Task Analysis

Analysing Assignment Questions

Academic Skills – Support for Learning

Student Services and Engagement
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 Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge

the traditional owners of the land on
which we meet today, the Gubbi Gubbi
people, and pay my respects to the
Elders both past, present and emerging.

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Course Objectives
By the end of this workshop you should have:
• Enhanced awareness around assignment terminologies such as task,
topic and limiting words
• Developed knowledge of breaking down the assignment question into
smaller sections
• Built skills relating to understanding assignment criteria
• Applied learning by analysing an assignment question
How to analyse assignment questions
‘The purpose of an assignment is to test your ability in
moving around a body of literature’ (Turner et al. 2011:130).

Look for three aspects:

Task/Directive words
Topic/Content words
Limiting/Scope words
These instruction words help develop structure
(Turner et al. 2011)
Task/directive words…

• Tell you what to DO

• They are usually VERBS, for example,
compare, discuss, analyse, evaluate, explain
etc.

Instruction and connection words that help to

develop structure (Turner et al. 2011)
(Bloom’s Taxonomy by Centre for Teaching Vanderbilt University via Flickr (CCo Creative Commons)

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What does apply mean?

(Application by Enokson via Flickr (CCo Creative Commons)

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What does analyse mean?

(Analysis by Enokson via Flickr (CCo Creative Commons)

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What does evaluation mean?

(Evaluation by Enokson via Flickr (CCo Creative Commons)

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Task/directive words…
• Tell you what to DO
• They are usually VERBS, for example,
compare, discuss, analyse, evaluate,
explain etc.
Topic/Content words…
• Tell you what concepts and knowledge should form the basis
of the assignment

• They are usually NOUNS or NOUN PHRASES

e.g. globalisation, human perceptions, drug interactions etc.

Use these content words to guide the research

For example, consider the relationships and connections
between content words (Turner et al. 2011)
Limiting/Scope words…
• Tell you explicitly to limit the scope of your answer

• Tell you directly what you can and cannot write

about

• These words are required to indicate the specific focus in

the literature (Turner et al. 2011).
Consider this task

Environmental Impact Assessments are

often seen as a means of ensuring
conservation practices but political and
economic factors frequently intervene.
Discuss this statement, referring to the
roles and responsibilities of developers,
environmentalists and governments.
 Task analysis
Topic/Content

Environmental Impact Assessments are

often seen as a means of ensuring
conservation practices but political and
economic factors frequently intervene.
Task/Directive Discuss this statement, referring to the
roles and responsibilities of developers,
environmentalists and governments. Limiting/Scope

What does ‘discuss’ mean?

Have another go

Outline why reading is generally considered important at

university. Assess to what extent students are required to
read critically during their course work?
(Turner et al. 2011)
 Task analysis

Task/Directive

Outline why reading is generally

Topic/Content considered important at university. Assess
to what extent students are required to
read critically during their course work?
Limiting/Scope
What are ‘outline why’ and ‘assess’ most likely
intended to mean?

What other task/directive words could be used

to replace: Task/Directive
expressions and
instructions
• ‘outline why’? can be implied
Identify, Explain, Justify
• ‘assess to what extent ’?
Evaluate, Consider, the value of

What possible structure is intended in this question?

 Identifying implicit structures in assignments
• Many assignment questions imply a limiting number of
suitable outlines for the answer.

• Such questions suggest what your answer should cover and

sometimes even the order in which it should be covered.

• When you identify the organisation implied in the task, you

can readily create a working outline/concept map for your
essay or report.
Question
Define and explain the four basic types of
products suggested by the Boston Consulting
company.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of

using this four-part matrix?
An implied outline
1. Types of products matrix
a. Define and explain type 1
b. Define and explain type 2
c. Define and explain type 3
d. Define and explain type 4

2. Advantages and disadvantages

3. Conclusion regarding advantages and disadvantages

Another form of implied outline
• Introduction
• Types of products
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
• Conclusion

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Understanding the question by careful analysis
is the first and most vital step
in the assignment writing process.
What does synthesis mean?

(Evaluation by Enokson via Flickr (CCo Creative Commons)

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It has been cited that modern children spend more time in front
of the television (screens) than they spend at school.

Is this cause for alarm?

Analysis
It has been cited that modern children spend more time in
front of the television (screens) than they spend at school.

Is this cause for alarm?

 Analyse topic

Brainstorm key words

The
assignment Research & Note
planning,
Plan & Prioritise
preparation Identify key findings
& conclusions
& Start writing
writing Evaluate body
Do you need to
process paragraphs
find more evidence?

Revise draft

Edit
 Academic
Physical Cognitive achievement

Development

Sleep patterns
School

Bullying

Language

Socialization
The effects of
Behaviour Values
television on
children
Sustaining family
values

Advertising

Different age
groups Pre-schoolers
Consumerism

Pre-Teens

Statistics Adolescents

Typical hours spent Typical hours spent

Australia US / UK
Critical reading strategies
What, why, when, where, who and how?
What is being said? (general content)
Why is it being written? (purpose/audience)
When was it written? (currency)
Where was it written? (country/demographic)
Who has written it? (credentials of author and ‘players’)
How has it been written? (biased or impartial and evidence-
based).
Evaluate
• Relevance
• Authority
• Timeliness
• Subject coverage
 Analyse question

Brainstorm

Research & Note

The
Writing Plan & Prioritise
Process Find more evidence
Start writing

Word count low? Yes

No

Revise draft

Edit
Your Turn
Question

Attendance at a preparatory module on Academic

Writing and Study Skills will enhance assessment
performance at university.

Discuss.