Understanding what your assignment expects of you

In our session on 14 August 2019 we worked with a strategy for unpacking assignments. The importance of having a thorough understanding of what was expected from the assignment was stressed. 

Students used a sample assignment and then subjected the assignment to the following question as a way of gaining clarity on what they might be required to do:

1. Instruction verbs – discuss, evaluate, assess, review, compare
2. Topic
3. Specific aspects of the topic – qualify or narrow down the topic
4. Restrictions imposed on the topic – limiting your discussion
5. Technical instructions – word count, layout, format, submission deadlines/requirements

We also discussed the purpose, function and work Introductions need to do. Again we used a few sample Introductions from the recent journal articles and tried to analyse them  and identify their specific purpose and function. Students were asked to try and identify WHAT functions or work the Introduction they read were doing. We used some guideline questions by Creme and Lea (2008). 

A key objective of this exercise was to raise students’ awareness of the work Introductions need to do. 

NEXT SESSION: 28 August 2019

In our next session we will work in a more concrete way with different writing strategies that you can employ when writing Introductions for your assignments. Because next week is BLOCK WEEK 2, we will only be meeting again on 28 August 2019.

Watch this blog space for a reminder and some instructions about what to bring long.