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Written assignments and reports are one way your lecturers and tutors assess your knowledge and capabilities according to a set of criteria. There are a variety of ways you can be assessed depending on the tasks and its purpose. The following four factors are influential to your results:
General Guide to Writing and Study Skills (PDF) provides clear recommendations and suggestions for all aspects of assignment writing, as well as, examples of referencing.
Content
The following playlist of videos will take you step-by-step through the process of unpacking your assignment question and how to make the most of the time you spend searching.
Part 1 – Keywords Part 2 – Boolean searching Part 3 – Catalogue searching
Part 4 – Quick search Part 5 – Subject guides Part 6 – Help
Academic writing is the style of writing that investigates the state of an issue and presents your position based on the evidence of your research. Academic, or critical, writing is the way you take part in the academic debate. You weigh up the evidence, ideas and arguments of others, and contribute your own. It is generally quite formal and impersonal. It is formal by avoiding casual or 'conversational' language, such as contractions or informal vocabulary. It is impersonal and objective by avoiding direct reference to people or feelings, and instead emphasising objects, facts and ideas.
Referencing
In an academic setting referencing is important for the following reasons:
1. acknowledges the work of others
2. provides evidence of your thoughtful consideration of the topic
3. allows readers of your work to locate and consult your sources
4. places your work in context of current research
5. avoids plagiarism by accurately acknowledging the originator of the information or ideas that are not your own
There are usually two elements.
In-Text – within the writing indicating which material has been drawn from elsewhere.
Bibliographic or End-of-text – detailed information about the sources. These may be included as footnotes depending on the referencing style employed. ;
Part 1 – Primer Part 2 – APA: Book Part 3 – APA: Journal
Part 4 – APA: web page Part 5 – Chicago Note: Book Part 6 – Chicago Note: Journal