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Writing Tips

Common Errors

Following is a list of common mistakes that occur when people begin writing for an academic audience. Use this list as you proofread your work for this course.

1. ALL research is reported in past tense. Therefore, no sentences that say, “the authors suggest” or “the researchers identify.” Those should read “the authors suggested” or “the researchers identified.”

2. Write in active voice (e.g., the researcher concluded), not in passive voice (e.g., it was concluded by the researcher).

3. Avoid personification in academic writing. Examples:

 The study concluded… (no, the researcher concluded)

 The school promoted… (no, the teachers promoted, or the administrators promoted)

 The article reviewed… (no, the author reviewed) 4. Write as formally as possible. Avoid any instances of regional colloquialisms or

idiomatic expressions. 5. Do not use the phrase “I feel.” Feelings are nebulous and based on emotion. What

you mean is “I believe.” The beliefs that guide your teaching practice should be based on what is known (the literature in the field) and has been supported by research.

6. When referring to students with disabilities, that is what you call them – students with disabilities: not students with special needs, special education students, or Tier II students. Similarly, we do not refer to students who are gifted as gifted students, but as students who are gifted. Person-first language works both ways.

7. Review grammar sources for the appropriate use of “who” and “that” (For example, is it “students who are in 7th grade” or “students that are in 7th grade”?).

8. Do not use contractions in professional writing. 9. All work should be done in APA 6th edition format. As a graduate student, you

should have an APA manual, which can be purchased for less than $30. If you do not have one currently, you can access a tutorial at the APA Style site.

References

Students often have trouble with references. Since you will be using them so frequently, keep these tips in mind:

1. References should be double-spaced, with a hanging indent. 2. Most of the works you cite will be journal articles. Following is a sample reference:

Sparkman, D. (2008). Write all about it: Using math journals in the mathematics classroom. Reflections 52(4), 14-15.

Note

1. Do not use the author’s first name, only initial(s). 2. Only the year in the reference, not a month.

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3. In the article title, the only words that are capitalized are the first word, proper nouns (if any), and the first word after a colon (if there is one).

4. The journal title is italicized, as is the volume number. 5. The issue number is in parentheses and is NOT italicized.

We do not always use issue numbers. If a journal “starts over” on page 1 with each month, we use the issue number. If the pagination is continuous, so that it covers pages 1-57 in the January issue and 58-112 in the February issue, we do not use the issue number, just the volume and page numbers.

6. Page numbers are last – do NOT put p. or pp., just use the actual page numbers.