IEC Assessment Presentation & Submission Guidelines

Please follow these guidelines when you submit each assignment:

• Allow a left and right-hand margin of at least 2cm in all assignments.
• Please type all assignments using 12-point font and 1.5 spacing.
• All assessments must be submitted through turnitin in .doc or .pdf format for submission.
• It is the onus of the student to ensure that all assessments are successfully submitted through turnitin.
• Faculty assignment cover sheets are NOT required for this unit.

Draft Submissions & Turnitin Originality Reports

• Students may use Turnitin’s Originality Report as a learning tool to improve their academic writing if this option is made available in the unit.
• Students are strongly encouraged to upload a draft copy of each assessment to Turnitin at least one week prior to the due date to obtain an Originality Report.
• The Originality Report provides students with a similarity index that may indicate if plagiarism has occurred. Students will be able to make amendments to their drafts prior to their final submission on the due date.
• Generally, one Originality Report is generated every 24 hours up to the due date.

When preparing your assignments, it is essential that:

• Students must retain a copy of all assignments before submission, and retain the copy until your final grade for the subject has been received;
• Marks will be deducted if you submit your assessment late (refer to the ‘late assessments’ section below for more details);
• Unless there are exceptional circumstances, no assessment will be accepted after the date that the assessment has been returned to other students.
• If an assessment is considered to be below passing standard, another staff member on the unit will provide a second opinion. No failed assessment may be re-submitted.

Late Assessments:

A deduction of 5% of the total possible mark allocated for that assessment would be made for each day or part day that assessment is late, weekends counting as two days. For example, if an assessment is worth 20 marks and you submit it 2 days late, you will have 2 marks (2 x 5% of 20 marks) subtracted from your awarded mark.

Extensions:

In extenuating circumstances, students may apply to the unit coordinator for an extension to the assessment due date. Reasons for the extension need to be documented through the Disruption to Studies form accessible through ask.mq.edu.au under "Disruption" and supported (e.g., a Professional Authority Form must be used in the case of illness). Note that:

• Students MUST speak with the unit coordinator prior to submitting their request through https://ask.mq.edu.au
• Extensions will only be granted in receipt of the completed form submitted through ask.mq.edu.au plus documentation.
• Emails are not an appropriate means of extension requests.
• It is essential that you plan ahead and organise your study time effectively. Poor time management is not grounds for an extension.
• In the case of computer malfunction, a draft of your assignment may be requested. Please ensure that you print out a draft regularly, so that it is available for submission on request.   
• Extensions are usually not granted on the due date.

IEC Academic Honesty Guidelines:  

All assignments should cite and provide full bibliographical details of all material that you have used to inform or support your ideas. At the Institute of Early Childhood, students are required to use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing procedures. Full details about how to cite and reference correctly can be found in Perrin (2015) and in the IEC Academic Honesty Handbook.

The following guide can be purchased from the Co-op Bookshop. This is a required text: *

Perrin, R. (2015). Pocket guide to APA style (5th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

The final grade a student receives signifies their overall performance in meeting the learning outcomes for the unit. The number assigned to a grade (Standard Numerical Grade or SNG) reflects the extent to which student attainment matches the grade descriptors.

Your raw mark for the unit (i.e., the total of your marks for each assessment item) may not be the same as the SNG which you receive. Results may be scaled to ensure there is a degree of comparability across the university, so that units with the same past performances of their students should achieve similar results. The process of scaling does not change the order of marks among students. A student who receives a higher raw score mark than another will also receive a higher final scaled mark.

Full details about each assessment task is available on the Unit Website

There are five aspects of assessment in this unit.  Each aspect has a minimum requirement that must be met. To achieve a passing grade in this unit, students must:

• complete and submit all assignments,
• attend and contribute to tutorials and on campus sessions,
• achieve an overall result of 50% or higher for the unit, 
• achieve a passing grade in Assignment 3 - Professional Experience in order to receive a passing grade for the unit,
• demonstrate appropriate English language academic literacy in order to meet unit requirements.

Confidentiality

Students must respect the need for sensitivity and confidentially and ensure that privacy obligations are met. There should be nothing in assessment submissions that identifies a centre or school. Use only the first name for children, families and staff. Do not record details that enable identification of the site, and of the adults or children. 

ECHP 424 is a three (3) credit point unit. You should therefore expect to allocate about 9 hours a week over 15 weeks in your study for this unit.

IEC Professional Experience Unit Academic Expectations 

• In order to be eligible for a passing grade, students must meet the following attendance requirements:
  • Internal Students: Attend at least 80% of all tutorials – punctuality is expected. Consistent lateness or absence will jeopardise a passing grade
  • External Students: Attend all session of each on-campus day – punctuality is expected. Please note that non-attendance will lead to exclusion from the unit. Students who are unable to attend due to illness or other unavoidable disruption will be supported in their application to withdraw without academic penalty.
• Students are required to contribute to all online and tutorial tasks
• Students are expected to read weekly readings before completing tasks and attending tutorials/on-campus
• Students are expected to listen/attend weekly lectures before completing tasks and attending tutorials/on-campus
• All assessment tasks must be submitted
• Feedback from Advisers and/or Cooperating Teachers is of a general nature. It is incumbent on the student to check the requirements of assessments against the marking criteria and unit outcomes prior to submission.
• In order to meet all expectations for this unit, students must:
• attain an overall minimum of a Pass grade for the written submission components, AND
• attain a ‘Satisfactory’ grade for their Professional Experience Evaluation Report

IEC Professional Experience Unit Placement Expectations 

• Students are required to complete 18 days of Professional Experience at an early childhood centre for children aged birth-5 or a school
• To be eligible to commence the block placement component of this unit, students
  • Must have submitted all written assessment tasks and/or associated unit component requirements prior to the commencement of the block
  • Must meet the attendance requirements for the unit
  • Students must be able to present evidence of completion of the following prior to semester census date in order to receive a placement for Professional Experience:
    • A Working with Children Check or State/ Territory equivalent
    • Anaphylaxis training (practical and on line training)
    • Child Protection online training
• Students are expected to negotiate with the cooperating teacher to complete three (3) observation days at times which do not impact on attendance at tutorials for this or other units.
• Feedback from Advisers and/or Cooperating Teachers is of a general nature. It is incumbent on the student to check the requirements of assessments against the marking criteria and unit outcomes prior to submission.
• In order to meet the Professional Experience expectations of this unit, students must:
  • attain a ‘Satisfactory’ grade for their Professional Experience Practical Work in their Evaluation Report, AND
  • attain a ‘Satisfactory’ grade for their Professional Experience Folder in their Evaluation Report.

Confidentiality

• Students must respect the need for sensitivity and confidentially and ensure that privacy obligations are met. There should be nothing in assessment submissions that identifies a centre or school. Use only the first name for children, families and staff. Do not record details that enable identification of the site, and of the adults or children. 

Withdrawing from this Unit

If you are considering withdrawing from this unit, please seek academic advice by writing to iec@mq.edu.au before doing so as this unit may be a co-requisite or prerequisite for units in the following semesters and may impact on your progression through the degree. 

Communicating with Unit Staff

There are two coordinators for this Professional Experience Unit.  Please contact us either via the dialogue function on ilearn or by phone:

• Sandra Cheeseman (9850 9835) for matters relating to academic expectations, assignments or attendance at tutorials or on-campus.
• Katey De Gioia (9850 9786) for matters relating to prac placements, attendance at prac or any concerns you may have whilst on prac.

During semester time, staff may contact students using either:

• Dialogue function on iLearn
• Official MQ Student Email Address

It is the student’s responsibility to check all electronic communication on a regular basis ( at least weekly).

Compulsory On-Campus Days for External Students - Saturday 22nd August and Friday 25th September 

Weeks 1-4:

There will be four live lectures that are common to all students enrolled in ECHP424 to support your preparation for Professional Experience and your assignments in this unit. These will be in weeks 1-4. Grad Dip students will be provided with four recorded lectures providing content  focussing on your PE requirements for planning and documenting children’s learning in prior to school settings. The lectures are available in the echo tab on the ilearn page.  Students should listen to these lectures prior to coming to the first on-campus day.

During these first weeks all students should complete their three orientation days (usually one day a week works very well). You may complete the orientation days at a time negotiated between yourself and your cooperating teacher. Please note you need to start these orientation days as early as possible and try to undertake some planned teaching experiences during the third orientation day. During the first  four weeks of semester, you also need to develop your knowledge of the age group of children that you will be working with, undertake required reading to support your project work, complete Assignment 1 and collect resources and materials to use during student teaching. 

Weeks 5-7

During the Professional Experience placement, you will work towards 400-level expectations outlined in the evaluation document relevant to your program. As your work continues, it will be appropriate for you to take more responsibility for working with children. You may begin taking responsibility for whole days as soon as you are ready. You are required to take responsibility for at least ten full days.

University break

This is an opportunity to complete assignments and consolidate your reading.

Weeks 8-15

The final lectures in this unit focus on key issues for graduate teachers in seeking employment and beginning your profession. We have engaged a number of guest speakers, all currently working as teachers, to share with you their perspectives on some of the big issues for new graduate teachers.  There are tutorials scheduled for internal students in weeks 8-11.  The second on-campus day for External students is on Friday 25th September. The remainder of the semester has been set aside for independent study and work on your final assignment.

IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS UNDERTAKING PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN A SCHOOL SETTING

Prior to commencing any school based Professional Experience placements students are required to complete two online training sessions.

• Child protection training: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/cpat/cpat.html

• Anaphylaxis training: http://etraining.allergy.org.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=97

Failure to complete these online training modules by the specified time will result in the student not being able to complete the Professional Experience block placement in a school setting.  Please see the announcement on the Unit Website in relation to this requirement.

ECHP 424 is worth three credit points. Therefore, you are expected to allocate about 9 hours a week over 15 weeks in your study for this unit.

The following required readings relate to the fist weeks of semester.  Students are expected to source their own literature to support their work on assignments and support their Professional Experience.

Week 1:

Hill, L.T., Stremmel, A.J. & Fu, V.R. (2005). Teaching as inquiry. Rethinking curriculum in early childhood education. Boston,MA: Pearson.

Review of academic programs, White Paper 17, October 2008. Available from http://staff.mq.edu.au/teaching/curriculum_development/graduate_capabilities/

Week 2:

All to read:        Cook, P. F and Young, J.R. (2004). Face-to-face with children. Curriculum Studies, 36 (3) 341-360.

Chose one or more of the readings listed below and available on the ilearn readings tab for week 2.

Ebbeck, M, Chan, Y.Y.Y. & Yim. H.Y.B. (2011). Encouraging a culture of research in practicing teachers in Singapore. Early Childhood Education Journal 39, 355-364.

Furtado, L. & Anderson,D. (2012). The reflective teacher leader: An action research model. Journal of School Leadership, 22, 531-567.

Newman, L. & Mowbray, S. (2012). ‘We were expected to be equal’: teachers and academics sharing professional learning through practitioner inquiry. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 18 (4), 455-468.

Poekert, P. (2010). The pedagogy of facilitation: teacher inquiry as professional development in a Florida elementary school. Professional development in Education.37(1), 19-38.

Towers, J. (2012). Administrative supports and curricula challenges: New teachers enacting and sustaining inquiry in schools. Canadian Journal of Education, 35 (1), 259-278.

Weeks 3 - 12:

Please see the reading list provided on the ilearn page