Everyone writes, but we don’t always write effectively and with our readers in mind. This course is aimed at postgraduate students in any field and includes principles and practices of writing well in an academic context (click here to enrol). Whether you are writing articles, reports or emails, the principles in this course are widely applicable. You will learn about the relationship between writing and thinking, the concept of a “golden thread” and when to write, particularly if you have a writing project that needs some planning.
Sentences are the building blocks of your writing and there are different ways you can sequence them to help your reader. You will learn writing practices such as old before new, complexity last and how to be aware of potential clarity issues in nominalising verbs or dealing with abstract subjects. Work at your own pace through these interactive videos and assessments and apply what you have learnt to become a better writer!
This course is available on the WitsX platform which is available through a partnership with edX, a non-profit online learning destination founded by MIT and Harvard. The platform offers Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to a global learning audience and Wits was its first African university partner in 2014. Since then, 83 000 students from across the world have enrolled for the 13 courses on the platform, with more being added every year.
WitsX courses are produced by Wits students, staff and alumni and cover topics such as digital transformation, health sciences, urban planning, media freedom, forced labour in the global economy and postgraduate academic literacy. The academic writing MOOC is open for enrolment and the course content will be available for enrolled students from December 2019.
Wits has a proud history of over 90 years during which it has produced 130 000 graduates and 87% of its publications have appeared in accredited international journals. Wits is committed to high standards of academic research while also leading in social and economic development. The WitsX learning platform demonstrates its commitment to investing in high quality learning content which is free and fully digitised.
The WitsX academic writing course builds on this commitment to offer you the principles and practices that will help you articulate better, regardless of your writing goals. The instructors are passionate about helping students get through their writing projects and firmly believe that improved writing skills are critical to helping students graduate. Click here to find out more and enrol today.
