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(Re)Fresher: Assignment Skills

Get ready for your incoming assignments by brushing up on the essential skills you need to ace them.

Whether this is your first assignment or you’re already an experienced writer looking to refine your work, this collection will help you through the process of completing an assignment. It contains tips, ideas and materials covering everything from the first stages to the final edit.

How to get started with writing

If you aren’t sure how to get going on your assignment it is worth thinking about it as a process. Watch this video to find out more.

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How will I be assessed at Uni?

Not sure what the markers are expecting? This video is designed to address some key questions about university-level assessment.

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Unpicking the question

A good place to start is with the assignment question- the quiz below will help you understand some of the key instruction words you may encounter which will help you begin the process of addressing the task.

Mapping your ideas

Organising your ideas can seem overwhelming, and it can be difficult to know how to turn a series of ideas into a completed piece of work. In this video one of our PhD students, Nagham explores how to start the process of gathering and organising ideas for an assessment. She also shows different techniques for organising these ideas and shares useful software that can be used in this process. 

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Introductions and conclusions

Strong introductions and conclusions are a vital part of essay writing. These videos will guide you through the purpose and process of writing them.

Finding and using evidence

Credible, reliable evidence is the foundation of any academic assessment. These materials will help you to identify, locate and evaluate the sources you’ll need.

Referencing

Referencing is a key part of academic integrity, and also allows you to show off your critical skills and your engagement with the research in your field. These resources are designed to demystify why and how we use references, as well as introducing the referencing tool Cite Them Right.

Managing long documents

Another essential part of producing an assignment is ensuring you have formatted and organised your information clearly.

 

Identifying your stance

This video discusses how to build an argument, indicate your ‘take’ on the subject, and develop your authorial voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Editing and proof reading

Further support

We’ve also got lots of sessions and support to help you through the assignment process. Check out our one-to-one sessions and our Your Skills programme.