1.5 EC
Semester 1 & 2, period 1, 2, 4, 5
5224PSSW2Y
“Publish or perish” – science only advances when the fruits of your scientific labour are communicated, be it to peers, the general public, policy makers or financiers. As scientists, you will spend a considerable part of your time turning your work into words. Although you probably have a clear idea about the content of your writing, writing it down effectively is another matter. How do you make your writing stand out against all other highly interesting papers?
This goal is the main focus of our module. You will learn to approach your writing as a hierarchical organisation of story arcs; paragraphs and sentences are self-contained stories, and should be organised as such. By learning to use clear argumentation and effective word use, you will find it easier to get across your ideas. By cleverly connecting the dots you can minimise your reader’s cognitive load.
After learning this, you will focus on editing: how do you polish your text to make each word have meaning, and how do you cater to different readerships? You will also learn to identify what causes writer’s block, and how to effectively deal with this.
Each week, you will complete both a reading and a writing assignment, followed by a seminar, in which the studied theory is discussed. The completed writing assignment is subsequently subjected to peer review, in which you provide and receive feedback informed by the studied theory.
Selected chapters from Schimel, J. (2012) Writing Science – How to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-976024-4
Selected on-line resources (e.g. Purdue Online Writing Lab)
|
Activity |
Hours |
|
|
Seminar |
8 |
|
|
Self study |
34 |
|
|
Total |
42 |
(1.5 EC x 28 hr) |
Additional requirements for this course:
All sessions take place on campus; we do not offer hybrid sessions.
To meet the course objectives, participation in group discussions, peer feedback and student interaction is essential. Active participation during all four sessions is therefore mandatory. If you are unable to attend a session, contact the course coordinator prior to the session to discuss your options for passing the course. Missing more than one session will automatically result in a negative assessment (fail; “NAV”) of the course.
By being present and actively participating in group discussions and class assignments you are contributing to the learning environment as well as the learning process of yourself and others. The in class assignments and discussions enable and promote the achievement of the course learning objectives.
| Item and weight | Details |
|
Final grade | |
|
Attendance | Must be ≥ pass |
|
Attendance Session 1 | Must be ≥ pass |
|
Attendance Session 2 | Must be ≥ pass |
|
Attendance Session 3 – Editing | Must be ≥ pass |
|
Attendance Session 4 – Audiences | Must be ≥ pass |
|
Feedback assginments | Must be ≥ 5.5 |
|
1 (25%) Assignment SW1 | NAP if missing |
|
1 (25%) Assignment SW2 | NAP if missing |
|
1 (25%) Assignment SW3 | NAP if missing |
|
1 (25%) Assignment SW4 | NAP if missing |
The quality of the peer review is assessed weekly and graded using a rubric (published on the Canvas page).
A final score > 55% counts as a passing grade, provided all assignments are done.
Grades and a rubric are published per session; feedback can be discussed during sessions or by appointment (b.w.berkhout@uva.nl).
Each session, you will complete both a reading and a writing assignment. The writing assignment is followed by peer review.
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
| Session | Subject |
| 1 | General introduction, overall story arc, writer's block |
| 2 | Hierarchical story arcs: paragraphs and sentences; appropriate language |
| 3 | Editing; condensing and revising |
| 4 | Readership analysis; writing for a specified audience |
This course is part of the Professional Skills learning trajectory.
Be aware that students on this course are expected to have proficient English reading and writing skills (i.e. at least CEFR C1 level).
GenAI in Professional Skills
Artificial intelligence (AI), and specifically GenAI, tools are becoming commonplace in society. Although the tools are easy to access, using them effectively requires advanced skill levels. We think AI can be a useful tool, but can also hinder learning by offering ‘shortcuts’ rather than stimulating active learning.
Therefore, we believe that it is important to first learn skills such as writing, critical thinking, and self-reflection before leveraging AI tools to support these processes. We designed our exercises and assignments to be done without AI to achieve the best learning outcomes. During our courses we focus on the skills themselves, not on AI use. Furthermore, using AI requires additional, AI specific, skills as well.
We expect you to not use AI for Professional Skills courses, as these will likely subtract from your learning. If you believe you have a valid use case for (Gen)AI during one of the Professional Skills courses, please discuss this with your teacher first. Note that the use of (Gen)AI for exercises or assignments without the explicit consent of the teacher may result in referral to the exam committee.