10 Tips for Writing Assignments Clarify the task. Don’t let questions about the task encourage procrastination. Do the research early. Collecting and absorbing the material will help you meditate on what you will write, even if you don’t get to work on the writing immediately. Leave a strong paper trail. Frequently, the lack of good note taking doesn’t […]
Tips to avoid plagiarism The issue of plagiarism is a serious concern for every student as universities take plagiarism to be a very gross academic offence. Dealing with this challenge can therefore make the difference between passing or failing your course. Can you avoid plagiarism? To avoid plagiarism, one must refer to the original information […]
Difference between a measure and an indicator Difference between a measure and an indicator. This seemingly complicated question has become a hot topic on many discussion forums. In this article we explain the difference in a manner you can easily understand. Unfortunately, a very loose language merges these separate words, measure and indicator, into a […]
Interpreting the key words in assignment questions Assignment key words are the first important things you need to understand before you tackle your assignment. They are there to give you direction on what exactly you are supposed to do! It is therefore absolutely important for you to recognise and correctly interpret the key words in […]
Writing a dissertation literature review A literature review is a discussion and evaluation of information on a topic and will account for approximately 10-15% of a dissertation involving primary research – although some research projects may be literature based instead of being empirical in nature, and so will require a more extensive literature review. A […]
How to write the dissertation methodology The methodology chapter of the dissertation Writing the dissertation methodology is not to be taken for granted. Not all dissertations require a dissertation methodology section and accordingly you should check with your supervisor and/or course handbook as to whether your individual department expects one to be included. Customarily, the […]
Paraphrasing Paraphrasing the work of others is an important skill for university assignments. The transformation of the words, phrases and ideas of different authors into your own words avoids plagiarism, but you’ll still need a citation or citations as appropriate. Paraphrasing is the skill of using the opinions and evidence provided by one or multiple […]
Writing Clear Sentences Sentences are the building blocks of written English. Humans communicate more than ever through writing – and being able to write clearly can help you in your career as well as at university. Here we’ll cover some basic sentence writing ideas and explore accessible, clear and grammatically-correct sentences in academic writing. You […]
Writing the Background to the Study The background and history section of your dissertation highlights the empirical foundations of the topic that you have chosen and this can comprise of five or six per cent of the total word limit. The ‘background’ section or chapter is often considered the ‘other half’ of the introduction section […]
How dissertations differ from other assignments Here are some of the differences between dissertations and other university written assignments by comparing dissertations to reports. A dissertation may have many features of a report (including an abstract) and usually requires continuous prose in most sections. Both require analytical and critical reading and writing, and new material […]
