Academic Tip Sheets

Academic essay explains the academic essay as an academic style of writing; looks at the structure of an academic essay; looks at the main types of academic essays; explains how to write an academic essay; and provides you with a quick checklist that covers most aspects of writing an academic essay.
Annotated bibliography explains what is meant by an annotated bibliography; examines how an annotated bibliography differs from a literature review; describes how annotations differ from abstracts; looks at the purpose of an annotated bibliography; and examines the main features of an annotated bibliography.
APA Style questions whether you should be using APA style; reviews the use of punctuation; examines the heading types used; discusses how to format quotations; looks at a range of stylistic conventions (punctuation, footnotes, capitalisation, abbreviations, numbers metrication, decimal fractions and italics); and shows how to display graphs and tables.
Assignments provides a few hints to help you grasp what’s expected; explains the key components of an assignment task; and outlines some techniques and strategies for doing assignments.
Blackboard introduces you to Blackboard; provides you with instructions on how to access Blackboard; gives you a breakdown of the Blackboard sections; explains the various functions within Blackboard; and lists the Blackboard system requirements.
Blogs, journals et al. looks at how writing changes over time; describes how to write a blog; looks at the learning portfolio; and discusses the use of reflective journals.
Chemistry lab reports outlines the guidelines for writing a laboratory report; and lists the benefits of assessment; looks at what you should write in each section.
Effective writing examines the factors that affect the style you use; discusses paragraphs and their role in effective writing; and looks at how to improve your paragraphs.
Exam techniques explains what you should do on the day of the exam; explains what you should do during the exam; and looks at what to do when things go wrong.
Exegesis explains what is meant by an exegesis; looks at what can you include in an exegesis; and discusses what traps you should avoid.
Groupwork explains what groupwork is; outlines what is meant by ‘people skills’; examines how to create an effective working group; and reviews the general processes to follow in a group project.
Lectures explains the purpose of lectures within the university; explains why you should attend lectures; reviews effective note taking strategies; and provides practical solutions to common problems that occur.
Literature review explains what is meant by a literature review; identifies ‘the literature’; describes some of the conventions to follow when doing a literature review; and looks at the process of developing a literature review.
Oral presentations explains why you may be asked to give an oral presentation; looks at the basic components of an oral presentation; outlines the process you could follow when developing an oral presentation; and describes what to do when making the presentation.
Plagiarism defines plagiarism; explains why it is important to avoid plagiarism; looks at common areas that students find confusing; outlines a three-step process you can use to avoid plagiarism; and provides a checklist you can use to avoid unintentionally plagiarising.
Podcasting explains what is meant by a podcast; looks at the different types of podcasts; describes how to get access to podcasts; and explains how to make a podcast.
Reading effectively describes the reading expectations of universities; explains how to develop good reading habits; looks at effective reading strategies; describes how to make your reading active; and examines how you can learn to evaluate what you read.
Referencing defines referencing; explains why we reference; looks at the referencing system we use at ECU; and explains how to reference in your academic work.
Report writing explains what a report is; describes the features of the most common types of reports; provides some guidelines for the structure and organisation of reports; and reviews some of the common problems associated with report writing.
Research paper explains what a research paper is; outlines what is expected in a research paper; and provides guidelines for developing each section within a research paper.
Self management looks at how study fits in with the rest of your life; outlines the importance of self-management; and examines how you can manage your time better.
Tutorials looks at the role of tutorials; explains how to get the best out of tutorials; and outlines some techniques for taking notes in tutorials.
Using the library examines the function of the library; describes when the library is open; examines what services are available through the library; looks at what sort of personal assistance is available; and reviews online library services.
Written assessments explains why we assess student learning; lists the benefits of assessment; explains how to approach assessments; looks at the role of critical thinking in assessments; and outlines a checklist that covers most aspects of writing an assessment.