Writing Resources for WMBA 6000: Dynamic Leadership:

Weekly Tips

In WMBA 6000, you have weekly assignments that require specific writing skills. To make these skills easier to master, we have provided writing information based on this course's particular weekly assignments. Click on the week (at the left of the screen) that corresponds with the current week of the course. Once you've clicked on the appropriate week, you will find definitions, resources, and useful tips to help you complete each assignment successfully! 

• Summary: An overview of a source's important, general information in your own words and sentence structure. A summary generally answers to who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.

• Paraphrase: An articulation of a specific passage or idea in your own words and sentence structure. Check out these effective paraphrasing strategies, which will help you to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

• Analysis: An examination of the summary elements (answers to questions listed above) in order to examine/interpret their meaning. When analyzing, consider: relationships; trends, patterns; cause and effect; advantages and disadvantages; strengths and weaknesses; roles of people, places, or situations; as well as consequences of decisions, events, and processes.

• Synthesis: The combination of analyses, which rely on the summarized or paraphrased details of individual sources, to create a new interpretation or original argument. See these great tips on constructing synthesis if you need more guidance.

•  Discussion Posts and Shared Practices: These assignments are intended to provide a lively exchange of ideas among colleagues engaged in scholarly inquiry, which is a key aspect of graduate-level learning and is a requisite activity in this course. To write an effective discussion post, remember to set aside time to read critically, write, and revise. For more guidance on writing exemplary posts and responses, be sure to review the discussion post best practices and the “How to Prepare a Discussion Post” pdf in the Learning Support Docs folder in Bb.      

   Individual Reflections: Individual Reflection assignments vary in type, so you will want to closely read weekly assignment guidelines for specifics. In the Individual Reflection due at the end of week 5, you are asked to construct a formal academic paper. Make sure to review the paper template, provided to you by your instructor (you can find this in Week 4, Day 7--the first reading there), to ensure you are following APA guidelines correctly. At the end of week 7, your Individual Reflection will take the form of an executive summary. For help on writing your executive summary, be sure to review the “How to Write an Effective Executive Summary” in the Learning Support Docs in Bb.

  The Blueprint for Professional and Personal Growth (BPPG): The Blueprint for Professional & Personal Growth (BPPG) is designed to help you to synthesize readings, media, assignments, and exchanges with colleagues in each course of your Walden MBA program and help you to set goals for your professional and personal growth. In this course, you will submit the BPPG in Week 7. It will consist of two components: (1) an executive summary of the course and (2) action plans to achieve the professional and personal goals you have set for yourself. To learn more about how to write an effective executive summary, be sure to review the “How to Write an Effective Executive Summary” in the Learning Support Docs in Bb.