Students

FOHS301 – Special Interest Unit 1

2014 – WV External

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Stef Savanah
Contact via stef.savanah@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
1
Prerequisites Prerequisites
45cp and permission of Executive Dean of Faculty
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit provides final year students with the opportunity to extend their research skills by undertaking independent study in a topic related to early childhood, education, linguistics or psychology. Students will be directly supervised by a member of the relevant department or in some cases by the unit convenor. Please contact the unit convenor to discuss your project and find out who will be your supervisor.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • perform basic IT related research tasks including accessing and searching electronic data bases
  • understand the different sources of data that can be used in an annotated bibliography
  • independently research a given research question using electronic data bases and extract relevant sources of information
  • demonstrate understanding of the essential features of an annotated bibliography

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Due
Literature Review 0% Friday 18 July 2014 5:00pm
Reflection 0% Friday 25 July 2014 5:00pm
Annotated Bibliograpy 100% Friday 01 Aug 2014, 5:00pm

Literature Review

Due: Friday 18 July 2014 5:00pm
Weighting: 0%

Prepare an initial list of articles relevant to the research, drawing upon the databases available from the library. This assignment is not marked but will aid the execution of subsequent assignments.


Reflection

Due: Friday 25 July 2014 5:00pm
Weighting: 0%

Consider the range of ideas and arguments presented in the various research articles to allow your own views to emerge. This assignment is not marked but will aid the execution of subsequent assignments.


Annotated Bibliograpy

Due: Friday 01 Aug 2014, 5:00pm
Weighting: 100%

Assessment task 1 is the preparation of an annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography is a list of sources of information about a research question which includes a brief description and evaluation of each source. For FOHS301 you will agree a research topic/question with your supervisor and you must prepare an annotated bibliography using the instructions below.  

 In the submitted work you must

  1. State the research question you are researching, and a brief (maximum one page) outline of why it is an interesting one, provide the names of the data bases that you have used and the search terms (including truncations; if you are searching efficiently, you should need to use only one or two data bases) and why you made the selections that you did
  2. Include at least 20 journal articles, books, book chapters or web sites that are of relevance to the research question using the referencing style appropriate to the discipline. These should be the ones you consider the most important, so you will probably have reviewed at least twice this many
  3. Annotate 10 of these. The length of the annotation will depend on why it has been included and on the source itself. Typically annotations are between 150 and 200 words, though some may be much longer.

 

Please complete the cover sheet available at http://www.humansciences.mq.edu.au/current_students/undergraduate/assignment_cover_sheet

Please lodge your assessment via iLearn.

Turnitin Submission for academic honesty and word-count check

Your work may be submitted to the anti-plagiarism detection software via iLearn. Your work will be automatically compared to work of your classmates, previous students from Macquarie and other universities, with material available on the Internet, both freely available and subscription-based electronic journals and book chapters. The results will be sent only to the unit convenor who will analyse them with reference to the University's Policy on Academic Honesty

Note that an annotated bibliography is not an essay. You might think of the assignment as preparatory notes which could form the basis for a formal essay.

FOHS302 Marking guide for annotated bibliography

 

Criteria

High Distinction/Distinction

Credit

Pass

Fail

Content

All required content is provided in correct format:

·         Research Question is clearly presented

·         Clear explanation of the question’s importance or interest to the student

·         All databases used provided

·         All search terms used provided along with explanations for their selection

·         At least 20 sources listed alphabetically in appropriate format

·         Ten annotations provided

All required content is provided in adequate format.

Some of the required content is provided, including at least the research question, the databases used, search terms, 20 sources and ten annotated sources.

Required content is not sufficient. Some or all of the following are missing: research question, the databases used, 20 sources and ten annotated sources.

Relevance

There is a brief explanation of why each annotated source was selected and how it is of value for the research topic. Sources chosen are appropriate for the audience. All chosen sources are central to the topic, explicitly connected to the topic and to each other. The authority of the authors of the cited works is established as excellent.

There is a brief explanation of why each annotated source was selected and how it is of value for the research topic. Chosen sources are central to the topic, explicitly connected to the topic and to each other. The authority of the authors of the cited works is established as good.

There is an attempt to describe the relationship between the source and the research topic. All sources are relevant to the topic, but some may not be central or not appropriate for the audience. The authority of most of the authors is established as good.

Many of the sources are not academically credible and the relevance of sources to the topic is poor; little attempt at establishing the authority of the authors or the interconnections of the  reviewed studies

Annotations

All annotated sources were critically evaluated and the outcome presented in an engaging manner.  All key features of an annotation are present. All statements are coherent and relevant, written in your own words.  There is evidence of originality, intellectual inventiveness, and deep interpretative understanding

Most sources are critically evaluated and the outcome presented in an engaging manner.   All key features of an annotation are found.  All statements are coherent and relevant, written in your own words. 

There is a description and/or summary of conclusions with an attempt at a critical evaluation. Most statements are coherent and relevant, and written in your own words. 

 

 

 

 

Little or no attempt to include annotations for each source. Statements lack coherency and relevance to the research question/area. Evaluation is poor or not attempted.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • perform basic IT related research tasks including accessing and searching electronic data bases
  • understand the different sources of data that can be used in an annotated bibliography
  • independently research a given research question using electronic data bases and extract relevant sources of information
  • demonstrate understanding of the essential features of an annotated bibliography

Delivery and Resources

Resources for the assignments: There are many web resources available to guide the construction of an annotated bibliography. You are advised to consult the following websites

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm#sample

http://www.csu.edu.au/division/studserv/learning/annotated/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/annotated_bib.html

http://library.csusm.edu/subject_guides/research_guides/annotations.pdf

Unit Schedule

There are no scheduled classes or end of semester examinations. Students are free to manage their own time for independent research.

Please refer to University Timetable for session dates.

Please refer to Assessment tasks for assignment due dates.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy  http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.