assignment 5. check yourself

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, he or she still has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Use Assignment Feedback

If you’re like me, assignment feedback can depress the heck out of you! Sometimes I want to throw it away and never look at it again.

If you’re like me, you’ll also probably look first at your grade and everything else matters less: the feedback is far less important to you than your overall grade.

Top students see negative feedback on a paper as a good thing. It’s another opportunity to get ahead.

In this post, I outline how to use feedback on your paper to grow your mark and get ahead.

If you use the following thirteen steps, you can bring substantial improvements to your own assignments in the future.

What’s the point of Feedback? Assignment feedback isn’t a chance for your teacher to be mean or rank you against your peers.

Feedback is not about being judged or talked down to. Feedback is all about YOU and no one else.

Feedback is the opportunity you get to check yourself, see how you’re going, and look for opportunities to improve.

Assignment feedback is about personal growth.

1. Start with a Growth Mindset

Having a growth mindset means that you believe you have the ability to improve. People with a growth mindset think that they are in control of their own future and actively go about achieving their goals.

If you approach assignment feedback with a growth mindset you’ll be on track to improving.

If you approach feedback with a sense that improving is out of your control, you’re never going to improve.

Here are three simple thoughts you need to put out of your mind right away:

• I’m not good enough . Did I ever tell you how average a student I was in my undergraduate degree? If I can go from average student to Ph.D. at 24 , so can you. Believe in yourself.
• The teacher’s a jerk. This might be true. But, let’s face it, unless you got the top mark in the class, you didn’t get the maximum grade your teacher gives out. That means that you’ve got room for improvement. So don’t blame the teacher. Improvement is in your hands.
• I don’t want to think about it. I get it. Burnout sucks. So feel free to forget about that feedback for a little while. But at some point, you’ve got to tackle it. So get in a positive mindset: I’m here to improve. Come at me, world.

Want some motivation? Check out this awesome and inspiring YouTube video about growth mindsets from Khan Academy:

2. Figure out your Teacher’s Pet Peeves

All teachers have something that is a huge pet peeve. Some have many.

For me, one pet peeve is apostrophes . A misplaced apostrophe jumps off the page at me and makes me think: Poor editing. Sloppy.”

I had a colleague once who couldn’t stand when a paper didn’t use the correct margin sizes. Seriously! He would flip out and cut students’ marks. Personally, I couldn’t care less about the margins!

When looking over your teacher’s feedback, take note of what little things they really seemed overly picky about. Was it the referencing style? The fact that you used first-person language? Your over-use of a certain word?

Take note. If your teacher has given you strong feedback on something that no other teacher has bothered to mention, you’ll need to adjust your writing style for that teacher.

Feedback is your opportunity to read your teacher and find out what you need to do in order to avoid their pet peeves in the future.

3. Read it. Then Forget it. For a while.

I hate assignment feedback.

My Ph.D. supervisor would give me my work back with red marks all through it . It would be so depressing. I’d be mad at her for days and days. I worked my tail off on that work! I took on all your feedback and it’s still not good enough!?

I developed a strategy:

Check the grade. Read the feedback. All of it. Then put it away for at least two days.

Don’t email your teacher yet. Don’t bitch about her to your friends. Just forget about it.

You’ll find that when you come back to the feedback two days later the emotion is gone. You’ll not look at the mark but look through the feedback to see what you can pick out of it that you can use in the future.

Be very careful about contacting your teacher about the feedback. You want to take those two days to let it soak in before sending out an email.

You have no idea how many emotional emails I get from students that probably have been much more carefully (and professionally!) worded if they’d only taken a few days to sit on the marks and let the emotions settle a little.

4. Make a Table

Tables are amazing for working through assignment feedback. They help you to sort out your thoughts and consider ways in which you can improve your work.

I follow a very simple format that I’ve used for years with great success. Whenever I write an academic paper for publication in journals I use this method – and let me tell you, the feedback in peer review is brutal!

Here’s a simple example of a feedback table:

The key to your table is to list all the assignment feedback you received on the left and provide space on the right for you to fill in how you’d like to improve on that work for next time.

Brainstorm ways you can improve on the points your teacher wants you to improve on, and list all the ways you think you can do this. Aim also to link these changes to the next assessment, i.e: “In future assessments, I will…”

In this way, you’re turning feedback into feed-forward.

5. Find just Three Action Points (and One point for Praise)

Sometimes there’s too much feedback to handle. If you’re looking at a piece of paper with big red marks scribbled up and down the margins, I recommend finding just three key points that you think you can work on – and putting the rest aside for now.

Here are a few major ones to focus on in the beginning:

• Not enough referencing. If your teacher wrote this, it’s an easy one to fix – so start with it. I recommend reading my post on how to find scholarly sources to get started solving this issue.
• Add depth or be more critical. These two often mean the same thing. This is also one of the biggest pieces of assignment feedback teachers give. It’s really cryptic, so I’ve broken down how to address this issue in my post on how to show critical thinking in an essay.
• Write more clearly. Again, this a major one – which is why I formulated my perfect paragraph formula to help you out.

The trick with choosing action points is that you want to find ones that you think you have a realistic chance of working on.

If your negative feedback was on something specific to that previous class that you just finished, you’re better off focusing on the general feedback that you can put into action in the next course.

Remember to celebrate the Positives While you’re at it, note down one point of praise. Note down something you did well and give yourself a moment to congratulate yourself. Feel good about the fact that you had one little win even in a sea of negative feedback.

6. Forget about the Grade

Feedback and the grade need to be seen as two entirely separate points.

I recommend leaving the assignment feedback aside until you’ve come to terms with your grade. If you attach the feedback to the grade you’ll not be looking at it with clear eyes.

Teachers hate when students email them and say “why did I only get that grade?”

That’s totally the wrong question. This question instantly signifies to the teacher that all you care about is the mark and not whether or not you actually learned anything!

The right questions to ask your teacher are:

• Please explain the feedback
• Please explain one specific point in the feedback
• What advice do you have for improvement?

The next step examines approaching your teacher for feedback in a little more detail.

7. Go to your Teacher

Ensure you’ve left it for two days at least between reading the feedback the first time and contacting your teacher.

Then, email your teacher and either:

• Ask for a one-to-one discussion during open office hours or a convenient time; or
• Provide no more than three questions you want clarification on.

Asking for further details or clarification on feedback is your right. You paid a lot of money to do this degree – make the most of it.

I recommend no more than three questions. If you ask more than three questions in an email you’ll find your teacher gets vague and doesn’t cover all three of them at once. List the three questions in number format and ask the questions in full sentences.

To get the best response, it’s important not to seem defensive. Open the email with a thank you in recognition of their work in providing feedback in the first place. Then, ask the teacher to clarify each point.

You could ask:

• Whether they can point out specific points in your paper where the feedback is relevant to help you get a better understanding;
• To clarify their expectations for the next piece; or
• Ask for any tips on how to achieve their advice (is there a source they recommend that explains this idea they’ve presented to you in their feedback?)

I’ve provided an email for just this very purpose in my free email template booklet, which has email templates for any scenario:

If you’ve asked for a one-to-one discussion, make sure you print the assignment feedback and a copy of your paper when you attend the meeting. There’s nothing worse than a student who attends a meeting without questions and works to show.

8. Show your teacher how you used the feedback to Improve in the Next Assignment

This one’s the clincher. Literally, show them how you used their feedback. Put evidence that you used their feedback right under their nose. I recommend that you meet with the teacher before you submit your next piece and point out how you used their feedback.

When it comes time to show your teacher the draft for your next piece of work, come to the meeting with your table (see step 3) to show how you’ve taken their feedback into account.

Then, point out exactly where in your paper you’ve put their feedback into action.

Because you met with your teacher and showed them how you used their feedback, they will be primed and ready to recognize where and how you put their feedback into action when they mark your work.

If you don’t take the step of meeting with the teacher, there’s a good chance they won’t recognize all the effort you put into using their feedback.

Teachers give a lot of feedback – remember, they’ll probably have 40 to 100 other papers to mark just like yours. Your work gets lost in their memory amongst the jumble of other papers they read that one weekend six weeks ago.

Furthermore, meeting with your teacher to show them how you’ve used their feedback will go down really well in convincing them you’re worthy of top marks.

You’ll surely have gotten your teacher on your side and well and truly ready to give you top marks for your next piece of work.

9. List your Goals for next Term / Semester on a Post-It Note

University summer break is very, very long. We’re talking about up to three months of working, traveling, drinking, partying, or whatever else you have on your plate.

By the time you get back to university, you will likely have forgotten a lot of what you learned last semester.

One trick you should get into the habit of using is the post-it note reminder. All you need to do is list your three actionable goals from Step 5 and leave them on a post-it note on your desk for reflection next semester.

It’s so simple: a 2-minute task that will dramatically improve your chances of growing your grade next semester. It’ll get you back in the game and focused for next semester.

And it’ll remind you what your weaknesses are that you need to work on.

10. Keep your Assignment Feedback for Reflection

You should keep a folder on your computer (or in a drawer, if you’re still getting paper feedback) that has all your assignments and feedback kept in there.

In Step 8 I reinforced the importance of using assignment feedback semester-on-semester.

Even though the post-it trick in Week 8 is effective, it’s not quite enough.

You also need to dig deeper. You need to identify trends in your assignment feedback to see what your true weaknesses are.

If one teacher tells you your writing style is no good, that’s one thing. If five teachers in the past two years have told you your writing style needs work, then you’ve got yourself a real problem.

So, keep your assignment feedback and every now and then, go back to the stack of feedback and try to identify trends.

If you know your weaknesses, you’ll be able to work on them and turn them into strengths.

11. Be Humble.

In my experience, the angriest, obnoxious, self-assured students are often the ones who least deserve the top marks.

If I’m honest, I think I know the reason for this. These are the students who have dug themselves into their own delusions that they deserve the top marks because they’re talented .

The problem here is that these students lack a growth mindset . They never took assignment feedback on board and used it to improve. Ergo, they never improved.

Humility is a skill that will serve you well. Regularly, you are given feedback from teachers reinforcing the fact that your work – your mind – has faults. You’re not perfect. That sucks to hear, but it’s true!

Whenever you get assignment feedback, remember that this is the time for humility and good grace. Even if you disagree with your teacher, approach the situation with the recognition that you still have much to learn.

You might even find that being polite, humble, and genuine about your desire for help will endear you to your teacher and help you convince them to take it easier on you next time around.

12. Turn Negative Feedback into a Talking Point

At some point in your life you’re going to get this question in a job interview: “what is your biggest weakness?”

You can use teacher feedback to answer this question in a way that will move you to the top of the pile.

Your future boss is really asking you this:

• Are you aware of your faults?
• How do you address them?

There is a very easy formula for answering this question. It goes like this:

• Here’s a weakness a mentor identified;
• Here’s how I have worked to overcome it

If you’ve got a piece of feedback that occurs regularly, I recommend turning it into your talking point for showing how you have a growth mentality. Let people know what the weakness is, and what you’re doing to address it.

To really hit this point out of the park, you can give an indication of the progress you have made. Talk about how once you got feedback on your research or writing style (your weakness), and you actively addressed it by booking library workshop seminars.

After taking the seminars, you noticed your grades started to rise! You overcame a weakness!

13. Use the Internet to Improve on your Weaknesses

You’re here. You already took the first big step towards teaching yourself to use the internet.

Even if your teacher is a monster who gives totally useless assignment feedback and is impossible to understand, you still have the power to improve your marks.

Make the most out of free online resources. I’d recommend making it a part of your social media and internet downtime routine to browse around your favorite student support websites for little golden bits of information about how to improve your marks.

If you listen to ‘write more clearly’ as one of your three actionable goals in Point 5, then google “how to write more clearly”. It’s really that easy to get started!

Here are three types of online resources you can use to teach yourself:

• Blogs . Of course, I recommend my blog: Helpfulprofessor.com . But there’s more out there, like Scribendi.com and Grammar Girl that are really useful for learning how to increase your grades.
• Podcasts . My personal favorite resource that I have created is my podcast . I have so many students who don’t, particularly like reading blogs but are happy to listen to me explain my secret strategies for success. If you don’t like my podcast, try Marion Hegarty’s Grammar Girl podcast – it’s sublime.
• YouTube Videos . Use a YouTube search to learn anything you like – like how to paraphrase better, how to use quotes more effectively, or even simple study tips.

Using feedback for self-growth is a secret weapon of top students. While most students hate the frustration of bad assignment feedback and never want to look at it ever again, top students see it as another opportunity to get that little bit further ahead in their pursuit of an amazing degree.

Use your assignment feedback to fuel your desire for top marks.

In this article, I’ve recommended five strategies that top students use to get ahead using assignment feedback. These are:

How to Use Assignment Feedback to Improve your Grades

• Start with a Growth Mindset
• Figure out your Teacher’s Pet Peeves
• Read it. Then Forget it. For a while.
• Make a Table
• Find just Three Action Points (and One point for Praise)
• Forget about the Grade
• Go to your Teacher
• Show your teacher how you used the feedback to Improve in the Next Assignment
• List your Goals for the next Term / Semester on a Post-It Note
• Keep your Feedback for Reflection
• Turn Negative Feedback into a Talking Point
• Use the Internet to Improve on your Weaknesses

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
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Online Guide to Writing and Research

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• Online Guide to Writing

Understanding Your Assignment

“What is expected of me?” Writing a strong paper requires that you fully understand your assignment, and answering this question is the first crucial step in the academic writing process. What is your professor asking of you? The suggestions below will assist you as you determine what is expected of you.

Assignment Comprehension Tips

Click on the tabs below for tips on how to fully understand what is expected of you.

• STUDY THE DETAILS
• CREATE A TANGIBLE RESOURCE
• IMPLEMENT A TIMETABLE
• HIGHLIGHT KEY WORDS
• STAY WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY OF DETAILS
• RELY ON SUPPORT

Read the instructions line-by-line to familiarize yourself initially. Reading them aloud helps too.

Print out the instructions if necessary and highlight key information, such as the due date, word count, format, or citation style. Print and study the rubric, if available. The rubric reveals how you will be graded for each part of your essay and will give you clues on how exactly to structure your writing.

Plug the due date into your smartphone calendar and request a reminder notification. In addition, work backward from the due date and schedule specific weeks for planning, prewriting, researching, writing, getting feedback, and rewriting. 

Circle any key phrases that can guide your actions.

Keep your assignment instructions next to you as you work on informal prewriting exercises and planning so you avoid getting off track.

When in doubt, ask your professor. Your professors want you to succeed and welcome any remaining questions about assignment expectations.

Finding Purpose and Meaning

The purpose of the preparative steps above is to create a foundation for nuanced writing. Some additional questions can help you reach a deeper understanding of the assignment. Ask yourself the following questions:

What is the purpose of this assignment and why is it important?

Who is my audience my professor classmates professionals in my field of study, how will this contribute to my knowledge and growth as a writer, what timeline should i assign myself for the gradual development of this work.

Table 2.1 below shows you how to identify keywords and expectations from the directive wording of the assignment. These key phrases are often associated with essay questions, as well as informal and formal papers. As a note, the table is based on Benjamin Bloom’s cognitive objectives.

Table 2.1 Assignment Wording and Expectations

Once you understand your assignment and decide on what approach to take, you can move on to identifying and targeting your audience.

Key Takeaways

If you take the steps to retain, plan, and understand the meaning behind your writing assignment, you will increase your confidence and success as a writer.

Focusing on key words and phrases will provide clues on what actions to take while planning the structure and content of your essay. 

Mailing Address: 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783 This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . © 2022 UMGC. All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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CS 314 - Specification 5 - Linked Lists

Programming Assignment 5:  Individual Assignment. You must complete this assignment on your own. You may not acquire from any source (e.g.  another student or a web site) a partial or complete solution to a problem or project that has been assigned. You may not show another student your solution to an assignment. You may not have another person (current student, former student, tutor, friend, anyone) “walk you through” how to solve an assignment. You may get help from the instructional staff. You may discuss general ideas and approaches with other students but you may not develop code together. Review the class policy on collaboration from the syllabus .

• Placed online: Wednesday, February 21
• 20 points, ~2% of final grade.
• Do not later than 11 pm on Thursday, February 29

The purpose of this assignment is to implement a linked list class that uses doubly linked nodes. Doubly linked nodes have references to the next node in the list and back to the previous node in the list . This makes some things harder because there are more references to set up so more chances for logic errors. But, it makes a lot of things easier because it is possible to move backwards in the linked structure of nodes without having to start over at the beginning, use the look ahead technique, or use a trailer node.

Draw pictures!! When completing methods and figuring out all the references that have to be updated and what the special cases are DRAW PICTURES of the linked structure. This is much easier than just looking at code and trying to determine (guess?) what must be done or why something does not work. Don't program by permutation or try cargo cult programming .

Please realize, when you get an error in a test the cause is typically in another method. It is often the case that students make errors when adding or removing elements or changing the structure of the internal storage container (the linked structure of nodes), but the error does not manifest itself until later on in a test of toString.

Implementation details:

Complete the LinkedList class.  For this assignment you may not use the LinkedList or ArrayList classes from the Java standard library. You must implement the underlying storage container as a doubly linked structure using the DoubleListNode class. The DoubleListNode s and LinkedList are generic based on Java's generic syntax.

You may approach the implementation in many ways. (References to first and last node, circular list with only a link to the first node, use of header nodes that don't contain any data) The approach you take is up to you. Each has certain advantages and disadvantages.

In addition to implementing the methods specified in the IList interface you must add  the following methods to the LinkedList class. E is the data type variable. It will hold what the data type is for the elements (thus the E) of a particular LinkedList object.

• void addFirst(E item) // add an item to the front of this LinkedList
• void addLast(E item) // add an item to the end of this LinkedList
• E removeFirst() // remove the first item in this LinkedList
• E removeLast() // remove the first item in this LinkedList
• override the toString method. The data in the list should be listed between square brackets with a comma between each item and a single space after each comma. e.g. [A, B, C] public String toString()
• override the equals method. Two IList s are equal if they have the same number of elements in the same order. public boolean equals(Object other). Two empty lists are equal regardless of the kinds of elements they store. (This is true in the Java standard library.) Also note, we are implementing the IList interface. To meet the requirement IList puts on classes that implement it, your LinkedList is considered equal to any other IList (not just a LinkedList) if it has the same elements in the same order.

LinkedListTester provides some tests for the LinkedList class. In your final submission delete the provided tests. Add at least 2 tests of your own per method in the LinkedList class to the LinkedListTester class. Delete the provided tests. You may post the tests you write to the class class discussion group, but in the end you must implement your own tests.

  Note, most of my tests rely on your iterator method. If that is not working you will fail those tests. I strongly recommend you test your methods as you complete them by writing your own tests! Write a method, then test it. Write a method, then test it. DON'T do this:  write a method, write a method, write a method, ... then test ...then debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug, debug.

For every method in the LinkedList class state the Big O of the method if there are already N items in the list.

The methods for the iterator for your linked list shall all be O(1).  Implement the hasNext and next methods for your iterator. You shall replace the default remove method from the Iterator interface with a remove method that actually removes the last element returned by next. Your iterator class does NOT need to detect co-modification errors.

If a method has preconditions you must check those preconditions and throw an Exception if they are not met.

You can, of course, implement methods using other methods from the class. You should only do this if the version of a method that relies on other methods in the class is as efficient as not using other methods.

As always, use good style: comments for non obvious algorithms and operations, good variable names, use helper methods if necessary, make operations as efficient as possible given the constraints.

Experiments: It is interesting and important to know the difference in behavior between linked lists and array based lists. When your LinkedList class is finished, run the comparison method from the LinkedListTester class which performs a number of tests with your LinkedList and the Java ArrayList class. To run the method simply uncomment the line at the end of the main method in LinkedListTester that calls the comparison method. You are free to change the initial value of N for the various tests in the comparison method.

In a comment at the top of your LinkedListTester class indicate which operations are faster when using your LinkedList, which are faster when using the Java ArrayList class, and which ones are about the same.  (Realize the experiments use different starting values of N.)

For the operations tested via the experiment what do you think the Big O of each operation / method is based on the timing data? State your reasoning.

Submission: Fill in the header in the LinkedListTester.java and LinkedList.java files.. Replace <NAME> with your name. Note, you are stating, on your honor , that you did the assignment on your own.

Create a zip file name a5.zip with your LinkedListTester.java and LinkedList.java files. The zip file must not contain any directory structure, just the required files. See this page for instructions on how to create a zip via Eclipse.

Checklist. Did you remember to:

• review and follow the general assignment requirements ?
• work on the assignment individually?
• fill in the header in LinkeListTester.java and LinkedList.java?
• ensure each method in your LinkedList class states the Big O of the method in the method comment?
• ensure your version of LinkedList passes the tests in LinkedListTester.java and add your own tests?
• ensure your program does not suffer a compile error or runtime error?
• place the results of your experiments and conclusions in a comment at the top of LinkedListTester.java?
• turn in your a5.zip file with your Java source code files (LinkedList.java and LinkedListTester.java) to Canvas before 11 pm, Thursday, February 29?

Assignment 1: Understanding Your Self-Concept

The purpose of this assignment is to help you understand your own self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. For this assignment, you will work independently.

Learning Objectives

LO1. Compare and contrast self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy.

LO2. Apply self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy to personal experiences.

LO3. Discuss how social and family influences, culture, and media influence self-perception.

LO4. Compare and contrast personal, social, and cultural identities.

The time estimated to complete this activity is 45-60 minutes.

Instructions

You will be completing several short surveys to learn more about your self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Please use the links below to complete each survey. Make sure you save a copy of your results for each survey.

VIA Character Strengths Inventory

This online survey is meant to determine what characteristics make up your self-concept. It has 96 items and will take about 15-20 minutes to complete. You will need to register for the site. After you have completed your inventory click on the “PDF Results” button to download and save a pdf copy of your results.

Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale

This online survey is meant to rate self-esteem feelings by measuring both positive and negative feelings about the self. It has 10 questions and will take about 3-5 minutes to complete. After you have completed your inventory, please save a copy of your Summary Snapshot Report. You will need to take a screenshot and save it to a Word or Google Doc file for a later activity.

General Self-Efficacy Scale

This online survey is meant to assess the sense of perceived self-efficacy to check how you cope with daily situations and stressful life events. It has 10 questions and will take about 3-5 minutes to complete. After you have completed your survey, please save a copy of your results using the Print button at the bottom of the survey to download and save a pdf copy of your results.

After you have completed these surveys, please address the following questions in a 200-400 word written response. Follow formal writing conventions using complete sentences and checking spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Separate your answers into different paragraphs for each question to make grading easier.

• Discuss the similarities and differences between self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Based on your survey results and your thoughts about them, how are they related to each other? Do you think that having a very high or very low score for one of these concepts will impact the others, why or why not
• Based on what you included in your “Who am I?” creative work, which identities are the most important to you (personal, social, cultural)? What aspects of your life do you think were most influential in how you see your identity?
• Discuss any hardships you have experienced, or that you have seen in media for people who share an identity you have, and how you think those could be addressed.

Psychology of Human Relations Copyright © by Stevy Scarbrough is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Self assignment check in assignment operator

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In C++, assignment operator should be overloaded with self assignment check.

For example, consider the following class Array and overloaded assignment operator function without self assignment check.

If we have an object say a1 of type Array and if we have a line like a1 = a1 somewhere, the program results in unpredictable behavior because there is no self assignment check in the above code. To avoid the above issue, self assignment check must be there while overloading assignment operator. For example, following code does self assignment check.

References: http://www.cs.caltech.edu/courses/cs11/material/cpp/donnie/cpp-ops.html

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15 Everyday Ways to Use High 5 Assignments

Get your students thinking about and responding to what’s happening in your classroom right now with Writable’s new High 5 Assignments ! This type of assignment, sometimes referred to as an Icebreaker, Do Now, Bell Ringer, Entrance or Exit Ticket, Warm Up, and more, is great for engaging students with writing for about five minutes on a daily basis. 

Creating and assigning a High 5 Assignment in Writable takes seconds, and is as simple as writing a question to get your students thinking, writing, and discussing. Writable also makes it easy to incorporate peer feedback, gather GrammarAid insights, or to do a quick formative assessment in a skill area with the ‘Enable Skill Tracking’ option. Keep reading for 15 ways you can use High 5 assignments in your classroom everyday!

1.  Brainstorm: Have students think about an upcoming topic or concept in class while getting an idea about what they might already know. By adding on the peer review feature to this type of assignment, students can get additional ideas and offer comments. All you have to do is pose a simple question, like “What do you already know about the Civil Rights Act?” in the High 5 Assignment Wizard to get students started.

2.  Review: Have you just finished a lesson, a book, or a topic in class? You can ask students to share what they learned or summarize what they read, which will help them review learning while giving you insight into what they might need additional support with.

3. Respond: This is a great way to use a reading, text, video, piece of music, or even something outside the window that you’d like students to respond to. This type of High 5 assignment can get students thinking creatively!

4. Current Events: Easily bring relevant news topics and current events into your classroom by asking students their opinion, or to respond to a current event. By optionally turning on peer review, students can anonymously learn insights from others or start a dialogue.

5. The Writing Process: Help students practice writing strategies or skills, or focus on vocabulary or grammar exercises to start out a lesson. Questions like “How is a thesis statement different from a topic sentence?” are fantastic ways to begin your lesson on the thesis statement!

6. Predictions & Observations: “What do you think will happen next to the main character and why?” and “What are your observations about yesterday’s science experiment?” are examples of questions to get students analyzing and critically observing a lesson or text.

7. Introductions: High 5’s are a helpful way to get to know your students throughout the school year. Prompts like “What does your name mean?”, “How do you celebrate holidays?”, and “What hobbies or activities do you participate in outside of school?” can help students engage in writing about what they know best (themselves)!

8. Daily Journal: Whether you’d like your students to complete daily free writes, or write a blog style entry, High 5’s are the perfect medium.

9. Problems: Curious to know what a student might be stuck on, if they need help, or are confused? Ask them! Letting them write out the issues they might be having can provide you insight into who needs support, spot class trends, and more.

10. Quizzes, Polls, or Games: High 5’s can be fun! Let students take a quiz, poll, or play a game, then write about their results or experience for a few minutes.

11. Opinion: Do students agree or disagree about a topic? Why are they taking that stance? Sharing their opinions before or after a topical lesson can help students to process what they learned while supporting their argument writing. This type of High 5 is great for adding Skill Tracking. Simply add an argument writing skill, and get automatic insights about their writing.

12. SEL: Help students to feel seen and heard by asking them “How are you doing today?” A simple check in on their emotional well being can go a long way. Students can respond in writing, or use Writable’s audio or video response options, and you can respond to their High 5with audio or video too!

13. Description: Help students explore descriptive language and improve vocabulary by describing an event, object, person, or whatever comes to mind.

14. Goals: Whether they are short term goals about an assignment, or long term goals relevant to a student’s life, writing about what you want to achieve in the future can help a student reach their goal. All assignments in Writable can be looked back on by the student, and this type of writing can be a great reminder in the future of a student’s achievements.

15. Assessment: With Skill Tracking enabled on a High 5 assignment, you can easily measure student writing progress on a single writing skill, like comprehension or developing a narrative, without having students take an actual writing assessment. Gauge progress and spot learning gaps while students complete their daily class writing assignment!

After completing one of these quick assignments, don’t forget to give your students (and yourself) a high five! Regularly writing is the fastest way to grow as a writer, and is something to be celebrated. Once students begin writing, you can check in on the assignment dashboard to get insights and assignment recommendations which can help you know ‘What’s next?’ for your students.

Have you tried a High 5 assignment or have a great idea on how to use them? Let us know on Twitter or share it with fellow educators in Writable’s Facebook Group !

Are you new to Writable or curious to learn more? Create a free teacher account , check out our pricing , or schedule a personalized demo !

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