Topic outline


  • Welcome to the course!


    Successful participation requires that you have a research topic, have begun your research, and are ready to write or have already written a substantial amount towards your thesis. This course covers academic writing as part of the investigative research-based reading and writing process for the field of art. It carries students through a writing process for creating a clear, well-structured text. During the course, students work to improve their academic texts as they apply writing skills and techniques introduced in the course, such as structuring a text (for increasing readability), integrating citations and applying appropriate citing conventions, applying linguistic methods of argumentation, and reviewing sentence form and function as well as other writing mechanics (as needed). The course also introduces some online tools that help with writing in English. In addition, students collaborate on writing where giving and receiving peer feedback is an essential component.

    WebOodi: "Successful participation requires that you have a research topic, have begun your research, and are ready to write or have already written a substantial amount towards your thesis."

    If you have not started writing yet, now would be a good time to start! You will need to bring 2-3 pages of your draft thesis text (not the project proposal) to the course during week 1. Pages from the background chapters/theoretical overview/literature review would be excellent ones to work with (not the Introduction).

    This is a 3-ECT course. Please reserve approx. 81 hours for this course in your schedule. Per 6 weeks this means 13.5 hrs per week (in-class and self-study time).

    Note: Access the section for each workshop by clicking on the white lines in the red box, cf old version: icon, in the top-left corner of the page

    This course is part of an A!OLE (Aalto online learning) project aiming for more flexibility and individualization for its participants - for you. In this period, we are further piloting some new set-ups and structures and are keen to receive feedback from you throughout the course. The course employs a blended and flipped-classroom approach, which means you are expected to watch certain videos, read certain materials and do certain tasks before coming to class. Some workshops may also be held online (either synchronously – we meet at the same time in zoom, or asynchronously – you work with materials and tasks, assignments posted for you prior to a set deadline but not necessarily at the same time as your peers). In this period, we meet in class in Otaniemi according to the schedule posted below.

    This course consists of two parts, Part I (workshops 1–3, first 3 weeks) and Part II (workshops 4–6, latter 3/4 weeks). You can complete the course in the same period (recommended). Students in VCD, New Media or Photography attending the Master’s seminar (Integration) can, however, complete Part II in a later period. NB! Places are limited, Part I 20, Part II 21. Students from other programmes, please consult the teacher/s.

    Please bring a laptop or smart device to class if you have one.

    Teachers: Matthew Billington and Signe-Anita Lindgrén

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