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UdemyTeaching & AcademicsPaid courseIntermediate levelCertificate

Double Your Academic Writing Quality: Practical Writing Tips (Udemy.com)

Learn principles, practices for writing with meaning and clarity to complete your academic writing project on time

Created by: Peter Alkema

Last updated November 2024

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What you will learn

  • How to write with meaning and clarity using powerful academic writing principles and practices
  • The relationship between writing and thinking and why its important to develop this as an academic writer
  • When to write (starting too early or too late) and how you can improve your success by writing early and often
  • The importance of writing with a golden thread so that you signpost your reader throughout your work
  • Main principles of drafting a research report that will help you complete your writing projects
  • Different types of abstract patterns and how you should approach writing an abstract
  • How to compare levels of complexity in sections of writing so that you can be your own best editor
  • Learn the concept of abstract subjects so that you can avoid using that and write clearer sentences
  • The effect of nominalising actions and why that clutters your sentences with unnecessary words

How it compares

Against the other 503 rated Udemy courses in Teaching & Academics on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.3 out of 5higher than 16% of them
  • Reviews458#251 of 504 by number of reviews
  • Length10.2 hourslonger than 84% of them
  • Last updatedNovember 2024more recently than 62% of them

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Course Description

  • Get instant access to worksheets, follow along, and keep for reference

  • Introduce yourself to our community of students in this course and tell us your goals

  • Encouragement and celebration of your progress every step of the way: 25% > 50% > 75% & 100%

  • Over 2 hours of clear and concise step-by-step instructions, lessons, and engagement

What others are saying:

"I completed this course quickly and easily. The teacher was likable and clear and gave maximum value (lots of useful info in a short amount of time). It was just what I needed: principles and practices for writing with meaning and clarity. Thanks for these gems and the confidence boost!" - Amanda S.

"Wow, such a helpful course. As a Business Analyst the things I learned in this course will most defiantly help me to write better BRD/BRS document." - Pieter K.

"Amazing explanation on the principles of academic writing and clarity. This course not only served as a reminder of practices to write with meaning but it has inspired me to write once again." - Anisha B.

"The course is a good match for me because I am constantly required to do a lot of writing. It is very insightful, in terms of what I need to improve my writing skills." - Nompumelelo G.

"I wish I had this course last year when I wrote my English papers and assignments. This has however assisted me now in emails and getting my point across better within my environment. The videos were interesting and captivated throughout the course. Very clear and precise." - Deshnee B.

In this course, I will present a range of principles and practices to help you write better. The course content is applicable across all fields, faculties, and types of writing projects. We look at the relationship between thinking and writing when to start writing, the golden thread, and useful principles such as how to think like a reader. Some of the practices will help you with better sentence construction. These include: old before new, concrete subjects, complexity last, and ways to ensure that your writing deals directly with what you are trying to convey. This will help your reader and ensure your writing flows.

The material was developed over 5 years of running workshops for students at Wits University in Johannesburg. Some feedback from students of those workshops:

  • “These workshops should be compulsory”

  • ”Well-planned and informative workshop”

  • “The session has been an eye-opener and the lecturer has emphasized a lot on simplicity and owning the story”

  • ”Improve my sentence construction”

  • ”Helpful tips and tricks - actual practical examples”

  • ”Clear understanding and articulation of academic writing style”

Clear and meaningful academic writing is something I care deeply about, and I would love some feedback about this course so I can continue to make improvements and help other writers just like you. Feel free to work through the material at your own pace and aim to put your learnings into practice as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing about your success as a writer.

What you’ll learn

  • How to write with meaning and clarity using powerful academic writing principles and practices

  • The relationship between writing and thinking and why it's important to develop this as an academic writer

  • When to write (starting too early or too late) and how you can improve your success by writing early and often

  • The importance of writing with a golden thread so that you signpost your reader throughout your work

  • Main principles of drafting a research report that will help you complete your writing projects

  • Different types of abstract patterns and how you should approach writing an abstract

  • How to compare levels of complexity in sections of writing so that you can be your own best editor

  • Learn the concept of abstract subjects so that you can avoid using that and write clearer sentences

  • The effect of nominalizing actions and why that clutters your sentences with unnecessary words

  • Practical sentence construction principles such as “old before new” and “complexity last”

  • ... and more!

Contents and Overview

You'll start with The Relationship Between Writing And Thinking And How One Improves The Other; When To Write Depends On Whether You Want To Start Too Early Or Too Late; The Golden Thread Principle And How You Can Use It To Signpost Your Reader; Main Principles Of Drafting A Research Report Plus Writers Block And More; Abstract Patterns Often Depend On the Field You Are Studying

We will also cover Compare levels of complexity in sections of writing; Learn The Concept Of Abstract Subjects So You Can Avoid Them In Your Writing; The Importance & Technique Of Ensuring That Actions Or Verbs Are Not Nominalised; Two Powerful Writing Practices: "Old Before New” And “Complexity Last”

This course will also tackle the Origin of thesis and overcoming the challenges; Academic writing; Revising style, Subjects and Characters; Be specific and concrete; Correct usage of Verbs, Nouns, and Actions; Old before new; Complexity last and Polishing up; Principles for Doubling your Academic Writing Quality

You'll get premium support and feedback to help you become more confident with finance!

Our happiness guarantee...

We have a 30-day 100% money-back guarantee, so if you aren't happy with your purchase, we will refund your course - no questions asked!

We can't wait to see you on the course!

Enroll now, and we'll help you improve your academic writing skills!

Peter

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Instructor Details

Peter Alkema

"What an amazing course! After finishing this course, I have confidence. Thank so much Dr Peter Alkema" ... "This is exactly the jump-start I needed. Very clear and concise"

I lead Digital Transformation & Architecture at ABB and I've been featured on CNBC Africa and won the Gartner CIO Of The Year in 2016. I founded and led the largest banking hackathon in South Africa which was published in 2019 as a case study by Harvard Business School.

I've taught over 100,000 students about technology, business, academics and self-development. In 2020 I completed my PhD at Wits University In Johannesburg. The study introduced a ground-breaking theory of Agile software development teams. My woodworking book was published in 2014 and has sold over 10,000 copies.

Olugbenga Gbadegesin: "Excellent delivery" / Lebogang Tswelapele: "This is what I have been longing for" / Paskalia Ndapandula: "Peter speaks with so much clarity" / Amantle Mangwedi: "It was straight to the point and the sections are cut into nice short segments which made it easier to go through" Kathy Bermudez: "Excellent material. Well organized..."

Werner van Wyk: "Thank you Peter, once again your lesson and course have given me so much knowledge and understanding" / Yvonne Rudolph "I really look forward to take everything i learned in action" / Josephine Mahlangu: "exactly what I needed to know, absolutely valuable and helpful for my personal growth"

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Reviews

4.3

458 ratings on Udemy

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By Delores Williams on 1/30/2023

I chose this course because I want to focus on how to improve the quality of my academic writing. I found the advice in the first session on the foundation concepts of academic writing very helpful. I look forward to completing the course

By Anonymized User on 9/27/2022

This Journey was fantastic. I am delighted with all the topics, tips, and examples covered throughout the slides. I have seen a noticeable improvement in my emails and I'm looking forward to adopting all the concepts reviewed.

By Constance Zou on 8/19/2022

I really appreciated the clarify and usefulness of the advices given in this course but the quantity is severely lacking. The 4 simple rules were repeated numerous times in identical fashion, when once is enough. The Golden Rule was simply defined and discussed with regard to its importance but no examples or application was provided. This lesson could be taught in 10 mins or less. I skipped through all the redundant material.

By Nompumelelo Gumbi on 4/22/2021

the course is a good match for me because I am constantly required to do a lot of writing. It is very insightful, in terms of what I need to improve my writing skills.

By Nelly Sakata on 3/28/2021

So far it's a good match. I especially like the techniques on "real subjects" and "real actions". I'd like to see more practical examples the technique of "old before new" and "complexity last". I think it will help putting things into perspective if we can see practical examples on these two techniques.

By Mathebula Pride on 10/1/2020

What I have learn is to always know that writing is a form of communication which is not face-face, therefore I have to be clear or simple by all means. Also, I have learned how to use words in a suitable manner.

By Althea Booysen on 9/3/2020

Very good course; affirming the importance of writing with clarity and meaning to actively engage the reader. Also, I never thought of normalization in the way you explained it, but it is making sense. In my experience, the gold thread concept, if applied correctly, also adds to the flow of report. Thanks for your time and effort

By Paskalia Ndapandula on 8/2/2020

Peter speaks with so much clarity, I learned a lot from his lessons. I am only starting my PhD journey and I will surely be revisiting Peter's lessons throughout my studies. Thank you very much Peter!

By Melanie Moodie on 7/2/2020

I felt that there were some good concepts, but unfortunately, they were not discussed nearly enough or with enough depth to truly understand them and use them for my own work.

By Adu Ejiro Oyindamola on 6/24/2020

Yes this course is a good match for me especially the way Peter explained about the golden thread to me,that making me know about the key words and phrases to use to develop your academic writing

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Overall Score : 86 / 100