How to write at uni level

My feedback from my lecturers has been my writing is holding me back so I was wondering if anyone knows how to structure uni assignments. Thanks

Reply 1

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by Uni-student Mae

My feedback from my lecturers has been my writing is holding me back so I was wondering if anyone knows how to structure uni assignments. Thanks

Hi 👋
Which course are you taking?
It was definitely a big jump for me learning academic writing, but here’s some advice that helped me.

Plan Plan Plan! Make sure you plan out your assignment before starting to write. Thoroughly read through your marking criteria before you start writing, and during writing to check that you are meeting the objectives.

Introduction: Make sure you have one! Tell the reader the purpose of the assignment.
Tell them what you are going to tell them in the assignment.

Main body: Make sure your spelling and grammar is correct, New paragraph for each idea, No slang terms, Follow your learning objectives and check back to make sure you haven’t gone off piste. Link back to your assignment question. Make sure you are using the best, most credible evidence. Evaluate, don’t just describe.

Conclusion: No new evidence! Answer the question.

I find it helpful to have someone else proofread my work too, as sometimes when i’ve been staring at it so long, sentences stop making any sense. Make sure you also take full advantage of any draft submissions available for you !

Let me know if you have any other questions! and good luck with your academic writing :smile:

-Molly
BCU Student rep

Reply 2

Kingston Zhi En

Official Rep

Original post

by Uni-student Mae

My feedback from my lecturers has been my writing is holding me back so I was wondering if anyone knows how to structure uni assignments. Thanks

Hiya @Uni-student Mae ,
Academic writing can be challenging and it took me a while to get use to as well. It's important to start early and to read your required academic texts to get a better grasp on the topic and how to respond to the questions.🤗

I like to start with a rough outline, starting with the main body. I would write in point form, stating my main point and dropping in relevant academic quotes to support the point that I am trying to make followed by other comparisons from other academic sources or examples that I have researched. My introduction and conclusions are usually written at the end as a summary to emphasise the points I am trying to make.

If you are ever stuck in expressing a point across, why not try asking your tutor for help? or see if your university has any academic writing support services that you can get additional help in 🙂 Get a friend to read your writing and see if it makes sense to them. Wishing you the best of luck in all your assignments 😚

Zhi En
(Kingston Student Rep.)

Reply 3

PinkMobilePhone

Chat Forum Helper, Life & Style Forum Helper

Your introduction should state what you're going to talk about.

Each point (paragraph) should lead into the next one. It shouldn't be leaping from one thing to another wildly.

Each paragraph should actually make a point.

Each point should be backed up by sources.

If you're quoting a source, make sure to reference it, both with an in-text citation and a full reference at the end in your reference list.

Your conclusion should summarise your essay in terms of what overall point you have proven or what overall thing you have discovered.

Always always always refer back to the question you are supposed to be answering, and don't veer off and start talking about things that are irrelevant.

Also always be extremely familiar with the guidelines for the assignment and make sure you are meeting the criteria expected of you.

Reply 4

University of Bath

Official Rep

PRSOM @PinkMobilePhone

I'd also like to add that its key to compare and contrast your sources. Which is more reliable and what makes it so? Use your sources to back up or contest your argument but also go that one step further by critically evaluating how valid or generalisable they are.

Also, if you're wanting to find more up to date articles, use Google Scholar's date filtering function!

Also, how are the papers you read written? I learnt a lot of my writing style from the academic papers I read. Some really accessible academic authors who are particularly good writers I've found are Daniel Oppenheimer, Chris Ashwin and Ian Walker. It of course depends on your subject, but looking at how your articles are written will defo point you in the right direction for structure and flow.

Hopefully this helps!

University of Bath

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 5