Formal Requirements
All assessment items must be submitted electronically through Moodle. Please refer to the Assignment Preparation and Submission section for guidelines.
In order to pass this course, you must obtain:
- 50%or more of the total marks available in the course and
- at least 40%of the marks available for the final examination in the course.
Group Research Report (15%)
Due Date: Submit via Moodle on various dates – refer to table below
Length: 1500 words (plus or minus 10%)
Each student will be randomly assigned to a particular research group within Moodle and a topic will be allocated to the group. The groups will be limited to a maximum of 5 students.
The topics allocated to each group (and the applicable due dates) are available on Moodle and have been designed so that they follow the Modules in the Course Materials and can be fragmented in such a way that parts of the question can be assigned to different group members.
Each week, beginning in Week 4, one of the Groups will be required to email to the Lecturer-in-Charge, a copy of the Group’s Draft Report for distribution to all students enrolled in the course for their comment based on the timelines set out in the Suggested Study Schedule.
It is important that you do not underestimate the time involved in undertaking the research for these questions nor the time to bring it to draft stage.
Your participation in the group research projects will be discussed more fully during the first webinar and more detailed information will be made available on Moodle.
Group Research Project Submission Dates
Note: Topics will be available on Moodle
Group | Draft report | Deadline for Moodle Commentary on Draft Report | Final Report
1 | Monday, Week 4 | Friday, Week 4 | Monday, Week 6
2 | Monday, Week 5 | Friday, Week 5 | Monday, Week 7
3 | Monday, Week 6 | Friday, Week 6 | Monday, Week 8
4 | Monday, Week 7 | Friday, Week 7 | Monday, Week 9
5 | Monday, Week 8 | Friday, Week 8 | Tuesday, Week 10
6 | Monday, Week 9 | Friday, Week 9 | Monday, Week 11
7 | Monday, Week 9 | Friday, Week 9 | Monday, Week 11
8 | Monday, Week 10 | Friday, Week 10 | Monday, Week 12
Course Participation (5%)
Due Date: Discussion Forum contributions on various
A mark of 5% will be allocated to students based on the quality and quantity of their contribution to the commentary posted to Discussion Forum in Moodle on each Group’s Draft Research Report following the distribution of those reports. The timeline for contribution in the case of each Group Report is set out in the Suggested Study Schedule in this course outline.
Individual Reflection and Peer Review on Group Research Report (5%)
Due Date: Submit via Moodle on Monday, 21 May 2018 (AEDT*)
Length: 500 words (plus or minus 10%)
*AEDT = Australian Daylight Saving Time
The rationale behind asking you to reflect on your group work is to assist you in understanding the ways in which you might have benefited from participating in a Group project. You will be asked to honestly and critically:
- Analyse and evaluates your own teamwork performance
- Analyse the team’s processes and ability to achieve the outcomes you expected
Reflection includes identifying strengths and weaknesses and suggesting improvements for future practice. As well as describing aspects of what you did/didn’t do, you should go beyond description to discuss and assess your performance more generally and to demonstrate some learning about yourself.
You should refer to the suggested ‘Principles for Effective Teamwork’ that are on Moodle as a reference point for this assessment.
Individual Research Paper (35%)
Due Date: Submit via Moodle by Monday, 14 May 2018
Length: 3000 words (plus or minus 10%)
The following guidelines have been developed to assist you to plan and complete your paper.
1. Choosing a topic
For your research paper topic, you may either:
- select a topic from the list of topics available on Moodle.
or
- you may devise your own topic which you should submit by Monday, 12 March 2018 as a one page synopsis of the research proposal to your lecturer for approval by email. Do not lodge your synopsis through the assignment section of the Moodle.
2. Assessment Criteria
The research papers will contribute 35 per cent of the overall assessment mark for students in this course. You will be assessed according to the following assessment criteria:
- clarity and strength of analysis—this will include evidence of your understanding of the issues involved in the topic, and your ability to use that understanding in an applied manner
- ability to cut through the undergrowth and penetrate to key issues
- effective organisation and communication of material (including economy of presentation—i.e., a minimum of waffle)
- clarity of communication—this includes sentences in clear and, where possible, plain English; it also includes correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
- critical approach to material presented and evidence of original and independent thought
- quality of judgment and balance in filtering the complex material you are dealing with
- knowledge of the subject area and an ability to locate your chosen area of research within an appropriate context—in certain circumstances international comparisons may be appropriate
- quality of research and bibliography.
- correct referencing and bibliographic style in accordance with a recognised and appropriate cita