As you all know, I'm currently in my second year of my Adult Nursing Degree. This year is coming to an end, with only two more assignments and 12 weeks of placement left until the exciting, scary, horrible, nerve wracking, emotional, start to my final year of being a Student Nurse. Argh!
In my first year I struggled so much with the academic side of my degree, the placements were fine and I passed with flying colours, but the assignments however, well that was a different story. I mean, I didn't do terribly and eventually passed first year with a 2:1, but it took a hell of a lot of work and effort to do so. The change from school and college work, to the big wide scary world of university assignments was just far too much for my brain to handle. I found it difficult to write to a high academic standard, and was told time after time again from tutors that I would need to improve my writing in order to achieve what I have always wished for.. A 1st class honors degree. I was determined to do better in my 2nd and final year and therefore pushed myself harder than ever, read countless books and posts online about assignment writing, attended support sessions to further my knowledge and turned to family and friends to help me with my grammar and punctuation.
It paid off. It really did help, and so I thought I would share with everyone my top 10 tips of assignment writing, what I found to be most useful, and what has helped me along my journey through second year into third.
Tip #1
Find your ideal place to study.
I work best at the library, but I have friends who need to be at home to write. Others enjoy working in busy environments like at the park, or even in Starbucks! Experiment and decide what's best for you, if your like me and need silence to work, somewhere like the library where there's no distractions and you will stay focus may be better! My university library offers rooms such as silent study where all mobiles must be switched off and there's no chatting allowed, but it also offers group study, which are rooms designed to work alongside friends, where you can speak and help each other out.
Tip #2
Have a plan.
Having a plan gives you somewhere to start, without one I find I can be sat at my desk staring at the laptop screen for hours without a single word on the page. I like lists, so my plans often come in the form of one. Every idea I have I write it in a list, using headings to separate and collect my ideas into categories or groups, which then turn into sentences and paragraphs. Spider diagrams can also work well as a plan, with a main idea in the center and then sub-ideas coming off from it. Jot down everything that comes to your head, whether you use it or not later, it doesn't matter. Make sure when constructing a plan you stick to your assignment brief and always look to your marking criteria if you have access to one. I like to have an idea of the topics I need to research and write about, which brings me onto to my next tip.
Tip #3
Research. Research. Research.
Always do your research, collect as many books and journal articles and sieve through them to find the most relevant and important quotes and information. Make sure you stick post it notes with memo's on the pages that are most useful, this way you can quickly flick to the information you need, rather than sitting through and reading the information over and over again. Make sure you use the most efficient sources to find your research. Journal databases specific to your topic or area are a good place to start, always ensure research is up to date to allow you to gather the most recent and relevant data.
Tip #4
Be prepared.
Mentally and Physically prepare yourself to be working what probably seems like endless hours on your assignment. I always make sure I have plenty to drink when I go to study, I always take a large bottle of water and a coffee in my flask. This also stops me from spending a fortune at the library on University, overly priced, drinks. I also make sure I take plenty of snacks, I mostly take fruit, but you will also often find me munching on sweets and chocolate whist doing my assignments, which isn't the best of things but hey, studying is hard work and its always nice to treat yourself on junk food now and again! Also be prepared to have to turn down plans, it's the hardest thing ever when I have arranged a day at the library and I get a text from a friend that morning asking to go shopping instead, but hold your ground and say no! Assignments have deadlines whereas you can shop to your hearts content once you have submitted your essay!
Tip #5
Get up early.
You all know the saying, the early bird gets the worm! Well I find the earlier I get up the more productive my day is. When I'm up, showered, into my comfys, and eating breakfast before 9am, I feel like I can conquer the world! Whereas when I'm getting up midday, feeling sluggish and grumpy I never want to work on my assignment. Therefore tip number 5 would be to set that alarm for nice and early, work on your assignment all morning and have the afternoon off. You'll feel like you have done mountains of work when usually your only just rolling out of bed.
Tip #6
Take Breaks.
Schedule breaks into your working hours, I usually like to work for an hour then have a 10-15 minute break where I'll make myself a cup of tea, or some lunch. I'd recommend spending your breaks away from laptop's, T.V's, and your mobile, this is because you have probably been spending the majority of your day staring at a screen typing away your essay, so it's nice to get away from electronic gadgets. It's important to let your mind rest so spend your break relaxing or chatting to a friend. Breaks are important but stick to a time and don't run over, if you allow yourself 15 minutes stick to it and ensure your back at your desk working as soon as it's up. Its easy to say "just five more minutes", but before you know it you'd of been away from your assignment for an hour, agreed to watch a movie with house mates and then see no point in going back to work.
Tip #7
Take your time.
A lot of people I know leave there assignments till less than a week before the deadline, then find themselves doing all-nighters in the library most days that week. I believe planning your time efficiently would get you the best results. I know some people work better under pressure, but personally working weeks in advance of deadlines allows me to stay relaxed and calm about the situation. Working with plenty of time ahead of me means my assignments aren't the only thing I have on my mind. I have time to hang out with friends and my boyfriend, time to go home and see my family, and also time to blog!
Tip #8
Meet with your marker.
Although we have sessions with module leaders that explain the assignment and what they expect from us, I always find it helpful to meet with the tutor who will be marking my assignment. They often have hints and tips that'll make your assignment stand out from others. Also different tutors will interpret marking criteria's in different ways, so marks may also be awarded differently. Meeting with the marker will also enable you to get clarification on your plan or a draft you have been working on, they will show you which parts of your plan may not be so important, and which parts are highly recommended that you include. Markers will also advise you on the most important parts of the assignment, where the most marks can be achieved, and they would like to see from you.
Tip #9
Read back through your assignment.
I always finish my assignment and then put it to one side for a few days and forget about it, then after 3-5 days I'll load it back up onto my computer in a quiet room where I can concentrate and read back through it with a fresh mind. This often helps me to pick out parts which sound like ramble, and allows me to make any amendments and changes. I find it useful to forget about it for a while as my mind can then clear and when I do my final read through it's with an open head. Reading back through often helps me pick up any grammar mistakes, and allows me to add punctuation to places where I've forgot (something I do far to often).
Tip #10
Get someone else to read through it.
I usually ask a few people to read through my assignment, my boyfriend Fred helps me with grammar and punctuation mistakes, he is good at picking out sentences that don't quite make sense, and missing commas that prevent anyone reading from taking a breath! I also get my cousin to read through it, she is academically amazing and helps me to amend certain words to make my assignment sound more intellectual. Its also a good idea to get course mates to read through your assignment, they have an idea of the topic already so can offer you advice on what they may have done differently.
So there it is, my top 10 assignment tips! Please feel free to comment and share, and let me know what you find helpful, the things that help you through, and the parts which you struggle with the most.
