Formatting and presenting your assignment correctly is important this page explains what this means and how to do it. Good presentation really is important: the reality is that before lecturers read assignments, they’ve already formed an initial impression based on appearance. Almost all assignments include marks for presentation – marks are given for aspects such as formatting and layout, word count, apa referencing, writing style, grammar and spelling. Here’s what you need to do:

before you start writing, find out what’s required

check your learning materials, the online course page, emails from your lecturer, and the assignment question your lecturer may have included guidelines for presenting your assignments in any or all of these places.

If you're studying a blended or online course and haven’t received any emails from your lecturer, check: 'my open polytechnic' on the online campus to make sure that we have your current email address. To subscribe to the forums, open your course page, click on ‘forums’, in the ‘activities’ block and then click on ‘subscribe to all forums’. Read the instructions, make quite sure you understand them and follow them exactly this isn’t the time to be creative. If you’re not clear about what’s required, ask: either post to a forum on the online course page or email your lecturer.

what if i'm not told what's required?

some lecturers assume that students will know how to present work of the required standard or quality and don’t give specific instructions. This short section should be written last, when the rest of the report has been completed. Its purpose is to summarise all the essential points of the report, including purpose, scope, methods, findings, conclusions and recommendations in the briefest possible way.

However, it should make sense when read in isolation, so should not be just a list of headings, or in note form. The recipient of the report should be able to conclude from the abstract whether it is worthwhile reading the whole of it. It should explain what the report is about ndash what is the question you are seeking to answer? why it has been written? if there is a specific client involved, state who they are. Give background information on the subject matter, particularly existing related research. What are the important themes in this subject area? explain the methods you are going to use to answer the task and justify your choice based on your literature review. If you have been asked to include a separate literature review and methodology then only briefly mention background and methods in an introduction.

literature review

the review is a critical evaluation of relevant past research. You must show insight and awareness of differing arguments and methodologies and how they relate to your investigation. You must identify research themes in the literature and or analyse papers according to alternative methodologies for comparison. What are the strengths and weaknesses in the research you are reviewing? where are the gaps in the research? a good literature review is comprehensive, critical, and informative. It should be written like an essay in a discursive style, with an introduction, main discussion grouped in themes and a conclusion demonstrating how your proposed study will contribute to the current literature.

Why did you use questionnaires or a particular type of experiment or particular sample size? include any techniques or equipment used. The length of this section depends on the type of research being undertaken, but the key point is that a reader should be able to replicate what you did from your description. You need to describe, analyse, interpret and evaluate the data you have found, do not just present raw data. Use graphs and illustrations where appropriate to enhance your presentation of particular points. If you have lots of results it is not necessary to list them all here, pick out the most important and use an appendix to present the rest. Make sure that you refer your reader to the results in the appendix at the appropriate point in the text. The conclusions you come to should substantiate the points made in the main text.

Any problems, weakness or flaws in your research should be acknowledged in this section. Locate recommendations here or in a separate section as shown below depending on the length and complexity of your report. This contains material referred to in the report, which would interrupt the flow if it were included in the main body of the text, but which may be useful for your reader to refer to. Examples include large amounts of statistical data or calculations, questionnaires that you have used, a glossary of technical terms, maps, etc. The university of plymouth has wrasse writing for assignments e library project which provides really useful examples as they are annotated to show why the reports are good. Use these examples as guides only, remember to be guided by your tutor or assignment brief as to the style and structure which you must use. Purdue university's online writing lab recommends brainstorming, organizing your ideas into one major argument, arranging supporting ideas in a logical order and then labeling them.

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These labels will help you organize your report in the proper format as you write your paper. You can use library catalogs and indexes to find books and magazines that might address these gaps. Nimitz library suggests taking these steps first because you will get stronger evidence than if you just went to the internet.

You will also need to keep a record of the bibliographic information of your sources. Even in a report format, you should include an attention grabbing statement at the beginning that will encourage your reader to take an interest. A thesis statement states your major argument and outlines what you will discuss or how you support this argument, according to red rocks community college.

Topic sentences, according to red rocks community college, introduce the point that will be discussed within that paragraph. You can use transition phrases to help smooth the jump between one paragraph and the next. These can be added to the topic sentence or to the last sentence of the preceding body paragraph. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence, supporting evidence your research and a connection to the major argument of your paper. This paragraph sums up the proof you have offered in the preceding body paragraphs and restates your main idea.

On a final piece of paper at the end of the report, you need to include your bibliography or list of works cited in the paper. This is important because it establishes credibility for the proof you have offered and gives credit to the people who have contributed ideas to your paper. Proofread your paper as the final step in ensuring you have followed the proper report format.

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Check for grammar and spelling errors, but also make sure each paragraph is dedicated to one supporting idea and that each supporting idea is connected to your main argument. One tip recommended by lr communication systems is to read your paper out loud you will naturally trip up on clumsy transitions or unrelated ideas.

typography

typography includes the size and style of type for a document. Larger sizes may be used for headings and titles, and smaller sizes may be used for footnotes and illustration call outs. As far as the styles of types, two main classifications exist: serif and sans serif.

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Which typestyle should you use 63 here, much depends on the situation, but a serif font of 12 points is generally accepted for the text portion of formal documents such as reports and correspondence. Why are serif typefaces generally used for the text 63 the reasons are historical as much as anything. For the headings and illustration call outs of documents, professionals use both serif and sans serif typefaces such as helvetica. One reason that professionals use sans serif typefaces for these situations is that they contrast nicely with the serif text. Another aspect of typography is the use of initial capitals in titles and headings.