Everything you need to know about Assignments in Australia
Many students get confused about the assignment system in Australia.
Some common confusions include: what types of assignments are there and how to do assignments correctly and can I use information from the internet?
So in this article, we are going to talk about everything you need to know about assignments in Australia including some tips that you should know as an international student.
What is an assignment?
Assignments can be considered homework or a task allocated to you by your educational institute to be completed in a defined timeframe.
Many universities and vocational courses use assignments in Australia to assess your performance in your studies.
Some students get surprised that there are no exams or very few exams in their studies in Australia.
But it’s a common thing. So don’t be surprised!
Even if you have exams in certain subjects, you’ll still likely to have assignments for the subject.
So as an example, your one subject’s overall weighted scores (or we call it unit in Australia) might look like this:
Subject name: Business Studies
Total weighted score: 100%
- Attendance: 10%
- Class Quiz: 10%
- Assignments: 60%
- Exam: 20%
Different types of assignments in Australia
There could be different types of assignments you might be required to during your studies here in Australia
Some popular type of assignments are:
- Writing an essay or a report
In both cases you’ve to do a thorough research, and then you may have to write a certain word limit report or essay depending upon the requirements of the subject.
- Case Study
You might be required to go through a case study and answer some questions based on that case study.
- Quiz
There could be quizzes as well where you may have to do a multiple choice or a true and false quiz at times.
- Group work
You might be required to do research projects in a group setting.
- Presentation
There could be some visual or verbal presentations involved in your studies.
- Demonstrations
In certain subjects, you might’ve some practical components and you’ll need to provide some demonstrations of the tasks.
- Portfolio
In some courses, you might be required to submit a portfolio of your work like your designs or actual work completed.
There could be other types of assignments also but the above-mentioned ones are some of the most common ones you’ll come across in Australia.
Where to find your assignments?
When you enroll in any course at University or vocational education program, you are likely to be given access to an online platform.
Many of the universities in Australia use ‘Moodle’ as their preferred platform, but there could be another type of platform that you might’ve access to.
Inside that platform, you’ll be given information about all the subjects that you’re studying, study resources, timetables and information about your assessments as well.
Usually, at the start of a new term, you will also get a term outline which will explain your weekly schedule of the term.
In this outline, they will give information on what topic will be covered during each week, what tasks to be completed and when they need to be submitted.
If they don’t give you access to any online portal, then they’ll give you a physical printout of your assignments that you will be required to complete.
Most of the study terms in Australia could go anywhere from 10 weeks to 12 weeks. And during the year, you can have multiple terms.
We have covered some of the most common intakes in Australia including the best and the worst in Australia here. Check it out.
How to do assignments in Australia?
Now the most important question is how to do assignments. What’s the method or system that you need to follow?
There are four main steps you can take in order to do your assignments in Australia:
1. Understand the instructions
Before you even attempt any question, understand the instructions of the assignments and what you are required to do in that assessment task.
It’s very important to read those instructions carefully because sometimes you get some key ideas from those instructions themselves.
If you don’t understand something from those instructions, then you’re welcome to go out and seek help from your trainer or your tutor.
2. Start planning
Once you’ve understood the assignment, the next thing is to start planning.
The planning phase is where you start looking for some information and start doing research on how you’re going to write your assessment task.
3. Writing
Then comes the actual writing part where you will start typing your answers. This is the part where you will be writing the answer to those questions in your assignment.
It is a good idea to create an outline of the assignment before you start typing it in more details.
4. Check your assessments
Make sure to proofread your assignments before submitting them. If possible, check it for plagiarism scores as well.
A lot of times, students submit wrong documentation, and they end up paying the fines or the penalties.
So make sure to check each and every element of your assignment before your final submission.
Deadlines for assignments in Australia
Every assignment will have a specific timeframe you need to complete it by.
If you don’t submit within those time frames, you will be getting a penalty.
It could be a penalty for your scores or that you may need to resubmit again, or you may have to pay a late submission fee depending upon the Institute.
Each institute in Australia may have a different policy in regard to late submissions, so check your institute’s late submission policy.
Penalties can be quite high (in terms of dollars) so it is important that you pay attention to these deadlines.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism basically means copying others’ work.
Most universities or institutes in Australia use a software called Turnitin
This plagiarism software can easily pick up the sources of the information where the students are getting the information from.
It can provide a very detailed report to the tutors who are going to check your assignments.
A high plagiarism score could mean that you could be failing the subject. It can ultimately mean that you could be repeating the subject again. Obviously it costs a lot of money, time and don’t even start talking about the stress it causes.
How to Avoid Plagiarism in your assignments in Australia?
Ideally, if you’re going to use any internet resource or any source out there available and relevant to your assignment, then you can shouldn’t copy from it directly.
Instead, you can read it, get some ideas and then you use your own words to explain it.
Again, you are allowed to do research from any resource available out there but you should explain them in your own words.
No copying and pasting here!
Referencing
If you do use any resource to conduct your research, it is important that you provide a reference to that specific resource.
It is expected by most Australian educational institutes that you provide a reference list for your assignments in Australia.
Now there are multiple types of referencing systems available in the world. And depending on the university, they could be using a different system.
The most popular referencing system in Australia is Harvard referencing.
Please, refer to your University or institute’s referencing policy on what type of referencing system is expected by them.
There could be additional requirements like having footnotes as part of your referencing sas well.
We highly recommend you attend sessions offered by your University or Institute on how to do referencing for your assignments.
They usually provide these sessions as a part of the orientation session. So don’t skip it.
Want to learn more about orientation in Australia? Check our detailed article here.
Support systems available for assignments in Australia
Let’s discuss some support systems available in the Australian education system for students who don’t understand assignments in Australia.
Your first point of contact for assignment support
Thankfully, most of the lecturers and tutors are quite friendly in Australia.
So you can easily walk up to them and ask for help in regards to your assignments. We suggest you arrange a meeting with them through email or email them about your questions.
Do it a few days ahead of time so that they can meet up, or they can explain to you about your assignments.
Academic Study Support
Most of the universities will have some academic support systems available for students to help them with your assignments.
Help from peers
If you have a friend or other peers doing the same course, then you can ask them any questions about the assignment as well.
But we highly encourage you not to ask or share your assignments with any of your friends or peers.
It can lead to a lot of trouble for your academic career if you decide to share it with your friends and then submit the same assignment.
So, never share your assignment with anyone.
Apply for special consideration
If you’re struggling to do your assignments in Australia, then there is usually a provision for special consideration by your University or Institute.
Please, communicate your difficulties with the assignments to your teacher or the support systems available at your university as soon as possible so that they can assist you with it.
In special consideration, they can give you some additional time to complete assignments, or provide you with some additional academic support as well.
Don’t use online academic cheating services
If you’re thinking of getting your assignment done from these assignment cheating services, think again because cheating and getting the assignment done from someone else is illegal in Australia.
It can have devastating consequences for your career if you get caught.
If you can’t do your assignment, seek help from your University sources or from your trainers or tutors, but do not engage in any cheating services for your studies.
Additional tips about assignments in Australia
Here are a few additional tips from our team in regard to assignments in Australia:
- Attend your classes regularly because in those classes your lecturers, tutors or your trainers will give you some instructions on how to complete your assignments.
- Not only attend but pay attention to your classes as well, the lecture notes and any additional material provided by your trainers or tutors.
- As some assignments require lots of work, we suggest you try to complete assignments on a weekly basis rather than doing it all at the end.
- If at any time you feel that you can’t do your assignment, please seek help quickly from your institute’s academic department.
- Please don’t wait till the last day of your assignment to ask for help, ask for it nice and early.
So that’s all in regard to the assignments in Australia. We wish you all the best for your studies and assignments in Australia.
