With just over a week until the submission deadline for the Individual Essay (5pm on Friday 11 July - but then you knew that) we thought it would be useful to direct your attention to some resources and strategies that will help you to submit a piece of work that you are happy with.
First of all, please forgive us for making the obvious point that you can't leave this assignment to the last minute. Trust us: this essay can't be knocked out in an evening. The essay is worth up 50% of your total mark for the Academic Skills course therefore, very simply, if you hope to do well in this assignment (and course) it needs your attention. Sorry, that really was an obvious point (but perhaps one to consider, particularly if you plan to submit early due to 'commitments' on the weekend of 13/14 July).
Re-read the Brief for the Individual Essay, including the assessment criteria, and keep the question at the forefront of your mind while researching, and then when writing up. This will help you to focus on retrieving from the reading what is relevant, and when you are writing up, that you are answering the question (and not wandering off topic). It's really important that you make sure that you are directing your energy in a way that will address what is being asked for.
Revisit the lecture slides from the Academic Writing lecture as this will provide you a clear guide on what we are looking for in terms of structure, language and so on. Furthermore, one of the final slides focuses on common weaknesses in essays that have been prepared within the course in the last couple of years, which you'll want to avoid.
Set aside some time to carefully proof-read your work. As we discussed in class, the benefit of effective proof-reading extends beyond picking out spelling mistakes, to allowing you to identify much more significant gaps or weaknesses in the wider content of the ideas you are putting forward and how they are supported. It is also a chance to see how your essay is structured - for example, is it logical and does it flow?
Please take care to save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. In past years a very small number of students have ignored this guidance and have submitted in an alternative format that Course Tutors have been unable to open. Obviously, we can't give a student credit for a piece of work that we can't open to mark. Ouch!
Details of how to submit your essay (using a submission box on this site) will be made available next Wednesday 9 July. You don't need to worry about this for the time being.
Get in touch, if you feel you need to, with specific questions about the assessment (but remember we work 9-5!)
Finally, a number of the Student Tutors team took some time out this week to offer their own essay writing tips from personal experience...
First of all, please forgive us for making the obvious point that you can't leave this assignment to the last minute. Trust us: this essay can't be knocked out in an evening. The essay is worth up 50% of your total mark for the Academic Skills course therefore, very simply, if you hope to do well in this assignment (and course) it needs your attention. Sorry, that really was an obvious point (but perhaps one to consider, particularly if you plan to submit early due to 'commitments' on the weekend of 13/14 July).
Re-read the Brief for the Individual Essay, including the assessment criteria, and keep the question at the forefront of your mind while researching, and then when writing up. This will help you to focus on retrieving from the reading what is relevant, and when you are writing up, that you are answering the question (and not wandering off topic). It's really important that you make sure that you are directing your energy in a way that will address what is being asked for.
Revisit the lecture slides from the Academic Writing lecture as this will provide you a clear guide on what we are looking for in terms of structure, language and so on. Furthermore, one of the final slides focuses on common weaknesses in essays that have been prepared within the course in the last couple of years, which you'll want to avoid.
Set aside some time to carefully proof-read your work. As we discussed in class, the benefit of effective proof-reading extends beyond picking out spelling mistakes, to allowing you to identify much more significant gaps or weaknesses in the wider content of the ideas you are putting forward and how they are supported. It is also a chance to see how your essay is structured - for example, is it logical and does it flow?
Please take care to save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. In past years a very small number of students have ignored this guidance and have submitted in an alternative format that Course Tutors have been unable to open. Obviously, we can't give a student credit for a piece of work that we can't open to mark. Ouch!
Details of how to submit your essay (using a submission box on this site) will be made available next Wednesday 9 July. You don't need to worry about this for the time being.
Get in touch, if you feel you need to, with specific questions about the assessment (but remember we work 9-5!)
Finally, a number of the Student Tutors team took some time out this week to offer their own essay writing tips from personal experience...
James (and Alice)