Improving Communication Skills for Students
The English Language Centre (ELC), part of the Learning & Teaching Enhancement Office (LTEO), in collaboration with four academic departments, has launched a new pilot project to improve academic and professional communication skills for students (APCS).
Seeking to better support the academic writing and communication needs of first year undergraduates, the ELC is pooling its expertise with that of the four academic departments, namely Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Sport and Social Science (Department of Education) and Business Administration (School of Management), to deliver a series of lectures as an integral part of first year programmes.
Between weeks 1 and 8 of Semester 1, ELC staff will deliver these lectures covering topics to include:
- Why good writing matters
- Understanding your assignment
- Academic style
- Writing concisely
- Cohesion and incorporating sources
The project entitled ‘Academic & Professional Communications Skills’ (APCS) is being led by Miranda Armstrong, In-Sessional Programme Director, ELC. Miranda said:
‘We are delighted to be working with our departmental colleagues to launch APCS this year. In the initial stages of this project, through conversations with Directors of Studies and lecturers, we have been able to identify key areas of concern and learn more about the specific requirements of some of our first year programmes. This has meant that we are able to ensure that these lectures are tailor made to meet the particular needs of the different subject disciplines.’
Miranda and members of her ELC Team view this project as developmental, both to inform their work with departments and also their overall services, internally and externally.
Professor Bernie Morley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching) said:
‘This project is an excellent example of our activities to continue to improve our first year student experience. Through collaborative team work between our professional services and academic departments we can utilise our expertise to achieve the greatest impact. This pilot will give us an excellent insight into this approach and the results from the evaluation will inform future developments as we extend the project across the University.’
Read further information about the APCS Project
Contact: Miranda Armstrong , In-Sessional Programme Director, ELC ext 5122
