RES500 Academic Writing and Research Skills Help
RES500 Academic Writing and Research Skills is the course that catches out students who have been away from study for a while. Academic writing and research are skills in their own right, and most people arrive on an MBA without having used them since their bachelor’s degree.
It is also the course that quietly sets up the rest of your degree. Every critical thinking assignment, every discussion post and the MGT675 capstone rest on what RES500 teaches.
This page covers all three assignments, the research proposal format, the deadlines and where students lose marks.
What Is RES500 Academic Writing and Research Skills?
RES-500 is a three-credit course in Semester 1 of the SEU MBA. It teaches postgraduate academic writing, research methods and APA 7 referencing to the standard the rest of the programme assumes you already have.
The SEU MBA is taught only in English, and RES500 is where the expected level of academic English gets set. You take it alongside ECN500 Global Economics and FIN500 Principles of Finance.
RES 500 Course Facts
Item | Detail |
Course code | RES500, also written RES 500 and RES-500 |
Course title | Academic Writing and Research Skills |
Programme | SEU MBA |
Semester | 1, with ECN500 and FIN500 |
Credit hours | 3 |
Language | English only |
Referencing style | APA 7 |
Assessment | Three critical thinking assignments, 15 points each |
SEU’s own assignment briefs write the code as RES-500 with a hyphen. Using all three forms once each covers every way a student might search.
The Three RES500 Critical Thinking Assignments
RES-500 has three critical thinking assignments, each worth 15 points. They build on each other, so falling behind on the first costs you on the third.
Assignment | Posted | Due | Marks | Length |
CT1 — Topic Selection and Research Questions | Week 2 | End of Week 3 | 15 | 3–4 pages |
CT2 — Questionnaire Design | Week 10 | End of Week 11 | 15 | 3–4 pages |
CT3 — Final Research Proposal | Week 13 | End of Week 15 | 15 | Set format |
Page counts exclude the title page, abstract and reference list. Those never count toward the minimum. Confirm the weeks against your own Blackboard, as they shift between terms.
CT1: Topic Selection and Research Questions
You choose a research topic, which can be either a research paper or a startup concept, then develop no more than three research questions from it.
The brief is specific about order. Discuss your reasons for the topic first, then discuss the selection of each research question. Each choice needs logic and rationale, not just a statement.
Follow the stated order. The brief asks for topic rationale first, then question rationale. Answers that mix the two lose structure marks that were free to keep.
CT2: Questionnaire Design
You build a questionnaire from the textbook chapters covering modules 5 to 8. The requirements are exact.
- Minimum 20 questions
- Every question type must appear: dichotomous (yes/no), multichotomous (multiple choice), checklist, ranking, rating scale and open-ended
- Label the type of each question
- Maintain logical sequence and follow the standard questionnaire format
This is a checklist assignment. Miss one question type and you lose marks that had nothing to do with the quality of your thinking.
CT3: Final Research Proposal
The final assignment, submitted in the format SEU provides on Blackboard. The brief is blunt about it: adherence to the format is necessary.
Your proposal must cover every stage of a typical research proposal. Chapter 16 of the textbook is the reference for writing it.
The RES500 Research Proposal Format
SEU sets the structure. Here it is in full.
Section | Contents |
Title page | Title, your name, enrolment number, degree, department, college, course code, branch, submission date and supervisor name |
Chapter 1 — Introduction | 1.1 General Introduction, 1.2 Research Questions, 1.3 Research Objectives, 1.4 Significance of the Study |
Chapter 2 — Literature Review | Themed sections, plus 2.4 Hypotheses if your study has any |
Chapter 3 — Methodology Adopted | 3.1 Research Approach, 3.2 Research Design |
Chapter 4 — Proposed Data Analysis | Your planned analysis |
Chapter 5 — Implementation Plan | How the research would be carried out |
References | APA 7 |
Appendices | Your questionnaire from CT2 |
Notice how CT2 feeds CT3. The questionnaire you build in Week 10 becomes the appendix of your proposal in Week 13. Students who treat CT2 as a throwaway exercise end up rebuilding it three weeks later.
Download the proposal format: a blank skeleton with the headings, numbering and placeholders set up, ready to write into. Always check it against the version on your Blackboard, as SEU updates its formats.
When RES500 Assignments Are Due
Week | What happens |
Week 2 | CT1 posted |
End of Week 3 | CT1 due — topic and research questions |
Week 10 | CT2 posted |
End of Week 11 | CT2 due — questionnaire |
Week 13 | CT3 posted |
End of Week 15 | CT3 due — final research proposal |
The gap between Week 3 and Week 10 is the trap. CT1 is done early, nothing is due for six weeks, then CT2 arrives exactly when the assignment load in your other two courses peaks.
Submission Rules That Cost Marks
- Individual assignment. All three are
- Textbook plus peer-reviewed articles. The brief asks for course concepts, principles and theories from the textbook, supported by scholarly journal articles
- SEU academic writing standards and APA style, with references cited appropriately
- Turnitin before submission. SEU strongly encourages running your work through the Originality Check on Blackboard before submitting for grading
- Three-day grace period, but only with an excuse your instructor accepts, and with a 10% deduction
Your instructor also records a level of marks alongside your score: High, Middle or Low.
Why RES500 Matters More Than Three Credit Hours Suggests
RES500 is worth three credit hours out of thirty-six. Its effect on your final standing is much larger than that arithmetic implies.
Every course that follows assesses you partly on how well you write and reference. FIN500 gives 80% of its grade to critical thinking assignments, and those are marked on argument, evidence and formatting as well as on finance. The skills RES500 teaches are being examined in FIN500, in MGT510, and in every course after them.
Then there is the capstone. MGT675 is a research project. The literature searching, the research question design and the referencing you learn here are what it is built on, two years later.
Students who treat RES500 as the easy course in a hard first semester tend to pay for it in Semester 2, when the assignment load rises and the writing weaknesses are still there.
What a Strong RES500 Answer Looks Like
This is the structure of a CT1 answer that scored well, and why each part earns marks.
Section | What it does | Why it earns marks |
Introduction | Sets up the research area in a short paragraph | Orients the reader before any argument begins |
Rationale for Topic Selection | Explains why this topic, with logic and evidence | The brief asks for this first. Answers that jump straight to questions lose structure marks |
Draft Research Questions | States the questions, no more than three | Three is the stated maximum. More reads as an unfocused topic |
Rationale for Each Question | Takes each question in turn and justifies it separately | The brief says “each of the research questions”. One combined paragraph does not meet it |
References | APA 7, matching the in-text citations | Textbook plus peer-reviewed articles, as required |
The pattern is simple. The brief states an order and a structure, and the strong answer follows it exactly. Most weak answers are not badly written. They are answering in the wrong order.
APA 7: Where the Easiest Marks Are Lost
SEU uses APA 7 throughout the MBA, and referencing errors are the most common avoidable deduction in the whole programme. They are also the easiest to fix, because the rules are fixed.
Mistake | What it looks like |
Citation drift | A source appears in your reference list but never in the text, or the reverse. Markers check this first |
Wrong in-text format | Author and date present but punctuated incorrectly, or a page number missing on a direct quote |
Inconsistent reference list | Some entries formatted correctly, others not. Usually a sign of copying entries from different places |
Missing DOIs | Journal articles without a DOI where one exists |
Secondary citation errors | Citing a source you found quoted inside another source, without saying so |
None of these are difficult. They are attention problems, and they cost marks in every course you take from Semester 1 onwards.
Academic Writing Is Not Professional Writing
Most SEU MBA students write for a living. Emails, reports, proposals, board papers. That experience helps less than you would expect, because the two styles reward opposite habits.
Professional writing rewards | Academic writing rewards |
Getting to the point in one line | Building to a conclusion through evidence |
Confident assertion | Hedged claims, qualified by what the evidence supports |
Your own judgement, stated plainly | Your judgement, attributed and supported by sources |
Brevity above all | Completeness, within the word limit |
Bullet points and headings | Developed paragraphs with topic sentences |
No citations | A citation behind every claim that is not your own |
This is why capable, articulate professionals sometimes get mediocre RES500 marks. The instinct to state a conclusion in the first sentence and move on is a strength at work and a weakness in an academic assignment.
Recognising the difference is most of the work. Once you see it, the writing follows.
Where RES500 Students Struggle
- Years away from academic writing. The habits of professional writing actively conflict with academic conventions
- APA 7 drift. Citations that do not match the reference list, in both directions
- Describing instead of arguing. Summarising five sources accurately and never saying what you think about them
- English as a second language. The programme is taught only in English, and academic English is a further step beyond conversational or business fluency
- Missing a question type in CT2. A checklist requirement, and an easy one to fail
- Three courses at once. RES500 arrives with ECN500 and FIN500 while you are still learning how the programme works
How We Help With RES500
What you need | How we help |
CT1 topic and research questions | A topic that can be researched, with three questions and a rationale for each |
CT2 questionnaire | All six question types, labelled, in logical sequence, at 20 questions or more |
CT3 research proposal | Built to SEU’s five-chapter format, with your CT2 questionnaire as the appendix |
APA 7 referencing | In-text citations and reference lists that match each other, every time |
Literature searching | Finding credible, current peer-reviewed sources and appraising them |
Discussion boards | Your original post and both peer replies, in one consistent voice |
How We Work on This Course Specifically
RES500 is different from the rest of the MBA, and worth being straightforward about.
On a finance or economics course, you need the content. On RES500, the content is the skill. If you finish without being able to reference properly or build an argument, you hit the same wall in Semester 2, and again at the capstone.
So we work this one to transfer the skill. You get the structure, the sources and the formatting worked through with you, and an explanation of why each decision was made, so the next assignment is easier than the last. That is worth more to you than a finished document you cannot reproduce.
Every piece is written by a qualified human being. No AI-generated content.
Why SEU Students Choose Basit Academy
- PhD and Master’s qualified tutors, including specialists in academic writing and research methods
- Written by humans, every time. No AI writing tools, and we will walk you through how a piece was built
- Original work, screened before delivery. Report available on request
- Support across Gulf time zones, so a late-night question gets a real answer
- Clear pricing quoted before you commit
Confidential. Your name, university and course details stay between us
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Your Other Semester 1 Courses
RES500 runs alongside ECN500 Global Economics and FIN500 Principles of Finance. Many students take support across all three in their first term.
FAQs About SEU Discussion Assignments
RES-500 Academic Writing and Research Skills is a three-credit course in Semester 1 of the SEU MBA. It teaches postgraduate academic writing, research methods and APA 7 referencing.
Three critical thinking assignments, each worth 15 points.
Three to four pages, excluding the title page, abstract and reference list. Those never count toward the minimum.
Posted in Week 2 and due at the end of Week 3. It covers topic selection and research questions.
Posted in Week 10 and due at the end of Week 11. It is the questionnaire assignment.
CT3 is posted in Week 13 and due at the end of Week 15.
A research topic, which can be a research paper or a startup concept, and no more than three research questions. Discuss your reasons for the topic first, then the rationale for each question.
A questionnaire of at least 20 questions covering every question type from the textbook: dichotomous, multichotomous, checklist, ranking, rating scale and open-ended. Label the type of each question and keep a logical sequence.
Three days, with an excuse accepted by your instructor, and a 10% deduction.
SEU strongly encourages submitting to the Turnitin Originality Check on Blackboard before you submit for grading.
APA 7, for both in-text citations and the reference list.
Every later course is marked partly on writing and referencing, and MGT675 is a research project. The skills RES500 teaches are examined again in every course you take after it.
Not necessarily. Professional writing rewards brevity and confident assertion. Academic writing rewards evidence, attribution and qualified claims. The habits conflict, which is why experienced professionals sometimes find this course frustrating.
Referencing errors, particularly citations that appear in the text but not the reference list, or the reverse. Markers check that first and it is entirely avoidable.
No. RES500 starts from foundations. It is designed for students entering the MBA from any discipline.
Directly. The literature searching, research question design and referencing taught in RES500 are what the capstone is built on.
Yes. We support all three critical thinking assignments, the research proposal, referencing and discussions, with tutors qualified in academic writing and research methods.
Yes. Every piece is written by a qualified tutor. We do not use AI writing tools.
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