Hi, it's KB again. I realized yesterday, while I was helping a student with an assignment they were preparing to resubmit, that I had never written a blog about resubmitting assignments. When I assist students who are redoing assignments, I need help from the students to ensure that I have the materials I need. I need:
1. A copy of the first, failed assignment
2. A copy of the marker's comments and the AGC form. If you don't have these things, you can write to: ulsmdladmin@le.ac.uk.
3. A copy of the assignment question with all of the instructions including how long it should be and any other special instructions from the module tutor
4. A copy of the redone assignment with all the citations included
If you haven't redone the assignment yet, that's okay. Let's look at what you have written and come to an understanding about what you should write. However, I will need items 1 and 2 from the list above.
I'm now requesting that all students write to me using their University of Leicester email account. Why? What's wrong with writing me using hotmail or gmail. Let me explain. Last week, a student told me that their hotmail account, which is by the way is not secure, had been broken into. This student lost all their materials. Because the hotmail server is not secure, this could happen to you as well. The student's solution was to open a new google account. Google is no more secure than hotmail. I told them to use their University of Leicester account.
The University of Leicester server is much more secure than any public server you can use; thus, it makes sense to use your U of Leicester email account. Of course, you should take the appropriate measures to guarantee security. You should use alpha numeric codes, capitals and punctuation marks. Don't use the name of your favourite dog, cat or something else that you've written about on Facebook. Don't use something you've been tweeting about with your friends. If you must write it down, which is not recommended BTW, you should put it in a secret place that is not accessible to all of your friends or disguise the password so that it doesn't look like a password. All of this may seem very basic to some of you, but most people use a significant name or their birthday as their password. If you don't know your student email account, you can write to me and I can put you in touch with someone who can help you. I also will not write to any student using their work email address because these mailboxes are subject to scrutiny from employers. So, they are not secure.
This is what I need to help you. If you're at an early stage and haven't committed pen to paper, this is even better. I can help you so are spot on with your topic.
Until next time,
KB
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Descriptive Writing - Change the research cycle
Okay, your assignment came back. You received a C-. The markers said you were writing descriptively. You're puzzled. What is descriptive writing? The marker also said that your paper was well-researched. How do you fix this problem and turn your C- paper into a B or possibly an A? What have you done wrong?
Well, the first answer is that you haven't done anything wrong. You've taken the first step but you've failed to complete the job that you began with your research. In short, your paper has lots of information but doesn't follow up that information with critical analysis and thinking. Thinking critically is the next step you must take. You need to explain the significance of every citation you put into your assignment.
You would be mistaken to think that your paper shouldn't have citations. Citations are there to provide support for your arguments. For example, let's say you are using Porter's Five Forces Model to discuss the textile industry in Egypt. You would need to use citations to advance your argument and support your claims about this industry. Your textbook will probably be the best source material on the Five Forces model itself but you would need to find out more about the textile industry in Egypt itself. If you wanted to make a point about "competitive rivalry within the industry", you would need to use journal articles and books and examples from the industry environment to back up any assertions you need to make about this "competitive rivalry."
At this point I need to say a word about the kind of information a student paper doesn't need. Many students, when faced with a topic such as the one above, are not sure what they should write for their three page assignment. This is their work cycle for the paper:
1. Read the assignment topic
2. Go onto the internet and look up Porter's Five Forces
3. Amass a battery of quotations on Porter's Five Forces
4. Look up basic information about an industry, in this case Egypt's textile industry
5. Begin writing
There are a number of problems with this research cycle. First and foremost, all the information you need on Porter's Five Forces is in your textbook and in your head. Information from a lot of internet sources is likely to result in "poor scholarship", "bad referencing", or even "plagiarism" on your assignment sheet. When the student is presented with a failing grade and the words "bad referencing" or "referencing problems", this student will usually try desperately to rewrite their assignment by changing the words or looking for more citations.
It is important to see here, in the bad work cycle I presented above, that the problem really is the use of the internet. Sure, there's lots of information on Porter's Five Forces on the internet. However, the question wants you to explain how each of these forces affect an industry. Internet information on the Five Forces is not going to help you here. What you need is your head, your textbook (that doubtless describes these forces) and good articles that you can reference on the textile industry in Egypt. You can see, by reading articles on this industry, what threats the textile industry in Egypt faces or the power of suppliers.
Students should know the purpose of every citation that is used in their assignments. The work cycle should look like this:
1. The student receives the assignment question
2. The student reads it over several times to understand every aspect of the assignment
3. The student takes a highlighter and marks the important terms
4. For terms they don't really understand, they use the textbook to understand the terms
5. Discuss the question on blackboard with other students
6. Make a mind map with the terms if you are confused. A mind map places the central topic in the middle on a blank sheet of paper and puts the other terms around it in a wheel structure. When you do this, you also try and think of things that you're going to need when you do this assignment. For example, if you were doing this topic, the Egyptian textile industry would be in the middle with the Five Forces all around it. You would have questions about each force in terms of the textile industry that would need to be addressed by good research. In short, you would need to understand how a force such as "power of suppliers" works in this industry. Note: that if you did research on the Five Forces, this wouldn't answer the question being asked and would probably provide a lot of confusing detail that the module tutor is assuming you know.
7. Begin your research on the Egyptian textile industry using a. The University of Leicester Digital Library and b. a search engine such as Google. Of course, you may be lucky and have a good academic library nearby as well.
The final step is to write an outline of the paper. We'll discuss this in another posting.
KB
Well, the first answer is that you haven't done anything wrong. You've taken the first step but you've failed to complete the job that you began with your research. In short, your paper has lots of information but doesn't follow up that information with critical analysis and thinking. Thinking critically is the next step you must take. You need to explain the significance of every citation you put into your assignment.
You would be mistaken to think that your paper shouldn't have citations. Citations are there to provide support for your arguments. For example, let's say you are using Porter's Five Forces Model to discuss the textile industry in Egypt. You would need to use citations to advance your argument and support your claims about this industry. Your textbook will probably be the best source material on the Five Forces model itself but you would need to find out more about the textile industry in Egypt itself. If you wanted to make a point about "competitive rivalry within the industry", you would need to use journal articles and books and examples from the industry environment to back up any assertions you need to make about this "competitive rivalry."
At this point I need to say a word about the kind of information a student paper doesn't need. Many students, when faced with a topic such as the one above, are not sure what they should write for their three page assignment. This is their work cycle for the paper:
1. Read the assignment topic
2. Go onto the internet and look up Porter's Five Forces
3. Amass a battery of quotations on Porter's Five Forces
4. Look up basic information about an industry, in this case Egypt's textile industry
5. Begin writing
There are a number of problems with this research cycle. First and foremost, all the information you need on Porter's Five Forces is in your textbook and in your head. Information from a lot of internet sources is likely to result in "poor scholarship", "bad referencing", or even "plagiarism" on your assignment sheet. When the student is presented with a failing grade and the words "bad referencing" or "referencing problems", this student will usually try desperately to rewrite their assignment by changing the words or looking for more citations.
It is important to see here, in the bad work cycle I presented above, that the problem really is the use of the internet. Sure, there's lots of information on Porter's Five Forces on the internet. However, the question wants you to explain how each of these forces affect an industry. Internet information on the Five Forces is not going to help you here. What you need is your head, your textbook (that doubtless describes these forces) and good articles that you can reference on the textile industry in Egypt. You can see, by reading articles on this industry, what threats the textile industry in Egypt faces or the power of suppliers.
Students should know the purpose of every citation that is used in their assignments. The work cycle should look like this:
1. The student receives the assignment question
2. The student reads it over several times to understand every aspect of the assignment
3. The student takes a highlighter and marks the important terms
4. For terms they don't really understand, they use the textbook to understand the terms
5. Discuss the question on blackboard with other students
6. Make a mind map with the terms if you are confused. A mind map places the central topic in the middle on a blank sheet of paper and puts the other terms around it in a wheel structure. When you do this, you also try and think of things that you're going to need when you do this assignment. For example, if you were doing this topic, the Egyptian textile industry would be in the middle with the Five Forces all around it. You would have questions about each force in terms of the textile industry that would need to be addressed by good research. In short, you would need to understand how a force such as "power of suppliers" works in this industry. Note: that if you did research on the Five Forces, this wouldn't answer the question being asked and would probably provide a lot of confusing detail that the module tutor is assuming you know.
7. Begin your research on the Egyptian textile industry using a. The University of Leicester Digital Library and b. a search engine such as Google. Of course, you may be lucky and have a good academic library nearby as well.
The final step is to write an outline of the paper. We'll discuss this in another posting.
KB
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Referencing Problems: What do I do?
Your assignment comes back and you've failed. You have, the marker tells you, "referencing problems". You think, "No problem, I'll email the Skills Tutor and find out how to use Harvard style". This is a great idea but this isn't the whole problem. Allow me to guide you.
While I would strongly urge all students to use Harvard style, poor referencing is not about citations, it is about references. References inside your assignment link it to your readings on the assignment subject matter. When you do the assignment that the module tutor gives out, I suggest this paragraph format:
Paragraph Format
a) Topic sentence - First sentence to introduce any paragraph. This guides the reader through the same topic within this sentence.
b) References - The second sentences shows an example or quotation from an authority. For example: Johnston says in his 1919 article: "The best....."
c) Explanation this reference. Okay, what does Johnston say that is relevant to the subject you're writing about. Explain it. Use two sentences if you must, but explain why this is important. What does it say about the topic you're talking about.
d) Finish up and link it to the next paragraph.
Notice, this paragraph could be five sentences if necessary. One sentence is inadequate.
If you follow this model, you should never have referencing problems. What the module tutor wants is your opinion, backed up by evidence, not the opinion of someone else or diluted references to a number of internet sources. This is what causes referencing problems.
Referencing problems are really about NOT understanding that the use of any source materials inside your paper, without directly citing them, is a form of plagiarism. This includes any quickie materials you pick up from the Internet in a cursory search. The biggest problem with assignments that rely on quickie Internet searches is that they usually don't answer the assignment question. Instead, using a lot of material from a numbers of Internet sources, they skirt around the issue.
Writing using one citation for each paragraph, as in the model above, helps ensure that the citation is on topic. Citations that are not on topic have no place in your assignment and you should eliminate them. It is actually harder and more time consuming to write an assignment by stringing together citations from the Internet. It is easier to figure out what the assignment question is really asking and providing citations that are on topic.
It is also important that you note when a set of assignment questions is given in a particular order such as:
1. Pick out the main topic of the article you have been asked to find.
2a. What is the stated purpose of this research?
2b. What are any additional reasons the author might have for doing this research?
In this case, you should stick with the order of the questions provided in the module assignment. You don't have to restructure this assignment in any way. Answer all the questions in order, don't go off course and do something completely different. After all, why reinvent the wheel if you've been given a perfectly good one to use?
When you look at the assignment question(s), you should see a clear link between what you have written and the assignment question(s). Often, students have referencing problems because they did initial research to understand the question, for example on what SWOT analysis is, and then decided they didn't understand the actual assignment question. At this point, the lost student decides to use their research on the terminology of the question in the hope tta it will be enough to complete the assignment successfully. In fact, they are lost and should go to blackboard, the Module Tutor and the Skills Tutor to find out what to do now. They shouldn't write the thing they just looked up and which actually isn't the assignment in question.
An important point here. When you get an assignment back and the tutor has failed you and told you that you have a "referencing problem", don't revise your old assignment. Junk it and start again. It is likely that understanding the assignment is your first key and the old assignment is already compromised. Look at it from this perspective, if you've already been told that you have referencing problems do you really think the next marker won't comb through your assignment to ensure you've rectified this issue? Of course they will. To pass, you must fix this problem and do it right the first time. Why put yourself through this time and trouble? Do it right, do it once.
Until next time,
KB
While I would strongly urge all students to use Harvard style, poor referencing is not about citations, it is about references. References inside your assignment link it to your readings on the assignment subject matter. When you do the assignment that the module tutor gives out, I suggest this paragraph format:
Paragraph Format
a) Topic sentence - First sentence to introduce any paragraph. This guides the reader through the same topic within this sentence.
b) References - The second sentences shows an example or quotation from an authority. For example: Johnston says in his 1919 article: "The best....."
c) Explanation this reference. Okay, what does Johnston say that is relevant to the subject you're writing about. Explain it. Use two sentences if you must, but explain why this is important. What does it say about the topic you're talking about.
d) Finish up and link it to the next paragraph.
Notice, this paragraph could be five sentences if necessary. One sentence is inadequate.
If you follow this model, you should never have referencing problems. What the module tutor wants is your opinion, backed up by evidence, not the opinion of someone else or diluted references to a number of internet sources. This is what causes referencing problems.
Referencing problems are really about NOT understanding that the use of any source materials inside your paper, without directly citing them, is a form of plagiarism. This includes any quickie materials you pick up from the Internet in a cursory search. The biggest problem with assignments that rely on quickie Internet searches is that they usually don't answer the assignment question. Instead, using a lot of material from a numbers of Internet sources, they skirt around the issue.
Writing using one citation for each paragraph, as in the model above, helps ensure that the citation is on topic. Citations that are not on topic have no place in your assignment and you should eliminate them. It is actually harder and more time consuming to write an assignment by stringing together citations from the Internet. It is easier to figure out what the assignment question is really asking and providing citations that are on topic.
It is also important that you note when a set of assignment questions is given in a particular order such as:
1. Pick out the main topic of the article you have been asked to find.
2a. What is the stated purpose of this research?
2b. What are any additional reasons the author might have for doing this research?
In this case, you should stick with the order of the questions provided in the module assignment. You don't have to restructure this assignment in any way. Answer all the questions in order, don't go off course and do something completely different. After all, why reinvent the wheel if you've been given a perfectly good one to use?
When you look at the assignment question(s), you should see a clear link between what you have written and the assignment question(s). Often, students have referencing problems because they did initial research to understand the question, for example on what SWOT analysis is, and then decided they didn't understand the actual assignment question. At this point, the lost student decides to use their research on the terminology of the question in the hope tta it will be enough to complete the assignment successfully. In fact, they are lost and should go to blackboard, the Module Tutor and the Skills Tutor to find out what to do now. They shouldn't write the thing they just looked up and which actually isn't the assignment in question.
An important point here. When you get an assignment back and the tutor has failed you and told you that you have a "referencing problem", don't revise your old assignment. Junk it and start again. It is likely that understanding the assignment is your first key and the old assignment is already compromised. Look at it from this perspective, if you've already been told that you have referencing problems do you really think the next marker won't comb through your assignment to ensure you've rectified this issue? Of course they will. To pass, you must fix this problem and do it right the first time. Why put yourself through this time and trouble? Do it right, do it once.
Until next time,
KB
Monday, October 4, 2010
Remember the Small Stuff: Writing Assignments that Work
People always say, "don't sweat the small stuff." However, in my experience the small stuff makes or breaks a good assignment. Misspellings, poor grammar, disorganized information and off-topic answers make an assignment look carelessly done, whether or not the writer spent a short time or hours preparing and researching if before handing it in. So, let's look at some of this 'small stuff' that can take just minutes to fix.
1. Always reread your assignments
Of course, you are tired when you hand in an assignment. You are also probably very sick of looking at your work. However, you must re-read it before submitting it. Careless mistakes, especially in opening titles and headers, create a bad impression. Your submission, that you have just laboured over, is worth a final re read and edit. Do this and get better grades...automatically.
2. Always paginate
If a marker gets lost when reading your assignment because it isn't paginated, you have a major problem. A lost marker is a cross marker and you don't want a marker who is cross reading your papers and grading them. It takes a few minutes to paginate your assignment; it takes the same amount of time for a marker to get lost when marking your assignment and conclude that your assignment is too disorganized to pass.
It should be easy for anyone to get from the top of page one to the bottom of page three in your assignment. Sometimes, students have the mistaken impression that a lost marker will give up trying to find the point of your assignment and simply assign you a passing grade. This might have happened at some point before university; this won't happen in your MBA/MSc. If a marker can't read or find the cogent points in your assignment, they won't stop looking and pass you just because they like you. If your assignment doesn't come up to scratch, you will simply fail. Don't fail because your assignment lost the tutor.
2. Make it legible.
Gone are the days, if they ever existed, when markers cheerfully give up trying to read your illegible writing and give you a passing grade. Markers must find the relevant points to give you the marks you deserve. So, if you know your handwriting is poor, do something about it. In fact, make every effort to make your handwriting neat and easily legible. If you can't, then always use printing instead of cursive writing for your assignments and exams.
3. Fix your grammar
If you have a problem with this, ask for help. There are excellent manuals and books to assist you to fix grammar problems. Don't suffer in silence! Poor grammar leaves a bad impression in any assignment. Never be too embarrassed to fix your problems!
Good grammar is a building block of excellent writing. When you have good grammar, you can state your points clearly every time. I caution students not to rely on the grammar checkers in word processing software alone. Buy manuals and grammar books. Get other people to read your assignments and look for grammar errors (make sure their grammar is excellent of course).
4. Stick with the question that was asked
If a marker can't understand the points you're making, then they can't give you credit for your work. One of the most common mistakes in both assignments and exams is not answering the question that was assigned. Frequently, students DO know the answer to the actual question but think - for some reason - that an argument that is unique and different will be more interesting than answering the question that was actually asked. Nothing could be further from the truth! Markers can only give credit to answers that really stick with the questions that were asked in the first place.
Sometimes, students don't understand the question. In an effort to find the correct answer, they go off on several tangents hoping one will be the correct answer. It is better to spend your time analyzing the question and finding the correct answer the first time. Look in Blackboard to see what other students are saying about the assignment. Start a thread and ask the module tutor relevant questions to find out what the question actually says. Then you will have more confidence in your answer. Confidence also equals concentration. This concentration means what you write is on target. Thus, you will get better grades when you understand what you are doing from the outset.
5. Organize the material in your answer carefully
When a module tutor provides you with an order to use in your assignment, use it. Don't feel you must be original and hide the points you are trying to make. Markers like assignments that make the main points clearly. Don't hide your main points inside large swatches of unrelated data.
I advise all students to use an outline. In an outline, you can see how your argument develops without actually committing pen to paper. Moreover, you can reorganize your argument by reordering your quotations. This helps you to build a stronger argument step-by-step. While it is true that some arguments unfold easily, it is much easier to revise an outline than to revise a full-length paper.
If the tutor has provided a set of questions, use these questions to predetermine the order inside your paper. After all, why make it harder to write your paper? Additionally, markers will be looking for these points when they assign a grade to your paper. Why make your life harder?
6. Spell check
Use your spell checker. Don't rely just on the one taht comes with your word processing software. Read over your work to make sure you used the correct version of words with several meanings that sound the same but are spelled differently such as there/their/they're. Always, always check your spelling! Never hand in any work that is not spell checked. It takes a few minutes to check your work. It may take a complete rewrite to fix a paper that is filled with spelling errors and detract from the argument you have made. Don't take a chance with any assignment, spell check it every time. Do not fail to have a good English dictionary such as the Oxford Concise. The University of Leicester is an English university and you should therefore use English spelling, not American.
7. References
All students should know that any reference to the words or ideas of another person's writing and ideas must be duly referenced. See:
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/sd/ld/resources/study/avoiding-plagiarism?searchterm=help%20with%20plagiarism
for the University of Leicester's policies on plagiarism and referencing. When a marker comments on 'referencing', please read U of Leicester's policies on this subject to clarify what you must do. I am also available to assist any student who is confused on this point. I would also strongly suggest that any student who had failed to pass their MSL/MSc thesis or an assignment because of a "referencing problem" should reread the material at the addy (http address) above and contact me.
Additionally, students should go to this addy:
http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/harvard.html
to find out exactly how Harvard style referencing works. I can assist students with more specific inquiries. Please note that the style must be done precisely as it is illustrated on that page. Your bibliography will still be in alpha-order at the end of your assignment. The word count on your bibliography never counts in the overall accepted size of your paper.
I also suggest that students use the U of Leicester's free bibliography formatting tool, Refworks, available here:
http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/refworks.html
This tool will be very helpful when you need to format your bibliography for your thesis.
Take care, until next time,
KB
1. Always reread your assignments
Of course, you are tired when you hand in an assignment. You are also probably very sick of looking at your work. However, you must re-read it before submitting it. Careless mistakes, especially in opening titles and headers, create a bad impression. Your submission, that you have just laboured over, is worth a final re read and edit. Do this and get better grades...automatically.
2. Always paginate
If a marker gets lost when reading your assignment because it isn't paginated, you have a major problem. A lost marker is a cross marker and you don't want a marker who is cross reading your papers and grading them. It takes a few minutes to paginate your assignment; it takes the same amount of time for a marker to get lost when marking your assignment and conclude that your assignment is too disorganized to pass.
It should be easy for anyone to get from the top of page one to the bottom of page three in your assignment. Sometimes, students have the mistaken impression that a lost marker will give up trying to find the point of your assignment and simply assign you a passing grade. This might have happened at some point before university; this won't happen in your MBA/MSc. If a marker can't read or find the cogent points in your assignment, they won't stop looking and pass you just because they like you. If your assignment doesn't come up to scratch, you will simply fail. Don't fail because your assignment lost the tutor.
2. Make it legible.
Gone are the days, if they ever existed, when markers cheerfully give up trying to read your illegible writing and give you a passing grade. Markers must find the relevant points to give you the marks you deserve. So, if you know your handwriting is poor, do something about it. In fact, make every effort to make your handwriting neat and easily legible. If you can't, then always use printing instead of cursive writing for your assignments and exams.
3. Fix your grammar
If you have a problem with this, ask for help. There are excellent manuals and books to assist you to fix grammar problems. Don't suffer in silence! Poor grammar leaves a bad impression in any assignment. Never be too embarrassed to fix your problems!
Good grammar is a building block of excellent writing. When you have good grammar, you can state your points clearly every time. I caution students not to rely on the grammar checkers in word processing software alone. Buy manuals and grammar books. Get other people to read your assignments and look for grammar errors (make sure their grammar is excellent of course).
4. Stick with the question that was asked
If a marker can't understand the points you're making, then they can't give you credit for your work. One of the most common mistakes in both assignments and exams is not answering the question that was assigned. Frequently, students DO know the answer to the actual question but think - for some reason - that an argument that is unique and different will be more interesting than answering the question that was actually asked. Nothing could be further from the truth! Markers can only give credit to answers that really stick with the questions that were asked in the first place.
Sometimes, students don't understand the question. In an effort to find the correct answer, they go off on several tangents hoping one will be the correct answer. It is better to spend your time analyzing the question and finding the correct answer the first time. Look in Blackboard to see what other students are saying about the assignment. Start a thread and ask the module tutor relevant questions to find out what the question actually says. Then you will have more confidence in your answer. Confidence also equals concentration. This concentration means what you write is on target. Thus, you will get better grades when you understand what you are doing from the outset.
5. Organize the material in your answer carefully
When a module tutor provides you with an order to use in your assignment, use it. Don't feel you must be original and hide the points you are trying to make. Markers like assignments that make the main points clearly. Don't hide your main points inside large swatches of unrelated data.
I advise all students to use an outline. In an outline, you can see how your argument develops without actually committing pen to paper. Moreover, you can reorganize your argument by reordering your quotations. This helps you to build a stronger argument step-by-step. While it is true that some arguments unfold easily, it is much easier to revise an outline than to revise a full-length paper.
If the tutor has provided a set of questions, use these questions to predetermine the order inside your paper. After all, why make it harder to write your paper? Additionally, markers will be looking for these points when they assign a grade to your paper. Why make your life harder?
6. Spell check
Use your spell checker. Don't rely just on the one taht comes with your word processing software. Read over your work to make sure you used the correct version of words with several meanings that sound the same but are spelled differently such as there/their/they're. Always, always check your spelling! Never hand in any work that is not spell checked. It takes a few minutes to check your work. It may take a complete rewrite to fix a paper that is filled with spelling errors and detract from the argument you have made. Don't take a chance with any assignment, spell check it every time. Do not fail to have a good English dictionary such as the Oxford Concise. The University of Leicester is an English university and you should therefore use English spelling, not American.
7. References
All students should know that any reference to the words or ideas of another person's writing and ideas must be duly referenced. See:
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/sd/ld/resources/study/avoiding-plagiarism?searchterm=help%20with%20plagiarism
for the University of Leicester's policies on plagiarism and referencing. When a marker comments on 'referencing', please read U of Leicester's policies on this subject to clarify what you must do. I am also available to assist any student who is confused on this point. I would also strongly suggest that any student who had failed to pass their MSL/MSc thesis or an assignment because of a "referencing problem" should reread the material at the addy (http address) above and contact me.
Additionally, students should go to this addy:
http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/harvard.html
to find out exactly how Harvard style referencing works. I can assist students with more specific inquiries. Please note that the style must be done precisely as it is illustrated on that page. Your bibliography will still be in alpha-order at the end of your assignment. The word count on your bibliography never counts in the overall accepted size of your paper.
I also suggest that students use the U of Leicester's free bibliography formatting tool, Refworks, available here:
http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/refworks.html
This tool will be very helpful when you need to format your bibliography for your thesis.
Take care, until next time,
KB
Friday, September 24, 2010
More on Memory Tricks for Exams
How do we retain information so that we can be successful on an exam? This is a problem all students, to a greater or lesser extent, face. If, as I've suggested in previous posts, you spend your time leading up to the exam repeating the information in the module texts you have already worked on one obstacle. Repetition has been shown to be a successful strategy for students. It is better, testing demonstrates, to use your time taking short breaks every hour and go over the material several times. While intensive study over long periods is better than no study at all, it is not as effective as shorter periods with more repetition in terms of memory and retention.
However, in addition to breaking up the material, you can organize the module materials. This will help you remember hard to remember information. How does this work? There are 5 strategies you should keep in mind (see Schonwetter & Walker (2002), "Success Secrets of University Students", 157.) These strategies are: chunking, mnemonics, selecting out the main ideas, defining hierarchies and integrating.
Chunking is "grouping of words or ideas into categories that reflect some common element". (ibid.) For example, if you are were studying dogs, you would divide the module into types of dogs that have some common element such as herding dogs or hunting dogs. The same principle applies to management or even accounting.
Mnemonics is a learning strategy that relies on using a word cue that uses the first letter of every word to remember the names of a group of inter-related ideas. For example, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is a popular way to remember the notes of the treble clef in Music.
There are many examples of students using mnemonics in many subjects. This memory device goes all the way back to the Ancient Greeks. If you have used memonics to help learn a concept, it might might be interesting to post these ideas to this blog and we can compare them.
The next concept, selecting the main idea, is way to remember complex inter-related ideas. These ideas can often be found in the chapter headings or summaries of your text to find these concepts. Linking ideas through empirical concepts in the material allows you to remember large chunks of information that you find difficult to remember.
Let's look at another method of remember information, creating a hierarchy. When you define a hierarchy of material from the text, you put material together in large groups. Often, the textbook shows students the hierarchical order within the module subject. For example, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is just one motivational theory. When you look closely at the textbook, you can find other theories. You can map these theories on a piece of paper while you are studying to see how these these theories are inter-related.
Finally, you can integrate the new material into a larger view of the subject from your previous studies. New material fits into previously learned concepts and ideas. This is even more meaningful if your practical experience in the field, for example working as a marketer after learning marketing in school, has helped you integrate your original ideas with practical experience in a subject.
That's it until next time. Keep learning.
KB
However, in addition to breaking up the material, you can organize the module materials. This will help you remember hard to remember information. How does this work? There are 5 strategies you should keep in mind (see Schonwetter & Walker (2002), "Success Secrets of University Students", 157.) These strategies are: chunking, mnemonics, selecting out the main ideas, defining hierarchies and integrating.
Chunking is "grouping of words or ideas into categories that reflect some common element". (ibid.) For example, if you are were studying dogs, you would divide the module into types of dogs that have some common element such as herding dogs or hunting dogs. The same principle applies to management or even accounting.
Mnemonics is a learning strategy that relies on using a word cue that uses the first letter of every word to remember the names of a group of inter-related ideas. For example, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is a popular way to remember the notes of the treble clef in Music.
There are many examples of students using mnemonics in many subjects. This memory device goes all the way back to the Ancient Greeks. If you have used memonics to help learn a concept, it might might be interesting to post these ideas to this blog and we can compare them.
The next concept, selecting the main idea, is way to remember complex inter-related ideas. These ideas can often be found in the chapter headings or summaries of your text to find these concepts. Linking ideas through empirical concepts in the material allows you to remember large chunks of information that you find difficult to remember.
Let's look at another method of remember information, creating a hierarchy. When you define a hierarchy of material from the text, you put material together in large groups. Often, the textbook shows students the hierarchical order within the module subject. For example, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is just one motivational theory. When you look closely at the textbook, you can find other theories. You can map these theories on a piece of paper while you are studying to see how these these theories are inter-related.
Finally, you can integrate the new material into a larger view of the subject from your previous studies. New material fits into previously learned concepts and ideas. This is even more meaningful if your practical experience in the field, for example working as a marketer after learning marketing in school, has helped you integrate your original ideas with practical experience in a subject.
That's it until next time. Keep learning.
KB
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Studying and Memory: Part 2
"Studying is defined as the active processing of information that involves attending, acquiring, organizing and integrating information into memory."
I left you with the above quotation in my last post. Let's look at what Schonwetter is really saying in this quotation. Attending, as I would describe it, is asking relevant questions and reading class materials when you are in class. If you do not do this in a first reading of the materials, you will need to do it later when you finally do read the text. Obviously, if you don't know what the text means or understand terminology, you need to either get an explanation from the module tutor or find out some other way. If the material you study is only half-understood, it will make a great difference in the exam outcome. Module tutors are there to explain terminology but sometimes a student must go further when they do not have the background in a subject. Sometimes, basic texts from undergraduate studies must be taken out and reviewed to ensure that you know all the basics in a particular subject - say for example Finance - if it has been many years since you first studied this subject.
Acquiring is a process that involves planning and taking the time to review all your materials. This includes going through your text, highlighting headings and important terminology which you may have to commit to memory. As discussed in previous postings, you need to use effective time planning skills to ensure that you allow yourself enough time to review your text more than once.
SQR3 is part of this. This is a short form which describes the study cycle. It stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. Exam rehearsal strategies are also helpful. When you are in the exam, let's say you need to cover three subject areas in a relatively tight time frame. Pacing is important here. It will help if you write a short outline covering the major points of the question. Straying from the question that is being asked and providing large swatches of irrelevant information is going to slow you down. Not to mention that markers will only give you marks for answering the question. They will not give you marks if you write around the question. This is why an outline can be helpful and make you stay on target.
Effective studying should make the exam clearer. Obviously, you are wasting your time and the marker's time if you write a lot on an exam question that you don't really understand and ignore a question that you really do understand. In fact, sometimes while you are planning how to write on the question you do know, you may find that you suddenly understand the other question you didn't understand. What I mean here is don't waste you time in the exam. Plan what you are going to write, write as much as you can on subjects you really DO understand before attempting a question you are unsure of.
The next post is going to be about organizing material for the exam so that you will be able to commit it to memory.
I left you with the above quotation in my last post. Let's look at what Schonwetter is really saying in this quotation. Attending, as I would describe it, is asking relevant questions and reading class materials when you are in class. If you do not do this in a first reading of the materials, you will need to do it later when you finally do read the text. Obviously, if you don't know what the text means or understand terminology, you need to either get an explanation from the module tutor or find out some other way. If the material you study is only half-understood, it will make a great difference in the exam outcome. Module tutors are there to explain terminology but sometimes a student must go further when they do not have the background in a subject. Sometimes, basic texts from undergraduate studies must be taken out and reviewed to ensure that you know all the basics in a particular subject - say for example Finance - if it has been many years since you first studied this subject.
Acquiring is a process that involves planning and taking the time to review all your materials. This includes going through your text, highlighting headings and important terminology which you may have to commit to memory. As discussed in previous postings, you need to use effective time planning skills to ensure that you allow yourself enough time to review your text more than once.
SQR3 is part of this. This is a short form which describes the study cycle. It stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. Exam rehearsal strategies are also helpful. When you are in the exam, let's say you need to cover three subject areas in a relatively tight time frame. Pacing is important here. It will help if you write a short outline covering the major points of the question. Straying from the question that is being asked and providing large swatches of irrelevant information is going to slow you down. Not to mention that markers will only give you marks for answering the question. They will not give you marks if you write around the question. This is why an outline can be helpful and make you stay on target.
Effective studying should make the exam clearer. Obviously, you are wasting your time and the marker's time if you write a lot on an exam question that you don't really understand and ignore a question that you really do understand. In fact, sometimes while you are planning how to write on the question you do know, you may find that you suddenly understand the other question you didn't understand. What I mean here is don't waste you time in the exam. Plan what you are going to write, write as much as you can on subjects you really DO understand before attempting a question you are unsure of.
The next post is going to be about organizing material for the exam so that you will be able to commit it to memory.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Studying and Memory : Part 1
Over the last few posts, I have been discussing how to plan out your study time. Time management is a key to exam success. I also discussed that the exams at U of Leicester are comprehensive and that students, unless instructed otherwise specifically by the module tutor, should review all of their module materials for their upcoming exams. My posting in January of this year discussed how to read your course materials to get the most out of them - most specifically how to use Bloom's Taxonomy to ask important questions about textual materials as you learn.
I have mentioned that keeping pace with the course readings while you first study the course is a good idea. There are two reasons for this. One, you can direct questions on course materials to the module tutor via Blackboard while the course is actually taking place. Second, the more times you review course materials the better chance you have that you will actually retain these materials for the exam. The two-for-one rule, that is studying two hours for every hour of classroom time is harder for distance students to follow. It is also difficult for students to use distributed practice. Distributed practice is when, rather than studying for three hours in one block of time, a student reviews this same material over three nights for one hour each night. Research on education has shown that students who do this, rather than study in long blocks of time, retain more information.
It is tempting, especially when there is no formal classroom time, to leave the bigger job of reading and reviewing texts until exam time. It is also tempting to do this studying in large chunks of time, rather than reviewing it over the course of a number of days. This almost guarantees that a student will not remember the information they need for the exam. Remembering vital information is a problem that plagues many students working on their exams. If students, at the very least, have already reviewed their text once and asked important questions as they arose on Blackboard, they can feel more comfortable with the materials in the text before they even begin the process of studying.
However, I'd like to look at ways, over the next few postings, that students can retain more information when it comes to exam day. I'd like to leave you with a thought from Schonwetter & Walker regarding exams:
"Studying is defined as the active processing of information that involves attending, acquiring, organizing and integrating information into memory."
Schonwetter & Walker (2005) . Success Secrets of University Students. Prentice-Hall: Toronto, 156.
I have mentioned that keeping pace with the course readings while you first study the course is a good idea. There are two reasons for this. One, you can direct questions on course materials to the module tutor via Blackboard while the course is actually taking place. Second, the more times you review course materials the better chance you have that you will actually retain these materials for the exam. The two-for-one rule, that is studying two hours for every hour of classroom time is harder for distance students to follow. It is also difficult for students to use distributed practice. Distributed practice is when, rather than studying for three hours in one block of time, a student reviews this same material over three nights for one hour each night. Research on education has shown that students who do this, rather than study in long blocks of time, retain more information.
It is tempting, especially when there is no formal classroom time, to leave the bigger job of reading and reviewing texts until exam time. It is also tempting to do this studying in large chunks of time, rather than reviewing it over the course of a number of days. This almost guarantees that a student will not remember the information they need for the exam. Remembering vital information is a problem that plagues many students working on their exams. If students, at the very least, have already reviewed their text once and asked important questions as they arose on Blackboard, they can feel more comfortable with the materials in the text before they even begin the process of studying.
However, I'd like to look at ways, over the next few postings, that students can retain more information when it comes to exam day. I'd like to leave you with a thought from Schonwetter & Walker regarding exams:
"Studying is defined as the active processing of information that involves attending, acquiring, organizing and integrating information into memory."
Schonwetter & Walker (2005) . Success Secrets of University Students. Prentice-Hall: Toronto, 156.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
