Week 8 Masterclass & Case-Study — Academic Reading/Writing Skills + Gender-Based Violence Policy

Course Location, Timing & Administration

• Lecture held on unceded Bidjigal land (acknowledgement of Country).
• We are in the Case-Study Block of the term; each week pairs a policy topic with skills training.
• This week:
  • Policy topic = Gender-based / Family & Domestic Violence (FDV).
  • Skills focus = Academic reading, note-taking & writing for the upcoming Policy Brief.
• Masterclasses embedded to remove access barriers:
  • Today: Academic Skills (Dr Madeline Wilson – “Maddie”).
  • Next week: Library masterclass (searching, referencing).
• Extra support: daily library drop-ins $1{:}00{-}2{:}00$ PM; academic-skills 1-on-1 bookings; Nama’s FDV drop-ins (Thu Wk 8 11 AM, Fri Wk 9 2 PM) + 15-min consult slots (Weeks 8-10).

Guest Masterclass — Dr Madeline Wilson

• Objective: transfer skills for this assessment AND future university work.
• Agenda:
  1. Reading critically.
  2. Effective note-taking.
  3. Integrating sources (summary, paraphrase, quotation).
  4. Academic writing style & voice.
• Tech glitch humour (“wouldn’t be a workshop without unplug/re-plug”).

Reading at University vs Leisure Reading

• Leisure reading: voluntary, relaxing, often done "over breakfast" or "before bed"; purpose = enjoyment.
• Academic reading:
  • Active & critical; analytically dense, "vegetables of reading."
  • Has an explicit purpose (assignment, argument).
  • Requires fresh, high-concentration moments; often slower.
  • Simultaneous evaluation of quality, relevance, theoretical fit, evidence.
  • Often multiple viewpoints to compare.
  • Time cost higher ⇒ be selective, strategic.

Active Reading – Core Tips

• Keep the task/question visible (post-it, header of doc) to avoid tangents.
• Be selective: not everything merely “relevant” is worth reading.
• Chunk work: read a section, note-take, 10-min break.
• Track everything you open (folder, spreadsheet, citation manager) – avoids re-reading déjà-vu.

Four Modes of Academic Reading

Critical Reading & Evaluating Sources

• Always interrogate argument + evidence: is claim justified? methodology sound?
• Imagine authors “around a dinner table” debating.
• Example exercise:
  1. Tobacco-funded “vaping safety” study → conflict of interest red flag.
  2. 60-year-old ethnography of First Nations Canadians → check for outdated/racist paradigms, but might still be usable.
  3. NY-Times-bestseller pop-psych book → lacks peer review rigour.

Effective Note-Taking

Why

• Organises ideas, prevents zoning-out, captures your reactions, flags knowledge gaps, accelerates assessment drafting, supports memory retention.

Cornell-style Two-Column Method (adapted)

1. Header: bibliographic details (author, year, journal, DOI) or lecture info.
2. Left (or right) column: Key points / paraphrased content + page numbers.
3. Opposite column: Your comments – questions, connections, “use in §2 of essay,” compare with Smith (2021).
4. Use quotation marks in notes when copying verbatim → avoids accidental plagiarism.

Tech / medium options

• Handwrite → better retention; then scan/ type for backup.
• Digital: OneNote, Notion, Google Docs, Zotero notes; be wary of “perfect-app rabbit hole”—system must actually be used.

Integrating Sources Into Your Writing

Paraphrasing workflow: read → clarify vocab → cover text & verbally recall → write → compare to ensure fidelity & new wording → cite.

Academic Writing Style

• Clarity over ornamentation; avoid hyperbole & emotive prose.
• Formality: no contractions (write do not, not don’t).
• Objectivity: hedge appropriately (“may,” “in some cases”).
• Jargon: use only when it condenses meaning.
• Reporting verbs convey stance:
  • “demonstrates” (strong support).
  • “argues” (neutral).
  • “assumes” (skeptical).
  • List available via UNSW Academic Skills site.
• Author- vs Information-centric citation:
  • Author focus: “Gikandi (2011) considers …”.
  • Info focus: “Afropolitanism provides … (Gikandi 2011).”
• Always align with your referencing guide (AGLC, APA 7, etc.).

Classroom Illustrations & Activities

• Students shared current leisure reads (speculative fiction, murder mysteries).
• Movie-summary game: anonymised plot synopses (e.g., Finding Nemo, Little Women). Demonstrated summarising main ideas without identifiers.
• Reporting-verb nuance demo using climate-change example sentences.

Support Channels Recap

• Academic Skills: book 30-min consults (bring prompt, criteria, draft).
• Daily drop-ins front of UNSW Library $13{:}00{-}14{:}00$.
• Study Hacks workshops + website resources (transition signals list, paraphrasing guide).
• Nama’s additional FDV assessment drop-ins + personal 15-min booking link.

Assessment Reminders (Policy Brief)

• Need Executive Summary: mirror structure seen in government docs.
• Show vs Tell: embed evidence inside analytic narrative, not bolt-on citations. Example slide dissected a real news policy story.
• Recommendations must map onto policy-cycle stages & specify stakeholders.

Case Study Focus — Gender-Based / Family & Domestic Violence (FDV)

Policy Context

• Ambitious 10-year National Plan to End Violence Against Women & Children (NPEVWC).
• Framed by decades of activism, royal commissions, Human Rights Commission work.
• Shift in terminology: from “FDV” to broader “gender-based violence,” explicitly includes coercive control.

“Policy Window” & Rosie Batty

• 2014 murder of Luke Batty by his father became a watershed.
• Rosie Batty’s articulate survivor advocacy created public support + urgency → Victorian royal commission, system reform.

National Plan Highlights (per Exec Summary)

• Four pillars: Prevention, Early-Intervention, Response, Recovery.
• Commitments: survivor-centred design, $1$ million for sustained victim-survivor participation; 5-yr action plans incl. Indigenous-led plan.

Media Report Dissection (ABC clip)

• Voices: Lula Dembele (survivor), minister, peak-body reps.
• Strengths: centrality of lived experience, multi-jurisdictional framing, emphasis on Aboriginal leadership.
• Critiques: 2-week consultation window called “breathtakingly disrespectful” (Brittany Higgins).
• Illustrates agenda-setting, consultation, budget commitment → early formulation stage of policy cycle.

Lived-Experience & the Policy Cycle Discussion

• Students debated where survivor voices fit:
  • Agenda-setting (problem recognition).
  • Policy formulation (designing interventions).
  • Implementation (co-production, advisory panels).
  • Evaluation (feedback, metrics).
• Ethical caveats: must be voluntary, trauma-informed, not tokenistic.

Links to Earlier Course Themes

• Insiders vs outsiders; advocacy coalitions; epistemic vs experiential expertise.
• Evidence types for brief: policy docs, academic research, and stakeholder submissions / lived-experience testimony.

Key Take-aways for Your Policy Brief

1. Read strategically: preview → decide → intensive read only what you’ll cite.
2. Take dual-column notes capturing your analysis; mark all quotes.
3. Integrate sources via skillful summaries & paraphrases; quote sparingly.
4. Use precise reporting verbs & maintain a clear, formal academic voice.
5. When researching FDV, include grey literature & survivor organisations; map their input to relevant policy-cycle stages.
6. Draft an executive summary early; keep task prompt visible.
7. Seek feedback: academic-skills consults, library sessions, Nama’s drop-ins.