UVic Style Guide for Writing Course Guides in English

Writing course contents

  • Publicat per Serveis tècnics
  • Data de publicació 3 de març de 2026

In this section we offer practical advice about how to write or translate the part of the course guide that is typically referred to as Content. It is the part that organises the course into numbered topics (temes in Catalan) and subdivides each topic into a numbered list of sub-topics. Here is an example.

Topic 1. Out-of-court settlements

  1. Introduction to alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
  2. ADR using Harvard Law School methods
  3. Harvard’s collaborative negotiation techniques
  4. The seven steps in the negotiation process
  5. The importance of the first and last steps

Because all five items refer to ADR, the list would be more cohesively written by putting “ADR” in the head and by making the language in each item independent from the language in the other items.

Topic 1. Out-of-court settlements and alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

  1. Introduction to ADR
  2. ADR using Harvard Law School methods
  3. Harvard Law School’s collaborative negotiation techniques
  4. The seven steps in the negotiation process
  5. The importance of the first and last steps in negotiation

Second, be more concise by not repeating information contained in the head. For example, the list below contains several unnecessary words.

Topic 1. Neuropsychological evaluation

  1. Introduction to evaluation
  2. Attention disorders
  3. Memory disorders
  4. Child neuropsychological evaluation
  5. Adult neuropsychological evaluation
  6. Neuropsychological rehabilitation

By exploiting the information in the head, you can make the text more concise.

Topic 1. Neuropsychological evaluation

  1. Introduction
  2. Attention disorders
  3. Memory disorders
  4. Children
  5. Adults
  6. Rehabilitation

Being concise is also important when lists contain complex terminology that your text needs to frame as clearly as possible. The list below contains unnecessary words in (1) and (1.1), as well as clumsy and confusing elements like the long phrases in (1.1) and (1.2) and the abbreviation “2D” placed right after the number in (2). Also, (2.1) (2.2) and (2.3) omit the names of the types of equation being exemplified, making these difficult to identify for readers unfamiliar with the subject.

Topic 1. Heat transfer to nozzle and combustor walls

  1. General considerations of heat transfer to nozzle and combustor walls
    1. Effects of heat transfer to nozzle and combustor walls: reducing performance and obstructing the design of hot-side structures required to withstand heat fluxes in the 107–108 w/m2 range
    2. Contrasting the principal modes of heat transfer to nozzle and combustor walls: convection and radiation
  2. 2D boundary layer equations to calculate wall heat transfer in convection
    1. (∂(ρu))/∂x+(∂(ρv))/∂y=0
    2. ρu ∂u/∂x+ρv ∂u/∂y+∂p/∂x=∂τxy/∂y=∂/∂y(µ∂u/∂y)
    3. ∂P/∂y=0

All these problems could be solved by clearer writing at a general rather than a technical level and by not repeating information included in the head.

Topic 1. Heat transfer to nozzle and combustor walls

  1. General considerations
    1. Negative effects on performance and the design of hot-sides for heat fluxes in the 107–108 w/m2 range
    2. Convection versus radiation
  2. Two-dimensional boundary layer equations to calculate convective heat transfer
    1. Continuity equations
    2. X-momentum equations
    3. Y-momentum equations

Finally, cohesion, concision and clarity can also be gained by joining phrases. When you translate compound titles that contain a very long first phrase, for example, consider reducing the structure to a single phrase. For instance, titles such as

Psicologia del treball i de les organitzacions: marc teòric

Els drets i deures de la persona treballadora: aspectes generals

Sistemes de planificació i gestió dels recursos humans: una perspectiva psicològica

might be effectively rendered as

A theoretical framework for industrial and organisational psychology

General aspects of employees’ rights and responsibilities

A psychological approach to human resource planning and management systems

This can also be appropriate for titles with two phrases of a similar length.

La jurisdicció social: principis bàsics del procés social

Basic principles of labour court procedure