Understanding your assignment question
What is it?
An assignment is usually made up of two parts: the assignment brief and the learning outcomes/objectives. The assignment brief will tell you what you need to produce e.g., an essay about the First World War; and learning outcomes or objective is a description of something you need to demonstrate to pass a module. You will find your assignment brief and learning outcomes in the handbook for each of your modules.
Why do I need to understand the question?
Understanding the question is the first and most important step when starting your assignments, as it means you can start your research and writing in a focused way.
It is vital that you answer the question and fulfil the learning outcomes to pass your assessments and gain good marks. An assignment brief and learning outcomes help you to include all the elements you need to answer the question, you could write a beautiful assignment, but if it does not answer the question asked or fulfil the learning outcomes you will not pass.
How can I understand the question?
The first step is to identify the key words within the assignment brief, there are usually instruction words, subject and style/perspective words. For example:
Compare and contrast the work of photographers Diane Arbus and Martin Parr from an aesthetic and socio-political perspective.
The instruction words are 'compare' and 'contrast'.
The subject words are 'Diane Arbus' and 'Martin Parr'.
The style/perspective words are 'aesthetic' and 'socio-political'.
As well as looking at the question, look at the assignment brief and any outcomes or objectives that you are asked to achieve. These will include factors such as more detailed key words, word limits and time scales. Knowing these and adapting to them are useful to research and planning your assignment.
Defining key words can help you to understand what is expected from you meaning that you can focus your research.
For more information about how you can understand your question, check out 'The Assignment Journey Podcast' episode 'The First Steps', located in the resources section of this page.