Academic Writing Made Easy

Go to class
Write Review

Free Online Course: Academic Writing Made Easy provided by edX is a comprehensive online course, which lasts for 8 weeks long, 2-3 hours a week. The course is taught in English and is free of charge. Upon completion of the course, you can receive an e-certificate from edX. Academic Writing Made Easy is taught by Dr. Heidi Minning, Jeremiah Hendren, Dr. Stephen Starck, Dr. Aparna Bhar, Susan O’Byrne, Rose Jacobs, Ruth Shannon and Huma Abid.

Overview
  • This MOOC takes you through the basics of academic writing step by step. From structuring and organising an academic text to avoiding common pitfalls that can negatively affect your credibility, this 6-week course offers a guide for those who want to improve their writing. It looks at various components that will make your academic writing stand out for all the right reasons, including paragraphing, style, tone, paraphrasing and punctuation. Using samples of student writing it also gives you tips on what to avoid and explains why. Each week is comprised of video lessons, followed by exercises and peer-review tasks, taking you through various aspects of academic writing.

    The course requires upper-intermediate (B2) to advanced English (C1).

Syllabus
  • The MOOC “Academic Writing Made Easy” covers the following topics to help you improve your writing:

    Week 1 Rhetorical Preferences: Meeting the expectations of your target group

    Week 2 Genre: Differentiating between types of scholarly texts

    The Writing Process: Overcoming writer's block

    Week 3 Cohesion: Making your ideas flow logically

    Week 4 Sentences: Writing reader-friendly sentences

    Week 5 Credibility: Convincing your peers to accept and believe what you write

    Week 6 Punctuation: Polishing your text

    Putting it all together: Overcoming the last hurdles