The WID (University Writing) for the ACE Program at Luiss aims to equip students with the theoretical and practical competencies necessary to produce academic writing in a business context, which is research-based, concise, well organised, as well as grammatically and orthographically accurate, following the A.P.A formatting style. These competencies are developed by engaging in interactive, team, and self-study activities which enable students to gain confidence in different genres (formal emails, personal statement, reflection paragraphs, essays, recaps, and a business analysis paper). The research focusses on critically analysing and writing about a publicly traded company by combining popular, trade, and academically based sources. Through the writing process of drafting and revising documents and research papers, students will understand better and gain confidence in the writing process. They will also engage more deeply in thinking about what they have written and identify areas to revise per the three Ps: Purpose, People, Place. The course also provides students with the fundamentals of formal academic discourse in the form of a business news recap and a final presentation of research findings. Activities include in-class discussions of readings, slides, and exercises, self-study quizzes, as well as engaging with the research process to complete a team Company Analysis Report (CAR), per guidelines. Particular attention is given to making sense of writing, be it as a reader or a writer, because when we write, we write for others. Therefore, students will be expected to critically evaluate to what extent an author’s claims are credible, and, in the contrary case, how to reinforce them. Strategies to achieve these goals, and common academic practices will be shared in class through readings, slides, exercises, discussions, as well as polls. Overall, the course prepares students to formalize their written and spoken discourse to participate in a university setting, as well as a professional one.

Knowledge, Understanding: Students will be introduced to the issues related to writing effectively in academic and professional contexts. Through critical analyses of written discourse, they will gain awareness of tools and strategies to improve their academic writing skills. Focus will be given to how to structure clear and concise explanations and develop an awareness of one’s audience when writing in academic and professional contexts. Students will apply the acquired writing strategies to academic conventions, such as: • summaries, • defining and explaining, citing experts • paraphrasing and quoting, and • writing from research to support one’s claims. Furthermore, they will use the methods acquired to demonstrate their mastery to devise and sustain clear, coherent analysis. Therefore, students will understand how to analyze, explain, compare, interpret, and summarize topics relevant to business research. Making Judgements: The course materials are designed to encourage comparison and evaluation of academic and popular media sources, opinions and text organization, and to express conclusions in a language appropriate to the specific context. Feedback from the course instructor, along with reflective self-evaluation, will allow students to independently fine-tune and adapt their skills to deal with future university writing tasks. Communication Skills: At the end of the course, students will be able to use the appropriate lexical range, accuracy and appropriacy to operate effectively in contexts linked to their degree course and future career. They will know how to structure their ideas coherently and adapt their written discourse, depending on the purpose and context. They can communicate effectively with the broader academic community, conveying their conclusions clearly and unambiguously, and providing relevant supporting arguments. Academic Learning Skills: Through application of the methodologies learned during the interactive lessons, students will learn to assess their own performance in view of fine-tuning the acquired strategies when faced with tasks related to their academic and professional careers. They will also improve their critical thinking, listening and feedback skills.

The WID (University Writing) for the ACE Program at Luiss aims to equip students with the theoretical and practical competencies necessary to produce academic writing in a business context, which is research-based, concise, well-organized, as well as grammatically and orthographically accurate, following the A.P.A formatting style. These competencies are developed by engaging in interactive, team, and self-study activities which enable students to gain confidence in different genres (formal emails, personal statement, reflection paragraphs, essays, recaps, and a research paper). Specifically, students will complete a personal academic statement, reflection paragraphs, an in-class essay, and final research paper. The research focusses on critically analyzing and writing about a publicly traded company by combining popular, trade, and academically based sources. The course also provides students with the fundamentals of formal academic discourse in the form of a business news recap and a final presentation of research findings. Activities include in-class discussions of readings, slides, and exercises, self-study quizzes, as well as engaging with the research process to complete a team Company Analysis Report (CAR), per guidelines. Particular attention is given to making sense of writing, be it as a reader or a writer. Therefore, students will be expected to critically evaluate to what extent an author’s claims are credible, and, in the contrary case, how to reinforce them. Strategies to achieve these goals, and common academic practices will be shared in class through readings, slides, exercises, discussions, as well as polls.

All materials will be provided on the Luiss Learn platform, including the professor's presentations, worksheets, as well as links to Open Educational Resources (OERs), such as this one: https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/technicalwriting/ .

Lecture, discussion, interactive learning-based activities in and outside of class, demonstrations, guest lectures.

per rubrics This course follows a mixed method of evaluation with continuous assessment of assignments, participation and attendance, on the one hand, and the final oral presentation, on the other hand. Continuous Assessment & successful completion of individual and group assignments. Individual Assignments = personal academic statement & related formal email (drafts 1 & 2). Group Assignments: -Oral recap of a business news story. -Research, write, and revise a company analysis report per guidelines and academic conventions. -Oral Exam: present findings of the company analysis report in a formal and engaging oral presentation.

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