Writing Essays in Higher Education A guide for ... - Semantic Scholar

Writing Essays in Higher Education

A guide for students by students

Lin Norton and Edd Pitt with

Katherine Harrington, James Elander and Pete Reddy

A+

Assessment Plus

Contents

Writing essays and other assignments in Higher Education: what you need to know.....................................................................................................1

Foreword ....................................................................................................................1 Lorraine's Journal .............................................................................................1

Note to readers ............................................................................................................ Chapter 1 How assessment aware are you? ..............................................................5

Quiz One..............................................................................................................6 Interpretation .......................................................................................................7 Criterion and criteria: what is the difference?............................................................7 What are assessment criteria? ....................................................................................7 Which are the most important assessment criteria?...................................................8 Quiz Two ..............................................................................................................9 Chapter 2 The assessment system: how it works and how you can make it

work for you ..........................................................................................10 Introduction..............................................................................................................10 Why is it important to work out the assessment system? ........................................10 How do I find out what my tutors are looking for? .................................................11

Requesting feedback on a draft ....................................................................11 Asking for advice on a plan .....................................................................................12 Using the module handbook ....................................................................................12 Don't be put off! ......................................................................................................13 Attending everything ...............................................................................................13 Psychology tutors want evidence.............................................................................13 Why do I need to know about assessment criteria? .................................................14 Action points................................................................................................................ Chapter 3 Assessment criteria and the marking process .......................................17 Introduction..............................................................................................................17

Students' understandings of assessment criteria ..........................................18 Where to find assessment criteria ............................................................................18 What do the assessment criteria measure?...............................................................20

What do tutors expect from first-year students? .........................................20 Progression...............................................................................................................21 Which criteria do tutors think are the most important when marking students'

essays?........................................................................................................22 Addressing the question...........................................................................................22 Understanding and developing an argument............................................................23 Achieving a higher grade .........................................................................................23 Action point ................................................................................................................ Chapter 4 Addressing (answering) the question .....................................................25 Introduction..............................................................................................................25

Stick to the question like a very sticky thing! ..............................................25 Problems with interpreting the essay question.........................................................26 Breaking down the question.....................................................................................27 Referring back to the question .................................................................................27

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Tutors' views .............................................................................................28 Action points................................................................................................................ Chapter 5 Structuring the answer............................................................................30 Introduction..............................................................................................................30 How to structure an essay ........................................................................................30

Start with the introduction ...........................................................................30 Planning your answer...............................................................................................32 Essay flow................................................................................................................32

Tutors' views ...........................................................................................33 Action points................................................................................................................ Chapter 6 Demonstrating understanding................................................................35 Introduction..............................................................................................................35

Read, read, read and then ... read some more! ...........................................35 Look at both sides of the argument..........................................................................37 Understand what you are writing about ...................................................................37

Tutors' views ...........................................................................................38 Action points................................................................................................................ Chapter 7 Developing argument...............................................................................40 Introduction..............................................................................................................40

Appreciate both sides of the argument .........................................................41 Use of previous research ..........................................................................................41 Avoiding bias ...........................................................................................................43 Links to other assessment criteria ............................................................................43 Making your argument flow ....................................................................................44 Action point ................................................................................................................. Chapter 8 Use of evidence .........................................................................................45 Introduction..............................................................................................................45

Supporting your points .................................................................................45 Getting good information.........................................................................................46 The perils of using quotes ........................................................................................46 The importance of using journals ............................................................................47

Referencing your sources accurately .......................................................48 Action points................................................................................................................ Spot the referencing mistakes ..................................................................................50 Chapter 9 Evaluation.................................................................................................51 Introduction..............................................................................................................51

Strengths and Weaknesses ...........................................................................51 Different viewpoints ................................................................................................52 Being critical............................................................................................................52

What the tutors say ...................................................................................53 Students tend to be unaware of evaluation ..............................................................53 How to get higher marks..........................................................................................53 Being critical............................................................................................................54 Action points................................................................................................................ Reading questions ........................................................................................................ Chapter 10 Students with special needs...................................................................56

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Introduction..............................................................................................................56 Addressing the question...........................................................................................56 Structuring the answer .............................................................................................58 Developing understanding .......................................................................................58 Developing an argument ..........................................................................................59 Use of evidence........................................................................................................60 Evaluation ................................................................................................................60 Action points................................................................................................................ Chapter 11 Writing exam essays ..............................................................................62 Introduction..............................................................................................................62

Difficulties in exams ....................................................................................62 Addressing the question ...........................................................................63

Structuring the answer .................................................................................64 Tutor's view .............................................................................................64

Making sure you know what the weighting is .............................................65 Action points................................................................................................................ Answers .................................................................................................................66 Quiz 1: How assessment aware are you? (Chapter 1)..............................................66 Quiz 2: Which are the most important assessment criteria and which are

recognized as `core' criteria? (Chapter 1)..................................................69 Interpretation......................................................................................................70 Spot the referencing mistakes (Chapter 8)...............................................................72 Errors in the text...................................................................................................72 Errors in the list of references..............................................................................72 References .................................................................................................................73 Further Resources......................................................................................................74 Books ....................................................................................................................74 Websites on academic writing and assessment........................................................74 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................75

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Writing essays and other assignments in Higher Education: what you need to know

Foreword

Welcome to this guide. It is intended to help you make the most of your time at university by helping you to understand the assessment system and avoid the pitfalls that sometimes hold students back or discourage them. Many students think when they start their degree, `I don't think I'm clever enough to be here'; and, sometimes, having difficulties with assessed work can reinforce that view. This guide is written to help you prevent that situation happening to you.

Before you think, `Oh no, not another study skills manual', let us assure you that this book is definitively not that. Instead, it is the distillation of the experience of many students who have gone before you and who are keen to share their experiences with you. It also has some perspectives from tutors so you get a rounded picture. Although primarily intended for Psychology students, there are a number of general principles which will be of use to students in many different subjects. In fact, Lorraine, the student whose diary excerpts appear below, is a case in point as she studied both Psychology and English. Lorraine was a highly motivated mature student who struggled through the first year in her English subjects, getting low C grades despite lots of effort, but who suddenly `got what it was all about' three quarters of the way through her first year and then started getting A grades, particularly in Psychology.

At the time when Lorraine was a student, no guidance was given on the assessment system or assessment criteria, so she picked up her knowledge of this gradually, on her way to what eventually turned out to be a first class degree, but the insights came slowly and sometimes painfully. She, like all the other students quoted in this book, has readily agreed to share her journey of realization.

We let her pick up the story in her second year when the marks for every assignment counted towards her final degree classification ...

Lorraine's Journal

25th October

I think I'd better be quite realistic and aim for Bs ? higher Bs if at all possible. I shall be very disappointed if I get Cs. I also think that as every assignment counts, more effort should be put into every single assignment than even last year.

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