Showing posts with label writing centre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing centre. Show all posts

Monday, 7 October 2013

Brace Yourselves... Essays Are Coming

I have written quite a few essays during my time here at York University. Since it is that time of the year where essays will be due soon I thought Id give some of my best tips which have helped me along the years...

1. Start Them Early

May seem like the most overrated recommendation but its so true! Essays take time because you need to read materiel, do the research, and then actually pump out X amount of pages filled your arguments and ideas. Point is: give yourself enough time... its the difference between a D essay and a A essay.

2. Talk To Your Professor
They may seem scary and intimidating but most profs are nice and approachable. Feel free to ask them questions regarding your essay and it'll give you a feel for what they are looking for in your paper.

3. Writing Centre
The Writing Centre is a service on campus which provides FREE help with all things essay. They offer help through various ways (15 mins drop ins, 1 hour appointments, and even online help). Get more information about them here or visit them at S311 Ross South.

4. Learning Commons

Located on the second floor of Scott Library, the learning commons can provide assistant with your essays too! They can provide help with writing, research, learning skills, and career services. Furthermore they have workshops going on all the time which can help with achieving those A+ essays! Get more information here.

5. Ref Works

Ref Works is my knight in shining armour (in the essay world). Ref works is a tool to make those tedious bibliographies, much easier. It lets you input your sources, and when your done, you ask it to generate a bibliography and citation in the format you have request. Check out my previous blog post which goes into detail about RefWorks or check out their website here.

6. Think About Past Lectures
There is a reason you've been assigned an essay on a particular topic... and it's not to torture you. Its so you can enhance what you've learned in the class so far. Think back on past themes, topics, and vocabulary you have learnt so far in the class and find ways to tie them into your essay. This will show you understand what you've been learning in class which will then give you a better mark!

Good luck with those essays,





Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Essays are due soon... HELP!?

So. It's already October people... OCTOBER! What does this mean...
1. Time at university FLIES by!
2. Monday we have no classes because it's Thanksgiving (long weekend-yay!)
3. I'm going to eat a lot of food on Monday
Lastly...

4. ESSAYS ARE DUE SOON!

Essay's are a little different in university than they are in high school. The required length is usually longer, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious, and your Professors are expecting more from you than your high school teacher's did.

Don't sweat it though... your not alone. We have an awesome service on campus called the Writing Centre.

One particular thing the writing centre offers is one-on-one sessions, where you can actually get someone to help you with citation, research, proofreading, or even starting off that dreaded essay! It's a FREE service, you just got to make sure you register with them so they can match you to a tutor that will meet your needs!

Once you are registered with them, you can make hour long appointments which is great because it gives a substantial amount of time for you to spend with your tutor. An hour isn't long enough for your essay? You can make multiple appointments for one essay!!!

Do me a favor and take advantage of the writing centre! You have absolutely nothing to lose, and higher marks to gain! :)

Writing Centre
S329 Ross Building
416-736-5134
lapswrit@yorku.ca


Until Next Time, I'll be Yorking Around,


Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Plagiarism! Know your stuff!

Plagiarism. You've heard about it. You have avoided it. The consequences can be rough. But now that your at University the consequences are more serious than in high school. This includes receiving a mark of 0% on the paper. Getting an F in the class. Or even worse: getting kicked out of University.

DO NOT WORRY THOUGH! The best way to avoid plagiarizing in your papers at York is by simply being aware of what it is, attending workshops, and using the services on campus that are there to help you!

What is plagiarism? 
According to the York University website plagiarism is "representing someone else's ideas, writing or other intellectual property as your own, and is another form of academic dishonesty". 
*To avoid plagiarizing someone else's work you would want to cite other people's work.

What is Academic Dishonesty? 
According to the York University website, committing academic dishonesty includes: cheating, impersonation, aiding, collusion, fabrication, among other dishonest acts. You can find the definition of these acts here.

What is Academic Integrity? 
According to the York University website "as a student, to have academic integrity means that you have adopted principles or standards that consistently govern how you pursue your school work. A student with academic integrity earns a degree with honest effort, and knows that this degree is a true accomplishment reflecting years of hard work and genuine learning. Academic integrity requires you to develop essential skills including research, writing, and documenting.

Now that you know a bit more about what it means to be a student with academic integrity, and what it means to plagiarize, here are some tips to avoid it (even by accident):
- Cite every single piece of information that is not yours! (sometimes students aren't sure if they should cite: when in doubt cite!)
- Make sure you know how to cite according to what your citing! (You can be accused of plagiarism for improper citation. This can be easily avoided by just educating yourself on how to cite). The library, and the colleges host workshops throughout the year on citations! To find out about them click here.
- Get your work proofread! The writing centre can proofread and help you with citation for you essays for free! Take advantage of them as it goes a long way
- Check out the York's Academic Integrity Tutorial which goes over in more detail on citing, and can even test you on academic integrity!

Check out all the resources out there to help you, and good luck writing!

Until Next Time, I'll be Yorking Around,









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