Akadeemilise teksti kirjutamise juhend: TNR 12, 1,5 ja valmis?

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa20.04

Tänapäeva hariduses on kirjutamisel keskne roll ja seetõttu on oluline ka see, kuidas kirjutamist toetatakse ja juhendatakse. Artiklis anname ülevaate Eesti gümnaasiumide ja ülikoolide uurimis- ning lõputööde juhenditest. Kogusime uurimiseks 60 juhendit ja analüüsisime neid, et näha, mida juhendid tavapäraselt sisaldavad ning millist abi need (üli)õpilasele kirjutamisprotsessi eri etappides pakuvad. Analüüsist selgus, et juhendites moodustasid sisuteemad ((üli)õpilastööde liigid; teema valik; kavandamine; allikate valik ja käsitlemine; ülesehitus; keel ja stiil; eetilised põhimõtted) vaid 22% juhendite kogumahust, ülejäänud 78% oli pühendatud vormistusele jm formaalsetele aspektidele. Sisuteemadest käsitleti kõige sagedamini töö ülesehitust, vähim räägiti töö kavandamisest. Rõhuasetused juhendites viitavad kirjutamise mõtestamisele Eesti haridussüsteemis üldisemalt: tähelepanu pööratakse eelkõige lõpptulemusele ja selle nõuetekohasusele, samas tulemuseni jõudmise protsess jäetakse sageli tagaplaanile.

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"Academic writing guidelines: TNR, 12, 1.5 and done?"

In the article, we introduce an analysis of guidelines for theses and other written assignments in Estonian high schools and universities. We have collected 60 guidelines and analyzed them quantitatively to see what topics they contain and in which proportions, and qualitatively to see how those topics are presented and explained. The goal of this study was to understand how guidelines assist students throughout the process of writing longer assignments. 

First of all, it is important to emphasize that written guidelines are only a part of the guidance students receive (in addition to writing courses, seminars etc), yet they are regulated and more centralized at the institutional level compared to other options (e.g selective courses or Bachelor’s/Master’s seminars which can vary by teacher). Our analysis of the guidelines shows that they mainly focus on formal aspects. Only 22% of the total volume of guidelines (in pages) is dedicated to aspects related to the actual writing process and the content of the paper (planning, structure, working with sources, use of language). The rest is concerned with requirements on formatting, citation styles, submitting and defending the thesis etc. Of the content and process-related topics, the most attention is paid to the structure of the paper, which is mentioned in all guidelines, whereas the planning and drafting stage is discussed only in 14 guidelines out of 60.

It can thus be concluded from our analysis that the guidelines for writing in Estonian high schools and universities appear to be oriented more toward form than content. The students receive thorough and detailed instructions on what the final text must look like, but the process of creating the text itself is often neglected. Our suggestion is to keep that tendency towards form in mind while creating or updating guidelines in order to make them more content-rich and therefore encouraging and motivating – all that to support (university) students in creation of meaningful texts.