Study Skills Essentials: Oxford Graduates Reveal Their Study Tactics, Essay Secrets and Exam Advice by Patrick McMurray

Author:Patrick McMurray
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780956845610
Publisher: Patrick McMurray

Coursework: How to write a longer piece of work

Choose your question carefully so that you can use that material for the exam and so that a good answer will really impress.

Find out what they want to see (Chapter 1).

Beat procrastination: create momentum by doing just a little bit of the work required, and by breaking it down into smaller chunks (See Chapter 3).

Think about how you would answer the question before doing any of the reading. This forces you to consider what you actually know about the issue as it stands. It also forces you to look closely at the question, and particularly at its wording, which is of critical importance.

Get an overview so that you have some idea where you are going. Use a very simple textbook, Wikipedia, Google, or even children’s books to do this.

Create a Master Document (See Chapter 4): Write the question you are trying to answer at the top. This will save you time by focussing your efforts on actually answering the question at hand.

Carefully choose a book you can get detailed notes from: These notes will provide the basic framework of your notes on this topic (your “Master Document”), and can then be supplemented by other reading. Use Amazon and Google to find the best book to use for your framework notes. Take these notes effectively as described in (Chapter 4). Remember to reference where you have got these notes from so that you don’t get them confused with later additions.

Take the time to understand your framework notes: Actually knowing and understanding the material you already have will mean that you don’t waste time covering the same ground later on. You will need to actually understand this material in order to answer the question anyway, so it’s vital that to begin the process of understanding as early as possible.

Slot in other notes from further reading, lectures, etc. Synthesise these notes with your main notes in your “Master Document”. Think about them and how they apply to the question as you are going along.

Use book reviews: They may save you reading the book itself, as they often summarise its key points. Crucially they are usually written by someone who knows a lot about that topic, which can really put the whole issue into context for you. You can usually find them in journals.

Blitz a few indexes: Towards the end of the writing process get hold of a few books and just totally blitz a few of their indexes. You’re not looking to follow their entire arguments but rather just to get a few good nuggets of information that you can use to decorate your work. Spend just half an hour finding juicy examples and details, and then another half hour integrating these new points.

Do your coursework well in advance: Often your best ideas take time to emerge. Leaving coursework to near the hand-in date will not allow your mind enough time to work on it.

Planning is key: Put your notes away and write the question on a blank sheet of paper.

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