Using critical thinking to make winning assignments

Okay, this week I want to using critical thinking to make winning assignments. Let's look at a sample question:

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
How can theories of motivation help us to motivate employees at a lower levels of the organization? (Use2 sources, 3,500 words, Double spaced, New Roman 12 pt font)

First, we need to understand what motivation theories we are going to discuss. Looking at our textbook, we find information on these theories:
a) Maslow's hierarchy of needs
b) Herzberg's two-factor theory
c) Expectancy theory

We are not going to go through each theory in detail. However, we will briefly look at how you might take ideas from Maslow (the hierarchy of needs) to begin to frame a discussion of motivation and low-level employees in an organization. You can follow the same pattern with any of the other motivational theories when you write out an assignment question.

In this assignment, the module tutor wants to read about your analysis and your ideas, not ideas you've found on the internet. Second hand opinions found in discussions on Maslow on the internet may look slickly written when you are having difficulty formulating your own opinions, but they are unoriginal and show that you haven't thought about the question deeply. The questions, such as the one above, are written so that you can draw on your own experience to back up arguments on motivational theory.

To begin the process of thinking deeply on this question, you should read your OB text to find the motivational theories you're going to use in your discussion. This will help you formulate ideas about how, to give one example, Maslow's theories could be used to motivate low-level employees in an organization.

Let's consider Maslow. Maslow develops a hierarchy of human needs beginning with simple needs such as food and shelter. At this level of the hierarchy, we can see that financial remuneration allows low-level employees in an organization to pay for their rent, food and other basic needs. Moving to the highest level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-actualization, we have to ask how the organization inspires low-level employees to (for example) get more education. Education and training helps employees to move from lower-level jobs to higher-level jobs. In writing about this, you need to consider how the organization might encourage employees to receive more education and training (or if this doesn't really happen).

I mentioned earlier that you are supposed to use critical thinking to back up your arguments. Using the example of Maslow's hierarchy of needs again, let's look at how you can structure a paragraph to make a critical argument that fulfills the needs of the topic.

Outline of a Paragraph Discussing the Use of Motivational Techniques on Low-level Employees in An Organization

Sentence 1 (Topic Sentence with Main Discussion Point) - Employees can satisfy the need for food and shelter, a basic need according to Maslow
Sentence 2 (Use of evidence to back up or disagree with the main point) - In Organization X (a fast food restaurant), the employees are all part-time and the salary could not be used to pay for their food and shelter
Sentence 3 (Analysis) - Because it is a part-time job, it is often difficult to get employees to come in for extra shifts because the job is not used to support them or pay for their rent.
Sentence 4 (More analysis) - When you were a manager at Organization X, you had difficulty filling all the shifts and found employees quit with little or no warning. This seemed to be because employees were not motivated at the most basic level to work for Organization X.

The question asks you to use 2 sources. Don't use the internet for this research. The University of Leicester has a Digital Library with good source materials that will help back up your arguments. Databases such as Business Source Premiere, JSTOR, Emerald Online and many others can assist you to find the kind of resources that your module tutors will expect to see cited within your assignments.

Until next time,

KB

Writing Around a Question on an Exam

In my posting of September 12, 2010 on exams, I mentioned that students "write around" a question on an exam. A student asked me in October for an example. This posting is an explanation of writing around the question.

Let's say that an exam asks you "to discuss how you would use motivation theory to inspire low-level employees in an organization." Furthermore, the question tells you that you will get 50% for writing on motivation theories or approaches and 50% for applying them to an explanation of how you will motivate low-level employees. This is a perfect scenario for a student, who is confused, to write around the question.

When a student writes around a question, there are usually two reasons. The first is, naturally that the student actually knows nothing about motivational theory. So, for their exam they write about motivating low-level employees, giving a lot of information, but don't relate it directly to any specific theory or approach. This means that the marker is faced with a lot of irrelevant information that is not directly related to theory. A student giving this response could not really pass. As far as the marker is concerned, the student has given no proof that they know any motivational theories as they have given no examples. In fact, the student may know motivational theories but may not understand that they should write specifically about them. Sadly, a marker cannot grade a student for anything but what they've written.

The second student understands all the theories but has no idea how to use them to discuss motivating actual employees. They give you a lot of information on the theories, but don't relate them to any actual example of how to motivate low-level employees. This student may pass, depending on whether or not they may have added any details that seem to be about motivating low-level employees, but they won't do well. If students want more information, I would be happy to write more on this subject in a future posting.

KB

Organizing Your Thoughts: Outlines Part 1

An outline is a useful tool for arranging an assignment before you commit pen to paper. Here are some strategies you can use to help develop an outline on your assignment topic:

1. Jot down your ideas for the paper. (This is a sketch outline at this stage.)
2. Look these ideas over and create a logical sequence.
3. Connect the ideas using a diagram or a flow chart. This chart should demonstrate the relationships between your ideas. I suggest planning each paragraph in your paper in the following 4 sentence structure:
a) Topic sentence - What is this paragraph about? What is the argument you are making?
b) Sentence 2 - What evidence do you have to back up your argument?
c) Sentence 3 - Explain how this evidence backs up your argument.
d) Sentence 4 - Finish your argument & link it to the next idea
4. Use transitional words to link ideas. (See next posting for more on transitions)
5. The next step is the creation of a working outline. A working outline:
a) Place ideas in order with major headings. For an assignment of roughly three pages, you should plan 3 paragraph per page. If you read all of your topic sentences, you will see if your argument is in order. Jewinski and Dodds suggest the following:
i) "Look for relationships among ideas and group them as subheadings under headings. Beware of shopping lists of topics.
ii) If you can't decide where to place an idea in your outline, put it in two or three places and see where it fits best.
iii) "If an important idea doesn't fit, write a new outline with a place for it."

Dodds, Jack and Judi Jewinski. The Ready Reference Book. (1998): 15.

In the near future I will discuss how to number the items in your outline.

Speaking to the Skills Tutor in Person

If you want to speak to the Skills Tutor in person, there are a few details you should know.

First, ask yourself what I can do for you right now using email. A phone call takes several days to set up, what do you need to move forward with your work right now? I can help with this.

You need to focus on a particular issue which we can discuss in more detail over the phone. So, think about your needs. Are you having problems with assignments, with time management, with exam stress, with writing or with thinking critically? These are just a few concerns students can have. To get more ideas, you might read my blog postings.

To be more specific, I usually speak to students using Skype. If you are fortunate enough to be in the UK, I can phone you directly on a UK landline. Otherwise, Skype is here:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home
You can get a free user account from Skype that we can use to speak together using Skype software and also see each other via webcam if you wish.

There are a few other things you should know.
1. All phone appointments are between 12:00 (Noon) PM UK/GMT and 11:00 PM UK/GMT
2. We need to have a topic to discuss.
3. Appointments are not on weekends unless I make a special arrangement with a student for a special reason.
4. The student must suggest an appointment time and date, three working days ahead. I will call at this time and 15 minutes later.
5. The student must get a notice from me verifying this appointment to which they must reply. I must then verify the time is set up. Without acknowledgments, we don't have an appointment.
6. I am always happy to call a UK landline.

I hope this makes the phone call process easier for all those who wish to speak with me.

KB

Getting Help from the Skills Tutor for Redone Assignments

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

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

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