In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, research writing skills are one of the cornerstones of academic and professional growth. Pursuing graduate studies is a process where professionals become active thinkers, innovators, and creators of knowledge. At the core of this educational pursuit is the ability to participate in scholarly discourse. This multidimensional analysis aimed at measuring the research writing skills of the graduate students across different areas, utilizing various methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis. The findings revealed that in terms of technical and language skills, master’s students perform the majority at a novice level, while they are already approaching proficiency in applied research writing skills. The comparative analysis shows significant variation when technical writing skills are compared between and across skill groups. On the other hand, while students are already capable of building logically flowing discussions, the significant variation compared to cohesion and cohesiveness against grammar and style reveals that students might still have cognitive limitations and confusion regarding applying grammatical conventions in logical presentation. This is consistent with the findings of the multiple methods employed, where strengths and opportunities for learning emerged from the analysis conducted.
The proposals use various metadiscourse features, and interactive markers occur more frequently. These features are deployed using a variety of interrelated and wide-spanning functions. Using these inputs, the proposed Research Writing Crash Course titled "Write it Right: The Essentials to Thesis Writing" is crafted. This is a proposed 21-unit CPD course to aid in the skill development of Master’s students.

Authors:
Quennie Bandalaria, Divine Word College of Calapan, Philippines

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Quennie Bandalaria is the Program Chairperson of the BSEd program at Divine Word College of Calapan. She teaches English, Research, and Experiential Learning, and also works as a Graduate Studies faculty for Research and Language Studies.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Quennie-Bandalaria?ev=hdr_xprf

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