Why Use Headings?

Slide 5

Title: Why Use Headings? Readers

Speaker: Imagine reading a 25 page essay about using social media in marketing. Even if each paragraph started with a clear topic sentence, was developed with relevant research and meaningful analysis, you might struggle to list the main ideas of the essay. Why is that? Probably because as a reader you would have read several main ideas. Which ones were the most important main ideas? It is likely that the four most important main ideas you choose would be different from the four main ideas someone else would choose. As writers, we want to avoid this ambiguity and make each main idea stand out, even in longer essays. Headings can help organize ideas into smaller pieces, focus on those main ideas, and keep the reader on track.

Slide 6

Title: Why Use Headings? Writers

Speaker: Headings not only help the reader, they help you as the writer. Headings ensure that you have completed each part of an assignment, and they help you organize your ideas throughout the writing process. We will take a more detailed look at these next.

Slide 7

Title: Why Use Headings? Writers

Speaker: Assignment prompts can help writers determine what sections they need to include in an assignment, which they can then remember and outline using headings. Review the directions for this assignment. There are several main points the student is asked to include. Click on each main point to highlight it. Click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 8

Title: Why Use Headings? Writers

Speaker: After a careful look at the directions, there are five main points the writer must include. It is important to note that being asked to look at two different aspects of marketing is two main ideas, not one. Using headings can help the writer remember to include each part of the directions by turning the phrases into headings as he or she writes.

Slide 9

Title: Why Use Headings? Writers

Speaker: Here is the beginning of the student’s paper. She has placed headings to help ensure she includes all parts of the assignment. Look at the assignment prompt: Which main idea is missing?

Click on the main idea that is missing to identify it. Click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 16

Title: Good to Know: Prescribed Headings

Speaker: Some courses, programs, and assignments have specific requirements for heading use and prescribe certain headings. In particular, doctoral students working on their capstone study premise, prospectus, or proposal should use their program’s template.

Slide 17

Title: How to Use Heading Levels

Speaker: Headings can have multiple levels, all of which work within a hierarchy.Level 1 headings may be used alone through a piece of writing, or if the writer needs to break down each of the level 1 points more, level 2 headings may be added. These can help organize the paper’s argument for the writer and the reader. However, writers must always remember that the heading levels must reflect the organization of the paper’s sections and main ideas; as APA says, "All topics of equal importance have the same level of heading throughout a manuscript" (APA, 2010, p. 62).

Slide 18

Title: How to Use Heading Levels

Speaker: The centered headings are level 1. These should represent main ideas or sections of the essay. Below, are left-justified headings, which are level 2 headings. These represent sub-points or details about the level 1 main idea.

Click “Show an Example” to see an example of each heading level. Review both the general outline of heading formatting and the example to get a sense of how heading levels are formatted. However, for now we will focus on how to use headings to organize ideas; in the next tutorial you’ll learn more about how to format each heading level.

Slide 22

Title: How to Use Heading Levels

Speaker: While there are best practices on when to use which heading levels, you as the writer determine which wording you use in your headings and the number of levels you use.

Click each author to see how headings can be used differently for the same assignment. Both approaches are correct, but are simply a different choice by each author.

Click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 23

Title: How to Use Heading Levels

Speaker: Next let’s look at incorrect use of level 2 headings. Here the author moved the heading “Psychological Effects” to level 1. This would create unclear organization, as “Psychological Effects” are an effect of childhood obesity—a sub-point of the main point--and should be presented as a level 2 heading instead.

Review why this is an example of inappropriate use of heading levels, then click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 30

Title: Why Use Heading Levels: Levels 3 and 4 Headings

Speaker: APA also has level 3 and level 4 headings. These heading levels may be useful in very long assignments, but sometimes breaking ideas down into too small of chunks will confuse or distract a reader. If you ever have questions about the use of headings, always reach out to your instructor or e-mail the Writing Center.

Formatting Headings

Slide 3

Title: APA Style Guidelines for Heading Formatting

Speaker: Like other formatting issues including citations and reference pages, APA style has guidelines for formatting headings. There are clear rules to follow regarding the placement of headings: if they are bolded, how they are capitalized, if a period appears after the heading, and where the paragraph text starts following the heading. We will explore each of these formatting guidelines in detail.

Slide 4

Title: APA Style Guidelines for Heading Formatting

Speaker: Here are the four heading levels formatted per APA. We will look at each level one at a time, focusing on the formatting of each heading and how they differ.Click the headings to see an example of the heading level. Click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 5

Title: Level 1 Heading Formatting

Speaker: Level 1 headings are centered, bolded, and use title case. Title case means that in addition to proper nouns, the first letters of words with four or more letters are capitalized, while all other letters are left lower case. The paragraph that follows starts on a new line and is indented. Remember, level 1 headings are used to start new main points.

Slide 6

Title: Level 2 Heading Formatting

Speaker: Level 2 headings are left justified, which means they are flat against the left margin. Level 2 headings are bolded and use title case. The paragraph that follows starts on a new line and is indented. Remember that level 2 headings are used to organize key details or sub-points of the level 1 main idea.

Slide 7

Title: Level 3 Heading Formatting

Speaker: Level 3 headings are indented .5 inches, which is the standard indentation for paragraphs in APA style. They are still bolded, but no longer use title case. Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized in level 3 headings. This is called sentence case. Level 3 headings are followed by a period. The paragraph begins immediately after the heading on the same line.

Slide 8

Title: Level 4 Heading Formatting

Speaker: Level 4 headings are indented .5 inches. They are bolded and italicized. Like level 3 headings, level 4 headings use sentence case and only capitalize the first word and proper nouns. Level 4 headings end with a period. The paragraph begins immediately after the heading on the same line.

Slide 9

Title: APA Style Guidelines for Heading Formatting

Speaker: Although it may seem like there are a lot of style rules for formatting headings, each is in place to help differentiate the headings. Main ideas are bolded, centered, and capitalized like titles. The most important sub-points also stand alone on their own lines and are capitalized. The level 3 and 4 smaller sub-points keep the heading part of the paragraph that follows, instead of standing alone on their own line. Again, headings are used to help organize the reader and writer and show the relationship and hierarchy of ideas.

Slide 21

Title: Recap: Formatting Headings

Speaker: Headings are formatted according to APA guidelines, which has rules for where the heading appears, what it looks like, and where the paragraph begins after the heading. These rules help to keep both the reader and writer organized, while showing a clear subordination of ideas.

Choosing Heading Formatting

Slide 3

Title: Choosing Heading Formatting

Speaker: At this point, we have learned several reasons why headings are useful in academic writing. Additionally, it is important to note that an effective heading is not only placed appropriately and formatted according to APA style, it is also worded in a relevant way.

Click on each heading to see why their wording may not be effective. Click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 4

Title: Choosing Heading Formatting

Speaker: Here are the headings we just reviewed. Click on each of the headings to see a revision that is specific to what the section contains. Remember, a heading should point the reader to one main idea. An effective heading will not leave room for confusion about what information and ideas the section contains.

Slide 5

Title: Choosing Heading Formatting

Speaker: Although creating headings for each piece of an assignment prompt can be an effective way to ensure you have completed an assignment fully, copying the wording exactly can be troublesome. Click on the headings to learn more.

Slide 6

Title: Choosing Heading Formatting

Speaker: By cutting some of the words out of the original headings, we can create stronger headings that introduce the main idea of the section without overwhelming the reader or sounding directive. Click each heading to see a revision that is more appropriately worded.

Slide 14

Title: Accurate & Connected Headings

Speaker: It is also important for headings to be accurate and connected. The heading for this section prepares a reader to hear about the impact testing has on teachers. The paragraph that follows, however, is about several other main ideas, including the history of No Child Left Behind, trends in student achievement, and improvements teachers should make. This paragraph doesn’t match the heading.

Review the paragraph and heading, then click “Continue” when you’re ready to move forward.

Slide 15

Title: Accurate & Connected Headings

Speaker: To create strong headings, the heading must be accurate and be connected to the paragraphs that follow. As a writer, you can choose to revise the paragraph to better match your heading, or you can revise the heading to better match the content. Revising a heading to match the content can also depend on the purpose and focus of your writing.

Click each student to see how they would revise the heading.