Assignment Writing Guide: Useful tips to help you produce excellent College Assignments

Useful tips to help you produce high-quality College Assignments. The tips mentioned here can be applied to various academic work such as Essay, Report, Presentation, Reflection, Dissertation.

College student have to work on several assignments and projects during their academic years, and they all have to submit a significant project, dissertation or research work in their final year.

The top colleges and universities expect high quality, professional academic writing from its students. This guide provides effective tips on how to write great assignments.

Plan your Assignment

Once you have read and understood the question, you should plan your assignment.

Taking some time to decide how you are going to write your assignment will help you in many ways.

It will help you decide on the structure, and will also provide you an idea of how much time is needed to complete the task.

This will allow you to give sufficient time to the work, and avoid you any last-minute rush.

You should plan your assignment as soon as you get one. Remember you are going to have multiple assignments and there is always going to be high workloads.

Here’s what you should do as part of planning.

The first step is to read and analyse the question so that you properly understand what is asked.

Have you been asked to make a report, essay, reflection, presentation? This will determine the style of your writing and the various sections within.

What are the points to be covered? What is to be evaluated, discussed, compared? This will determine the flow of your work, and the kind of content you need to produce.

What are the formatting guidelines mentioned?

Note down all these points and mention it at the end of the document, in which you plan to write the assignment. You should remove this section once your work is done, before it is ready for submission.

Now that you have sufficient information about the assignment, create a structure for the work with the various sections. Within each section, note the points that you need to write about.

The outline should include the main points of discussion; outlining the assignment helps you organize your thoughts, helps you create different sections and divide up the word count between them, which will make the assignment more organized.

Finally, you can start the research and start finding information from various sources.

Related: Need help writing your assignment? Checkout our assignment writing service.

Doing the Research

Most colleges provide a recommended reading list that includes journals and books related to the subject matter. So those are the first things that you should read.

In addition, you should go through more research papers on the topic to collect more information.

Take notes as you read and try to identify the various themes within the topic.

It is important to read keeping the purpose in mind, which is to answer your assignment question.

Related: How to evaluate the various information sources

Structure for the Academic Work

Most academic work, including assignments, usually have an introduction, main section and Conclusion.
The main section may vary depending on the assignment.

However, its standard practice to devote 10% of the word count to Introduction and Conclusion and allocate the remaining 80% of the word count to the main section.

Introduction is where you provide a brief background on the main points of discussion, explain key terms and describe what you intend to cover in the main section.

The main section forms the bulk of the work and this is where you answer the assignment question. You will need to cite relevant theories, do a critical analysis, and may have to provide recommendations.

Conclusion is where you summarize the main findings (no new things to be added here). You can even summarize your recommendations. The conclusion in academic writing is usually expressed through three main parts. Read more on how to write a strong conclusion.

Practical tips on assignment writing

Here are some practical tips that will keep your work focused and effective:

Critical thinking – Academic writing has to be characterized by critical thinking, not only to provide the work with the needed level, but also because it takes part in the final mark.

Continuity of ideas – When you get to the middle of assignment, things can get confusing. You have to make sure that the ideas are flowing continuously within and between paragraphs, so the reader will be enabled to follow the argument easily. Dividing the work in different paragraphs is very important for this purpose.

Usage of ‘you’ and ‘I’ – According to the academic writing standards, the assignments should be written in an impersonal language, which means that the usage of ‘you’ and ‘I’ should be avoided. The only acceptable way of building your arguments is by using opinions and evidence from authoritative sources.

Referencing – this part of the assignment is extremely important and it takes a big part in the final mark. Make sure to use the appropriate referencing system (Harvard, APA, MLA, Vancouver, etc.), and use the same system in the bibliography and while citing work of other sources within the text.

Usage of examples – A clear understanding on your assignment’s topic should be provided by comparing different sources and identifying their strengths and weaknesses in an objective manner. This is the part where you should show how the knowledge can be applied into practice.

Numbering and bullets – Instead of using numbering and bullets, the academic writing style prefers the usage of paragraphs.

Including figures and tables – The figures and tables are an effective way of conveying information to the reader in a clear manner, without disturbing the word count. Each figure and table should have clear headings and you should make sure to mention their sources in the bibliography.

Word count – the word count of your assignment mustn’t be far above or far below the required word count. The outline will provide you with help in this aspect, so make sure to plan the work in order to keep it within the boundaries.

Edit and Proofread

Once you’ve written your assignment, you can improve it by editing and proofreading.

But before you do that, take a break.  Even a short break helps you to get some distance from your work so that you can check your assignment with a fresh eye.

Have you answered the question you were set? Check your assignment against the marking schedule as well as the question. Have you included all relevant parts? For example, the title page, introduction, conclusion, reference list?

Does your assignment read well, with each section flowing smoothly on to the next? (If you have time, read it aloud). Is your assignment well presented? Have you used academic English (if required)? Check the grammar, punctuation, and spelling (do use the spell checker).

Finally, have you included your name, student ID, the assignment details and the date?

Summary

Here’s a summary of how to write an effective assignment for College / University.

While writing the assignment, its important to answer the central focus of the assignment. Research on the topic, go through books, sites, journals and other academic material to get the material for your assignment. All written submissions must be properly referenced (as suggested by the university / college).

You may provide a critical appreciation of relevant literature and its use to support argument, substantial model(s) and other aspects of the assignment. Fee free to debate and argue a personal position and evidences. Maintain logical flows of ideas. Provide evidence of additional personal research, and the ability to analyse material from a variety of appropriate relevant perspectives.

Have an Introduction, Main body (with several paragraphs, depending on the length of the assignment) and a Conclusion. Presentation, structure, appropriateness of methodology, breaking into section headings/subheadings, tidiness will help you get an extra point or two. Do end the assignment with a strong conclusion.

Stick to the word count, it can vary by 10% excluding references and appendices.

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