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.

Final Submissions

• Students are responsible for checking that their submission has been successful and has been submitted by the due date and time.
• Late submissions due to last minute technical difficulties will incur a lateness penalty.*

Assignment extensions and late penalties

Applications for extensions must be made via AskMQ at https://ask.mq.edu.au as a Special Consideration request before the submission date. Students who experience a disruption to their studies through ill-health or misadventure are able to apply for this request. Extensions can only be granted if they meet the Special Considerations policy and are submitted via https://ask.mq.edu.au/. This will ensure consistency in the consideration of such requests is maintained.

In general, there should be no need for extensions except through illness or misadventure that would be categorised as unavoidable disruption according to the University definition of same, see:  https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration

Late submissions without extension will receive a penalty of 5% reduction of the total possible mark for each day late (including weekends and public holidays). You are reminded that submitting even just 1 day late could be the difference between passing and failing a unit. Late penalties are applied by unit convenors or their delegates after tasks are assessed.

No assessable work will be accepted after the return/release of marked work on the same topic. If a student is still permitted to submit on the basis of unavoidable disruption, an alternative topic may be set.

Students should keep an electronic file of all assessments. Claims regarding "lost" assessments cannot be made if the file cannot be produced. It is also advisable to keep an electronic file of all drafts and the final submission on a USB untouched/unopened after submission. This can be used to demonstrate easily that the assessment has not been amended after the submission date.

Requesting a remark of an assignment

If you have evidence that your task has been incorrectly assessed against the grade descriptors you can request a re-mark.  To request a re-mark you need to contact the unit convenor within 7 days of the date of return of the assignment and provide a detailed assessment of your script against the task criteria. Evidence from your assignment must be provided to support your judgements.

Note: Failed assessments can not be re-submitted as they are all double-marked as a part of the moderation process.

Please note: The outcome of a re-mark may be a higher/lower or unchanged grade. Grades are standards referenced and effort is NOT a criterion.

University policy on grading

Criteria for awarding grades for assessment tasks

Assignments will be awarded grades ranging from HD to F according to guidelines set out in the University's Grading Policy. The following descriptive criteria are included for your information.

Note: If you fail a unit with a professional experience component the fail grade will be on your transcript irrespective of the timing of when the placement takes place.

Criteria for awarding grades in the unit

Students will be awarded grades ranging from HD to F according to guidelines set out in the policy: https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/assessment-in-effect-from-session-2-2016

The following generic grade descriptors provide university-wide standards for awarding final grades.

 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. 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).

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.

Relevant Documents

The information in this Unit Guide must be read in conjunction with the following documents available for download from iLearn:

• Unit Readings, Assessments & Study Guide
• Professional Experience Handbook 
• Professional Experience Guide 
• Professional Field Visits Guide 

Electronic Communication

During semester time, staff may contact students using the following ways:

• Dialogue function on iLearn
• Official MQ Student Email Address

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

Unit Coordinators for this unit are 

• Susan Reade - For all academic issues - eg questions about content, readings, assignments
• Belinda Davis - For all Professional Experience inquiries - eg those related to your placement

Please use the dialogue function on iLearn to contact us in the first instance.

Professional Experience Unit Academic Expectations 

• In order to be eligible for a passing grade, students must meet the following attendance requirements:
  • Internal Students: Participate in all tutorials – punctuality is expected. Consistent lateness or absence will jeopardise a passing grade
  • External Students: Participate in all on-campus sessions – punctuality is expected. Please note that non-participation will lead to exclusion from the unit. Students who are unable to participate 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 tutorials/workshops tasks
• Students are expected to read weekly readings before completing tasks and attending tutorials/workshops
• Students are expected to listen/attend weekly lectures before completing tasks and attending tutorials/workshops
• All assessment tasks must be submitted
• Feedback from Tertiary Supervisors and/or Supervising 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

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 participation 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*
• A Working with Children Check or State/Territory equivalent is required by the end of Week 3 to be eligible for a placement. Students may need to withdraw from this unit if this has not been obtained in time. 
• Students may not be able to commence their placement until all alleged academic honesty breaches have been investigated and concluded. 
• Students are expected to negotiate with the supervising teacher to complete five (3) observation days at times which do not impact on attendance at tutorials for this or other units.
• Students who are completing a unit offered by another department are expected to inform and negotiate with that unit convener about their professional experience block dates and to discuss how that unit's requirements can be met. For some situations, it may mean that you are enrolled externally for that unit so that your attendance for tutorials for that unit is not impacted. 
• Feedback from Tertiary Supervisors and/or Supervising 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 placement 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

For this Unit, students must also be aware of the following specific requirements:

• Students must meet the mandatory requirements to undertake placements as specified in this/the Unit Guide.  These may include both University requirements and mandatory requirements specified by the accrediting authority such as the Working with Children check.
•  Macquarie University operates under a ‘Fit to Sit’ model as specified in the University's Special Consideration Policy.  For this Unit, this means that, when undertaking a placement, a student is declaring that they are fit to do so. It is the responsibility of the student to determine whether they are fit to undertake a placement. Therefore, if a student is feeling unfit to undertake a placement, they should not do so.
•  If a Student is identified by the Unit Convenor as being ‘At Risk’, the Department’s ‘At Risk’ procedure will be activated and they will not be able to withdraw themselves from this Unit.
• The timing of placements can vary. For placements early in the Session, Fail grades may be approved by the University prior to the end of Session for students who do not meet the placement expectations of the Unit.

Withdrawing from this UG Unit

If you are considering withdrawing from this unit, please seek academic advice by writing to https://ask.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.