Millions of students have been taught a formulathat has nothing to do with chemistry.The formula is for writing a five-paragraph essay.First, write an introductory paragraphto state the argument.Then, add three paragraphs of evidence.Finally, write a conclusion.Linda Bergmann is director of the Writing Labat Purdue University in Indiana.Her job is to help students,including international students, improve their writing.Professor Bergmann has worked with many studentswho learned this traditional five-paragraph formula.LINDA BERGMANN: "It is kind of like,'A is true because one, two, three.'The second paragraph is the first reason,next paragraph the second reason.The next paragraph is the final reason,and then the last paragraph is, 'So we can see that this is true.'"Professor Bergmann says international studentssometimes have difficulty with this formulaif they learned a different writing structure.But just knowing how to write a five-paragraph essayis not going to be enough for a college studentwho has to write a longer academic paper.As Professor Bergmann points out,the formula is too simple to deal with subjectsthat require deeper thought and investigation.LINDA BERGMANN: "Essentially, it is way too simplisticto handle more intellectually sophisticated topicswhich involve actual inquiry."Karen Gocsik is executive director of coursesin the Institute for Writing and Rhetoricat Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.The institute has an extensive libraryof online writing materials on its website.So what are the qualities that make up good writing?Ms. Gocsik says there are no simple answers-- except maybe for one.That is, there is no formula that studentscan follow to guarantee a well-written paper.KAREN GOCSIK: "What we try to teach students in college is to listen to their ideas,and that the idea should be ableto tell you what form it needs to take."She says moving from secondary-school writingto college-level writing can be difficult,but students should not be afraid.KAREN GOCSIK: "The thinking that you are doing,and the purpose that you haveand the audience you are writing to-- all of these things you will mix up togetherand you will come up with,we hope, an excellent college paper."In some cultures, students organize their paragraphsto build toward the main idea at the end of the paper.American college students are usually expectedto state their thesis at the beginning.And, while students in some cultures use lots of descriptive words,American professors generally want shorter sentences.And that's the VOA Special English Education Report,written by Jerilyn Watson.Tell us about your own experience with academic writing.Go to 51voa.com and share your stories.And before you write that next paper,check out two links on our website.One is for the Online Writing Lab at Purdue.The other is for the Institute for Writingand Rhetoric at Dartmouth.