BUS3003NFC Academic Skills Practice Assignment Brief 2026 | Arden University

BUS3003NFC Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the programme, you are required to submit an Academic Skills Practice assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments. 

BUS3003NFC Learning Outcomes: 

After completing the module, you should be able to: 

• Identify and explain the key resources available to facilitate one's own learning, study, and reflection on the development of personal academic skills
• Apply time management techniques to study planning
• Identify, summarise, and evaluate credible information from a range of different academic sources
• Explain and demonstrate how to avoid plagiarism through correct referencing

Guidance  

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, themodule name, the submission deadline and the exact word count of your submitted document; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in the AU Harvard system(s). You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work. 

You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number. 

Maximum word count:3000 words 

Please refer to the full word count policy, which can be found in the Student Policies section here: Arden University | Regulatory Framework 

Please note the following: 

Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment. 

The word count includes everything in the main body of the assessment (including in-text citations and references). The word count excludes numerical data in tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference list and appendices. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count. 

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a10-percentage point deduction. 

BUS3003NFC Assignment Task 

There are 4 Tasks designed to cover all 4 learning outcomes of the module. All tasks need to be submitted in a single (One) Microsoft Word document (Template is provided). There are further instructions on how to submit at the end of this assignment paper.

Task 1: Introduction to Academic Study Skills

• Complete the Skills Audit provided.
• Create a list of your strengths and areas of improvement, with reference to Arden University’s Graduate Attributes (Approximately 250 words)
• Design a short action plan showing how you plan to improve the areas of improvement identified. (Approximately 250 words) 

Task 2: Academic Integrity and Referencing

Academic Integrity

• Summarise the meaning of Academic Integrity, make sure you use your own words and reference the sources(s) used.
• Give three examples of how Academic Integrity at Arden University could be achieved. (Approximately 250 words) 

Referencing 

• Identify at least 4 key resources (e.g., Textbooks, Academic Journals, Useful websites, etc.) that you have encountered in class or during your independent study, in the first 5 weeks of the module. Briefly describe the resources and discuss their usefulness to your studies. Provide references for each one using the AU Harvard referencing method. (Approximately 250 words)

Task 3: Time Management & Annotated Bibliography 

Time Management:

Create a weekly timetable schedule showing how you would manage your time studying the module.  Your timetable should cover any 3 weeks of the module and should highlight your study time, work, family, recreational and other commitments. (Approximately 250 words) 

Annotated Bibliography 

(Word count: approximately 450 words in total, around 150 words per source). 

a) Using the online library and/or relevant search engines, find three sources: one that discusses academic integrity, one about referencing and one that discusses plagiarism.
b) Summarise the key points of each source.
c) Evaluate the reliability of each source using the CRAAP criteria.
d) Finally, reference the sources using the AU Harvard referencing method

Task 4: Reflective Writing and Academic Writing

Reflective Writing 

Development of your skills from your Session 1 Skills Audit: Refer to the skills audit you completed in week 1 and write a reflection on the development of your academic skills through studying this module. You are required to use the Gibbs reflective model to aid your reflection for this task. (Approximately 200 words) 

Academic Writing and Note Taking 

Use separate paragraphs to write about the following: 

1. Explain the meaning of note-taking and discuss its benefits to students.
2. Research 2 note-taking methods and state their advantages and disadvantages. (Approximately 200 words)

Using either the Cornell or Mind-mapping notetaking methods, create a summary of what you have learned in one of the lessons of the module. (Approximately 100 words)

Formative Feedback

Draft Tasks Submission  

The four tasks should be submitted via the module iLearn portal to the relevant Turnitin link at the given deadline(Week 7) to ensure that you receive timely feedback from your class tutor.  

The feedback received should be used to help improve the initial submission prior to submitting your Final Portfolio. 

Final portfolio submission  

Your final portfolio submission should be submitted as an MS Word document. To submit the completed Final Portfolio, log on to the module iLearn portal and upload it to the relevant Turnitin link, adhering to the given deadline. Late submissions are not accepted. We recommend that you upload your submission well in advance of the given deadline. 

Referencing Guidance  

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriateand wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the AUHarvard system(s). 

Follow this link to find the referencing guides for your subject: Arden Library 

Submission Guidance 

Assignments submitted late will not be accepted and will be marked as a0% fail.  

Your assessment can be submitted as a single Word (MS Word) or PDF file, or as multiple files. 

If you choose to submit multiple files, you must name each document as the question/part you are answering, along with your student number, i.e., Q1 Section A STUXXXX. If you wish to overwrite your submission or one of your submissions, you must ensure that your new submission is named the same as the previous for the system to overwrite it.  

You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which showevidence of academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook, which is available on the A-Z key information on iLearn.)

BUS3003NFC Assessment Criteria (Learning objectives covered - all) 

The assessment criteria for your Foundation Year modules follow the Pass/Fail criteria for the following Module assignments: 

• Introducing Research Skills
• Academic Skills Practice
• Ethics, Working Collaboratively and Values
• Introduction to Numeracy, Data, and IT 

The following generic assessment criteria are used to mark students’ work on a Pass/Fail basis. Specific guidance on how to meet these criteria will be contextualised to specific modules by providing the marking scheme.