume of words you're saying can not
only make a presentation more interesting to listen to but also add an emphasis to
certain words or phrases.
- Speaking too quickly or too slowly (or softly). The length of your speech can have a
huge bearing on whether or not the audience is going to pay attention to the entire thing.
- Not preparing enough or never practicing the presentation beforehand. It is the
only way to find out if your presentation is any good. You have to watch yourself giving
your speech.

1.2. Keys to a good presentation

- Know your audience. The primary purpose of any presentation is to share information
with others, so it's important to consider the level of knowledge of the audience.
- Provide clear information of presentation management. All good presentations and
speeches start with a tight script. Start your presentation by telling your audience what
to expect. Let them know what you will cover first, whether and when you'll stop for a
break, if you'll be taking questions during the presentation, and so on.
- Plan every part of the presentation beforehand, being familiarize with the venue and
equipment.
- Keep a consistent look to audience, making eye contact with them. Meeting a person's
gaze establishes a personal connection, and even a quick glance can keep people engaged.
- Make sure your presentation goes in logical order. If nerves make you rush through
a presentation, your audience could miss your most important and relevant aspects.

2
- Use visual aids wisely. Visual aids can be a very powerful tool to enhance the impact
of your presentations. Words and images presented in different formats can appeal
directly to your audience’s imagination, adding power to your spoken words.
- Rehearse the presentation, adjusting to time and being self-confident and comfortable.
- Speak at a normal pace and speak clearly. Varying the speed at which you talk, and
emphasising changes in pitch and tone all help to make your voice more interesting and
hold your audience’s attention.

- Use good gesture and body language. Make sure that you are giving the right
messages with body language, avoiding crossed arms, hands held behind your back or
in your pockets, and pacing the stage.

1.3. Checklist
1. Greet the audience. Try to put yourself in people's shoes, to get a clear idea about
their needs and motivations. You can also greet individuals as they arrive on the day,
and ask questions to get a feel for their level of knowledge.
2. State the purpose. Concentrate on your core message. When planning your
presentation, you should always keep in mind the question:
- What is the key message for my audience to take away?
3. Give the structure of the presentation. Start with a simple outline of the contents at
the very beginning to give people a step-by-step overview of what you’re going to
cover.
4. Inform the audience about timing and handling questions. Let them know what
you will cover first, whether and when you'll stop for a break, if you'll be taking
questions during the presentation, and so on.
5. Refer to visuals using appropriate language. This table/diagram/chart/slide
shows...
6. Give transitions between sections. When you’re about to transition into a new
section, reiterate what they just learned and give them a preview of what they’re going
to find out in the next section.
7. Sum up and conclusion. Final summary of the most relevant aspects and overall
ideas of your topic.
8. Thank the audience and invite questions. Close the presentation by thanking the
audience for their attention and asking for some questions.

3
1.4. Presentation language tips
A. Welcoming and Introducing the subject. Introduction is a crucial part of any
presentation. There are many functions which you need to achieve:
 greet the audience.
 express your purpose.
 give the structure.
 give the timing.
 handle questions.
Some example phases we could use are:
- “Good morning and thank you for coming”
- “In today’s presentation I’d like to…”
- “I’d like to start by…”
- “Starting with…”
B. Transitioning from one subject to another. This helps the listener understand the
structure and follow the main points. Some useful transition phrases are:
- “Now, we’ll turn to …”
- “Let me move on to…”
- “This brings me to my next point, which is…”
C. Analyzing a point and giving recommendations. For example:
- “Let’s consider this in more detail”
- “What does that mean for…?”

 There are some other phrases which are useful in a presentation. These includes:
D. Giving an example.
- “A good example of this is…”
- “To illustrate this point…”
E. Summarizing and concluding.
- “In conclusion…”
- “Finally, let me remind you of some topics we’ve covered”
- “I’d like to sum up the main points”

4
1.5. Variety of resources and visual aids
A visual aid is anything which your audience can see, and which helps them to follow
your spoken presentation. In addition to aiding understanding, visual aids can also help
to keep the audience's attention and interest by adding variety to the presentation style.
Some of the resources that you could use to enhance your presentations are:
• Google Docs • Prezi • VideoScribe • Empressr • PreZentit

2. TIPS FOR WRITING ACADEMIC PAPERS

2.1 What is academic writing?
Writing is a skill that is required in many contexts throughout life. However, academic
writing has its own set of rules and practices.
 These rules and practices may be organised around a formal order or
structure in which to present ideas, in addition to ensuring that ideas are
supported by author citations in the literature.
 In contrast to personal writing contexts, academic writing is different because it
deals with the underlying theories and causes governing processes and practices
in everyday life, as well as exploring alternative explanations for these events.
 Academic writing follows a particular ‘tone’ and adheres to traditional
conventions of punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

2.2 Organization: Planning

Planning will help you to keep your paper organized and focused. There are many
ways and methods to plan a paper:
- Diagrams - Concept mapping
- Lists - “Just write” method
- Outlines - Table schedule
There is a certain amount of planning before you start writing the paper; so, it will be
analytical and organized. An academic paper has three distinct sections:
A) INTRODUCTION. In the introduction, you must grab the reader’s attention and
identify the thesis of the paper. You can do this by starting with:
 Asking several questions.
 Using a quote from a famous work or person.
 Some interesting facts or information, like surprising statements that are
related to your topic or a brief and interesting historical ewview.
 A definition of an important term related to the work.

5
  Using short anecdote that leads to your topic.
 Look for someone else’s opinion, which is opposite to yours, about the topic.
 Provide any necessary background information and definition of key terms.
 Make sure the reader knows enough to follow the paper but not too much that
they have lost focus on the paper.
 Introduce the main points of the paper.

B) BODY. This is the main part of the work and the paragraphs must be clearly written
and be arranged in a logical order, like chronologically or in order of importance. It
should:
 Discuss various sub-topics that relate to the overall topic of the paper.
 Use topic sentences at the start of every “body” paragraph, introducing the
paragraph’s main idea
 The sentences after the topic sentence further describe and support the main
idea of the paragraph. That is, each initial sentence links the preceding
paragraph and the whole section flows smoothly.

C) CONCLUSION. In the conclusion, you re-emphasize the thesis and summarize

all the main points. You are offering a conclusion to questions and ideas raised in the
introduction and the development of your paper. It should:
 Show significance of your paper:
Why is it important? or What does it say about your topic?
 Not include new or added information.

In that way, research papers may be structured into the following sections:
1. Introduction (thesis statements, hypothesis…).
2. Methods (how the research was done).
3. Results (the specific results of the research).
4. Discussion (putting the results into context).
5. Future Research (problems/questions for future projects).
6. Conclusion (implications of results).

6
Many academic papers now follow an “inverted pyramid”
structure. This kind of writing emphasizes the most
important facts or conclusions first, then follows with
subordinate details, including explanations of the
methodology, evidence, or findings.

2.3 Organizational patterns

The purpose of academic writing is to present a number of ideas that somehow fit
together to make sense. Sometimes the amount of new concepts, new words, and facts
can be very large and complex. Professors, textbook authors, and researchers use a
framework or plan that helps to communicate their ideas clearly. There are several types
of plans, called organizational patterns that can be identified in academic writing. They
help the author to organize his or her ideas in a way that makes sense, and hopefully,
they help you to understand the material being presented.
Organizational patterns can be identified by what transitions or “signal words” the
author uses. Recognizing the type of pattern that academic writing is organized by can
help the reader to put all the facts together and understand what the text is all about. The
following will help you to identify different organizational patterns:
1. Definition. Explain the meaning of the new words or phrases (refers to, can be
defined as, means, occurs when, are those that, entails…).
2. Classification. Divides a topic into parts based on shared characteristics (classified
as, is composed of, different stages of, includes, first/second, another…).
3. Chronological Order. Describes the sequence in which events occur in time (first,
second, later, before, next, as soon as, following, during, until…).
4. Process. Describes the order in which things are done or how things work (less, first,
second, most important, primarily…).
5. Order of importance. Describes ideas in order of priority or preference (less, more,
primary, last, most important…).
6. Spatial order. Describes physical location or position in space (above, below, beside,
next to, in front of, opposite, behind, outside…).
7. Cause and effect. Describes how one or more things cause or are related to another
(Cause: because of, for, since, one reason/cause is, leads to, due to. Effects:
consequently, results in, one result is…).
8. Comparison and contrast. Discusses similarities and/or differences among ideas,
theories, concepts, objects, or people (Similarities: both, also, like, likewise, as well as,
in the same way, to compare, in comparison. Differences: in contrast, instead, despite,
nevertheless…).
9. Listing/ Enumeration. Organizes lists of information: characteristics, features, parts
or categories (the following, several, for example, for instance, another, also, too…).

7
10. Statement and clarification. Indicates information explaining a concept or idea
that will follow (in fact, in other words, clearly, evidently, obviously…).
11. Summary. Indicates that a condensed review of an idea or piece of writing is to
follow (in summary, in conclusion, in brief, to summarize, to sum up…).
12. Generalization and example. Provides examples that clarify a broad, general
statement (for example, for instance, that is, to illustrate, thus…).
13. Addition. Indicates that additional information will follow (furthermore,
additionally, also, besides, further, in addition, moreover, again…).

2.4 Aspects to avoid

- Personal nouns (using I, me, you, us/we)
- Directives (like do this, do that…)
- Informal tone and slang (coming to contradictions, personal nouns, phrasal verbs…)
- Wordiness (run-on sentences, too many phrasal verbs, too much passive voice,
redundancy). Good writing is simple and direct; it uses the simplest word possible that
conveys the same meaning.
- Vague expressions (using they, we, people…)
- Numbered lists or bulleted items.
- Personal experiences, research papers are evidence-based.