Assessment Presentation and Submission Guidelines

Please follow these guidelines when you submit each assignment:

• Please type all assignments using 12-point font and 1.5 spacing.
• All assessments must be submitted through Turnitin in .doc format
• It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all assessments are successfully submitted through Turnitin.
• Faculty assignment cover sheets are NOT required.

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.

• Students should regularly save a copy of all assignments before submission,
• Students are responsible for checking that their submission has been successful and has been submitted by the due date and time.

Assignment extensions and late penalties

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

• Applications for extensions must be made via AskMQ according to the Special Consideration policy. 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.
• 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 re-assessment 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. 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.

Descriptive Criteria for awarding grades in the unit

In order to meet the unit outcomes and successfully pass this unit, students must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks. Where any submitted assessment task is considered to be unsatisfactory in this regard, the highest possible final grade that can be awarded for the unit will be 45.

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.

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Required and recommended texts

All required readings, other than those in the text, can be downloaded directly from within each module on the unit's ilearn site (NB to read them you will need Adobe Acrobat installed).

Any one of the following three editions of the text can be used, however, they may take some time to arrive:

• Johnson, B., and Christensen, L. (2012). Educational Research: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Approaches. (4th Edition). Thousand Oaks California: Sage
• Johnson, B., and Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Approaches. (5th Edition). Thousand Oaks California: Sage.
• Johnson, B., and Christensen, L. (2017). Educational Research: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Approaches. (6th Edition). Thousand Oaks California: Sage.

The e-textbook version of the 6^th edition is cheaper, and can be downloaded immediately from:

• https://www.amazon.com.au/d/Educational-Research-Quantitative-Qualitative-Approaches-ebook/B01M66TJSE/ref=sr_1_1/355-9831673-0112403?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501207964&sr=1-1&keywords=Educational+Research%3A+Qualitative%2C+Quantitative+and+Mixed+Approaches

Electronic Communication

It is the student’s responsibility to check all electronic communication on a regular weekly basis.  Communication may occur via:

• Official MQ Student Email Address
• The Dialogue function on iLearn
• Other iLearn communication functions

Information about the unit iLearn site

• This unit has a full web presence through iLearn.
• Students will need regular access to a computer and the Internet to complete this unit.
• Weekly access to iLearn is compulsory for all students. Important assessment information will be posted here, as will other relevant unit notices and materials.

Access and technical assistance

• Information for students about access to the online component of this unit is available at ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/MQ/. You will need to enter your student username and password.
• Please do NOT contact the Unit Convenor regarding iLearn technical help.
• No extensions will be given for any technical issues. Allow enough time for your submissions.
• Assistance is available from IT Helpdesk ph: 1800 67 4357, or log a request at help.mq.edu.au. OneHelp is the online IT support service for both students and staff.

This unit requires students to use several ICT and software skills

• Internet access: The iLearn site contains materials for this unit; it is also required for the online submission of all Assessment Tasks, and for the use of Turnitin submission for ALL tasks. 
• Word processing, visual representations, and document formatting: You are required to use an appropriate form of software to present your assignments.
• Uploading of assessment tasks to iLearn.

Structure

In order to satisfactorily complete this unit, students are required to use the text and other resources (eg, readings, workshop podcasts, etc) to complete the five assessment tasks and submit them by their respective submission dates (NB unless an extension has been arranged). Each of these assessment tasks is worth 20% of the final grade for the unit. There are no word limits on any assessment task.

Note: It is not the responsibility of unit staff to contact students who have failed to submit assignments. If you have any missing items of assessment, it is your responsibility to make contact with the unit convenor.

There are two workshops scheduled for each module. The first is a face to face session in which the content of the module will be reviewed and the assessment tasks discussed. Attendance is recommended but not compulsory. These sessions will be recorded and distributed via the unit’s ilearn site for those who do not attend (ie Podcast). The second workshop is a pre-recorded session (ie Podcast only) in which educational researchers discuss their work. Please see the Unit Schedule (below) for details of these workshops.

* Mid session break