Academic Writing and Research Skills G (UCC) (8733.2)

Please note these are the 2024 details for this unit
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Academic Writing and Research Skills G (UCC)
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 UC College, Bruce, ACT
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Business, Government & Law
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
Canberra Business School Graduate Level Band 1 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 1 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
Academic Writing and Research Skills is designed to develop the autonomy, adaptability and responsibility in academic research and writing necessary to function successfully in postgraduate studies. The unit builds academic scaffolds in research and writing around unit specific material from the students area of specialisation. By the end of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate that their writing proficiency has reached or exceeded the proficiency requirements for entry into post-graduate study. Students will build up to an academic research essay through a literature review, a study of academic language and referencing, and planning and drafting their essay.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Evaluate the reliability, relevance, purpose, and accuracy of sources and adhere to UC's academic integrity expectations;
2. Evaluate complex issues and evaluate the effectiveness of an argument by applying critical thinking, research, note-taking, and synthesising skills;
3. Apply knowledge of academic language and writing style to create original sentences which effectively communicate students' own position on the research question; and
4. Create an original argumentative essay by integrating research and reading skills, and applying proofreading and editing skills.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development


Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 UC College, Bruce, ACT Semester 1 03 February 2025 On-campus Dr Robert Berthon
2025 UC College, Bruce, ACT Semester 2 28 July 2025 On-campus Dr Robert Berthon
2026 UC College, Bruce, ACT Semester 1 16 February 2026 On-campus Dr Robert Berthon
2026 UC College, Bruce, ACT Semester 2 10 August 2026 On-campus Dr Robert Berthon
Not available

Required texts

Students will be provided with the Unit Materials specially designed for this unit.

Students may also find it useful have use of the following:

  • an English-English desk dictionary, such as the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary or the Collins Cobuild Students Dictionary
  • an English-English thesaurus, such as the Concise Oxford Thesaurus
  • University of Canberra Library (2010), A Guide to Referencing with examples in the APA and Harvard styles. 7th edition.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Marking rubrics for the assessment items will be uploaded on CANVAS

Artificial Intelligence

Students are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in assessments for this unit.

GenAI may only be used in authorised ways when completing assessments at UC. This means that GenAI can only be used for an assessment when:

  1. the Unit Convener has authorised GenAI use for that assessment
  2. the student uses GenAI in the way that the assessment instructions allow
  3. the student fully acknowledges their use of GenAI, with proper citations, references and a GenAI Acknowledgement Statement in line with the assessment instructions.

Where the assessment instructions do not specifically state that GenAI may be used and how, then its use is not permitted for that assessment. Students must still provide the required GenAI Acknowledgement Statement to indicate whether GenAI has or has not been used in the preparation of the assessment. If unsure, students should seek advice from the Unit Convener.

The GenAI for Students Library Guide provides further information, including how to reference GenAI.

Special assessment requirements

In order to gain a pass grade or higher, students are required to attempt all the assessments and achieve a total aggregate of 50% or more for all assessment items.

End of unit results will be awarded on a five-point scale:

High Distinction - HD                   (85 - 100)

Distinction - DI                            (75 - 84)

Credit - CR                                 (65 - 74)

Pass - P                                     (50 - 64)

Fail - N*                                      (below 50)

*
NW - Fail result based on written notification of withdrawal from a subject after the due date.
NX - Fail result based on failure to reach pass grade in a subject having completed all the subject assessment requirements
NC - Fail result based on failure to complete one or more of the assessment requirements for a subject
NN - Fail result based on non-participation in a subject

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Participation requirements

Course participants on Student Visas are required to attend more than 80% of all classes. Student attendance is checked for each class. In cases where a student attends less than 80% of their classes, and are unable to provide appropriate documentation and a satisfactory explanation, the Student Visa may be cancelled.

In addition, there is a strong correlation between poor attendance and failure in a unit because students who have a poor attendance record find it difficult to keep up with the work being presented. Poor attendance means that students will not be in class to participate and this will make it difficult for a student to understand the requirements of this part of the assessment.

Required IT skills

You should know how to navigate on-line websites and be able to use standard software packages such as Word and Excel.

In-unit costs

None

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Additional information

None