LibGuides: Library Essentials: Assignment/Learning Essentials

Before starting an assignment, understand the deliverables

Deadline?

Relative Value (McAdoo, 2015)

Enough time?

Marked your calendar?

Plan time well to prevent last-minute crams

Any clashes with other tasks?

Spend more time on assignments with higher grade weightage

Prioritise and manage your time

Assignment requirements?

For groupwork

Understand what is expected

Clarify doubts with your professor so that

Waste of time in correction of errors can be avoided

Set up a collaboration and file-sharing platform (e.g. Google Docs)

Plan schedules with your groupmates

Make sure that the workload is allocated fairly beforehand

When doing your assignment, note the following depending on the nature of your assignment

Apart from your lecture notes, your module will include readings (compulsory and supplementary)

The lecture notes and readings provide background information to do your assignment sufficiently
The more you know about your topic, the better you will be able to write knowledgably about it!
Where do you find the uploaded readings? Two places - LumiNUS and RBR

Online Readings

Print Readings

Lecture notes
Digitised book chapters
Scanned pages
Journal articles
Links to readings

You can find them in LumiNUS under your module's Library Resources.

Or under Description or Readings.

Another name for Library Resources is e-reserves!

Click image below for more info

Compulsory textbook(s)
Supplementary readings
Check module reading list
Available on a 2-hour loan

You can search your module code via the library search engine.

RBR is a section located at the library.

And stands for Reserve Books and Readings.

Click image below for more info

Assignments and homework: Understand how your assignment content can be derived

Research-based

Problem-solving

E.g. Research projects, mini-essays

Heavily dependent on topic choice

Do you get to choose your topic?

Reliant on research done by others

E.g. Close-ended short problems

More bounded than research-based

Focus on skills taught e.g. lab workflow

Lecture notes and readings may suffice!

Your assignment may include elements of both research and problem-solving e.g. proposing a solution for a case study.

Is your topic decided in the assignment requirement or up to you to develop and scope?

Topic is set - refer to Assigned Readings and Writing Assignment.

Topic is to be developed - is your topic researchable?

It is important to choose a topic that is researchable
There will be nothing to support your points if there is no literature on it
e.g. if you would like to write about lampshades, but a Google Scholar search yields 0 scholarly articles.
The video below will illustrate

Limited by Assignment Requirements

Make sure that your topic fits your assignment requirements.
Make sure the topic scope you choose allows you enough time to develop and complete a quality assignment
If you are unsure, check with your professor.
You could ask after class or drop an email!

Interesting to You

Choose a topic that you find meaningful or draws your interest in some ways
The writing process will be made much easier because you are learning about something that interests you personally!

Need more rigorous information on finding a research topic? Contact us at askalib@nus.edu.sg

You need to support your assignment work with scholarly sources too. Why is it important?

Assigned readings only give one aspect i.e. the lecturer's chosen perspectives on the topic.
You want to demonstrate that your assignment is of good quality and well-informed.
Research from a comprehensive variety of sources other than given readings to provide a wider range of perspectives on the topic.
Support your arguments or points with extra readings to show that you have done a thorough investigation of the topic!
Sources that are not scholarly may be unreliable sources.

Some Recommended Starting Points to Find More Full-Text Scholarly Sources

FindMore. Watch this video to learn more about using FindMore.
Google Scholar.You will find Proxy Bookmarklet and FindIt!@NUS tools very useful.
Scopus. This is an indexed database. Watch this video to learn more about Scopus.

Some effective research tools you will find VERY USEFUL for your searching process, in order of common use and simplicity:

Have you selected the best information to cite in your assignment?

Too much information?
Don't know which ones are best to cite in your assignment?
The CRAAP Test can help you think critically about the information you come across and select only the best information to use.

For more on evaluating information using the CRAAP method, watch the video below:

This work by Lisette Blanco-Cerda is licensed under a CC BY NC SA 4.0 International License

Are you citing all materials used?

Using a software like Zoterobib can help. It helps to
- Create a bibliography or reference list
- Generate in-text citations
- No installation required - just go to zbib.org!
To see importance of citing in avoiding plagiarism, click here

Zoterobib Library Guide: https://libguides.nus.edu.sg/c.php?g=145733&p=6113826