So, you are planning to pen down your first assignment. No need to panic! During the semester, your professors give you a lot of information, and doing coursework is one of the best ways to summarise all this information and understand it better. Completing assignments promotes individual study while improving your research skills; it is essential to the learning process.
While assignments vary greatly depending on your study area, the approach of handling them largely remains the same.
Whether you want to complete writing assignments on natural sciences, humanities, or social sciences, we have researched and compiled crucial tips that will help you come up with top-notch work, sure to impress your professor every time. Let’s dive in.
Understand the objective of the assignment before you start
You would need to understand the main question of the assignment first before you start writing. While this may sound an obvious thing to do, you would be surprised by how many students start writing right away, even before comprehending the question.
Every university assignment is intended to evaluate a certain concept. So, as a student, you need to know what the coursework wants you to do and the range of topics it covers. Note this down somewhere on a paper before you do anything. In some instances, the question might not be clear to you. In this case, it is prudent to ask your professor for clarification.
Even if you do an assignment following all other requirements but fail to answer the question, you could get a meager score.
Research, research, research
Once you understand the requirements of your assignment for college, the next crucial step is conducting research to get the relevant ideas. Sometimes, most students are tempted to dive in recklessly with the first ideas that come to their minds. Remember that, even with understanding the question, the ideas should be quality and delivered orderly. So, take your time and ponder about the question, and do your research.
Luckily, there are many resources available to you that you can utilize to get the correct information that you need to write your university assignment. You can interview people (if necessary), get information from the internet, or go to the library and get the right books to read. Ensure all the sources you use are reputable and up-to-date, and keep them for your bibliography.
Plan your assignment
An assignment should follow a specific structure so that it can be easy to read and understand. It should show a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Moreover, since you are answering a question, always remain within the scope of that question and avoid going off-topic regardless of how exciting the point might be.
So, keep your coursework short and relevant. There is a high likelihood to go off the topic if you extend your assignment unnecessarily. Also, your professor may find your assignment unexciting when grading it.
Manage your time
All the other tips are essential in understanding how to write a paper for better college grades. However, you wouldn’t want to spend the entire hour writing one point. Remember, most assignments are timed, and if you have poor time management, you may write very little for those timed assignments.
So, do not invest all your time in doing research for just one part of your coursework. When planning, understand the time available to you and allocate it accordingly in each step of your assignment. Ask yourself; how many minutes should I dedicate to the introduction, the body, and the introduction? A comprehensive paper for college takes careful time allocation.
This is usually challenging when you spend a lot of time reading on one point because you like it! Whenever you find yourself doing this, remember that you can always come back and read more about it in your spare time- once you’ve handed in your coursework.
Plagiarism takes away all your hard work!
Plagiarism means using someone else’s work unintentionally or intentionally. One of the primary goals of assignments is to make you think independently, generate your own ideas, and logically write them. Copying someone’s work jeopardizes this goal, and as such, plagiarism is not tolerated.
Would my professor notice if I just copied a single sentence from a source without crediting the owner? Yes, so ensure you write original work and never copy from other sources. While you will be getting information from other sources during your research, you can keep track of that information and what you include in your assignment to avoid plagiarism- whether intended or not. It is always advisable to credit the sources you have used in your coursework in your references. That keeps you on the safer side!
Here are essential tips you can consider to avoid plagiarism:
- Do not just copy – in your paper; explain other people’s ideas (using references) and how they reason to your argument instead of copying their ideas directly.
- Use different sources – get your ideas from a range of sources rather than relying on a single source.
- Come up with a customized style – during your time in college/university, you should learn how to write an assignment using your own style. Be concise and clear as possible and use unique but simple words.
- Keep good quality notes – if you are taking notes when researching, always note the sources you’ve used, so you don’t plagiarise unintentionally when writing your paper using your notes.
- Use quotation marks – ensure to enclose another author’s words that you use in your text to show that it is a direct quote. However, don’t misuse this opportunity to include large amounts of texts. The quotations should only be used when identifying a key idea. Remember to credit the author in your references.
Review and edit your assignment
After you complete writing your coursework, that is considered the first draft copy. So, read through your university assignment to correct the apparent typos and mistakes. Skim through it to ensure the quotations and references are correct. This would be your second draft. Now, read through it for the third time and make necessary writing styles changes. This would be the third draft. Ask yourself whether there is a better way you could have expressed some ideas better and whether they are clear.
When writing an assignment for college, constructive criticism is welcomed. So, it would be an ingenious idea to give your paper to your friend to read it and tell you what they think about it.
Ensure all the presentation requirements are met
If the professor’s instructions are that, your paper should be formatted in Times New Roman font, size 12; do not write it in Helvetica font size 11. This also applies to any word count, referencing, line spacing, and paragraph instructions you have been given. Note that the presentation of your paper matters a lot. It is among the key aspects that your professor notices immediately he starts marking your course work. He can know right off the bat whether you have followed assignment requirements or not.
To Wrap up
Writing a college or university assignment shouldn’t be a scary thing. These tips will help you write high-quality assignments, sure to impress your professor.
