Study skills
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In writing assignments, university students are required to think clearly and critically, use valid evidence and produce well-structured and coherent pieces of writing. This applies broadly in all academic fields of study (disciplines).
Writing at university is different from some workplace writing. For example, at work a concise listing of points may be what’s needed. However, at university, students are expected to elaborate on points with argument and explanation.
Tertiary writing requirements also differ from the writing students are expected to do in secondary school. University students are usually expected to research more widely and in more depth. Assignments set at university also tend to be longer. As well, university students may be expected to take a more critical and questioning attitude to knowledge than may have been required in secondary school.
The writing university students are required to do for their subjects can involve a range of text types – essays, reports, papers based on case studies, literature reviews and short answers/problem solving of tutorial questions.
Writing at university must be based on reading and investigation. It is expected to present more than the writer’s ‘opinion’ based solely on past experience and general knowledge.
Though all academic disciplines share a common core and require intellectual rigour and skills, they have different traditions of scholarship. Writing and research in business subjects is quite different from writing and research in psychology, for example.
In addition to the differences between disciplines in regard to research and writing, there may be differences from course to course within a discipline and you may encounter different expectations from subject to subject within the same course. Even lecturers teaching the same subject may emphasise different aspects of it.
So, you may wonder just what’s expected of you in a particular assignment. Remember that as a university student:
Here are some guidelines that may help you to work out what’s expected of you in a particular assignment.
Have you ever wondered why written assignments are such a popular way of assessing student learning? It is because writing is both:
Have you noticed that it’s not possible to explain anything – even orally – if you don’t really understand it? Similarly, the requirement to present work in writing forces the writer to think through a topic.
Did you know that beginning to write is often the hardest part of writing an assignment?
Writing university assignments is a challenging task. Sometimes students get stuck. They just can’t get started or they can’t seem to move on from where they’ve stopped. Remember that you’re not alone if this happens to you – even published writers experience this. It’s important to have some strategies for dealing with this.
It’s helpful to think of writing as a ‘messy’ circular process, not a neat linear process. Reading, thinking and writing overlap. Once you’ve started writing it doesn’t mean that you won’t need to do any further research. In fact, after beginning to write, you may realise you need to read further because you can better identify what you don’t yet know.
Writing is not easy and it takes time, but it is worth the effort. As Dorothy Parker, the American writer, commented, ‘I hate writing but I love having written’.
What do you think is the most common reason for assignments failing? It is not plagiarism or lack of knowledge. Though plagiarism is an important issue in student assignments, it is not the main reason for assignments failing. Also, students generally have sufficient knowledge of their subject. Lecturers point out that if an assignment is unsatisfactory it is often because the student did not answer the specific question asked and did not limit the topic as they were required to.
The Deakin University Library online tutorial ‘Understanding your topic’ provides practice in analysing assignment questions and identifying key requirements. You can also take a quiz to determine how well you have understood the core requirements of a number of sample topics. Details are provided at the end of this resource, under Useful resources.
It is difficult to give specific rules on how long you should spend researching and when you should begin writing. Also, as noted earlier, these processes will overlap.
How long you spend researching and reading should be related to the complexity of the assignment and how many marks it’s worth. Sometimes lecturers specify how many references they expect. Mainly, though, you’ll have to judge when you’ve read enough to tackle the assignment.
Learning what not to read is an important skill. You can use the textbook or the study guide as a starting point - to gather basic background information. Follow references listed in these texts to branch out to areas related to your specific topic.
When researching for your assignment, you may find that you’re making lots of photocopies and collecting a stack of material that you’re not going to have time to read. You can tend to feel you’re doing something worthwhile because you’re researching for your assignment and this can give you a false sense of security. In fact, you may be putting off having to start writing.
Your assignment will not have the substance, depth or focus it will have if you allow time for the process of writing and thinking to take place.
Procrastination is a useful resource that outlines why people put off doing tasks that have to be done. It suggests practical steps that can be taken to get down to the task at hand.
This relates to fixing up errors of grammar, spelling and punctuation when you are still in the process of clarifying your ideas in writing. Proofreading at the early stages is not a good idea because:
Remember that it’s better to hand in an assignment that’s less than perfect than hand one in late or not at all. You might complete 80% of an assignment in 12 hours and then spend 6 hours perfecting it. It may be more worthwhile to hand in the assignment on time rather than spend that much time on fine-tuning it, if this leads to late submission.
You might like to have a look at the resource entitled Perfectionism. It deals with this issue, which can block people from acting and achieving. This resource discusses why people may have this tendency and offers suggestions for handling it.
Read the marker’s comments! Of course, you’re first interested to know what your mark is. However, don’t look only at the mark. Take note of the marker’s comments and use the marker’s feedback to improve your next assignment.
Kaye, S 1989, Writing under pressure: the quick writing process, Oxford University Press, New York.
Morley-Warner, T 2001, Academic writing is…: a guide to writing in a university context, 2nd edn, CREA Publications, University of Technology Sydney, Lindfield, NSW.
