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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.

Your 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 key databases and journals in the subject area, as well as other relevant resources. 

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

Critical thinking & analysis

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.

Writing your assignment

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. 

Watch this short video (2 min 53 sec) below for tips on how to write a report.

The resources below can assist with understanding reflective writing practice. 

Finding and using images

Images can be a great way to visually enhance assignments and presentations. As part of assignments, you are often encouraged to use images and diagrams. Remember, these will also need to be referenced. The following sites can be a great starting point for finding open or creative commons images.

The library also subscribes to a number of image databases. See the Images and Videos category in the library databases tab. 

Want to know more?

Oral presentations

The below resources may be useful in developing your oral presentation skills:

Design thinking process

Design thinking is a process that seeks to solve complex problems by approaching it from the user's perspective.

Watch the video (2 min 18 sec) below for an explanation of design thinking.

Portfolio

During your studies, you may be asked to develop a portfolio with a focus on learning reflection. Watch the video below (2 min 27 sec) for an overview of a learning portfolio:

The following resources may also be useful:

Country searching

As part of your assessment, you may be required to research how a particular country is promoted as a tourist destination. Using Vietnam as an example, this box provides examples of the methodology and resources you could use to find appropriate information.

Assess how Vietnam is promoted as a tourist destination while exploring resources:

Check the Company and Industry Information Library Guide for information on searching business databases for country information, as well as analysis of tourism industries. For example, you can search Library databases such as Statista and WARC, using keywords like Vietnam and tourism.

After you have logged into Statista, enter your search terms. For example: tourism Vietnam.

From the right-hand side, you can Refine your search.

Select Location from the menu. Scroll down and select Vietnam.

The filter will automatically apply once selected.

Statista search for Vietnam, showing Location filters

Explore these recommended resources

Articles and case studies

Books and book chapters

Videos

Selecting 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.

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