Academic Communication (3cr)

Objectives (course unit)

This course deals with academic communication in sufficient depth and detail to enable students to present research work and write reports in academic style, as may be required for other courses in this degree programm. Most of the topics covered will also be relevant to writing a final thesis, so this course can be considered as a basic introduction to that process.

After completing the course, the students will be able to:

Demonstrate familiarity with the principles of academic communication.
Access and critically evaluate relevant source materials.
Get familiar with the concept of plagiarism and know how to avoid it in their own work.
Incorporate in-text references to source materials and compile a list of sources, following TAMK requirements.
Produce academic texts which meet set criteria: clear, accurate and formal English, coherent structure.
Present constructive and well-justified verbal arguments and feedback in formal, face-to-face academic settings, such as seminars and public lectures.
Utilize resources and learning strategies to develop their own communication skills independently.

Content (course unit)

What are the key features of academic communication and how does it differ from organizational communication?
What are the roles of verbal and written communication in the academic context?
What norms and standards must academic writing meet?
What stages must a a writer process to produce an academic text?

Location and time

TAMK and online meetings.

Exam schedules

Final academic essay and report replace the exams

Teaching methods

Collaborative learning coupled with online exercises, Reading and analyzing academic text, producing academic text.
Lectures and class exercises.

Learning materials

Some materials and exercises will be provided during the course. Authentic online materials will be used as well.

Student workload

Student time will be devoted into research and writing academic text in collaboration with classmates and also international partners.

Completion alternatives

To be discussed with the teacher

International connections

Global Virtual Team’s project with Paderborn University, Masaryk University in Brno, Dublin City University Business
School and Czech Technical University in Prague (project 2, GVT).

Further information

Students will work independently to produce desirable text the meets the norms of academic writing. Students also spend time reading and commenting on posts in Tabula.