Getting Your Assignment Right
What It Means
Many students end up getting lower grades on assignments because they fail to consult their syllabi for crucial deadlines and instructions. Here are some tips to help you avoid some common mistakes.
How to Do It
- Listen to (or read) the directions carefully.
- Clarify what is required to complete an assignment.
- Know your due dates and stay on schedule.
- Do the best work you can do.
Who Can Help
It's your responsibility to read directions, ensure that you've fully understood the requirements of the assignment, stay on task, and turn in high-quality work. However, if you're having problems completing tasks, your professor or mentor can help direct you to resources on campus that can help you improve your skills and provide academic support
Strategies for Success
Listen to (or Read) the Directions Carefully
When an assignment is given in class, listen carefully and write down the instructions and details of the assignment. Here’s a tip: For a complicated or involved assignment, break it into smaller, more manageable steps.
Clarify What is Required to Complete an Assignment
The best time to ask questions is right when the assignment is given. If the professor does not allow time in class for questions, make sure you visit her during office hours as soon as possible after receiving the assignment and ask questions until you clearly understand all the tasks that are required of you. The same rule applies to vocabulary the professor or mentor uses when giving an assignment. If you don’t understand the directions for an assignment, ask questions!
Know Your Due Dates and Stay on Schedule
The syllabus is your most important resource for keeping track of due dates. Keep a copy of each class’s syllabus with you when you study, and check each syllabus regularly to make sure you are on schedule. Highlight major due dates on your syllabus so you'll have an idea about how to budget your time over the term. If you have an electronic calendar that you check frequently, add important due dates to it and set the reminder function to help you stay on task.
One way to budget time wisely is to create a “backwards calendar.” Get a date book or planner and write down the due dates for assignments. Now work backwards. How long will it take you to realistically complete each step in the assignment? If the first step is doing library research, then set a date when you need to have all that information completed. If you know you will need to have a draft of your paper reviewed by someone in PSU writing center, make an appointment (go to writingcenter.pdx.edu and click on the “Schedule Now”) as soon as you can. You should meet with writing center staff at least one week before your paper is due so you'll have time to make the necessary revisions. Start crossing dates off on your backward calendar as you work on each step of an assignment. Cross due dates off as you turn each assignment in.
Do the Best Work You Can Do
Check each assignment carefully before you turn it in to make sure every detail in the assignment is complete and that the work reflects your best effort. Make sure to compete all the supplemental reading or extra credit assignments that are offered. Even if you're doing well or anticipate doing well in the class, take any opportunity to do extra credit assignments that are offered. Here's another tip: It's often easier to do extra-credit assignments in the beginning of a course, when you typically have more time, then it is to try to squeeze them in at the end of the course when you'll have competing demands from your other courses.
Paying attention to assignment directions and making sure you understand what's expected of you will go a long way toward helping you earn good grades. One last tip: If you're absent and miss an in-class exercise, reflection, or quiz, when you return to class ask the instructor how you can make up the assignment. And if you know you'll be absent ahead of time, e-mail your professor in advance and ask him how you can make up your absence. Doing this will allow you to schedule any make-up work right into your backwards calendar.
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