Has anyone written at Masters level, do you have time on your hands?

[MakeMineALarge1]

I appear to have signed up for a module at Uni which is to be marked at level 7 - I have only written at level 6.

There are only 2 of us being funded to to this course, I was asked to do it.

I don't want to let myself or my unit down, please, can anyone help me, by proof reading, critiquing etc?

If it’s a specialist practice module, it’s a matter of critiquing the research. Formulate a strong opinion and stick to it.
I found we got quite a lot of info about academic writing as part of the module teaching.
Good luck - it will be worth it

Thank you all - I haven't started the course, just pre-empting my worries haha. I will be asking for all the help I can from the tutors, from the library, attending every workshop I can etc.

I was hoping we could all do it as a mumsnet collective!

If it's anything like my critical care course, you'll be given tutorials and you'll be given the essay mark scheme right at the beginning. My course, for example, required me to use a case study of a patient in multi-organ failure and critique the care given (the care I gave), using current research and best practice.

The challenge won't be finding enough to write about. It will be to write all you need to in the word count given.

Please don’t involve anyone else in composing your essay. It should be a demonstration of your own abilities and critical thinking. Ask your academic mentor for help, not anyone else. This may sound harsh but the last thing you want is an allegation of academic misconduct. Once you show or share your assignment you have no control over what happens to it. The best piece of advice I can give you is to read extensively, manage your time well, and seek proper supervision.

Not nursing but I had to do critical analysis post masters level (charter exams).

I found it helpful to brain dump a massive (way more than the word count) descriptive essay. No editing/order. With a full properly cited reference as I did the reading. Gave myself a deadline for that. Printed it out. Picked out the parts which had for or against arguments. And based my paper on that.

One page into on the subject and why I’d picked the issues involved.

To ensure I was analysing. I wrote each section as a question. Max one paragraph description. Then each paragraph after had to be for then against etc then mini conclusion.

Then at the end total conclusion. Make sense?

@petrocellihouse

Please don’t involve anyone else in composing your essay. It should be a demonstration of your own abilities and critical thinking. Ask your academic mentor for help, not anyone else. This may sound harsh but the last thing you want is an allegation of academic misconduct. Once you show or share your assignment you have no control over what happens to it. The best piece of advice I can give you is to read extensively, manage your time well, and seek proper supervision.

I think op was probably joking, I hope 😂

@lougle I did my crit care course a few years ago.

And yes. I was joking about it being a collective effort........
I was hoping someone would offer to do it for me........

I have a masters, am an academic and teach and mark masters papers (amongst others).

There is enough information out there for you to teach yourself the skills required, and enough support services. Please do not keep asking for other people to do it for you. The gains you will make in studying to this level are only achieved through the self-study required to achieve them. Its not difficult, it simply requires work and application.

Its always obvious when a student hasn't done their own work and can result in questions of academic misconduct. Common reasons why students lose marks - failure to critically analyse, use evidence and make their points; giving a review of the literature but not any analysis of it; poor referencing (use OSCOLA or Harvard referencing, whichever is required); poor and incomplete research; badly organised essay structure; not answering the question(s) asked and going off on a tangent and answering their own preferred question.

Learn to do your own proof reading, as its part of the process of learning. Going over things is how you improve your knowledge. Have confidence in your abilities!

Thank you @Greenlandthemovie
I will be doing the work myself.
I will seek help from the right sources.
Your insight into why people lose marks is helpful. Thank you.

Everyone has been very helpful and insightful. Thank you.

[quote MakeMineALarge1]@lougle I did my crit care course a few years ago.[/quote]
Then you probably did all the level 7 thinking but submitted at level 6 then. A lot of good level 6 writing uses level 7 skills, but you only get the level 7 credit if it's submitted as level 7.

Learn to do your own proof reading, as its part of the process of learning.

That's interesting Lougle.

I teach nursing at pre and post registration levels. You have some excellent advice on these posts already.
The main reason I fail assignments is they fail to answer the question. Simple as that. Post registration nurses tend to fall into the trap of getting carried away on an element of an answer they are comfortable with and miss the point of the original Q.
Break down your question and answer each part in your plan them do not stray when writing.
READ!! And when you are done, read more. I expect to see evidence of extensive reading especially at Level 7. This is where your critical analysis comes from.
Reference correctly. It will probably be the Harvard System. At Level 7 your in text citations and reference list should be flawless. Your university will have step by step guidelines.
Your subject librarian is your friend. Email them and set up a Teams session.

When you are done, reread then hand it to a non nurse to proof read. They should be able to understand it (not the clinical aspects but the writing should flow and be easy for all to fathom).

Lastly, you are being sent on Level. 7 because you are well able for it. You've got this.

Yes I don’t understand the self proof reading comment. Of course I edited, edited, edited but I made sure I gave it out to specifically non academic people to check clarify of discourse

I did a B.Sc. and M.Sc. (in chemistry) about 20 years ago, so not really up to date with this level 6, level 7 stuff.

To be honest, the project I did for my M.Sc. was just more in-depth than the B.Sc. I did not think, "oh, I need to change my style now I am at the M.Sc. level", I just had to write a more in-depth dissertation because I was doing a 7 month research project.

I would hope that at Masters level, my command of English was sufficient not to require proof reading?

When I did my Masters dissertation, it was the role of my thesis supervisor to give that type of guidance. I don't tend to give articles to colleagues to proof read or review before sending them off through the university system to publication.

You need to learn to do this stuff yourself, because thats how you improve. Outwith the thesis in a masters, you do have to self-critique your own work. Who has time for all this proof reading of quality of discourse? It must waste so much time. All you need is to read enough literature on your subject and constantly compare and contrast it with what published writers are producing. Thats the standard you should aim for, not a non-academic checking for "clarity of discourse".

IMO it's also good to learn to network with people and build up a circle of peers who'll help proof things. No one is their own best proofreader. No, I don't. You need to learn to do your own work. There is more than enough information out there and you don't need to waste time on all this to-ing and fro-ing with networks and proof reading.

Banaltra I agree with everything you say. Except for the proof reading. Perhaps its different in nursing but in my field the standard of written work has to be extremely high even in first year of your undergraduate degree.

I'm also surprised that what is referred to as Level 7 is such a stretch from the lower levels. Your writing style should already be developed close to this level, particularly if you are getting higher marks, so it should simply be a matter of more attention to detail, more reading, more references, more critical analysis.

I would hope that at Masters level, my command of English was sufficient not to require proof reading?

That's really harsh and unnecessary (and is the error deliberate?).

FWIW, you may not send articles to colleagues to proof read, but many academics do. I'm in a field where words are my bread and butter, and we all still share work with each other for proofing.

@GreenlandTheMovie you would be surprised at how many errors people miss in their proof read. I proof for my DH and he for me and we are very different fields. Sentence structure, grammar, syntax, the extra word spell check ignores... All need looked at.

The reason I suggest a non clinical reader is that fundamentally every submission should be "readable". I expect the clinical knowledge to be supported by critical analysis and evidence of reading but the actual flow of the sentence, regulation of abbreviations etc (nurses tend to use many) benefit from a fresh eye. You don't have to get someone else to read your work but it can help.

Level 7 is not a massive stretch from Level 6 but in Nursing, Medicine, AHP courses you need to bear in mind that there may be a number of years between the primary degree, post graduate courses and MSc. Many of these courses require specialist experience so many candidates might not have written academically in years.

I have an LLB, MRes in Criminology and am a Nurse. Drop me a DM if you need help.

I mark masters dissertations. The ones who do best are the ones who use all the resources and examples available, engage with their tutor regularly, send drafts in advance of meetings, see feedback as a positive thing, and put the work in - there is no way round the reading. You will have lots of support and guidance. The best advice I can give is to make a timetable or Gantt chart (e.g. complete lit. review by [date], collect primary data bu [date]) and stick to it. Breaking it down makes it much more manageable.

I’ll write it for you if you pay me?

I have a master's in Art so can't imagine if be much help! Good luck though.

@doublefaced
How much £10?? About all i can spare.