Years spent in a university or college are rightfully considered some of the best in people’s lives. They are fun and less demanding than a full-time job, but there is one thing that drives the majority of students to the point of utter frustration: homework. Sometimes, it seems endless, and its complexity might leave young men and women wishing they had never enrolled in a uni at all. As the research shows, even top students of exclusive Cambridge and Oxford struggle, which poisons their enthusiasm and make future look bleak. Fortunately, there are tips for assignment writing, and they’re a gift that could facilitate your studies quickly and effectively.
Assignment is a type of homework that students must complete without teacher’s supervision by using skills and knowledge they’ve obtained in a classroom. The function of assignments is focused on checking how well students have managed to absorb information and testing their critical analysis abilities. Grades given in exchange for submitted assignment determine the level of performance a student demonstrates, and they could be decisive in forming one’s final score.
General Elements of Academic Writing You Should Know
Before moving on to actual useful tips, there are some basic rules each student should know. If you live in the Great Britain, you have an open access to the network and you’ve likely visited many different forums and sites, posting comments, live blogging, etc. During these years, you got used to writing in your personal style, but the tricky thing is, academic requirements are drastically different and it can pose a serious problem. Remember the following rules and uphold them whenever you are writing an assignment.
- No first person pronouns
It can be tempting to voice your ideas just the way they are coming, from you, using “I think”, “in my opinion”, as well as “I believe”. But academic rules are firmly against such an expression. In a similar way, you shouldn’t use “our”, “we”, or “us” no matter how fitting it seems. Choose impersonal pronouns — for example, “people”, “society”, “population,” or apply passive voice to avoid mentioning any doers. This will help your assignment sound more professional and get you a bigger amount of points.
- No contractions
Avoid using short form of verbs. “Don’t”, “doesn’t”, “won’t” — these are simple options that we are used to, but they have no place in the academic field. Only complete forms can be applied in uni assignments.
- Continuity
Emotional disarray can be fitting in impersonal communication but never when writing an assignment. All ideas should have logical flow. Pay attention to their order and refrain from deviating from it. Create clear opening as well as closing sentences. The former should prepare readers to what the paragraph is going to be about while the latter must bridge ideas between this paragraph and the next one.
- Examples
It is not sufficient to merely tell something, you have to show it, too. Use examples, including statistics, interviews with sample population, or something similar. They help illustrate the otherwise dry facts.
- Word quantity
10% deviation is possible in most cases but never write less or more. The best decision is to write as many words as professor required. If you were asked to write 3 pages, clarify how long they should be. In general, one page equals 300 words, but these numbers might vary depending on universities.
10 Assignment Writing Tips for Students
To reach a success in writing, you have to devise a personal approach that would work for you. But even without it, there are some tips that could make your academic life easier. Look at ten tips below and consider them in case you’re about to work on your assignment.
- Plan responsibly. Don’t wait too long before at least figuring out what you’d like to write about. The more you wait, the more hardships you’ll encounter later.
- Learn how to pick good sources. Wikipedia is going to get you a zero. Discover Google Scholar with its books along with academic journals; use them for research.
- Read first, write second. Lots of students express their thoughts and only then do they try to support their points with sources. It makes them resort to fake referencing, which is a serious offense. So, gather some facts from credible sources and base your ideas on them.
- Make an outline. If you feel reluctant about it at the beginning, it’s okay, but try to overcome this feeling. You will find writing a whole lot more pleasant when everything is already planned and you simply have to finalise & expand your thoughts.
- Develop thesis first. Thesis is a central part of your essay. Think about the claim you’ll prove and the processes that would be involved in it. Write it down and it’ll assist you in seeing what body paragraphs should feature.
- Follow right sizes. Maximum sentence length should be about 35 words, with minimal one equalling 10. Paragraphs shouldn’t exceed 2/3 of the page while intro and conclusion must fit in approximately 10% from word count each.
- Careful reading & re-reading of instructions. Among the tips for assignment writing, this is an obvious but often missed one. Read provided guidelines before you start, when you start, and after you finish. Ensure that all questions are answered appropriately, with nothing forgotten or skipped.
- Edit fearlessly. If you noticed that something is wrong, do not let it bother you. Cut unnecessary pieces with no hesitation. Replace them with those that fit more.
- Proofread. Editing as well as proofreading aren’t the same, so after an essay is done and a few hours have passed, read it again. Better yet, do it aloud. This could help notice accidental mistakes like typos.
- Use plag-checker. Even if you are certain that everything is original, accidents happen. You could have forgotten to cite a quote properly or repeat the words from the source directly without realising it.
Turn Tedious Work Into Exciting Knowledge Gathering
Use these tips every time you are writing an assignment. After following them and seeing that writing doesn’t require as many efforts as it could seem, you’ll feel much freer! Collect information, brainstorm, and receive top grades for your essays.