WRITING POSTGRADUATE
COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
Goals for this class
Students will learn about:
• the steps to effective assignment writing
What types of written assignments might you
encounter in your postgraduate coursework?
• Annotated
bibliography
• Article critique
• Business report
• Case study
• Essay
• Journal article
•
•
•
•
•
Literature review
Position paper
Research proposal
Reflective journal
Scientific/technical
report
In this class we are going to focus on essays
and reports
(another seminar looks specifically at
literature reviews)
Assignment Writing Timeline
Start Date
Due Date
Research
resources
Analyse
the
question
Write
first draft
Read
critically
Generate
ideas
Plan
Final
version
Revise &
re-draft
5
Step 1: Analyse the question
On your copy of the example assignment
highlight/underline/circle the key instruction
words:
• the main verbs – what you are asked to do
• the main context words (nouns) – what
you are asked to focus your activity upon
Understanding the task
It is important to be very clear about what we are being asked
to do, eg:
• identify
• describe
• explain
• analyse
• critique
• compare
• discuss
• review
• evaluate
See Eden Skills (2007).
Step 2: Generate ideas
Identify what you already know and what you
need to find out about
Plan your research – key words/phrases; places
where the sources may be found
Form study groups [learning communities] to
discuss key points in assignment question,
deepen understanding, clarify misconceptions,
etc.
Step 3: Research resources,
read critically
Library research
• Who is the liaison librarian for your discipline?
• What are the key databases and journals for
your discipline/topic?
• What workshops are available to help you?
www.aut.ac.nz/library
Reading critically
• Organise the sequence of readings to gain an
overview before plunging into in-depth
reading on particular points
• Ask yourself what you expect to learn from
each book/chapter/paper: do you need this
reading?
• Take notes on the content: clarify
understanding
• Take notes on your critical response: critically
analyse all aspects of the text
• Record your overall critical evaluation
SQ3R system
• Survey: Scan title/headings/subheadings/summaries/
contents page. Look for the parts of the reading that you
really need.
• Question: What questions (in relation to your
assignment task) do you want your reading to answer?
• Read: Active reading/take notes/any more questions?
• Recall: Do you understand the main issues? Can you
paraphrase/bullet point them in your own words? Do
you need to reread anything?
• Review: Have you noted all the main points? Have you
answered your questions?
Don’t forget to record the full reference for the source.
Note-taking: The three-column system
Full referencing information
Headings/
themes
Detailed notes on
content for each
theme, including
quotes (with page
numbers)
(University of Wollongong, 2012)
Reactions, insights,
comments, ideas,
cross-references
And any further
questions that
emerge…
Step 4: Plan
Everyone lies somewhere on the continuum
between these two opposites:
Engineers: prepare a detailed outline or
blueprint.
Sculptors: prefer the form to emerge from the
writing gradually and organically.
There is no single ‘correct’ approach to writing
an assignment. Nevertheless … at the
postgraduate level, writing tasks are complex some form of planning is almost essential.
Types of essays
Sturm’s (2012) typology:
Expository, “point first”, deductive
“stakes its claim at the outset, and then
sets out to prove it.”
most academic essays are of this form
Exploratory, “point last”, inductive
“arrives at its claim as an end-point”
academic essays in art and design are often of
this form
Expository essay plan
• Introduction
• Body (= 80%+ of the whole work)
• Conclusion
Introduction: context, purpose, plan
Conclusion: sum up key points made in the work, show the
purpose has been achieved
Body: A specific plan is still needed to create a logical
structure for the essay body – one which fits the given task
and the required word count.
Essay body planning steps
1. Identify all the content to be included – eg
mindmaps, flowcharts, post-it notes.
2. Outline the headings/themes to be used in
the essay in a logical sequence to represent
the structure (with subheadings/subthemes?)
3. Outline the details, eg paragraph topics
Exercise 2. Planning the assignment
Take the second example assignment, create an
outline for the essay, using the grid provided.
Consider your “word budget”: the number of
words you will commit to each section of the
essay.
Scientific/technical report plan
“AIMRaD” format very widely used:
• Abstract
• Introduction (incl. past research/literature)
• Method
• Results, and
• Discussion
• [Conclusion]
Business report structure
Two styles/formats (deductive more common)
Deductive report format
Title page
Executive summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Conclusions
Recommendations
Discussion
References
Appendices
Inductive report format
Title page
Executive summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
References
Appendices
19
• Deductive format is used for the “busy
person” and “if the material is not
controversial” (Emerson, 2000, p.28).
• Inductive format is used to convince others
by reading your arguments first before
getting to the findings of the report. It is
usually used when conclusions “are likely
to be unpopular” (Emerson, 2000, p.28).
Step 5: Write the first draft
Major
assumption
ahead!
In what follows I’m assuming you will manage
your time to permit you to go through several
drafts of your assignment.
First draft focus is on composition – getting
essay content together
Getting your ideas, readings, memories,
notes, etc into coherent words is the hardest
task, so don’t clutter that task with other
issues.
You do no not have to worry about style,
grammar, punctuation (… yet!)
Step 6: Revise and re-draft
The following slides set out a revising process
(Matthews, Bowen, & Matthews, 2000) which
allows you focus on a limited range of issues at
any one time.
You are consciously addressing certain aspects of
your writing at each stage, rather than simply
“looking for mistakes”.
This is much more effective than attempting to
address everything from content and structure to
grammar and punctuation in one reading.
A. Revise content
• Does the essay/chapter address the central issues suggested by
the title?
• Has sufficient space been given to the most important points?
• Has all the information that is relevant to the essay/chapter
been included? Has anything been omitted
• Are there gaps? Is anything irrelevant?
• Is there any repetition?
• Is the main line of argument clear? Or is it lost in a sea of detail?
• Is the essay/chapter topic covered in sufficient depth and
detail?
• Are claims made cautiously and supported by evidence?
B. Revise structure
• Is the text in an appropriate structure or format?
• Is there a clear introduction and conclusion to the essay/chapter
and, where necessary, to each major subsection?
• Are ideas and themes presented in a logical sequence?
• Do the paragraph divisions match the organisation of individual
points? Should any paragraphs be joined or split?
C. Revise style
•
Are ideas linked? Do sentences flow?
•
Is it clear how each paragraph links to the previous/next
paragraph?
•
Is the style appropriate for academic writing at the
postgraduate level?
•
Is the text concise?
•
Is the style clear and readable (sentence/paragraph length)?
•
Is the text formal and serious in tone? Is it free of slang and
colloquialisms?
•
Is there any plagiarism? Are references correct?
D. Revise word choice
• Is the language clear and straightforward?
• Is there anything the reader will find confusing?
• Is technical vocabulary used correctly?
• Are abbreviations explained?
E. Check the grammar
F. Check the punctuation
G. Obtain (and consider carefully) comments from supervisor,
friends, colleagues
Referencing
SLC website: www.aut.ac.nz/student-learning
AUT library website: www.aut.ac.nz/library/
All about EndNote
free software download, workshops, notes, etc,
at www.aut.ac.nz/library/
Final thoughts: Good writers are good readers!
Pay attention to the style of the writers you
are reading, and learn from the good writers.
• Look at the structure of the entire work
• Be aware of the particular style that your
discipline follows
Acknowledgement
Thank you to the lecturers who have given
permission for their assignments to be used by the
SLC for this assignment writing workshop.
References
Eden Skills. (2007). Task words. Retrieved from
http://edenskills.co.uk/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2009/06/task-words-handout5.pdf
Emerson, L. (2012). Writing guidelines for business students (5th ed.). South
Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning.
Matthews, J., Bowen, J., & Matthews, R. (2000). Successful scientific writing: A
step-by-step guide for the biological and medical sciences (2nd ed.).
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Sturm, S. (2012). Terra (in)cognita: Mapping academic writing. TEXT: Journal
of Writing and Writing Courses, 16(2). Retrieved from
http://www.textjournal.com.au/oct12/sturm.htm
University of Wollongong. (2000). Notetaking: The Cornell method. Retrieved
on July 29,2013, from
http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/notetake/note12_cornell.html