I have written this based on several requests for more information about the workbook requirements. Obviously, this information is my own observation and does not represent the views of the C&G or the collage I am currently working at. C&G is constantly changing so this advice and the content of the courses will inevitably change from the ones I took between 1996 and 1999.
First, try asking your tutor to bring in some example distinction work books. If he/she is a reasonable tutor they should be able to contact previous students who have made distinctions, the college should also have current examples. I have learnt a lot about photography by looking at what has already been done, you could do worse.
Secondly, from my own experience, put as much into the workbook as possible! My first level 2 module was Landscape. The workbook was an A4 4-ring ring binder split into four sections using those cardboard dividers. The sections were Planning&Reasearch, Evaluation, Aspect Study and Supporting notes. Our tutor made a big deal about logical layout and making it easy to find things. This helps the examiners to evaluate your work quickly and with the minimum of frustration. And let's face it, we don't want to frustrate the examiner do we!
Include all the scribblings you made when you were trying to find a theme. This helps to show that you did think about the process, rather than take photos and fit the theme later. Lots of bits torn out of magazines, news papers, postcards etc. to show you have looked at other examples of the subject. Follow this with a more formal planning page to show how your thoughts are coming together (see below).
I try to find a tight theme. The most successful of my projects have been those where it's bloody obvious what pictures I need to get. Then I don't have to dilly around and wonder if this will work or that will work. Try using record titles or book titles as a starter. Often the composer/author has to convey a great deal using just the title. It's no accident that several of my projects have been titles of AirSculpture albums (Attrition Systems - Landscape, Impossible Geometries - Buildings, AirSculpture - Photographing people). It's quite another story where these titles come from!
Here you must assess the outcome of the project in global terms and then on a picture by picture basis. It is important to say how well you achieved your objective, and don't be shy to say where you failed. What would you do next time? How could you improve it? This self assessment shows how much you know about what constitutes a perfect picture. What went well and which were your favorite images? I include copies of the images in the assessment for reference. Each picture and assessment is on a new page. You could photocopy images for reference or use 6x4 prints pasted in.
On the landscape course I made the mistake of doing 3 studies instead of one, idiot! However, the number of words comes to about 1 full page of type (perhaps 200-300 words?). Again see if you can look at other examples of good work. Being an Engineer, I find this section the worst and have tended to do technical studies where it's been possible. For example I did some expirements with my SLR to show how a shift lens works as part of the building module.
This is EVERYTHING from your classes, printed material and anything else you can find. Don't do what I did, which was to remove all the stuff the tutor wrote thinking that it was not my work. This section proves to the examiner that you covered the course content, so keep everything!