An important part of assignment planning is giving yourself time to plan, write and edit your assignments. This may involve setting your own personal deadlines and trying out different planning methods to see what works for you.
Assignment Planning should be viewed as any other skill - which takes time to develop. Being organised and maintaining focus are essential to successful planning. Before commencing any task consider how good is my preparation for assignments and tasks?
Do I?
Ensure you have read and reread the brief - are there any words/terms/ phrases you need to clarify?
Identify the learning outcomes and assessment criteria – how will they be achieved?
Has the tutor given any more information/ instruction to be included? Have you incorporated it?
As a rule, academic work should have an introduction, main body and conclusion. This is usually split at 10% - 80% - 10%. So, as an example a 2,500-word assignment will have 250 words allocated for the Introduction and Conclusion with 2,000 words remaining for the main body (+-10% allowance).
Once you have all the information and know what to include, you should begin to plan the content and structure of the assignment. For some, this may begin with a mind map of ideas and content links. This should then be structured more formally into a linear plan, with a logical flow from section to section. You should have a clear purpose to each section/paragraph, knowing exactly what your text will cover. Here, a useful tip is to jot down on your plan the actual point of the sentence. Once written, you can look back and check that you have done what you intended to. This helps you keep on track.
Here again, at the planning stage you should be clear as to how many words each section/paragraph is allocated. Knowing this, will help you keep a clearer focus on what you must do, and the information you need to source to be able to address this.
Why not watch the video below to develop your understanding of assignment questions. This is the first stage in planning.
Learning Strategies Center Cornell (2019) What are cornell notes? Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEsBd_Rgzfs (Accessed: 15 December 2023).
Leeds University Library (2023) Planning your assignment. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa-R9LuYxqA (Accessed: 15 December 2023).
Newcastle University Library (2020) Notetaking: some key points to remember. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EJ1OaSjwKI (Accessed: 15 December 2023).
Salter, J. (2017) Understanding assignment words. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVuP8VyKZvo (Accessed: 15 December 2023).