The structure of a module

This course is broken up into modules. Each one explores a specific area and, when combined, will give you a solid overview of how to approach academic writing.

Each module consists of 5 key parts:

Background ideas

Key points on the topic. This is a brief introduction of the topic and aims to stimulate your interest as well as highlight important concepts.

Topic videoA short video lecture. These lectures are around 3 to 7 minutes long and explore the key concepts in more detail. You'll be able to pause, speed up, slow down, repeat the video and enlarge the screen to ensure you have a chance to digest important information.

QuizAn interactive quiz. These mini quizzes are really to reinforce important concepts that have been addressed earlier in the module. Your grades are not collected and you can repeat the quiz as many times as you like. This is not a test, it's more like a comprehension check.

PortfolioA task to complete in a personalised portfolio. These tasks give you the opportunity to develop a resource throughout the course that you can refer to after you have finished the course. You can also use your portfolio as a showcase for universities and possibly future employers. You will learn more about this soon...

ReflectionA set of thought-provoking questions. The modules each end with a set of questions for you to reflect on. You may wish to discuss these with friends or family, or just have a think on your own. They aim to bring the concepts to life and encourage you to apply your learning to your own understanding of the world.




While it generally makes sense to move through the modules in order, you are free to jump forward and backwards as you go. This may be particularly useful down the line, when you would like to review a particular module.

Complete and Continue