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.
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:
The resources below can assist with understanding reflective writing practice.
Watch this short video (2 min 53 sec) below for tips on how to write a report.
Case studies are descriptions of situations which you will likely encounter within your chosen discipline. They may be presented as essays, reports or in specific templates provided to you so you will need to carefully analyse the task you have been given and look at the particular requirements of your assignment.
The Study Help site has useful resources for your studies.
The Study Help guide has information on writing academic essays.
Tip: These resources are designed to provide a general overview of academic writing and writing styles. Please refer to your course assessment tab for more resources to support your assessment.
Attend online academic skills workshops
The Student Engagement Unit is offering free online academic skills workshops which are designed to help you understand assignment types, assignment writing, and referencing.
See the Study Help site for more details, including dates and times for sessions.
Critical thinking is an essential part of a scholarly approach to learning. It involves analysing and questioning information you receive to arrive at logical, well-reasoned conclusions.
The following resources will assist you in understanding and developing your critical thinking and analysing skills needed for your assignment.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.