This assessment requires that students meet a predetermined set of objectives within a tight time frame. The groups will be allocated in week 3. Students have 1 week to decide on a topic and prepare an plan. This is designed as a diagnostic assessment to identify any groups that may have difficulties early in the session, and to ensure that groups and group members understand the expected level of cooperation required to complete the related assessment tasks. This is a PASS/FAIL assessment. If a group does not meet ALL of the check list criteria to a standard that satisfies the tutor they do not pass.

CHECK LIST:

- ALL group members must have THEIR OWN portfolio / folder for record keeping. This must contain:

1. Contact details (minimum phone/email) for all group members
2. Record/minutes of first meeting
3. Assessment guidance template (Individual record)
4. A draft timeline for the project*

* An example will be shown to the groups in the first tutorial

- Students must have agreed upon a topic for the presentation and clearly communicate this topic to the tutor.

- Students should have agreed upon a weekly time and place for meeting outside of class.

- Many groups will have both Internal AND External students in them. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STUDENTS (not the unit convenor) TO ARRANGE A LINK UP BETWEEN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL GROUP MEMBERS. NOTE - if you fail to do so you fail the task.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

YOU ARE REQUIRED to use the WIKI (which will be accessible from week 3), to liaise on group matters, ALL GROUP COMMUNICATION MUST BE DOCUMENTED IN THE WIKI. ANY use of alternative social media (e.g. facebook etc.) cannot be monitored and you will not gain marks for this. If you are using skype to meet with external members document this and document your conversations by following up in the wiki (e.g. providing minutes of the discussions). 

ATTENDANCE and PARTICIPATION makes up a significant proportion of your final grade for this unit.

IF YOU ARE REGISTERED AS AN EXTERNAL STUDENT:

1. YOU MUST enroll in the online lectures - the online lecture (Echo360) records lectures for external students, but for internals listening to Echo IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE TO ATTENDANCE. As externals you are obliged to listen to these lectures. This will be monitored through ilearn.
2. YOU MUST CONTRIBUTE to general discussion board reading activities. For internal students these are optional but as an external student you are REQUIRED to post within 7 days of the initial post date. Posts AFTER 7 days will not be counted as timely participation and will not count towards your contribution.
3. IF YOU FAIL TO CONTRIBUTE TO 75% (9 of 12 minimum) of the general discussion board reading activities ON TIME you will AUTOMATICALLY FAIL THE ENTIRE UNIT. You will be submitted as 'ineligible to continue in the unit' (see student responsibilities in the assessment procedure on policy central). If not considered eligible to continue, a student will be excluded from the unit and this will result in the award of a Fail grade (F) for the unit.

REPEAT. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND LECTURES AND TUTORIALS IN PERSON. If you are unable to attend the lecture you can still enroll as an external student.  

Participation refers to much more than simply being in attendance - External students must consistently demonstrate their commitment to the course by being well-prepared for all online activities, downloading/streaming lectures and contributing to the online discussions and the group wiki. This includes demonstrating that any homework or required reading has been completed in advance, and that you have gone beyond the required reading to seek out knowledge on your own.

Participation measures your active involvement - you get marked for your contributions, i.e. by asking and answering questions, participating constructively in group work as required, showing consideration and support to fellow classmates, being informed on the contents of the unit guide, and by behaving in a considerate and mature manner. This refers to participation in a community of learning where we all work together to achieve better results. Students can ask and answer questions of each other in iLearn, provided they follow the guidelines for ethical conduct (see ilearn FAQs).

If you wish to study as an INTERNAL student please see the internal students unit guide in UNITS.

The essay will be chosen from one of the set questions. These questions will also be posted outside the office door of the unit convenor (W6A, Room 838) and made available electronically in iLearn from the 31st August (Week 5).

Academic support on essay writing can be found at the MQ library website, undergraduate page.

The essay should address the key themes of the course drawing on varied sources, including;
the listed material, recommended readings; further reading.

IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER

1. The essay MUST show evidence of substantial wider reading on the appropriate topic in the content, citations and references used throughout the final submission.
2. Marks will be deducted or allocated for proper referencing following standard HARVARD (author-date) referencing style.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE...

THE ESSAY MUST BE WRITTEN ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC TO THAT OF THE GROUP PRESENTATION

Presentations will occur in Week 13. Time slots for each group will be allocated towards the end of semester. NOTE all group members are expected to attend the time slot, even if they are not speaking on the day.

In marking the presentation we will be looking for evidence that you:

• Have worked together and practiced the delivery of your presentation;
• Have researched up-to-date information to show well-rounded knowledge of the topic;
• Can interpret information on this topic to link structured questions to meaningful statements;
• Are able to synthesise critical theory with applied examples using good quality evidence;
• Exhibit presentation skills of a standard expected from 3rd year university students.

Useful areas to consider in presentations are the quality and depth of content - how does it look and what does it have in it; construction of an argument or narrative - what are you trying to get across / what is the story; and Critical Awareness of the issues - does it link to contemporary sources or topical subjects. Additional marks may be allocated for Presentation skills such as strong sources, well designed and clear visuals, concise and fluent delivery, ability to keep to time limit etc.

The final submission of the project requires students to proivide the convenor with:

• A hard copy of all notes, scripts, slides, overheads, posters etc.
• An electronic copy slides (powerpoint / prezzie etc.). Electronic submissions should be burnt to CD / USB and handed to the tutor on the day of presentation with all student names and contact details included. 

NOTE ON WORKING WITH FOR EXTERNAL STUDENTS

You are required to collaborate as a team. This is even more important when you are working with students that may not be on campus. Online and distance technologies bring us closer in meeting this task (group forum spaces will be provided in iLearn if possible) and/or via telephone (conferencing is good for this if you can access facilities), you can do this whichever way works best for your group. Last year some students used skype to have group calls from the library (all getting together for a collective skype call from campus using our free wifi); others used chat facilities in facebook and gmail - as these provide a printable record of conversations and group task allocations. IT IS IMPORTANT TO WORK TOGETHER and to meet as a collective as much as possible.

Externals who wish to contribute to the presentation itself can still do so. Some sections of a paper can now be recorded using powerpoint or an equivalent piece of software. The tools to record narration in a slideshow are in most cases inbuilt into the program. Video tutorials on how to do this are available online, you can google search for them or check here for a useful example. The file must then be sent to the course convenor for review by the assessment deadline day.

An individual report of the group work must be submitted to the unit convener by each member of the group. This report will be a record of the groups work and should include at the very minimum:

• A diary of meetings and who attended those meetings
• A record of how the group made its decisions
• A record of the workload allocation (who did what?)
• A record of internal group deadlines and whether they were met (did they do it on time?)
• Who/how were each parts of the topic researched
• Who/how were the final presentation visuals developed and arranged.

The primary role of this aspect of the work is to ensure that there is a record of the collaboration.

A group project is not just about learning the subject it is about graduate capabilities. The capabilities we are looking for in this exercise are team work, burden sharing, ability to both give and take direction, ability to demonstrate personal responsbility to yourself and to other team members. These are vital skills for moving into employement that we can draw out of this material, but also out of the exercise and experience of being together as a group of individuals who can collaborate as a team.

The individual record of the contributions each member makes give us an overview of how you came tigether to develop the final presentation. The purpose of this assessment is to develop team-working skills and the ability of the individual to contribute to a group project; it also acts as a quality check to distinguish between paticipating members and those who do not pull thier weight.

REMEMBER

1) All individuals are required to contribute but this can be in different ways, that play to your strengths BUT YOU MUST DECIDE THIS AS A TEAM. For example, if a member of the group is particularly shy or struggles with public speaking they do not HAVE to be a part of the final presentation team (though they must be present during the presentation). As long as there is a record of the division of labour, backed up by the individual reports, this will be taken into account in the allocation of the PASS/FAIL mark for the presentation.

2) IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THIS ELEMENT IS AN INDIVIDUAL PIECE OF WORK. The individual records should not be identical as this is how we can see how the group worked together and if any members of the group were not pulling their weight.

3) You must keep a record of work, as such it is a good idea to keep minutes or notes from ALL group meetings (even if they happen in the pub) so that you can write up an accurate diary.

Groups are expected to work as a team! If there are problems with workload or lax teamwork by a member of the group then the group as a team should attempt, initially, to contact the absentee and see if they can resolve the issue - this may be a scheduling problem or a simple communication problem.

4) Make sure you ALL have the contact details for all members of your group (email and phone numbers). If contact is not possible then the problem must be brought to the attention of the course leader EARLY ENOUGH so these matters can be dealt with appropriately.

OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER

This should take into account both WORKSHOP time in tutorials AS WELL AS meetings that take place outside of class. Students are expected to meet at least once a week as a group.
The more detail you include the better, but make sure it is relevant.

AN EXAMPLE OF THE DIARY FORMAT WILL BE DISTRIBUTED IN TUTORIALS AND MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH iLearn