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Academy Documents

Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Sessions' Venue

All sessions will be held at 21 Academy's Training Centre in Naxxar

21 Business Centre, No. 20., Triq in-Nutar Debono, Naxxar NXR 2525

Monday sessions 09:30 - 12:30hrs (compulsory signature)

Wednesday sessions 17:30 - 20:30hrs

Saturday sessions 09:00hrs - 17:00hrs

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

Lecturer/s  

Ms Mary Ann Puli

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - Introduction to Academic Writing

Through exposure to the below topics, students will start thinking and inquire how to conduct and design small-scale, practice-based research independently

• The need for research and academic writing in business administration
• The importance of practical writing skills in the field
• Different types of academic writing
• The formats of long and short writing tasks
• The components of academic writing
• Other standard text features
• Writing in paragraphs
• Accessing various types of sources
• How prefixes and suffixes work

Core Reading List

• McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2013). How to Write for University: Academic Writing for Success. Pearson.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). Cite Them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. Macmillan Education

Supplementary Reading List

• Bailey, S. (2019). The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2019). The Study Skills Handbook. 5th ed. Red Globe Press.
• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2014). Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Swetnam, D. and Swetnam, R. (2020). Writing Your Dissertation. 3rd ed. Plymouth: How to Books.

Lecture 2 - Why has data become so important?

Through exposure to the below topics, students will enhance their analytical, interpretative and critical skills in conducting and presenting research findings

• Reading methods
• Titles, subtitles and text features
• Reading abstracts
• Assessing internet sources critically
• Critical thinking
• Discussion vocabulary
• The language of discussion
• Organisation
• Counter arguments

Core Reading List

• McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2013). How to Write for University: Academic Writing for Success. Pearson.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). Cite Them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. Macmillan Education

Supplementary Reading List

• Bailey, S. (2019). The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2019). The Study Skills Handbook. 5th ed. Red Globe Press.
• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2014). Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Swetnam, D. and Swetnam, R. (2020). Writing Your Dissertation. 3rd ed. Plymouth: How to Books.

Lecture 3 - Structure and Organisation

Through exposure to the below topics, students will continue to enhance their analytical, interpretative and critical skills in conducting and presenting research findings

• What is plagiarism?
• How to acknowledge sources
• How to summarise and paraphrase
• How to develop good study habits
• The importance of planning
• Analysing essay titles
• Brainstorming
• Essay length
• The language of cause and effect

Core Reading List

• McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2013). How to Write for University: Academic Writing for Success. Pearson.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). Cite Them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. Macmillan Education

Supplementary Reading List

• Bailey, S. (2019). The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2019). The Study Skills Handbook. 5th ed. Red Globe Press.
• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2014). Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Swetnam, D. and Swetnam, R. (2020). Writing Your Dissertation. 3rd ed. Plymouth: How to Books.

Lecture 4 - Research Skills in Formatting and Citations

Through exposure to the below topics, students will be equipped to prepare a coherent and well-structured report on  a suggested business proposal

• Understanding formatting guidelines (e.g., Harvard) for academic writing
• The need to give references
• Reference systems
• Using quotations
• Secondary references
• Organizing the list of references
• Reference verbs
• Mentioning sources
• Taking a critical approach

Core Reading List

• McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2013). How to Write for University: Academic Writing for Success. Pearson.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). Cite Them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. Macmillan Education

Supplementary Reading List

• Bailey, S. (2019). The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2019). The Study Skills Handbook. 5th ed. Red Globe Press.
• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2014). Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Swetnam, D. and Swetnam, R. (2020). Writing Your Dissertation. 3rd ed. Plymouth: How to Books.

Lecture 5 - The Academic Writing Style

Through exposure to the below topics, students will be better equipped to prepare a coherent and well-structured report on a suggested business proposal

• Development of ideas
• Introducing paragraphs and linking them together
• The introduction and conclusion
• Simple and complex definitions
• Rewriting and proofreading
• Components of academic style
• Guidelines
• Varying sentence length
• Using modifiers
• Various elements of writing

Core Reading List

• McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2013). How to Write for University: Academic Writing for Success. Pearson.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). Cite Them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. Macmillan Education

Supplementary Reading List

• Bailey, S. (2019). The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2019). The Study Skills Handbook. 5th ed. Red Globe Press.
• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2014). Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Swetnam, D. and Swetnam, R. (2020). Writing Your Dissertation. 3rd ed. Plymouth: How to Books.

Lecture 6 - Data Analysis and Interpretation & Research Ethics and Academic Integrity

Following the below topics, students will be aware of how to communicate the research outcomes effectively.

• Analysing and interpreting data using basic statistical tools and software
• Presenting research findings effectively
• Ethical considerations in academic research
• Understanding and avoiding research misconduct

Core Reading List

• McMillan, K. and Weyers, J. (2013). How to Write for University: Academic Writing for Success. Pearson.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2019). Cite Them Right. The Essential Referencing Guide. Macmillan Education

Supplementary Reading List

• Bailey, S. (2019). The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2019). The Study Skills Handbook. 5th ed. Red Globe Press.
• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. (2014). Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Swetnam, D. and Swetnam, R. (2020). Writing Your Dissertation. 3rd ed. Plymouth: How to Books.

Lecture 7 - Internal Procedures

During this session, the students will apply the knowledge and skills gathered from this set of lectures to practice producing an excellent academic piece of writing, mainly through

• Coming up with a creative and innovative idea for a business and set a research proposal
• Accessing the appropriate and relevant types of sources
• Presenting convincing and cohesive arguments in the appropriate academic format
• Creating a logical report structure
• Achieving coherence and cohesion between and within the text
• Effectively communicate the outcomes of the research

Core Reading List

• Locker, K. O., & Kaczmarek, S. K. 2014. Business Communication: Building Critical Skills. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Bailey, S., 2019. The Essentials of Academic Writing for International Students. 3rd ed. Routledge.
• Thody, A., 2006. Writing and Presenting Research. SAGE Study Skills. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Supplementary Reading List

• Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2023) Research methods for business students.   9th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
• Booth, W. C., Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., and FitzGerald, W. T. (2016). The craft of research. 4th ed. University of Chicago Press.
• Kennedy, Toni. (2009). Academic Research & Writing Skills Part 1 & 2. Australasian Journal of Correctional Staff Development. 4.
• Gillett, A. (2023). Uefap.com: Using English for Academic Purposes for Students in Higher Education.  https://www.uefap.org

Lecture 8 - Specific Module Revision

During this session students will go through the salient points to draft the a business plan's specific section. By lecture 5 students will be asked to indicate which sections they would want to go through in order so that the neccessary arrangements will be done with the relevant tutor.

Lecture 9 - Specific Module Revision

During this session students will go through the salient points to draft the a business plan's specific section. By lecture 5 students will be asked to indicate which sections they would want to go through in order so that the neccessary arrangements will be done with the relevant tutor.

Lecture 10 - Specific Module Revision

During this session students will go through the salient points to draft the a business plan's specific section. By lecture 5 students will be asked to indicate which sections they would want to go through in order so that the neccessary arrangements will be done with the relevant tutor.

Lecture 11 - Specific Module Revision

During this session students will go through the salient points to draft the a business plan's specific section. By lecture 5 students will be asked to indicate which sections they would want to go through in order so that the neccessary arrangements will be done with the relevant tutor.