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Assignment support

Understand your task

Begin by clarifying the assessment requirements. Read the assignment instructions and marking criteria supplied on your course site. The video below explains more about writing assignments at university.

Video length: 2 min 45 sec.

  • Doing an assignment isn't a linear process.
  • Start by reading the task in detail, so you know what you need to do.
  • The assignment instructions and feedback sheet will explain the structure of your assignment.
  • You can find out more about different assignment types on the Study Help website.
  • You might need to revise your assignment plan as you go - this might happen a few times before you write your final draft!
  • As you read more, your argument should evolve to incorporate new information.
  • Make sure you use reliable resources to support your argument.
  • To interpret your task you will need to identify the content words and phrases - these show what you have to focus on.
  • The instruction words tell you how to approach the content, for example, describing something is different to comparing.
  • Identify the limits of your assignment by looking at keywords, word limits and other instructions.
  • Start the process early to get ahead.

Search strategy

Planning your search will save you time and is the key to getting the most out of your search results. See the Plan your search page of this guide for detailed information.

See the Find information page of this guide for an overview of where to search and how to search in the Library Collection and Google Scholar. The page also contains guidance on finding company and industry information, news media and statistics, as well as a list of business, finance and accounting focused databases.

You can find further introductory information about searching in the Library research skills guide:

Group Facilitation

"What does a facilitator do?" (2 min 59 sec) In Meeting Facilitation. 

Please log into LinkedIn Learning with your UniSA login details to access full series content.

Watch the video (4 min 25 sec) below to help you understand facilitation.

Check out these videos on leadership

Prepare your presentation

Resources for creating and improving your PowerPoint presentation.

Prepare and conduct your interview

See the resources below to help you prepare and conduct a research interview:

STEEPLED analysis

In your assignment you must consider the external environment which affects organisational policy. You can consider some external factors from the table below, using the STEEPLED analysis.

Field

Some examples of key drivers for SHRM strategy

Socio-cultural Social characteristics & geographical distribution, working population, cultural groups, education & training, religion, social values & beliefs
Technological Information & communication technologies, biotechnology, medical advances, nanotechnology, robotics, technological change, research & development
Economic Macro-economic policy, markets & prices, price levels, global trends, market structures, size of firms, profits, public spending, taxation, consumption & investment spending, wages & salaries, public services, imports & exports, exchange rates, balance of payments, employment & unemployment, labour & capital markets
Environmental Global warming, conserving natural resources, sustainable development, pollution, carbon footprints, protecting the eco-environment
Political Party politics, government, opposition, public administration, public policy, local government, pressure groups, public opinion, international organisations
Legal Laws: employment, health & safety, consumer protection, company, codes of practice, regulatory bodies, the legal system & the courts
Ethical Balancing stakeholder interests, ethical: business/workplace relations; production; consumption; purchasing. Employee welfare, human rights, corporate social responsibility
Demographic Demography by size, age, gender, ethnicity, social background

Performance appraisal

This section provides resources on performance appraisal, including definitions and overviews, objectives, trends, effectiveness debates, and methods.

 

Read the following ebook for an introduction/overview of the topic:

In the video below, several traditional and modern performance appraisal methods are discussed.

Video length: 18 min 1 sec

Effectiveness at work 

The additional resources in this section also discuss each modern method of performance appraisal.

Behaviourally anchored rating scale 

Video length: 7 min 5 sec

This video includes an explanation of the Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS), a measure that is used to rate employee performance.

Human Resource Accounting Method

Management by Objectives

Psychological Appraisal

Ratings Scale

Self-evaluation

Writing your assignment

Now that you have your information, it's time to get started writing your assignment. Please visit your Course Outline for details, for example, if specific templates are provided for you to use. This section will help you build your skills in writing reflectively, report writing, preparing oral presentations and discussions, essay writing, and working in teams.

This video on report writing (2 min 53 sec) will help you learn how to write a report:

An executive summary is often one of the most read parts of a report.

  • It is a brief summary of the overall report.
  • It appears at the start of the report; however, it should be written last, once the report has been finished.
  • It needs to be concise, providing a commentary on the main points of the report.

Watch LinkedIn Learning videos for tips on writing an executive summary. 

Note: You will need to login using your UniSA credentials to view videos on LinkedIn.

The resources below can assist with understanding reflective writing practice. 

The following videos from LinkedIn Learning provide tips for presentations (requires UniSA login): 

The below resources may also be of use: 

Watch the below video and have a look at this Study Help guide (PDF, 302 KB) on writing an essay. 

Video length: 2 min 27 sec

For more help on writing essays, see the resources available in the UniSA Study Help Hub:

Select appropriate references

While you are finding references, you need to think about whether they are appropriate to use in your assignment. You may be asked to use scholarly or peer-reviewed material to support your arguments. 

You should evaluate all resources before including them in your assignment - even if you found them through the Library Collection or databases.

Research versus review articles

It is important to understand the distinction between two common types of scholarly articles.

Research articles demonstrate original research and are referred to as primary sources. Review articles, on the other hand, synthesise and analyse current primary research in a specific subject area. Review articles, including literature reviews, systematic reviews, etc, are referred to as secondary sources.

You may be required for your assignments to focus on one or both types of articles.

More help

Artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to machines or computer systems capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence. AI underpins many tools, with examples including web search engines, predictive text, recommendation systems such as those used by Netflix or Spotify, and navigation apps such as Google Maps.

AI tools are constantly evolving. Please refer to the Course Outline or contact your course coordinator for information about the use of AI in assessments and Academic Integrity.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) uses algorithms to generate content (e.g. text or images) in response to a prompt. GenAI tools and apps may help you brainstorm, understand key concepts, or help to improve the clarity of your writing but, before you use them, it is important to understand their risks and limitations. 

This short video by UniSA Online outlines what Generative AI is and considerations for using it in academic study.

Video length: 5 min 38 sec.

Prompt engineering

Prompt engineering is the process of formulating what you enter into a GenAI tool and affects the response that you get from it. The UniSA Teaching Innovation Unit's guide to AI for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education has some information on how to structure a prompt.

Resources for using AI tools for study