Improving the academic writing experience in higher education

Abstract

To fulfill their academic purposes in higher education, students must mobilize knowledge learned in the classroom, but also obtained individually and with access to a variety of sources, in particular, the information resources available in their libraries. To achieve an academic degree as master or doctor, information resources grow in importance and meaning, since because from them a great part of the theoretical and methodological support is obtained for the pursuit of this purpose. The validation of their learning is carried out in large part by the written presentation of these academic works. The book reflects on the importance of academic writing and presents methods and techniques for writing in a grounded manner. The contributions that make up the book Improving the Academic Writing Experience in Higher Education aim to bring ideas and share experiences, broaden horizons and shed some light on the landscape of academic writing. The different formulations, perspectives, and approaches are divided into two parts: the first one with a conceptual point of view, explaining the importance of the development of academic writing within the university and theorizing about the transformative impact of this practice on the higher education’ student. The second one seeks to bring a more practical, diversified and comprehensive contribution to the thematic and to respond to the challenge of professionals related to the area – particularly those involved in higher education libraries, but not only – and who work with the transformation of information into knowledge. Through concrete tips for writing appropriately in a university context, the focus is on how and why to write well. The challenge that mobilized the achievement of this book was to encourage better learning and academic success, through awareness of a concrete action of teachers, students, and librarians who, in higher education, develop their activities in support of academic writing. We hope, therefore, that this will be a catalyst for renewed learning around this subject.