Writing, media production and presenting

Learning and teaching resources on writing, media production and presenting. Related resources on the topic of avoiding plagiarism are also available.

Resource title and description Type
Reflective thinking and writing
A guide to help you develop your reflective practice. In this tutorial we are going to help you:
  • Understand what reflective practice is and why it's important
  • Identify when reflective practices can be useful
  • Implement reflective practice techniques (based on established reflective models and theory)
  • Develop your reflective writing, for both your academic work and your career
Delivering your presentation

This interactive tutorial looks at how to handle anxiety and deliver a presentation with confidence. It also explores effective speaking techniques and body language.

This resource is part of the Surviving your presentations series of tutorials, which guide students through the whole process of creating and delivering presentations.

Planning and writing your presentation

This interactive tutorial looks at how to define the purpose and key messages of a presentation. It also looks at how to structure, write, and edit the content of a presentation.

This resource is part of the Surviving your presentations series of tutorials, which guide students through the whole process of creating and delivering presentations.

Designing your presentation

This interactive tutorial will help students to identify appropriate tools for developing visual aids, as well as showing how to use text, images, charts and other multimedia elements effectively.

This resource is part of the Surviving your presentations series of tutorials, which guide students through the whole process of creating and delivering presentations.

Understanding presentations

This interactive tutorial looks at different types of presentation and their purpose. It also outlines the process of writing and delivering a presentation.

This resource is part of the Surviving your presentations series of tutorials, which guide students through the whole process of creating and delivering presentations.

Tutorial
Surviving your presentations

This series of four interactive tutorials will guide students through the process of writing, designing, then delivering a presentation. It includes the following tutorials:

Each tutorial can be used as a standalone resource or worked through as part of the Surviving your presentations series.

Essay survival guide

This is a series of six interactive tutorials aimed at undergraduates. It guides students through the whole process of writing an academic essay.

It includes the following tutorials:

Each tutorial can be used as a standalone resource or worked through as part of the Essay survival guide series.

Editing and reviewing
This interactive tutorial guides students through the process of editing and review their essay. It includes activities that allow them to practice reviewing content and structure as well as spelling, punctuation and grammar. This resource is part of the Essay survival guide series of tutorials written for undergraduate students.
Writing critically and structuring your essay
  This interactive tutorial gives a comprehensive guide to writing the first draft of an essay and writing in an academic style. It explores how to write critically and use evidence appropriately. It also looks at essay structure, paragraph structure, and how to write effective sentences. This resource is part of the Essay survival guide series of tutorials written for undergraduate students.
Tutorial
Developing your ideas
This interactive tutorial looks at how students can use their research to develop their own ideas and arguments. It guides them through the process of gathering their ideas, creating a clear argument, and organising and structuring their ideas into an essay outline This resource is part of the Essay survival guide series of tutorials written for undergraduate students.
Researching and reading critically
This interactive tutorial gives an overview of how to research and read critically when preparing to write an essay. It guides students through the process of identifying what to search for, how and where to search, and how to critically read and evaluate the quality of the information they find. This resource is part of the Essay survival guide series of tutorials written for undergraduate students.
Interpreting the question
This interactive tutorial guides students through the process of interpreting their essay title. It looks at directional verbs and key words as well as examining the assessment criteria. This resource is part of the Essay survival guide series of tutorials written for undergraduate students
Understanding essays
This interactive tutorial looks at what essays are, why we write them, and what is involved in writing an essay. This resource is part of the Essay survival guide series of tutorials written for undergraduate students.
Understanding synthesis quiz (biosciences)
A quiz and activity to help students understand what is meant by synthesis. It also demonstrates how a student can form paragraphs that synthesise sources while making their own arguments and opinions clear.
Understanding synthesis quiz (social sciences)
A quiz and activity to help students understand what is meant by synthesis. It also demonstrates how a student can form paragraphs that synthesise sources while making their own arguments and opinions clear.
Quiz
Synthesis activity
This activity asks students to write a paragraph using information, evidence, or opinions from a selection of different sources. The aim is to help students develop their skills in synthesising information in order to support their arguments.
Activity
Proofreading activity
This activity demonstrates the importance of proofreading work prior to submission. Students are presented with a paragraph of text and are asked to identify six errors, which include simple spelling mistakes, typos and homophones.
Activity
Academic style quiz

A ten question quiz which tests understanding of the different aspects of good academic writing style.

Quiz
Academic writing style
This Xerte tutorial is aimed at postgraduate taught level students, and covers how to:
  • structure your work
  • write in an academic style
  • use appropriate academic language
  • revise, edit and proofread what you have written
This tutorial is part of the Writing at Postgraduate Level suite.
Developing critical arguments
This is a Xerte tutorial aimed at postgraduate taught level students which:
  • explains the difference between descriptive and critical writing
  • explores how to effectively synthesise information from a range of sources, and
  • demonstrates how to form paragraphs that synthesise sources while making your own arguments and opinions clear.
This tutorial is part of the Writing at Postgraduate Level suite.
Effective notemaking
Strategies for taking and making notes to support your studies.