Types of assignments

Types of assignments

                                                         

Types of assignments

Assignment types

 Essays

An essay is a piece of writing on a specific subject, topic or issue. Essays are made up of the following:

• Introduction -

 Essays always begin with an introduction, which says what you will be talking about, how you will talk about it, and what you will show in the essay (your thesis).

• Body –

 Where you discuss your main points. This means introducing your point, explaining it, and giving supporting evidence about your point and how it relates to your thesis.

• Conclusion – 

This is where you restate your introduction – the subject, the main points, and the thesis.

Reports

Reports generally involve presenting your investigation and analysis of information or an issue, recommending actions and making proposals. There are many different types, including:

• Business reports, which provide information that someone needs to help them make decisions.
• Scientific and research reports, which provide information on something that was done, such as some research. Their purpose is to describe, analyze and evaluates what was learned

When writing a report, always keep the reader in mind. You want them to agree with your report and/or act upon it. They need to:

• be clear, concise and easy to understand
• be correct (both the contents and the English must be correct)
• have a clear recognizable structure or format, so that they are easy to understand
• be believable.

Structuring a report

All reports have a similar structure, but some details may differ. How they differ usually depends on:

• The type of report (for example, whether it's a research report, laboratory report, business report or investigative report).
• How formal the report has to be.
• The length of the report.

Depending on the type of report, the structure can include:

• A title page.
• Executive summary.
• Contents.
• An introduction.
• Terms of reference.
• Procedure.
• Findings.
• Conclusions.
• Recommendations.
• References/Bibliography.
• Appendices.

Case studies

A case study is an in-depth investigation conducted over a given length of time. They are used to collect and present detailed information about a person, group or situation, to try to understand what has happened and why, or to analyze the situation to solve a problem. A case study has a number of different phases:

• Identifying the problem or issue.
• Linking theory to real life.
• Research, including interviews and/or role play.
• Analysis of the information.
• Deciding on a solution or reach a conclusion(s).
• Justifying your conclusion(s).
• Making recommendations.
• Outlining how the recommendations can be implemented.

Writing a case study

A written case study is usually made up of some, or all, of the following parts:

• An executive summary / abstract / overview.
• Introduction / background.
• Discussion, including the methods used.
• Findings.
• Conclusion.
• Recommendations.
• Implementation.
• References.
• Appendices (if relevant).

Abstracts

An abstract is a short summary of an academic article, thesis, conference presentation or an in-depth research paper. The aim of an abstract is to provide a brief overview of the purpose of the paper. The terms précis or synopsis are sometimes used instead of abstract.

An abstract usually contains:

• a brief problem statement, i.e. the objective
• an outline of the method(s) or approach followed
• the results or findings of the investigation
• the implications of what was found, and
• a conclusion(s).

 Annotated bibliographies

An annotated bibliography is a list of resources, including books, articles and documents. Each entry is followed by a concise summary and evaluation of the resource, i.e. the annotation.

For more information on bibliographies:

Reviews

A review is an evaluation of a publication, project or a collection of literature on a specific topic. Reviews focus on the purpose of something, and whether the purpose has been achieved. They summarize and synthesis arguments and ideas, but don't add new ideas. A review is similar to a critical analysis.

***********************

***********************