How to Complete a University Assignment

Welcome to another blog post. In today’s post, I’m going to be sharing how I complete a university assignment. As I’m heading into my third year of university, I feel like I’ve got a good understanding of what is expected of me in an assignment and I would like to share that with you all today!

I’m going to share a step-by-step process of how I complete a university assignment from receiving the question to submitting in time. I really hope this is able to help you out in some way.

Just as a heads up, this is from the point of view of a law student. However, I also apply this method to when I’m completing my politics assignments even though there are slight differences. I’m also going to base this step-by-step on completing essay questions. Again, the process is nearly the same for all assignments but there are differences with doing assignments like reports, presentations etc.

With all of that being said, let’s get to it!

Step 1 – Annotate the essay question

The first thing I always do with an assignment is write down the essay question in full. This includes any quotes associated with the question, and the task words that are usually at the beginning of the question. For example, discuss, evaluate, analyse etc.

Once I’ve written the essay question, I then begin to annotate it. This is so I can really digest what the question is asking me. I will also write out the definition of the task word because there are differences between them.

I will also highlight so I know what topics I will need to talk about and this gives me a good foundation to go to the next step.

Step 2 – Research and fill out a research table

Once I know the topics I need to talk about, I will start researching. To make my life easier, I will create a research table which will look a little something like this.

I think having a research table like this really allows you to lay out everything clearly in a concise way. You could even create separate research tables for different topics within the assignment. The research table also allows for critical analysis, which is the area that really allows you to hit the top marks.

In terms of how I research, I like to use websites such as Westlaw, JustisOne and LexisNexis primarily for my secondary sources. I’ll also use any textbooks, google scholar, and my university’s library for extra information and sources. I’m thinking of writing a blog post dedicated to sharing exactly how I research. Let me know if that is something you would be interested in!

In terms of how much research I do, it all depends on when I feel like I’ve done enough. It’s important to note that I will come back to this step later on if I feel like I need more research.

Step 3 – Create a plan

Once I feel like I’m in a good place with the amount of research, I will then start to plan out the assignment. This is the part where I really think about what I want to argue for in my answer. It’s important that you have a purpose throughout your answer as that adds to the marks for original interpretation.

I like to plan out in paper just so I can get messy with it and I feel like I process it more that way. I say I plan out my answer but it’s more like creating a structure. This is most important for the main body section, whereby I plan the order of my points and the topics I’m going to be talking about. It all depends on the question but sometimes I like to approach it with a for and against, sometimes I’ll do it in order that it’s been presented by in the question, and other times I’ll do it in chronological order. After you do university assignments for a while, you get a bit of an understanding as to what structure for the main body would be the best for each question.

Step 4 – Write the first draft

The next step is writing the assignment. I like to approach this by writing one paragraph at a time. I’ve failed to mention this previously but these steps are not completed in one day. I like to take time away between each step to make sure I’m fully refreshed and in the right frame of mind to focus on the assignment. This means that I will focus on one paragraph a day. I think this really helps with productivity as you’re essentially breaking it down into manageable tasks.

I am also someone who likes to add the reference as I write because I don’t want to have to do that when I’ve finished writing. Some people prefer to reference at the end though so it all depends on what you feel may work best for you.

Once I’ve finished writing the assignment in full, I move on to the final step a couple of days later before submitting.

Step 5 – Edit the draft until I’m happy with everything

As I mentioned before, I come to this step a couple of days after I’ve finished the first draft. I always find coming back to a piece of work with a fresh mind is better as you’re able to see any mistakes you’ve made and any editing you need to do to sentences or paragraphs.

This is also the step where I will cut down my word count if I’ve gone over the allowance. I don’t tend to worry about it too much as I’m writing in step 4. I find it better to worry as I’m editing. If I need to do this, I will also come back another time and go through everything again until I’m happy.

I then submit!

I really hope this post has helped you in some way with university assignments. Thank you for reading and I will see you soon for another blog post!

Beth