MSc International Fashion Mgt MATS
R21–0897, 67410
ILOs
- Using search tools to find relevant, high quality evidence to inform written reports — async content on using the library
- Constructing a coherent written argument using evidence in a report format — in the session with support available in Bb
- Referencing the evidence- both async and sync providing valuable links to resources that learners can return to.
Async to go into Bb
Introduction
Welcome to this resource. Its aim is to guide you in using the Library’s books and journals, in order to help you in developing the way you incorporate evidence into your academic writing. We will also share an approach to building argument into your writing.
We have broken the content into sections so that you can find what you need, when you need it and we would encourage you to return to the content as often as you need to.
Using the Library
The Library is very much accessible as distance learners and below you can find links to how to find your way around the using the resources.
There are lots of ways of getting in touch with the Library at the bottom of this resource and we love to hear from you.
- Get Started — these pages are useful to get started using the Library
- Distance, online and blended learning students
Referencing
Embed Referencing 1.0
Embed Referencing 7.2 Getting started with referencing
Embed 7.0 Avoiding plagiarism.
Embed referencing 3.0
Embed referencing 3.1
Improving your academic writing
To improve how you communicate your thinking to others, you will be constantly developing your academic writing. In this section you will look at an approach that helps you to think about incorporating the work of others alongside your own critical thinking.
First of all let’s consider how to effectively integrate references or the work of others into your writing. This refers back to recognising why referencing is important. Then we can move onto how we communicate your critical thinking to enable you to draw attention to your argument.
Embed 1.2.1 Successfully integrate the work of others into your writing
Embed 1.4 (Needs text to analyse) note for eLearning — please include small edit:
- Read the introduction — can you identify an example of a quote, paraphrase and summary?
- Next, consider where the author has integrated their own voice — can you find some analysis of the references/data the author has presented?
- Finally, can you identify where the author has used their analysis of references/data to answer their research question, or provide an argument for or against something?
Reflection
Next time you are reading for your course consider what you are making a note of so that you can capture your thoughts as you read. What do you want to get from the text? For what purpose are you reading it —such as for a general overview, or a specific piece of evidence?
This can help you form the basis of your critical thinking and is part of your writing process.
2. Building argument into your writing
The strategy that you will practice in the live session, ‘It says, I say and so’, can be used to help you be more critical and go beyond the descriptive within your writing. The strategy prompts you to think more deeply about the evidence that you are bringing into your writing. When your writing elaborates more on the ‘and so’ then you are beginning to reveal how the evidence is informing your thinking.
Building upon this strategy you can start to use the Toulmin Method
(Embed Dissertation and Literature Reviews 1.8 with some edits see below and comments)
The Toulmin Method is an approach to constructing convincing arguments that believes strong and effective arguments can be broken down into six main parts.
- Thesis statement: What is your position or claim?
- Evidence: what evidence is there to support your position or claim?
- Analysis: how will you link to evidence to their position or claim?
- Follow-up: what additional reasoning will you give to support you analysis?
- Counter-claims: what counter-claims and arguments are there that disagree with your position or claim?
- Rebuttal: what evidence or claims will you use to negate any counter-claims?
⭐ Activity: Building up your argument
Return to the article you previously looked at — you may wish to read beyond the introduction.
- Answer each of the six questions above with as much detail and information as you can.
- Continue to add detail and information about each question as you research your topic and work on your dissertation.
You may not have all the answers to these questions yet, but it is important that you start to think about these as you prepare to write.
Summary
The guidance here will support you as you use the Library and with developing how you engage with references as part of your academic work.
Please revisit the content as you need it.
There are lots of options for get further support from the My Learning Essentials Team you can find them below so do stay in touch with us.
Embed further standard support
Embed Writing 1.5
Embed standard feedback
SYNC content for 24 February
Materials
Introduction
The live session will provide the learners with the opportunity to practice a strategy that will assist them in making powerful use of the evidence they read to write reports on their topic. Making good notes as students read can form the basis of our critical thinking and that is one thing that we will briefly practice today which can be replicated in your own time.
Explain that the session works best through engagement and that during the practice there are no right or wrong answers.
Ask the students to outline what they want to know and feel from the session. They may benefit from reflecting on any previous feedback that they have received. They can share this in the chat or just make a note of it in their notebooks.
Explain to students a definition of being critical. Emphasise that being critical is different to description in that it communicates what is not seen. It demonstrates students cognitive thoughts and connections.
Explain that the class will use a Google Notebook for the activities and share the link with the class in the chat.
In the first part of the workshop the learners will read briefly and take notes.
Reading and note-making are a part of the writing process. Explain that the notes that are made during reading are what learners refer to when writing. Notes can often be where the first stage of critical thinking takes place with the individual source.
Activity Practice
Students to skim read extract of article in the Google Notebook.
Ask students to identify a couple of parts of the article that they connect with that relates to something that they know about/have read about.
They should annotate the extract in the notebook by adding a comment that elaborates upon the connection that they have identified to the text.
Show them how to do this and ensure that an example is present for them to see.
Remind students they will be asked to write about the evidence/information they choose in the next activity.
Following the activity as the students if there are other purposes that that good notes could serve as well as them being the beginning of their critical thinking.
Close this part of the workshop by explaining that there are multiple ways to take notes but having a plan for how they are going to take notes is the start. The learners could look to the MLE Note-making resource if they wanted to look for a new way of doing this.
Share Cornell as a structured method of this and explain the structure drawing attention to how the notes can be used to capture the connections/questions.
Break
Part 2 It Says I say and So
Introduce the It Says, I Say, And So strategy as a useful technique to help with being critical in writing.
Remember being critical is revealing what you think and the connections and insights that you have.
Talk through each part of the strategy.
Share the example which is also in the table in the Google Doc.
It Says, I Say
Remind students that this is the section of the strategy where students start to build up their own critical analysis and response to the evidence they identified in the reading section.
First do the first easier steps of the strategy.
Activity — Practice
Students should return to the Google notebook and move to the next page where they can claim a line in the table
Ask students to write about the piece of evidence selected in the previous activity in the Google Notebook using It Says / I Say strategy.
Remind the students that for the It Says they should try to paraphrase rather than quote to keep their own voice as central as possible and this is where they would need to include a reference to help maintain their academic integrity.
Give the students time to complete the first two boxes.
And So
Before adding to the AND SO, remind students that the And So part of the strategy is about connecting the evidence to their overall argument, so in this case lets suggest that it is an examination of the fast fashion phenomenon.
The students should take some time to work on and so. It only need be a couple of sentences. Encourage them and mention their work. Remind them that I do not know anything about this topic and that their connections are theirs so unlikely to wrong.
Wrap up the section by suggesting that this should feel challenging but in a good way.
Ask the students if they would like to share their reflections on how they could see themselves using the approach we have practised in the chat.
Academic Phrasebank
Finally close with indicate that the academic phrasebank is a useful resource to help craft sentences to clearly signpost their own analysis and make transitions/links between points in their argument.
Support & Help
Wrap up by referring the students to the content in Blackboard where they will also find links to our support.
Emphasise that the Library would love to hear from them.
