Workshops to Demystify Academic Writing

Do you feel like you’re going around in circles writing your dissertation, thesis or report? Do you feel guilty when you’re not writing? Or, do you write under pressure at the last minute right before a deadline? Do you divide and draft your paragraphs randomly or do you follow your intuition? This is normal, technical writing is not easy! It requires knowledge and mastery of many standards and conventions that you may not be aware of.

This is why Student Services is offering a series of workshops on various aspects of writing available to students, free of charge. On the one hand, these workshops provide insight into the mechanics of writing motivation and how to plan a writing schedule so that you can produce texts on a regular basis. 

On the other hand, they provide linguistic and stylistic advice to ensure reader comprehension. These workshops also deal with organizing the structure of academic papers, including paragraphs and sentences; conditions that must be met in order to divide texts into paragraphs; linking words to ensure cohesion of ideas; written conventions of accuracy, conciseness, objectivity and clarity required in a scientific context. 

As an engineer on the job market, you will often have to write various documents, such as specifications, reports, technical opinions, scientific papers, not to mention numerous e-mails. These skills will be useful not only during your university studies, but also throughout your professional career.

Take advantage of the entire workshop series or choose the workshops that best suit your needs. Here is the full schedule and Zoom links to register for the workshops: 

Writing Motivation and Planning for a Project Report or Thesis

Are you writing a project report, or thesis and feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task? Are you experiencing writer’s block? This workshop provides a toolkit to demystify the writing process, plan your research writing, and write with regularity regardless of creative inspiration. You will have the opportunity, if you wish, to establish a plan for the next few months and receive feedback on your plan after the workshop.

Registration for the September 16 session (In French only)

Registration for the November 12 session (in French only)

Writing Style for Engineering

Are you writing or finishing a term paper, internship project report or thesis? This workshop provides you with the tools to master the scientific style. It reviews the rules of scientific writing and identifies the difficulties faced by most students and ways to overcome them. In this workshop, you will be working on improving a text using a style improvement grid.

Registration for the September 23 session (in French only)

Registration for the November 19 session (in French only)

Drafting and Organizing a Project Report, Thesis or Paper

To write a thesis, or an internship report, it is essential to master the scientific writing style. A scientific paper has a very specific structure. This also applies to a project report or thesis. This workshop will help clarify the elements of the structure and the role they play in the overall scheme of the text. A proper understanding of how this structure works will help you write a solid, organized report or thesis. At the end of the workshop, you will analyze a scientific paper to integrate the newly acquired theoretical notions.

Registration for the September 30 session (in French only)

Registration for the November 26 session (in French only)

 Writing the Introduction to a Project Report or Thesis

What is the purpose of the introduction to a thesis, report, or scientific paper? How do you write the introduction: what does it consist of and how is it organized? This workshop provides all the answers to these questions as well as a template for writing an introduction to a report/thesis. At the end of the workshop, you will analyze an introduction to integrate the newly acquired theoretical notions.

Registration for the October 7 session (in French only)

Registration for the October 28 session (in English) 

Registration for the December 3 session (in French only)

Writing a Literature Review – General Concepts

What is the purpose of a literature review? How do you write a literature review: what does it consist of and how is it organized? The literature review is probably the most difficult text to write for graduate students. This workshop answers all the questions and helps you write a good literature review. It also provides the tools to better organize your readings. In addition, short exercises will give you a better understanding of how the use of references in a literature review works.

Registration for the October 14 session (in French only)

Registration for the December 9 session (in French only)

From Sentence to Paragraph – Achieving Clear Composition and Consistent Flow

What are the conditions for dividing a text into paragraphs? What determines the content of a paragraph and how can this content be structured to ensure a logical flow? How do you structure a sentence effectively? How do you choose and use linking words to ensure cohesion between ideas? If you divide and compose your paragraphs randomly or according to your intuition, this workshop is for you! Here you will learn how to divide a text into paragraphs as well as how to structure sentences and paragraphs optimally to ensure comprehension.

Registration for the October 21 session (in French only)

Registration for the December 10 session (in French only)