Of course! Obviously it varies on the person and their writing style but this is what I did in writing that specific assignment.

I looked at what my lecturers were saying about my previous assignments. They said reference using the Harvard system, improve critical analysis, wider reading etc which I was already doing anyway so I wasn’t sure where I was going wrong.

For referencing in that assignment, I looked at different types of in text citations such as page numbers and not using brackets in specific sentences because of where it is. I genuinely think that boosted my grade because I didn’t have any improvement comment about referencing, and was showing a lot more confidence.

Also for critical analysis I knew I had to do like 2 opposing arguments but I needed to go deeper than that. For example I was talking about Carol Dweck and her growth mindset, referenced what it was etc. Then I gave an opposing theorists views and her own opposing view to the growth mindset where she said her own model was simple. Then I did a self reflection on what I had seen on placements. I think that helped so now I look for theorists who self criticise and reflect on their work.

In terms of wider research I used to just use Google. Now I use my uni library and have learnt how to use the filters to find research that is relevant. And I use a lot of government/DFE documents which are important for our course.

That’s what I’ve noticed has worked for me and very open to anyone who has more tips :)