LDB 1042/LCB 1042 - Individual Assignment May

2018

Final Academic Writing Assignment Guide

What is an academic writing assignment and why write it?

An academic writing assignment is an opportunity given to undergraduate students to explore

something you are interested in, especially in the specific programme (eg. EE, ME, CV, BIS
etc.) you are pursuing your degree in. In this assignment, we suggest you begin with a good
question, followed by analysing and discussing possible answers to it. In writing this
assignment you will not only share your ideas, but also findings from credible sources to justify
you answers with logic, facts and evidence. Thus, in academic writing you are not trying to show
how much you know about a certain topic, but rather to demonstrate that you have
understood and are able to think critically about your topic.

Make sure your writing assignment has a clear purpose. For the academic writing assignment
for this semester, your purpose can be one of the following:

1. INFORMATIVE – the purpose is to explain possible answers to your question and

provide your audience new information or a different way of looking at your topic. An
informative essay often answers to the what/why and how question.
Example:
 What are the negative aspects of solar energy?
 How can engineers evaluate whether their product is sustainable?
2. ANALYTICAL - the purpose is to explain and analyse possible answers to your
question and chose the best possible answer(s) based on a balanced viewpoint on the
topic to ultimately support your own idea(s). An analytical essay often answers to the
how /why question.
Example:
 How smart are smart devices?
 Why bacterial concrete can transform construction industry in Malaysia?
3. PERSUASIVE – the purpose is to try to change your audience’s point of view about
the topic. You are writing to convince the audience to agree with your stance on the
identified topic. You can either argue for, or take a position, and then logically and
critically defend it. A persuasive essay often has a yes/no answer.
Example:
 Does sustainable building really help green the earth?

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 Will driverless cars be a reality in Malaysia?

Remember that academic writing is not just about providing facts and summaries from your
what you have read from the external sources. Although you refer to other authors’ ideas, your
assignment must show your own thoughts about the topic. Your assignment must clearly show
your own idea(s) and how you have used other peoples’ work to support and justify your idea(s).
You must have a clear thesis statement and this statement is usually the answer to your initial
question.

Organisation

Introduction

 Catches readers’ interest

 Provides background information
 Clear thesis statement included

Body Paragraphs

 Support theses statement

 Each paragraph has a main point to support thesis statement
 Each paragraph is supported with facts, evidence and logical reasoning
 Each sentence connects clearly with the one before and after it.
 Ideas are clearly connected and coherent

Conclusion

 Summarises the paper’s thesis and all main points supporting the thesis statement.
 Explain and show to the readers the significance on the paper.

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Formatting and Style Guide

Length of the paper:

 1000 – 1500 words (indicate word count on Final Cover) and follow the APA
Referencing Style Guide for all referencing.

Compulsory references

 5 credible recent resources (after 2012).

 Only conference proceedings and academic journal articles are accepted.

Formatting

 Have 1 inch margins on the top, bottom and sides

 Use Times New Roman font, size 12
 Double space the entire essay
 The first word in every paragraph should be indented one half inch
 All heading should be in bold

Final Submission Guide

Please bind the Final Assignment, the 2 drafts and 5 articles together and submit to your
respective lecturers as shown below.

Final
+ Draft 02 + Draft 01
+ 5 Articles

TOP BOTTOM

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Additional Support

Transition words
Source: http://www.vsm.sk/Curriculum/academicsupport/academicwritingguide.pdf

 to start – first, first of all, to begin with

 to add another idea – in addition, furthermore, also, moreover,
 to add a more important idea – more importantly, what is worse, what is more [note:
do not use contractions – what’s worse / what’s more]
 to add your last idea – finally, most of all, most importantly
 to contrast with the previous idea – however, nevertheless, on the other hand
 to show the result of the previous idea – therefore, thus, consequently, as a result
 to emphasize an idea – in fact, in particular
 to give an example of the previous idea – for instance, for example, to illustrate
 to show a time relationship between ideas – first, second, then, next, finally

Words and phrases that help to begin or link sentences

Source: http://owll.massey.ac.nz/pdf/Academic-Writing-Guide.pdf

Being specific

 In particular,…. Regarding… With respect to…

 In relation to… More specifi cally… In terms of…
 Especially, …

Giving an example
 For instance, … For example, … This can be illustrated by…
 …namely, … …such as…

Clarifying
 In other words, … Basically, … …namely, …

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Introducing parallels
 Simultaneously, … At the same time, … Equally, …
 Concurrently, …

Mentioning a common point

 Traditionally, … Typically, … Conventionally, …
 Commonly, … Often, …

Acknowledging something and moving onto a different point

 Although… Even though… Despite…
 Notwithstanding…

Following a line of reasoning

 Therefore, … Hence, … Consequently, …
 Subsequently, … As a result, … Accordingly, …
 As a corollary, … As a consequence, … To this end, …

References

Whitaker, A. (2009). Academic Writing Guide 2010: A step-by-step guide to writing academic
papers. City University of Seattle, Bratislava, Slovakia. Retrieved from http://www.vsm.sk/
Curriculum/academicsupport/academicwritingguide.pdf

Bowker, N. (2007) Academic Writing: A Guide to Tertiary Level Writing. Massey University,

Palmerston North, 1-112. Retrieved from http://owll.massey.ac.nz/pdf/Academic-Writing-
Guide.pdf

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