Workshop with Gordon Dossett: Writing skills
What’s you r original contribution to knowledge even in the abstract!
 Literature review:

• You have to restate others idea. Get into others work
• You see more and more and more.
• The challenge is capture the knowledge that is out there but realise there is a scope to what you are doing.
• Be focus; keep your scope in mind
• Key words is important, revise that ideas regarding your key ideas
• Setting parameters of my work
• To what extent you do an abstract or write more than an abstract
• Here is what this person has to say and integrate this in your work.
• Find the guide, your bible. You take the key elements of that work, and say why it is so crucial, why is it your bible.
• Judgement values is not acceptable

Outline of the study

• Theoretical chapter
• Methodology. Both hand in hand, work them together. Presenting findings
• Conclusion
• Where are you going, what are the implications, what is open stil to do

How to write convincingly for examiners?

• Make sure that your writing makes others realise that you are adding some new knowledge
• Cite the key authorities, names that come again and again. Those are the people; they need to be in the front of your work.
• Integrate the material not just to summarize, your idea that you want to bring in and advancing others your identification of the key ideas and you integrate x,y, z under this key idea

Example:

• The issue of trust is crucial because my sources keep on telling me. I want to integrate this key idea
• Seeing strands around different authors
• Pull true the commonalities of different authors that you come across
• You don’t want just to narrate; you want to do more than that.
• Pulling strands together out of the reading
• Weaving is what you want to get fore. Weaving others work but always try to

NOTE: Making a name, a proper name, i.e: omnibus, prosummer.
In the theoretical framework is the place to argue why you chose this and not those other
THINK ABOUT FRAMEWORK
Complexity: why is this the one you chose for
Ecology-Learner generated context – ecology of resources
It is the metaphor I am confortable with, it gathers my own vision of the particular vision of education and learning
Blocking: Identify the problem and see how you can approach it. Look at the research as discrete parts so you can tackle each part
How to maintain the long document cohesive?
Techniques for writing:

• Summary is for long papers. Is a good technique, for when finalising the chapter doing a summary of the chapter and announcing what is coming next. Repeating what is my RQ and my stand about.

What’s the point of the paragraph and then say the points that support your main idea of the paragraph.
Think about the crucial concept of your thesis, so use it repeatedly.
When you are talking of not crucial terms you can use variety, synonyms.
Use simple, short and clear sentences. You need to get the reader attention so use a short, crispy sentence that sets the reader up to prepare to something special or important in your text.
If you have a large idea look for the components in it and break them down. Use simple examples, concrete that illustrate a situation
How to keep the material cohesive?
A personal answer!