Learn to write quality university assignment

Whether you are writing your first assignment or fourteenth it’s good to know that writing assignments is not that hard. A few basic steps make writing easy. These steps will increase your learning, boost your grades, and save your time. So here are ExpertAssignmentHelp’s three smart tips on writing university assignments:

1.  Answer the question
2.  Develop a position
3. Use a TDR structure

Let’s take all the above three points’ one by one

1. Answer the question

The first and foremost thing is that the answers need to be relevant to the questions that have been asked. When you answer all aspects of the assignment is when you get maximum marks so start any assignment by spending a few minutes analyzing the assignment question that has been asked. There are three main components in any assignment question

• Task words: Tells you how to approach the question
• Topic: Indicates what you are supposed to write about
• Scope: Limit or stretch your focus further

 

At the simplest level writers begin the assignment by introducing the topic

 

Let us understand all the points with an example. Suppose the assignment has asked you to “Critically evaluate the government’s stance on climatic changes”.

• Task words: Here task one involves two things: critical thinking and making a judgment. To do this you have to take different points into consideration and look at the question from different angles, discussing positive aspects as well as negative aspects and anything unknown.
• Topic words: Here the topic is government’s stance. Understanding your topic helps your research.
• Scope words: Here your focus should only be on the government’s position on climate changes and not on other stuffs.

Taking time to break down the assignment question saves time and helps you focus on only the relevant part of the question at hand. This way you will avoid making the assignment question bigger or harder than what it needs to be.

2. Develop a position

After you have broken the question down to its components and you know what it focuses on, the next step is to develop a position on the topic. Now you might think that position is the same as an opinion, but the two are in fact quite different. An academic position differs than the normal opinion in three main ways.

• Evidence based and verifiable: An academic position is based on evidences which can be verified. These means where ever possible evidence should include research studies and you should reference the source of your ideas. References allow you to check the origin of the sources by itself.
• Impersonal and objective: As academic position should be impersonal and objective. To do this, one has to distance himself from the topic. You need to consider the facts without bias. Apply logic and reasoning to draw your conclusions and you should examine your viewpoints from a variety of sources.
• Qualified and precise: Finally an academic assignment requires qualified ideas and being precise. This means two things: Using statistics like 87% when these are available rather than using categorical statements like frequently or always and  including exact measurements like 4.5 hours instead of using long or short.

Using the same example we used earlier, here is how you develop your position.

• Gather evidence:  You should track your sources so that you can reference them later. Appropriate sources for this assignment could be government reports and statements. Research findings and statements by scientists. Comments from leading authorities and industry groups and comparative data from other countries.
• Adopt a neutral, objective approach when examining the evidence. To do this you have to forget your own preconceived ideas on climate change and focus instead on understanding established scientific facts and logical arguments of scientific authorities. While you will take many perspectives into account, you should be aware that there might be potential biases of different groups in putting forward a particular view.
• Make sure you note any relevant statistics and empirical data that relates to this topic. Check the claims that people make about climatic change. If you like helping develop skills in referencing skills using sources not making, creating and organizing ideas, critical thinking and writing clear, convincing arguments all of which are central for position based writing.

3. Use a TDR structure

When you have assembled your ideas and developed a position the next step in writing a university assignment is using an effective structure when you write. We can think of this using TDR structure. T stands for teacher; D means development and R means restatement. If you look at the different parts of a  well written university assignment it looks like this

At the simplest level writers begin the assignment by introducing the topic. The topic includes a statement of the writer’s position. It is a good idea to mention the subtopics which you are going to discuss in your assignment. In the development section of your assignment also known as the body, you can mention each topic in the order mentioned in the introduction. It is here that you include the details that support your position.

Finally, at the end of your assignment you restate your position and provide conclusions that relate to the subtopics you have discussed. Beginnings and endings are very important as you remember them the most. Both should have a wow factor. That is, they should capture attention emphasizing the importance of the topic under discussion. We can see how this structure makes writing easier if we return to our earlier assignment question.

 

Understanding your topic helps your research

 

In the introduction you could begin with a powerful statement of the real effects of climatic changes. You might follow this by highlighting the importance of government responses. You can state your informed position on these responses. Finally, you can outline your way in which you have organized your arguments. In the development section you would provide the details to support your position. You would organize this by subtopic. Subtopics can include for e.g. Government’s stance.

Analysis of this stance taking into account scientific data, comparison of this stance to other countries, criticism from the opposition and other industry groups. In other words, each subtopics would introduce a different perspective on the topic to support your over argument. Finally, in your conclusion you can include a summary of the points you have made. You might then reiterate the significance of appropriate government response. You could then remind the reader of real world the implications of their actions and then to finish off with areas of further research.

With this structure you can solve many tough assignments, essay and reports. A really simple way to learn about the TDR structure is to say what you are going to say and say what you said. Here is a schematic diagram of the above.

Hope you liked this blog and this can help you increase your grades in your university.