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Teaching Thesis Writing, Policy And Practice At An Australian University, Janice Skillen, Emily Purser

Emily R Purser

As an indicator of serious engagement in an academic discourse, thesis writing enjoys universal recognition. While its importance in higher education is unquestioned, the need to teach students how to write a thesis (let alone what method to use) has been less generally accepted. In Australia, explicit instruction in thesis writing was rare until quite recently, but is now widespread and becoming almost mandatory. This paper briefly explains the shift and describes how the teaching of thesis writing is approached at the University of Wollongong. UoW’s major provider of academic skills instruction – Learning Development – supports student learning across …