How to approach your assignments

Approaching your assignments

When you are ready to complete the assignment, we would recommend that you have enough time to complete it in one sitting. Your assignments are designed to continue your learning and so you can refer to your course book and other sources in order to complete your assignments. Please handwrite your assignment in black ink. There are no assignments in this course that need to be taken under test conditions. For all Science assignments you may use a calculator, but please show your workings.


What do the assignments cover?

The assignment cover the topics from that module. You may find that we ask questions in the assignment that you have not read the direct answer to in the topic work. This is intentional. Rather than asking you to repeat back information from the modules, we may be asking you to apply the information you have learnt about something to another situation. This is an important part of scientific thinking. Remember you are free to refer to your coursebook and other materials to complete the assignments. In addition, you often have to use knowledge from earlier modules to help you answer questions in the most recent assignment.

Note A good tip is to download, read and keep the Tips for Investigation Download Tips for Investigation PowerPoint and the Investigation Vocabulary Download Investigation Vocabulary sheet as these will help you answer these questions that will come up again and again, now and in future science studies.


Reflection and feedback

Before you start your next assignment, we ask you to reflect on the feedback you received from your tutor on your previous assignment. Being able to reflect on your progress and take on board your tutor’s feedback is a key part of the Wolsey Hall course.


Assignment guidance

At the beginning of every assignment, we give you guidance on how to approach that particular assignment. We outline how to approach the assignment, how to submit it, what resources you will need and how long you should take. Please do bear in mind that the time parameters given (for instance, we may say that we expect you to take between 30 and 45 minutes on this assignment) are given as a rough guide and should not prevent you from taking longer if you need to do so.


Uploading your assignment and receiving feedback

You should upload your assignment to Canvas, as a single file (this means scanning in all the pages and saving them as a single PDF).

Within 3–5 days, you will receive a notification to let you know that your assignment has been marked. When you look at your assignment feedback, make sure that you check the PDF (it may have been annotated by your tutor) as well as the general comments your tutor has given you (these may be written and/or an audio/video message).

Please do take time to reflect on your tutor’s feedback and take it on board in future assignments. This is a key part of the Wolsey Hall Oxford course as the feedback will be personal and tailored entirely to you. The feedback is designed to help you further both your knowledge and your skills in the subject.


Experiments Icon.png Practicals

Modules One, Five and Nine include a practical experiment as part of your assignment.  In these modules you need to fill out the practical questions as well as your assignment questions and your tutor will mark both. For more information on the practicals, see here


Can I send in several assignments at the same time?

We ask that you do not submit multiple assignments at the same time. It is very important that you reflect on your tutor’s feedback before beginning each new assignment, so that you can incorporate their tips for improvement into each new piece of work.


Can I resubmit an assignment if I feel I didn’t do very well?

We encourage you to work carefully on each assignment and submit it when you are happy with your finished piece of work. Do ensure that you read the assignment guidance carefully and follow the instructions given. Once your tutor has marked an assignment and added your grade to Canvas, that module is complete. If there is something that you feel you could improve on, that’s positive and all part of learning. Rather than going back to a completed assignment, we suggest that you take on board that feedback and put it into practice in your future assignments.