School of Social and Political Science

Content

What you need to do:

1. Complete the survey linked below
2. Check out the resources detailed below
3. Sign up for the option that best suits you

We have collected the resources we think will be most helpful to PGT students here. You can use it to sign up for one or more courses, personal coaching sessions or draft feedback sessions which you think you would benefit from.  You can discuss your options with your PT if you aren’t sure what would be best for you.

Writers at every level of experience and confidence can benefit from learning more advanced writing skills. This support is available to students regardless of their level of experience or confidence in English writing. Some resources have been specifically designed for writers who are most confident in a language other than English, others are open to everyone.

To help us better understand how and why our students make use of these resources, we are asking those who sign up to complete a very brief survey (30 seconds). Later in the year, after you have made use of these resources, we will get in contact to ask a couple of questions about what you thought of them, and to ask you to share any suggestions you may have to improve them. Note: no one outside of the research team will have access to the survey data.

Take the survey now

If you have any comments or complaints about the project, or if any aspect of it has upset you, please contact Dr Kate Wright at pgtdirector.sps@ed.ac.uk

Support

The 4 support options are listed below. You are free to sign up for one or more of these free services if you think you would benefit from them. None of courses listed here are taken for academic credits, so students take them in addition to the compulsory and elective courses for their programmes. If you are not sure which form of support you would benefit from most, please ask your Personal Tutor for an appointment to discuss it.

SPS Academic Writing Course + optional feedback

 

The SPS Academic Writing Course + optional feedback from writing tutors on a short excerpt of a draft assessment

This course will automatically appear alongside your other courses on LEARN. The course has two components: self-guided modules and tutor feedback on an excerpt of a student’s draft assessment. Both components are tailored to the needs of SPS students. You will get most out of the course if you engage with both components, so we would prefer it if you did that. But you could choose to just engage with one component if you wish. 
Here are some more details about those two components:

1. Self- guided modules cover: structuring your writing; using academic sources, including referencing and citing; building a critical argument; and editing your writing. This is not a tutor taught course, so you can use these resources whenever you like and all year round.

2. Feedback on an excerpt of one of your draft SPS assignments from ELE writing tutors.  Please remember that a writing tutor cannot give you feedback on the disciplinary content of your work – they will focus solely on helping you improve the quality of your academic writing.  The opportunity for feedback occurs at fixed times in each semester, with capacity to respond to 60 students each time. It is on a first come, first served basis. These feedback deadlines are listed on the LEARN site for the SSPS Academic Writing Course. If you would like to make use of this writing feedback service, please upload your work to the DropBox links on the LEARN site for the SPS Academic Writing Course, before the deadlines listed on the website for this course. If you are having difficulties with this, please contact SPS Academic Writing Course Organiser, Jill Haldane at Jill.Haldane@ed.ac.uk

Individual tutorials

 

Individual tutorials, focusing on feedback about a short excerpt of your writing 

These online one-to-one sessions are approximately 45 minutes long and are designed to give you the opportunity to discuss specific areas of academic writing with an English for Academic Purposes expert. You should upload a piece of your writing (around 350 words) that you would like to discuss in the session. It is ok to ask for feedback on part of a draft assessment. However, the writing coach cannot give you feedback on the disciplinary content of your work – they will focus solely on helping you improve the quality of your academic writing. These sessions are more generic than the SPS course/feedback (see option 1 above). Please note that you cannot book more than one session per week.

Follow the link and then look for the ‘How to Book’ section to get details of how to sign up: https://www.ed.ac.uk/english-language-teaching/ele-courses/graduate-writing-centre

ELSIS Taught courses

These are generic, taught courses, many of which are open to all PGT students. However, some courses are still designed for international students, such as ‘Academic Writing for International Students’. These taught courses fill up on a first come first served basis. 

Follow the link to sign up: https://www.ed.ac.uk/english-language-teaching/ele-courses/elsis/elsis-courses-pgt

Self-Guided study materials

These are optional, self-study materials to assist with academic writing and English language. You can access these materials without taking any course of study.

Academic writing for international students: https://www.edweb.ed.ac.uk/english-language-teaching/ele-courses/elsis/independent-study-materials/independent-study-awis

Essay writing at PGT level: https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files//aewpg_ismaterials.pdf
https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files//aewpg_suppmaterials.pdf

Grammar for Academic Writing: https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files//grammar_for_academic_writing_ism.pdf