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Fri, 30/10/2009 - 12:44

Get better marks

The end of the semester is a stressful time full of exams and assignments. As a teacher of entrepreneurship and innovation at Swinburne University in Melbourne I meet a lot of international students. What strikes me is that many students do not know very well how to write an assignment. When you start your study in Australia, it is important to realise that assignments are the most common form of academic tasks in universities and colleges. The other day I graded 40 assignments. The task was to interview an entrepreneur, analyse the findings and draw conclusions/recommendations. Surprisingly most international students wrote a great story about the entrepreneur but analysis or recommendations were lacking.

Here are ten tips on how to get better marks writing an assignment:

Read the question and answer it. It sounds simple but in my experience many students don’t read the question well and start answering questions that were not asked. Make sure you know what is being asked of you. Reading the question and sticking to it is the simplest way of scoring at least one or two points higher on average.
Define the challenge, use a clear description: After reading the question, define the challenge that is asked of you in the assignment. Be clear and to the point. Plan your task and be realistic about the work/time involved.
Explore the situation: Do extra research. Google it, use Wikipedia, find articles covering the topics in the assignments. It may take 20 minutes to find something that can make your assignment stand out from the rest in originality. Read actively Active reading takes time. Scan each text to see which parts are relevant. Skim the relevant parts, and skip the rest. Then, take time to engage actively with the text by taking notes and asking questions. A page that has been read actively has your markings on it: underlining, highlighting, notes in the margins regarding connections to other readings, and so on. The one instance in which you shouldn’t write on the page is if it is a library book! Find a way to keep track of what you have read. The more sources you use in your paper, the more important it is to keep track of where information came from.
Start with a problem and the opportunity: Generate Ideas using tools and use resources: There are many ways to get help when writing a paper. Use databases to find articles on your topic. Talk to a librarian, especially your subject librarian. Talk to your instructor about your topic to see if they have a different way of approaching it or can recommend articles or books. Talk to a classmate about your topic, what you have read, and how you plan to write about it.
Know yourself: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a reader, researcher, and writer? Do you start early enough? Do you have time to find extra resources to support your argument, to revise, to make your assignment a good learning experience for you? Where do you work best, and at what time of day? Understanding yourself will help you read and write more successfully.
Analyse the situation using tools like SWOT analysis. Apply a logical flow during analysis: diverge and converge: Diverging means that you investigate the topic from different perspectives while converging means that you come back to the original question and draw conclusions
Go beyond analysis by adding extra insights either from your own findings or from research. Originality is important here.
Critical thought: use your own skills, talents and thinking capability to design potential solutions.
Conclusions leading to a well rounded idea.
Use a clear structure: Clear flow and sequence, use sub headings; tables; dot points; be focussed, start with table of content, finish with references. Use an executive summary with: