assignment assistance

assignment assistance

Effective Strategies for Academic Success: A Comprehensive Guide to Assignment Assistance

1. Introduction to Academic Assignments

This comprehensive guide will help you develop strategies for effective academic performance and enhancement of skills necessary for post-graduation career success. It is the expectation of this guide that you will develop qualities in preparation for and successful completion of assignments that reach or exceed the academic standards outlined in the course syllabus. Please read this introduction and visit the Resources website on the “Assignment Help Page” where you will find various resources related to assignment requirements. Following these is the assignment type you are currently preparing, so you can find specific information on successfully completing it. A list of these resources is located in this guide’s Conclusion. This guide focuses on types of assignments used to assess your classroom performance, providing general suggestions for how to prepare and complete several assignment types and information on how your class performance can impact your overall academic success. It is not inclusive of all types of classroom assignments.

Many strategies for academic preparation and the successful completion of academic assignments have been developed over time. Some assignment types are designed to assess qualifications for specific career skills or even predict future job success. Advisors and teachers expect you to successfully complete assignments. Institutions expect completed assignments to facilitate the successful acquisition of course learning outcomes. Successful completion of academic assignments is strongly associated with academic success as well, so it is important for you to learn to use effective strategies for academic success. At the base of successful assignment performance are ample preparation, good communication, and frequent use of feedback.

2. Key Components of a Successful Assignment

Preparation of an assignment involves the effective and careful testing of the specific question(s) that each assignment addresses. The formulation of a thesis requires that the student effectively articulate his or her perspective on the question. Most papers directed at younger students will seek to reinforce the readings and discussions with both general and specific support, as well as possibly integration of other topics. The coherent development of an argument requires the advance planning and clear structuring of a compelling arc of logic. With this structure employed, the student will be able to present information in a series of well-organized phases to deliver the necessary evidence accurately to their audience. Each of these components offers an opportunity for an instructor to provide meaningful and timely assessment, guiding the student towards eventual success.

Many students may not realize that all assignments have key structural elements, each of which contributes directly to the overall success of the project. Regardless of the subject matter or level, paying attention to these specific components can provide valuable guidance. Instructors use a grading rubric to assess how well students complete the designated project descriptions. The task descriptions themselves provide an excellent starting point for student feedback. In addition, there are four key areas that students should understand and master in their work: the preparation of an assignment, the formulation of a thesis, the support of the argument (most commonly using research/further readings), and the coherent development of the argument.

3. Strategies for Research and Information Gathering

Flags of Need for Further or Alternate Research Such indicators include the employment of a large number of references in researching your topic. Although a large number of references may indeed be helpful, sometimes your newly and existing questions can be fully addressed. Topics in which a range of questions remain may be more troubling than helpful. Another is the use of only one type of source when macromeasuring all available alternatives for improved research methods. Be diligent in choosing quality sources for your needs. More research may be needed when “some data or information appears to be inconclusive and a balance of evidence is not available to determine the true source of a documental analysis.”

Campus and Community Academic Writing Services During all stages of your research and information gathering process, individualized help from professionals in advanced writing skills and academic writing techniques are available from your campus writing center and top quality community resources in the academic writing field. Assistance includes but is not limited to: planning; generating a claim and developing an organizational thesis or claim; understanding assignments, planning outlines, and brainstorming; incorporating research into a paper; creating annotations; overcoming writer’s block; learning to cite sources effectively; developing techniques.

Reference Librarians Before or as you begin, contact one of the reference librarians from your campus (in person, through email, or through an electronic chat system). The most common student regret may be not consulting with these professionals much sooner when beginning their initial research. They have the power and ability to show you where to go and how to limit searches for each type or specific subject of research. Library contacts for a campus can readily be obtained when visiting the campus, calling the library, visiting AAU’s webpages, or through referral from your instructors.

4. Writing and Structuring Effective Assignments

3. Grade with objectives: There is little agreement in the academic community about what makes a truly good academic paper and certainly much less confounded views on determining the quality of a student paper. We use learning objectives to answer these questions partly because they are recognizable, measurable, and truly give students insight into expectations and because the Bloom hierarchical method does a remarkably good job at providing a grade level for material. Any subsequent discussion I provide is equally timely and is suited for any academic grading process. There is a purpose behind all of this verbosity. Recognizable grades are all around you; most institutions use a largely arbitrary bell curve grading strategy and Bill Gates thought he could open an elite salary package just by waving a good Apple degree under the nose of the nation’s employer class. Recognizable scales are not arbitrary?attend any review board to come to grips with objective standards of performance for the student.

2. Give clear objectives: There’s a difference between “write a summary of two economics papers about hyperinflation” and “summarize two economics papers about describing high rates of inflation.” Precision is critical. Try thinking about what the equivalent of clarity in your writing would be if the tables were turned. Using a set of learning objectives is critical in the answer process I guide in determining the taxonomic level of thought and presentational standards.

1. Give clear instructions: This is the first, most obvious, and perhaps the most neglected part of creating an effective assignment. Poorly worded assignments that students can hardly decipher lead to poor grades, resentment from students, and lots of questions that can probably be answered by the TA office hours, but are striking by the breadth and depth of misinformation that dog these discussions. The instruction section in a textbook will help you develop self-proficiency in developing these. I recommend assigning an exercise as a less-structured way to give students a taste of what you are looking for, without a heavy grade to accompany the effort. (Hint: This exercise can serve as both an assessment of student understanding of the material, as well as those closet sophomore-senior music composition ideas you’ve been dying to try out in class.)

5. Utilizing Resources and Support Services

As students embark upon this adventure, they are encouraged to visit faculty office hours, schedule regular appointments with their academic advisor, join an academic support group or tutoring center, utilize resources in the library, attend various workshops that are located in individual colleges, or even seek career counseling with the Career Services Center. For after each and every attempt has been made to complete an academic assignment, and the assistance that family or friends can give is determined to be insufficient or inadequate, the professor or teacher should be contacted.

Effective strategies for academic success: A comprehensive guide to assignment assistance provides students with the skills, strategies, and solutions needed to move ahead in their academic pursuits. Demonstrating that the least expensive and most efficient route to success is guided planning in one’s academic career, the text explains how that success can be achieved without devoting constant overtime or having an extraordinary talent for earning degrees. With special attention to the needs of millennials and members of diverse learning communities, the book includes practical suggestions and models to build the academic skills that are so essential against the backdrop of a diverse, technological global society.