On March 8, 2025, the American University of Nigeria (AUN) Writing Center held a workshop on academic report writing and research data presentation for Data Science graduate students, titled "Application of Swales' Creating a Research Space (CARS) Model.
The workshop aimed to enhance students' academic writing skills using John Swales' CARS model. The workshop's deliverables included producing knowledgeable participants who can apply insights from the workshop into practice, developing academic writing course materials for independent study, and creating Personal Action Plans (PAPs) to demonstrate concept uptake.
Dr. Richard Awoshiri Kamai, Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at AUN, presented the paper. He provided a systematic approach to successful academic research writing techniques that adhere to international standards. Kamai emphasized that enhancing report-writing practices is a vital skill for undergraduate and graduate students to complete their academic training.
However, he regretfully noted that the lack of knowledge of academic writing conventions has led to unethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), plagiarism, and contract cheating among some graduate students. This deficiency has caused some students to drop out or spend extended periods completing their programs.
Dr. Kamai spoke extensively on inadequate knowledge in academic writing, frustration, and solutions. He shed light on genre pedagogy, content, and language-integrated learning, providing appropriate terminology for different academic disciplines, especially in the data science department.
To address these issues, Kamai recommended adopting empowering writing pedagogies, such as Genre Pedagogy and Content and Language Integrated Learning, awareness of research report ontology, knowledge of lexicon grammar, and effective writing mentorship.
Director of the Writing Center, Mrs. Emilienne Akpan, noted that the workshop illustrated how awareness of generic structure in abstracts and introductions of research articles can optimize reading comprehension and provide epistemic access to knowledge.
Subsequent training will cover modules on applying the CARS model in writing top-notch methods, results, and discussion sections of research articles. Workshop participants will receive guidelines for preparing, organizing, and writing standard college-level projects, research papers, and journal articles.
Reported by John Abah