Writing workshop schedule

Writing workshops

A writing workshop will be fortnightly throughout the program. Each session is designed to keep students' on track throughout the various stages of their scientific investigation. Many of these sessions are based on the teachings from our class text, Writing Science by Joshua Schimel.

Students must complete a minimum of 80% of the workshops as a part of the requirements to be recognised at the conclusion of the program. Students who cannot attend the live sessions will be able to access a recording, which is posted to our Google Classroom the next day. These students are required to submit the workshop tasks with one fortnight of the original workshop date. If a student has more than three missing workshop tasks, the student will need to arrange a meeting with the mentor to discuss a plan to catch up.  Students who do not maintain adequate task submission may be required to exit the program.

Date        Term/Week                                    Topic

26/1         Term 1, Week 0                          Information session

2/2            Term 1, Week 1                          Finding an investigation question & Smart Searching (incl. using the NLA database and Google Scholar)

16/2          Term 1, Week 3                         Reading an academic paper for understanding

2/3             Term 1, Week 5                         Writing a literature review

16/3          Term 1, Week 7                         Science & storytelling - students will be introduced to the OCAR structure from Writing Science

30/3          Term 1, Week 9                         The opening - Techniques for an effective opening 

20/4          Term 2, Week 1                         The funnel - We will examine the funnel structure of an Introduction and consider how it functions within the full report

4/5              Term 2, Week 3                        Internal structure - How to ensure that each section of a report tells its own story and develops in a logical manner

18/5           Term 2, Week 5                        Paragraphs and sentences - A closer look at how story-telling techniques apply right down to the smallest passages of writing

1/6               Reconciliation Day

15/6            Term 2, Week 7                         The action: Materials and Methods - Students will examine published papers in their field to learn the expected nuances of writing style. We will discuss where it is appropriate to use past/present tense, active/passive voice.

29/6             Term 2, Week 9                        The Action:  Results - Students will be given an overview of potential statistical tools that may be useful for analysing their data. They will be encouraged to ask their mentor which techniques they should be implement in their investigation.

20/7             Term 3, Week 1                          The Action: Discussion - a look at the general layout out of the Discussion section using examples from published papers

3/8                Term 3, Week 3                         The resolution - Work through exemplars of story structures used to logically communicate their conclusions

17/8              Term 3, Week 5                         Condensing - Through guided examples, students will be shown how to condense their writing to improve communication

31/8              Term 3, Week 7                         The Abstract & Using feedback - Students will be taught how to write an Abstract and given on using feedback

14/9              Term 3, Week 9                         Putting it all together - Proofreading advice

12/10             Term 4, Week 1                        Peer feedback - students will read through report drafts and swap advice

26/10             Term 4, Week 3                        Peer feedback - final opportunity to seek advice and feedback from peers