Third level academic essay writing

heldel00

Posting on behalf of a family member attending DKIT.

Looking to pick the brains of any third level lecturers or students. Brother is struggling with academic essay writing. Spent a lot of last week writing an essay, which he thought was the bees knees, only to be told today that his writing style is completely wrong and what should be an academic essay reads like that expected in the Leaving Cert.
He is very disillusioned by it all and is back at square one. Studying nursing if that makes any difference.
(I try to help him but it's 11 years since I was in college!)

Any advice people can give?

dingding

It might be worth trying this.

https://www.dkit.ie/celt/documents-and-policies/academic-writing-tutor-request-form

Or asking the student union, they might be able to advise on other specific supports available.

The library staff might also be of assistance.

Have a look at the link below for ideas on structure.

https://intranet.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/20609/essay.pdf

caviardreams

Loads of good books on this topic too that he might be able to pick up in the library e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Nursing-Midwifery-Students-Palgrave/dp/023028518X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456410730&sr=8-1&keywords=nursing+essay+writing

and here's a good online tutorial for something a bit more interactive!
http://itbstudenthub.ie/wp-content/uploads/articulate_uploads/Never_a_wasted_word_writing_your_essay/story.html

cmegzc

Hi i studied in NUI Galway and they had a specific office set up for this purpose. It was in the library and was by appointment. It was called the academic writing centre. You should check that the college does not have a similar programme for students. It was open to all disciplines and would give pointers on writing structure and referencing. I never used it but it was supposed to be very beneficial. Also note as an English teacher I can advise that if the person is basing essays in a similar way to higher level English LC essays they need to stop having personal engagement with the topics and use plenty of material from various resources! Just remember to reference!

heldel00

Thanks for the help guys. This is why I love boards.
When I sat down this eve with him it all started to come back to me from my own college days. When he read up on your advice and links he's actually mortified with what he handed up. Reckons lecturer will think he's a complete eegit but he knows how to approach it now.

Sardonicat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119528517#Comment_119528517

That would be plagiarism and if this fella uses it and gets caught (which he undoubtedly would, because he's studying Nursing and any essay he purchases would be specific to Australian practices) he'd be booted out of his course. All students have to learn how to write academic essays. Most struggle in the early days, but get the hang of it soon enough. Writing essays is part and parcel of any area of study that involves a lot of theory. If you're not writing your own essays, you're not learning anything.

rainbowtrout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/98858478#Comment_98858478

But he's probably learned a lot now, and his work will improve. That can only be a good thing.

Grolschevik

He's probably graduated by now...

TheDriver

I'll close up the thread, old news now