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Essay and report writing skills

Course description

Course content, course reviews.

Writing reports and assignments can be a daunting prospect. Learn how to interpret questions and how to plan, structure and write your assignment or report. This free course, Essay and report writing skills, is designed to help you develop the skills you need to write effectively for academic purposes.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand what writing an assignment involves
• identify strengths and weaknesses
• understand the functions of essays and reports
• demonstrate writing skills.

First Published: 10/08/2012

Updated: 26/04/2019

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Learn How To Write Well With 2024‘s Top 12 Best Free Online Writing Courses For Beginners

Do you want to learn how to write an essay, book, poem, or article, but you are not sure exactly where to begin? Perhaps you want to write a killer blog post without completely relying on Grammarly ?

Well, this is the guide for you!

In this guide, I have rounded up some of the best free online writing classes that are great for beginners and all skill levels. This means that you can learn at your own pace without paying a single dime for quality online courses while learning the writing process!

While each of the below creative writing courses is slightly different from one another, each delivers great insights on how to become a master of the craft and even a freelance writer! Let’s begin on your road to a bestseller!

Table of Contents

Top 12 Best Free Online Writing Courses For Beginners 2024!

1. crafting personal essays with impact (skillshare).

Have you got a masterpiece in your mind but are not sure how to portray it on paper? Well, this is your course!

Your instructor for this class is a best-selling author and editor Roxanne Gay who has written for major publications such as the New York Times, Dexter and Marvel. Being an editor as well, she can guide you away from common pitfalls that could weaken your work.

In the one hour of on-demand video training, you will cover topics like choosing your key thoughts, researching the subject, writing your first draft, how to rewrite and edit yourself, and how to get published.

This course will also inspire you, giving you the tools to transform your thoughts into a readable personal essay. Take yourself seriously and give your ideas a real voice. Being hosted on Skillshare, users can this course for free on a 1-month free trial.

Overall, a well-rounded course that is ideal for beginners!

• 1 hour on-demand video
• Taught by successful writer
• Includes editor insights
• Downloadable resources including FAQs
• Class projects

Activate FREE Skillshare Trial

2. Create Successful Writing Habits (Skillshare)

Next up on my list is a great course that aims to teach you some of the fundamentals of engaging and impactful writing. From learning these skills and habits, you will be able to apply them to fiction, non-fiction, poetry , copywriting, creative nonfiction, and the list goes on!

To give you tools and teach you how to use them, best-selling author and screenwriter Simon Van Booy will show you 6 essential steps to becoming a great writer.

The steps are 1, make your space, 2, find your medium, 3, read inspiring works, 4, set your conditions, 5, stick to a routine, and 6, sketch to stay inspired. What these 6 things all mean and how they apply to your writing is what the 38 minutes of on-demand video will teach.

This is a great course for anyone aspiring to be a writer as well as established writers wishing to hone their skills to a higher quality level. Being hosted in Skillshare, this course is completely free!

• Beginner level
• 38 minutes on demand video
• Established and successful writer is instructor
• 15,000 students enrolled
• Online community to join

3. Writing for Online Engagement (Skillshare)

Moving on is another great course for beginners that is taught by Rebecca Sky in this 1 ¼ hour class on fiction writing in a digital age. Rebecca is an author of YA fiction and has also written for companies including Paramount, Sony, Microsoft, Lay’s, and Kraft.

Some of the core modules included in this course are writing skills, plot details, finding an audience, marketing, creative strategies, and more!

So if your goal is to become a successful author of fiction and maybe even to publish your own stories yourself, this instruction concerning online engagement is a great class to take. It’s not just for beginners either, any level of writer wanting to better their skills can also take a lot from this class.

Overall, an interesting course for those looking to publish online via a blog or news website.

• All levels • 1 hour 8 minutes • Published author teacher • Focused on fiction writers • Covers self publishing and promotion • 8,000 students enrolled

4. Writing Articles (LinkedIn Learning/ Lynda)

Up next is a great masterclass from LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda) that helps you to write accurate, engaging and interesting articles for businesses. While this course is more intermediate, it is still a great resource for complete beginners also.

Instructor Tom Geller is a writer of technology-centered articles and a trainer for communication skills in the workplace. His class is just under an hour and covers all the basics you need to know to get started.

This course starts out by showing you how to find assignments, then moves on to the research needed for informative articles. From there, he shares the best way to conduct an interview for an article, and then how to wrap it all up. With all LinkedIn Learning course, there is a certificate of completion available once completed.

Like Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning provides a free trial so you can take this course for no charge whatsoever! To learn more, check out my LinkedIn Learning Vs Lynda guide .

• Focuses on industry and business article writing
• Professional writer trainer
• Exercise files
• Certificate of completion

Visit Linkedin.com

5. Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge (Skillshare)

One of the worst things any writer may have to deal with is writer’s block. Luckily, this class will show you how to take the offensive against that problem, making sure it never happens in the first place.

Author and editor Emily Gould leads this short series of lessons that guides you into a mindset of creativity. If you commit to writing for 10 minutes for 10 days in a row, you will be able to put her ideas into practice which makes this an incredibly actionable course.

While this course isn’t for everyone, it may be ideal for those in the early stages of writing who are hitting writing blocks.

• Published author and working editor as trainer
• Class project
• Downloadable resources
• 19,000 students enrolled

6. English Writing Skills (Alison)

Expressing yourself clearly is vital for engaging people with your writing. If you don’t communicate the idea well, the article, story, or advertisement is not going to do the job you wanted it to do.

There’s more to writing than just knowing what words to use and how to punctuate properly. There are also certain styles of writing that lend themselves to be better for one purpose or another. You write one way for suspense fiction another way for comedy. Instructions and informative articles use different styles than poetry or inspirational pieces.

The course takes about 3 hours, has assessments, and a certificate of completion is available. Over 124,000 students have taken this class. The instructors are all professionals in their fields and are certified to be trainers on the Alison online learning platform. When deciding on what free online writing course for beginners to take, this is a good one to examine.

• Beginner to intermediate level
• Course assessments
• Professional instructors
• 124,000 students enrolled
• Certificate of completion available

Visit Alison.com

7. Secret Sauce of Great Writing (Udemy)

What makes for good BBQ? “The secret’s in the sauce!” The secret sauce of great writing is found in this 42-minute course detailing the four ingredients of elite writing. Those ingredients are simplicity, clarity, elegance, and evocativeness. Put those into practice and your writing will certainly benefit.

The instructor Shani Raja is a former editor for the Wall Street Journal. He includes writing exercises in with the lesson instruction. It’s 45 minutes of on demand video and online resources are included. You can dive deeper with our journalism course reviews as well.

The techniques and methods of good writing taught in this class work when writing business compositions, personal blogs, fiction, or poetry and prose. These same methods are also effective for editing your own work before turning it over to a publication or editor.

• Intermediate level
• 45 minutes of on demand video instruction
• Includes writing exercises
• 126,000 students

Visit Udemy.com

8. How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre (Skillshare)

Award-winning novel, short story, and Marvel writer Benjamin Percy is a master of writing thriller and suspense fiction.

The instruction in this intermediate level class is designed for writers of fiction but it holds up as good practice for any type of writing. If you want your readers to hang on to every word and be eager for more, you’ll want to pay attention to the tips and tricks taught in this course. There is no better way to learn novel writing!

Some of the things discussed are developing a workable plot, controlling what the reader knows, building believable character development, and blending emotional content with the suspense narrative.

• 1 hour 16 minutes
• Award winning author teacher
• Thriller and suspense genre
• Online resources

9. Writing with Impact (LinkedIn Learning)

The purpose of this course is to show you how to write with purpose for whatever the subject, genre, or audience is. A concept taught in the lessons is that there is no such thing a generic good writing. What you are doing, you have to target your audience.

Grammar and sentence structure are important, but there are subtle nuances that you will learn to identify and implement after finishing this instruction. You’ll learn the goals “write short, write clear, and write right.”

You will learn how to make long paragraphs easier to read and how to effectively make use of shorter paragraphs and efficient word choice.

The instructors is Tom Geller, an established professional and certified for being a trainer at LinkedIn Learning. With this course, you get extra resources, chapter quizzes, and a certificate of completion.

• 1 hour on demand video
• Qualifies for continuing education units
• Chapter quizzes
• Professional author instructor

10. Essay Essentials: Improve Your Academic Writing (Udemy)

Academic writing is a different type of writing than many of us are used to. There are some specific rules that need to be followed for most essays.

In this writing workshop, you’ll learn techniques useful for either high school or collegiate level essay writing. Included in the training are writing exercises, chapter quizzes, and a downloadable essay guide. You will also learn about using the resources in your classroom or school library, what it means to achieve effective revising, and how to properly edit. Concepts concerning paragraphs for introduction, conclusions, and the body of the essay are discussed as well.

The trainer is Andrew Sippie, an English composition teacher and tutor. He has a specialization in teaching in classrooms and online for several years as a college professor, bringing his skills and experience (and Masters Degree) to the Udemy online learning platform.

• Beginner level (self-paced)
• Taught by college professor
• Concentrates on academic essays

11. Writing Ad Copy (LinkedIn Learning)

Advertising is one of the hardest genres of writing. It seems so simple, just tell what it is or does in a few short words. But which words? What part of the product or concept to highlight? That’s vitally important information to dispense.

Ad copy is not limited to the printed page, but also as commercial scripts. As for printed words, media varies from blogs to emails to social media. This class helps you find the best way to get your ideas across in the best way possible.

Michael Duquet is the instructor for this course. He is a marketing director for online activity for a software company and has years of ad copy writing experience.

• 1 hour 7 minutes
• Specific information for advertising writing
• Marketing director is the trainer

12. Business Communication – Fundamentals of Business Writing (Alison)

Business to business (B2B) is big business. Effective business communication is vital for successful companies.

It’s also important to communicate well within your own workplace. Resumes, cover letters, and reports are also required to be as good as possible if they are to be useful and effective.

Even filling out a job application needs good writing skills if you want your application to make it to the right pile of papers.

This class will give you the ability to write clear, concise, and efficient words for your workplace writing endeavors.

• Course assessment
• 46,000 students enrolled

Final Thoughts

I’m a writer. (But I really want to direct.) Writing seems to come naturally for some people. Even if doesn’t, free online writing courses for learners can train you to write well. If you are already a good writer, these same courses will help you do a better job.

To learn more, check out my guide on the  top online proofreading courses !

More goes into writing than merely being talkative. These free online writing courses for beginners will show you how to create a narrative and how to engage people’s interests. You could be writing ad copy for an online store, a term paper for school, a short story for publication, a business proposal for your job, or an inspirational poem for someone you love.

All of those situations and more can be tricky to get right. It doesn’t have to be hard, though. Writing can be fun and profitable. These classes provide the valuable training you need to be able to communicate with skill and panache.

My name is Lewis Keegan and I am the writer and editor of SkillScouter.com. I'm extremely passionate about online education and what it can do for those to better their lives. I spend most of my time blogging, hiking, and drinking coffee. I also have a Bachelor's Degree in Education and Teaching.

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65 Best Free Creative Writing Classes in 2024

Showing 65 courses that match your search.

Secret Sauce of Great Writing

Welcome to the brand new second edition of Secret Sauce Of Great Writing, a program that will show you how it's possible to upgrade your business writing, blog writing and copywriting skills to that level extremely fast. In this course, Shani will introduce you to the fundamental four ingredients of exceptional writing. In as little as an hour, you'll know exactly how to apply this "secret sauce" to your own writing—putting you way ahead of other writers in your profession or industry.

Website: https://www.udemy.com/

Categories: Free

Start date:

Open all year round

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises

Interested in content marketing, particularly for B2B products? In this course, we will go through the complete, 4-step content marketing process used by Audienti (formerly OMA) both with clients and in our own efforts to drive B2B lead generation efforts.

30 Day Blog Transformation Challenge

The Blog Transformation Challenge is a 30-day intensive program focused on elevating your blog into a powerful marketing tool. This course goes beyond basic monetization strategies, focusing on enhancing your writing skills, refining your blog's design, and implementing advanced blog optimization techniques.

How to Write a Novel

Your story matters. Unlock your potential with daily video lessons from bestselling ghostwriter Tom Bromley, and finish your first draft in just 3 months. Learn more →

Sports Writing 104: How to Improve Your Writing Quality

This is the fourth course in the series on "How to become a sports writer". In this class, you'll learn the most common writing errors, editing tips & tricks, simple SEO tips, and the importance of practice.

Website: https://www.skillshare.com/en/classes/

Prerequisites: It's recommended to first take the earlier courses in the series.

Sports Writing 103: How to Write a Feature

This course is the third in a series on "How to become a sports writer". In this class, you'll learn the steps involved in writing a feature, how to research effectively, and how to create an outline.

Sports Writing 102: How to Write a Match Report

This course is the second in a series on "How to become a sports writer". In this class you'll learn what to prepare before, during, and after a match, how to organize your notes into a report, and answers to common questions about writing match reports.

Sports Writing 101: The Basics

Led by Nikki, a seasoned sports journalist, this course offers an in-depth look at sports writing essentials. Discover the inverted pyramid structure, crafting engaging headlines, selecting the right images, and effectively using quotes in your sports articles.

Content Marketing: Blogging for Growth

Join entrepreneur Eric Siu in an intensive 80-minute class where you'll learn his effective content creation approach. This method isn't just about writing; it's about achieving your goals, as demonstrated by Eric's success with Single Grain and the Growth Everywhere podcast.

Website: https://www.skillshare.com/classes/

What Is Poetry?

Tailored for those new to poetry writing, this free Open University course covers techniques of traditional forms and free verse. It encourages using personal experiences and imagination in crafting poetry, along with understanding basic poetry terms and elements.

Website: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/

(Re)writing as Therapy

Kansas City Public Library

One of the most potent powers of writing is its ability to remold the past. In this class, we’ll use writing to explore past events, discovering how imagination can reframe good or bad times. You’ll even have the opportunity to literally rewrite a past event if you’d like.

Website: https://kclibrary.org/

December, 2024

Figurative Language: Make Your Writing Sparkle

Figurative language can help illuminate the meaning of a story, its characters, or its theme. In this course, we’ll review pieces like “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett and “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor as examples of using metaphors, similes, allegories, and symbols in a story.

October, 2024

My Complete, Entirely Free, On-Line Comedy Class

Before investing in expensive standup comedy classes, consider this online course as an alternative. Designed to rival paid classes, it offers comprehensive guidance in standup comedy at no cost, ensuring a risk-free opportunity to explore your comedic talents.

Website: https://johnroycomic.tumblr.com/

How to choose a free creative writing class

Looking to build your writing skillset, learn more about your genre, or finally finish that book you’ve been working on? You’re in the right place. That’s why we built this directory of the best creative writing courses.

However, creative writing classes aren’t one size fit all. If you’re planning to join a free writing class in particular, you’ll want to make sure that it matches what you’re seeking to learn about creative writing.

So make sure to consider the following questions when you’re researching free writing courses:

• Who is the instructor? How many years of experience do they have in creative writing?
• Is there something in particular you’d like to learn about creative writing? Does this course include it?
• How long is the course, and where is it taught?
• Are there any hidden fees advertised in this free creative writing class?

More free creative writing resources

Whether you’re a new or established author, there are always evergreen resources out there to how to get a headstart on writing a book. 

Free online materials

• Creative Writing Prompts (resource)
• How to Self-Publish a Book (blog post)
• How to Publish a Novel (blog post)
• How to Edit a Book (blog post)

Recommended books

• For writers in the UK:  Writers' & Artists' Yearbook  
• For writers in the US:  Writer’s Market 2020

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• Essay writing

Free Online Essay Writing Courses

These free online essay writing courses will teach you useful tips and methods on how to construct and write an exceptional essay. An essay is a short piece of writing representing a side of an argument or ones experiences and stories. You will learn the different types of essays and their different parts as well as how to persuade your readers using selected research evidence.... …Read More These free online essay writing courses will teach you useful tips and methods on how to construct and write an exceptional essay. An essay is a short piece of writing representing a side of an argument or one’s experiences and stories. You will learn the different types of essays and their different parts as well as how to persuade your readers using selected research evidence. Read Less

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30+ Free Online Essay Writing Courses

Alison, Coursera, edX, Future Learn, SimpliLearn, Udemy and The Open University are all online learning platforms that offer free online essay writing courses. You can therefore study essay writing online at Alison, Coursera and edX or the other places mentioned above.

The same applies to Coursera, Udemy, FutureLearn and the Open University.

Writing skills you will learn

Among the key essay writing skills to acquire in most online English writing courses are the following.

Paragraphing

Copywriting

Effective conclusion writing

So let’s have them.

Alison Essay Writing Certificate Courses

Accredited English Composition Course Online

150+ WAEC English Essay Past Questions

Let’s now have the list of Alison’s free online essay writing courses.

English Writing Skills

Writing Better Emails

Professional Business Writing Skills

GO TO ALISON

Here, we are looking at beginner-level up to advanced-level online essay writing courses offered by world-class universities in the US, Europe and other parts of the world.

Here is a list of some popular essay writing courses that are taught on the Coursera online learning platform.

Introduction to Research for Essay Writing

Writing in English at University

Writing Skills for University Success

FutureLearn

Among the courses on offer at FutureLearn are those in the essay writing category. Let’s take a quick look at some popular online essay writing courses that anyone can start for free at FutureLearn.

Develop Your Academic Vocabulary for Study

Understanding IELTS: Writing

Udemy Writing Courses Online

You can now have a look at some interesting essay writing courses being taught at Udemy.

Academic Essay Writing for English Language Learners

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Writing the Narrative Essay in English

Other Free Essay Writing Courses

How to Write an Essay (edX)

Final Thoughts

You can see the options for learning effective essay writing skills available to you are many. Let me remind you that Alison’s essay writing skills courses are completely free to study until you need to acquire a certificate or diploma.

But if you are not a fan of completely free courses, you still have the chance to start learning how to write your best essays with other platforms like Coursera and Udemy.

Cegast Academy

Cegast Academy is dedicated to empowering students, teachers, and parents with top-notch educational resources and publishing services. The centre boasts of a rich experience in English and Literature tutoring with a proven track record. Since 2001, Cegast Academy has successfully coached thousands of High School General Arts WASSCE candidates in English, Literature, and related subjects. With a combination of expertise and a passion for lifelong learning, the platform guides learners from diverse backgrounds to achieve their educational and career goals.

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A Helpful Guide on How to Start an Essay

Writing essays is a common part of many students’ lives, especially if they pursue higher education. Many college courses place hefty emphasis on essays. Their content, length, research, writing, and revision will often form large portions of many college students’ curricular efforts, one semester at a time. 

Knowing how to properly write an essay is an invaluable skill. Not only does it ensure the papers are properly written, it also helps establish life skills involving research, critical thinking, and time management. As with most projects, the best place to start with an essay is the beginning. 

As obvious as that sounds, a strong start will help ensure a strong finish. Though it will take more than just a good start to complete a strong essay, everyone needs to begin somewhere.  

We reached out to the popular essay writing service Write My Essays for advice. After all, who understands how to write an essay better than a professional essay writer? 

Review the directions  

This may seem obvious, but before starting the essay, it’s important to review the directions provided by the professor. The directions should include all the important points, such as spacing, fonts, and the expected layout of the content. 

The contents will depend on the subject. Different fields use different methods of citation for their sources, as one example, and that needs to be taken into account. Understanding the guidelines will help direct focus and energy in the right direction, ensuring time isn’t wasted on improper settings or sources. 

The amount of detail within the directions can vary greatly, depending on the level of the course, the subject matter, and the inclination of the professor. Do not be afraid to ask for advice from on-campus resources or the professor themselves to ensure the directions are fully and properly understood. 

Make an outline  

Before working on the paper itself, it is a good idea to create an outline. This might be a part of the assignment requirements, even, or possibly an assignment all its own. Regardless, outlining the essay’s contents and key points will make writing the essay easier. 

Outlines aren’t for everyone, but even if they are not required, they are also a useful tool. Having an idea of the direction of the essay before writing it will help with the writing process and makes for a handy way to start the work before the essay is even written. 

Format the document  

Before actually writing the essay, formatting the document to the required guidelines first will save a lot of time and effort on fixing issues during the revision process. Revising is arduous enough without having to take typesetting issues into account, especially with how easy document formatting has become. 

Standard requirements for an essay are an easy-to-read font at a standard size like 12, with one-inch margins, indented paragraphs, and double spacing for ease of reading. Actually, requirements may vary, which is why it’s so important to review them, especially if working on multiple projects in different classes at the same time. 

Set up the first page  

Depending on the requirements, the first page may simply be a title page with the assignment, class number, and student’s name. Some of that information may be on a second page, with just the title on the first page. These pages generally do not count towards page lengths and are meant to help prevent padding. 

Setting up the title page is part of formatting, but at least it’s finally putting words on a page. This is also a good point to save the document, ideally in a folder created for the various coursework of the related class so that it is easy to find, load, and, eventually, submit. 

How to begin the paper  

Finally, with the document formatted and necessary first page organized, the actual writing of the essay can begin. Presumably the required research and other pre-writing prep has been completed. So, it’s time to actually put some words to virtual paper and start writing the essay in earnest. 

The question is how to start the paper, that is, the actual contents and not just the title or document itself. The guidelines from the professor might have some notes on this matter, and those should be adhered to when required. If the requirements lack such guidelines, the students have some freedom on how to open their essay. 

Open with a quote  

Oftentimes, a relevant quote, especially from a source cited throughout the essay, can help set the tone and ground the reader with what to expect. A proper quote will help set expectations and bring an idea of the content ahead in a quick and quirky format. 

The quote also sets the tone, as previously mentioned. Serious issues will merit a more serious quote, while lighter subjects can get away with pithier wording. Depending on the subject, sources, and topic of the paper, the quote need not be from a serious source. As long as it is cited, a relevant book or movie quote could also be used to set the opening. 

Pose a question  

Another option to open the essay is with a question. This is a direct way to bring the main topic of the essay to the forefront, by immediately leading with the thesis question, the answer to which is generally the entire point of the essay. 

This does not work for all essays, but the question need not be that powerful. A simpler question to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into the topic at hand can work just as well. Just like with an opening quote, the question sets the tone and leads into the introductory paragraph, which is generally a basic summary of the essay as a whole. 

Also as with a quote, the question can be as serious or irreverent as possible when writing scholastic works, depending on the subject matter, the class, and, occasionally, the demeanor of the professor. Though it is ill advised to think about it too much, at the end of the day, most essays are read by two people, and only two people: the student who wrote them, and the professor who reads and grades them accordingly. 

Start with the Thesis Statement  

It will need to be stated in the introductory paragraph anyway, and beginning with it can provide a strong hook to the start of an essay. While the first paragraph is an essential foundation for the essay, the thesis statement is the base for the first paragraph and the assignments as a whole. 

The thesis statement states the thesis of the essay, hence the name. The sooner it is mentioned, the better, and, as with many aspects of the paper, it will likely be mentioned in the guidelines for the essay. Either way, starting with the thesis statement sets a strong tone for the rest of the paper. 

Such a strong start can be a little daunting to live up to over the course of finishing the essay, but if that turns out to be the case, it can be moved. If nothing else, though, starting with the thesis statement gets it stated quickly and efficiently. 

The introductory paragraph  

The first paragraph of an essay is usually referred to as the introductory paragraph. This paragraph, as previously noted, is extremely important for the essay. It provides the reader with a basic summary of the essay’s contents. From the original question, hypothesis, thesis statement, antithesis, theory, synthesis, and potentially even cited sources, this paragraph sets the tone for the entire paper. 

That is a lot of pressure to put on the beginning of an essay, but it also helps guide the direction of the essay moving forward. Along with tone, it is a handy reference for the rest of the essay. The reader, i.e., the professor, will expect the paper to follow the outline set forth in the first paragraph. 

Though the introductory paragraph is the first and most important aspect of an essay in several regards, it is also the easiest to revise. If the sources and data take the paper in a direction different from what was originally intended, then the first paragraph is relatively easy to adjust to fit the new information. 

As with other aspects of the essay, the assignment brief may have instructions on how to format the introductory paragraph, as well as potential guidelines regarding its contents. This will help with writing the first paragraph, and thus starting the essay, a little easier. 

Conclusion  

Depending on the chosen course load, essays will likely be a large part of a student’s work throughout their academic career. Learning how to properly plan, format, write, and revise essays will help ensure an easier time over the semesters and years. 

Eventually, writing essays will become second nature thanks to the developed skills. Still, with each essay, turning a blank document into a completed and submitted assignment can be a daunting prospect. 

With proper planning, review of the sources and assignment description, and a good handle on the thesis statement, starting an essay can become as second nature as writing the overall essay. With various ways to begin, mixing it up every now and then will also help fight the tedious nature such papers can garner after the tenth time, and beyond. 

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Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming services, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.

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3 Questions for Yale’s Teresa Chahine on Her New Free, Open Online Course

Why create a MOOC on the topic of creating change through social entrepreneurship?

By  Joshua Kim

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We don’t talk about MOOCs much anymore. But massive open online courses never went away. Lifelong learners and career knowledge builders have never been as spoiled for choice as they are now regarding access to high-quality, free online learning experiences.

One example of a fantastic free online course on Coursera is called Creating Change Through Social Entrepreneurship , developed and taught by Teresa Chahine , a professor at the Yale School of Management.

I was curious as to why a professor pulled in all the directions that professors are (research, teaching, service, life) would invest the time to create a MOOC. And why this MOOC in particular? Chahine graciously agreed to answer my questions.

Q: What inspired you to create this course on social entrepreneurship ?

A: When I published my book last year, Social Entrepreneurship: Building Impact Step by Step , I wanted to make the content accessible to everyone without barriers. Yale provided me with the opportunity to create a free online course hosted on Coursera.com, guiding learners through the 10-stage framework for creating social change that I present in my book.

It was so fun to present this information in a video format. I felt like I got to speak directly to my learners, looking through the camera’s lens and imagining who might be watching on the other side. So far, I’ve heard from learners in the Philippines, France, Jordan, Brazil, U.S., Lebanon, Nigeria, South Africa and so many other countries! I feel that each person wants to make their contribution in this world, and this course can help.

Q: There are other social entrepreneurship courses from reputable institutions on Coursera; what makes your course different? Can you share any unique features or experiences that students can expect?

A: This course is very practical. I guide students through the 10-stage framework for creating social change, using practical, hands-on approaches to immerse themselves in a cause they are passionate about. Starting with thorough research and community engagement, students get to ideate practical solutions, build business models around them, learn how to measure social change, ensure financial viability and secure funding.

One of the hardest parts of creating social change is getting started. I ask my students to get out there and talk to as many people as possible about the topics they care about, to learn from and listen to others who are involved. When I was a student trying to learn more about social entrepreneurship, I used a simple formula to request informational interviews from people I hadn’t met. I share this with my students and ask them to reach out to as many people as they can. Here is an extract from my book that summarizes this template:

This simple template usually gets a pretty high response rate! If you don’t have a university email, you can absolutely still use a work or personal email. Don’t hesitate to follow up until you hear back, and suggest potential times to get together. You can’t create social change until you first talk to as many people as possible about the problems you care about and your potential ideas for creating change.

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Q: What are some common challenges that aspiring change makers face, and how does your course equip learners with the tools and strategies to overcome these obstacles confidently?

A: Honestly I think the main challenge is that many of us wait to have the perfect idea before we take action. We feel that unless we can really make a huge difference and transform the problem, there’s no point in trying. I want my students to understand that most social change happens in a very incremental and collective way.

Whether you’re implementing a new recycling program in your neighborhood or office or changing the entire recycling policy for your city or state, this framework helps you get started. Each and every person, no matter who you are, no matter what your job, education, economic or social situation is, has the opportunity to connect with others and create a contribution. It can often feel daunting, not knowing where to start. That’s how this course helps, by making you do it, even just for practice. Then you can figure out what your unique path to creating your contribution might be. And you can be part of a community of learners that can support you!

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College Writing 2.1x is an introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The five-week course includes a review of basic grammar terminology and understanding; writing effective sentences and paragraphs; introductions and conclusions; strategies for writing longer texts; and thesis statements. The course materials will be offered via readings and videos. An optional course workbook, in ebook form, may be used for additional writing work. Students will participate in online discussions as well as peer review. Students will complete an essay for this part of the course.

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How to cite ChatGPT

Use discount code STYLEBLOG15 for 15% off APA Style print products with free shipping in the United States.

We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback.

In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post.

Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper

If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.

Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.

When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software

The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software.

The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows:

• Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
• Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source):

Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.

Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.

Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.

The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.

Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.

Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).

Other questions about citing ChatGPT

You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.

We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ?

On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text.

For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year.

Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials .

We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

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