Ten Most Common Errors in Assignments and How to Fix Them

YouthTRAIN assignments are assessed under 5 headings. These headings along with common errors are as follows:

Information

1. The student fails to provide all the information they are asked to. For example, they might be asked to identify three things and only present two.

Make sure you read the question carefully and clearly list the points you are covering in your assignment, numbering them as you go.

2. The student does not gather enough information around them to do the assignment well. For example an interview for a case study is short and doesn't ask all the necessary questions.

Make sure you think carefully about the breadth of information you need and be thorough. You can always leave out information that turns out to be irrelevant. Use footnotes to indicate sources and to show the extent of your information gathering.

Insight

3. The student makes no reference to the workbook and doesn't critically examine what it says in the light of their own experience, observation or reason.

Make sure you reflect on the content of the workbook and interpret your own beliefs and discoveries in the light of it

4. The student offers no objective thoughts or opinions of their own. There is no evidence that their thoughts have gone beyond what was taught in the workbook.

Feel free to agree or disagree with the workbook, but be prepared to justify your thoughts.

Implications

5. The student does not reflect sufficiently on what the information and associated insights means for them personally. There is a lack of honest, vulnerable, self assessment.

Talk about how the information and insights are related to your life - be prepared to be honest, real and vulnerable.

6. The student does not reflect sufficiently on what the information and associated insights means for them in their ministry. There is a lack of discussion on what is currently happening in the youth ministry or in the lives of their young people in the area being studied.

Talk about how the information and insights are related to your ministry and to the young people you lead.

Implementation

7. The student does not identify specific things they will do as a result of their assignment. Some give some general,vague thoughts and others reflect on what they have done, but this is not what is being asked for.

List specific things you will do at the end of the assignment. To test just how specific they are ask the question "How?". If your statement doesn't answer that question there is more work to do in making it specific. Also, it helps to include time frames so that you can hold yourself accountable.

8. The student has insufficient points for implementation indicating a lack of thought.

Sometimes applications are easier to find than others but you should aim for at least three. No need to do a lot - the more you say you will do, the more likely you are to forget.

Presentation

9. The student's assignment is not laid out well and is hard to read and follow.

Use paragraphs, headings and even bullet points to make your assignment easier to understand.

10. The student shows a lack of real effort and application in doing the assignment. The overall impression is they have rushed the assignment, maybe fallen short of the word count target, and haven't put sufficient effort into doing well.

Don't rush assignments. Plan them carefully and give significant thought to them. Don't fall short of the number of words required. If you want to write more than the word limit that is OK providing you don't exceed the 10% extra words allowable for each assignment.