There are a total of five assessments in BIOL3640 – all of which are important to a student’s learning experience and ability to succeed in BIOL3640. Assessments have been designed to constitute a portfolio of sorts that students can use towards their endeavours beyond Macquarie University. Students may therefore find value in adapting these resources further for the purpose of submission to prospective employers, educational institutions (if pursuing postgraduate or HDR study) or funding organisations, as well as consulting them in advance of interviews and employment/scholarship/internship/award applications.

Important note: Assessments in BIOL3640 are primarily designed in order students can draw on their existing knowledge and personal traits, their PACE activity experience, and theory taught through BIOL3640. There can be instances whereby students commence their PACE activity significantly later than others and this can impact on certain questions found in particular assessments (namely, Mind the gap! and the Reflective Praxis). Fortunately, these assessments have been created to be flexible such that questions can be adapted to suit student context. Most commonly this involves examining things through the experience of finding a PACE activity which for some, can be an incredibly time-consuming and rigorous experience. If you have any concerns about your ability to complete assessments as they are detailed in this unit outline, please contact the Unit Convenor to discuss the possibility of adaptation as early as possible.

PACE activities and BIOL3640 assessment

Feedback from PACE activity supervisors on student performance in the PACE activity is not a part of assessment in BIOL3640. Similarly, PACE activity supervisors are not asked to provide marks on their students in relation to their performance in the PACE activity. There are very important reasons why – all of which are for the benefit of students:

1. Students in BIOL3640 complete incredibly diverse PACE activities at a myriad of different organisations – both of which vary from session to session. In the same way that no student will have the same experience as another, each PACE activity supervisor will form distinct relationships with their student(s) and have their own set of expectations.
   • For example, some supervisors might establish very close bonds with their students and have excellent knowledge of their performance in the PACE activity whereas others can take more of a ‘hands-off’ approach and students find themselves working independently – even sometimes struggling to get feedback from their supervisor. In other cases, it is possible that a supervisor and their student do not have the best of relationships, or, they become the best of friends. Conditions such as these mean that not every supervisor is in a position to genuinely or objectively comment or grade students on their performance. Asking supervisors to provide feedback or marks despite these real circumstances could result in some students being unfairly disadvantaged or advantaged.
2. The Assessment Policy of Macquarie University requires that all assessments are moderated. “Moderation is a quality review and assurance process that occurs at all stages of the assessment lifecycle. It involves using other academics and qualified staff to confirm that the assessment design, tasks and marking are valid and reliable (Macquarie University, 2016)."
   • Unfortunately, moderation of feedback and marks from PACE activity supervisors is incredibly difficultnot feasible as each supervisor will have their own interpretation of assessment criteria, and supervisors change each session which prevents the accumulation of understanding over time. For example, one student could receive a very high mark from their supervisor based on the supervisor’s understanding of the marking criteria while another student, who worked just as hard and did something similar with a different organisation, could be graded very harshly as their supervisor had an entirely different interpretation of the criteria.
   • Further, PACE activity supervisors work in isolation of each other, whereas teaching staff of a PACE unit collaborate during the marking process to ensure objectivity and the appropriate setting of benchmarks. In the context of BIOL3640 this generally involves all teaching staff marking a sample of 5 submissions, then discussing marking outcomes to ensure there is clarity and agreement. This double marking also enables discussion to occur around cohort-based benchmarks as well as supporting a shared understanding of the marking criteria.

Submitting your assignments:

All assignments must be submitted on or before the due date listed, unless exceptional circumstances exist and alternative arrangements are necessary as per the Special Consideration Policy.

Most assessments in this unit can be submitted during a window of time between the review of relevant content (including that associated with the undertaking of PACE activities) and the deadline. Students cannot submit the assessment prior to the opening of the assessment window, but are welcome to submit prior to the deadline provided they have reviewed the content required to complete the assessment.

Detailed assessment information and submission instructions are available on iLearn

Late penalties:

Extensions will be granted only in serious and unavoidable circumstances and only by the Unit Convenor. Such requests are accounted for in the Special Consideration Policy and students must submit requests within 5 working days of a disruption’s commencement. Supporting documentation will be required for both medical and non-medical situations. Students are advised to alert the Unit Convenor (i.e. in person or by email) as soon as possible if there are circumstances which may prevent them from completing an assessment on time, and then submit the appropriate Special Consideration request.

Assignments submitted after the due date and without an approved Special Consideration, will be penalised one mark per day late. For example, if the assessment carries a value of 30% of the total unit grade and you initially achieve a score of 20 out of 30 (67%), but have submitted one day late, one mark from the initial score will be subtracted (20-1 = 19 out of 30 = 63%).

Returning Assessment Tasks and Grades

Grades for individual assessments will be communicated to students via iLearn and your grades will be visible in iLearn’s Gradebook. Gradebook will not display marks (i.e. 57%) but grades (i.e. letters such as “P”) and where appropriate a plus (+) or minus (-) signs which would give students greater insight into performance (see next section on “Marking Criteria” for more detail on this).

Grades and feedback for all assessments will be communicated/become visible once the entire cohort has been marked. This allows for benchmarking specific to the session, moderation, and equity. Assessments that have been submitted on alternative dates as approved through the Special Consideration process, will be returned with all others if possible. The standard return period for assessments at Macquarie University is 3 weeks. Final grades for the unit will be communicated via e-student as per University policy.

Feedback

Students can expect feedback in the following formats as relevant to each assessment (i.e. the only format which applies to all assessments is general feedback as described in the first bullet point below):

• General feedback featuring trends across the cohort
• Individualised marking rubrics
• ‘Quick mark’ comments directly in Turnitin/Gradebook submissions
• Summary feedback – in Turnitin/Gradebook submissions or alongside individualised marking rubrics

Grades and Marking criteria

Assessment rubrics have been designed to help students better understand what sort of content is being sought in assessments, and against which grades will be based. Also, the rubrics detail the various grade ranges (i.e. High Distinction = HD; Distinction = D; Credit = C/Cr; Pass = P; and Fail = F) and what level of work would constitute each grade in relation to the assessments for this unit.

Students should note that as per Macquarie University’s Assessment Policy, letter grades are returned to students in this unit. It is appreciated that students would want to understand approximately where, within a given grade range, they have been scored. For this reason, grades in BIOL3640 will have either a + sign to indicate the grade falls within the top end of the relevant scale, or a – minus sign to indicate the lower end. Those grades without a symbol represent mid-range.

The hope is that students will find the rubrics helpful as assessments in this unit require students to bring together several components in a synthesised analysis. Students must also engage with both theoretical and practical content in a critical manner. Further, students of this unit may be unfamiliar with the practice of reflection and it is expected that students will not only learn about some of the theoretical aspects of reflection, but also demonstrate its application in a manner that is relevant to their PACE activity, and their own needs.

As it relates to reflection, the grading of assessments in BIOL3640 is very much focussed on the process rather than the individual outcomes of students. For example, as it relates to the final assessment (Reflective Praxis) although students might identify the scale of learning they have achieved through  their PACE activity and the unit more broadly, grading will focus on the degree to which they have integrated theory with practice, and substantiated this with both personal evidence (i.e. your own opinion/viewpoints/perspectives/experiences/ideas) and scholarly evidence (e.g. resources/concepts/tips/theories/theorists from a source other than yourself). Grading would also take into account things such as the degree to which all components of the assessment have been completed, and the quality of these.

This is intended to ensure objectivity as it would be inappropriate to grade a student on the basis of how much experience or learning they have, or have not, had to date. This unit places high value on the individual experiences and skills that all students bring to the course.  There are three important reasons why:

1. If grading were based solely on personal evidence then there would be a risk of subjectivity (e.g. if we pass a personal judgement on one opinion being of greater value over another). A similarly inappropriate scenario would be for the cover letter to be assessed based on the amount and nature of experience/education achieved by students to date. As should be evidenced in the feedback - it is about writing a good cover letter full stop, no matter your background.
2. If all opinions have their merit (as we believe they do), then grading of these viewpoints alone means that everybody would achieve top marks by simply having an opinion. In turn, this would affect the academic rigour of the learning process for each student - to what degree would students need to think critically, analytically, and in an integrated manner?
3. The main objective of the unit is to get students to engage with praxis and this necessitates combining theory with practice. For this reason, having a personal viewpoint/opinion/perspective alone, while an important starting point, is not enough to achieve this level of understanding.

On that note, as BIOL3640 is a 300 level unit, students are expected to cite and reference reputable, scholarly evidence to substantiate their responses where appropriate. Responses should not just be opinion based, although they may be driven by your opinion and views. The exceptions to this are the Cover Letter and Mind the gap! whereby students will demonstrate their understanding of theory through its direct application (i.e. in writing the cover letter, and communicating their knowledge and learning in the case of Mind the gap!). Separate rubrics have been created for these assessments as a result.

During the marking process relevant criteria are shaded with colour in the marking rubric to demonstrate performance level. At times, the distribution of this for a given criterion might fall in more than one grading category. This means that certain parts of an assessment could be considered at one grade level, while other elements classified at a different level. Such variation is normal in BIOL3640 given there are no set responses to assessments and marking is carried out in an objective manner (as described above). When this occurs, criteria will be shaded in all relevant grade levels that apply as appropriate and the accompanying feedback will demonstrate the variation.

Finally, students should note that each grade range (i.e. High Distinction = HD; Distinction = D; Credit = C/Cr; Pass = P; and Fail = F) represents a wide spread of possible marks. While the overall grade for each assessment will indicate where in a given range the student has performed, the marking rubrics are based on the grade range as a whole. This means that if a grade range is shaded in an individualised marking rubric, it does not necessarily mean that you have achieved at the top end of that range. Indeed, it is possible that a student sometimes performs at the lower end of that range, sometimes in the middle, and at others, at the top. Written or spoken feedback will provide guidance on any variation in performance within a given grade range.

If you are having trouble with this unit

If you are having trouble with any aspect of BIOL3640, you should discuss the matter with the Unit Convenor as soon as possible. If you require extensions for assignments, please do not leave it to the last moment, and please recognise that you need to provide appropriate documentation. The University provides excellent health and counselling services on-campus and also significant disability support if required.

The Faculty and the University have important policies on student behaviour, computer usage, plagiarism and other forms of cheating. Your conduct in BIOL3640 should always be respectful of your fellow students and others involved in the unit, and the people and other species that your work affects, and should always be consistent with policies of the Faculty and the University.

BIOL3640 is available in both internal and external modes.  It involves a series of on-campus workshops (Live Streamed, recorded and available through via Echo360 ALP on iLearn), on-line Modules and tasks, and a PACE activity.  Workshops involve a lot of student engagement and regardless of enrolment type, students should continuously participate (in person or online). If in person, this could involve physical attendance even if for a limited portion of the workshop.  If in-person attendance of workshops is not possible (e.g. due to location, timetable clash, etc.) students need to engage with content, practical exercises, and classmates online in a timely manner. There will be 2 x 1.5 hour workshops held in select weeks (weeks 1-4 & 11-12) of the session and each workshop will present new content.

The required activities will vary from week to week depending on the nature of the delivery (in-class workshop or on-line) and the timing of individual PACE activities. Please refer to the Unit Schedule on iLearn throughout the semester to confirm the delivery mode (i.e. in-class workshops, readings, on-line learning etc.). iLearn Announcements will inform of any changes to this plan.   

Required and recommended reading:

There is no required text book for this unit; however, in conjunction with workshops, on-line learning, and assessments there will be a number of resources that students must read and research.  With the exception of those materials which are researched independently by the student (e.g. for assessments), all resources will be made available electronically.

Workloads

BIOL3640 is a 10 credit point unit. The total workload for a standard 10 credit point unit should be a minimum of 10 hours per week throughout the semester. However, as a PACE unit there is recognition that workload may vary in comparison to traditional unit offerings. This is due to teaching delivery which is in-class, on-line and in the community, differences in timing for PACE activities, and individual styles of learning.

Also, experience has indicated that students often choose to commit more time than required to their PACE activities in response to the associated personal and professional reward and learning opportunities which could not otherwise be achieved in the classroom. With this in mind, students should understand that workload associated with a 10 credit point unit must ultimately constitute 150 hours in total. The following workloads hours apply to BIOL3640 with the recognition that some variation may occur:

• Workshops and associated preparation (i.e. review of online resources): 36hours
• PACE activity: approximately 70 hours
• Assessments: 32hours
• Private study and reflection: 12hours

Keeping track of PACE activity hours:

It is recommended that students maintain some sort of record (in hard or soft copy) that charts the number of hours they complete over the course of their PACE activity as well as key events and learning. This is to foster student learning and achievement - there is no formal log book or requirement for students to submit evidence of having completed the 70 hours of their PACE activity. Instead, a student’s progress of their PACE activity will be monitored throughout via information provided in assessments as well as direct communication by FSE PACE staff with students and their PACE activity supervisor.

You may want to consider having a spreadsheet as outlined below. It is not necessary to have your supervisor sign off on your hours, but many students ask about it so we have made a mock up below:

Roles and Responsibilities of PACE partners:

• Host a student or group of students to undertake a PACEactivity;
• Work with the University (and/or the student where appropriate) to design a PACE activity that satisfies the needs of the partner and the academic requirements of the unit;
• Nominate a supervisor who will provide support and supervision to the student/s;
• Provide sufficient resources/facilities for the student/s to undertake the PACE activity;
• Provide the student/s with an orientation at the beginning of the PACE activity informing them about: work health and safety requirements; emergency procedures; harassment, bullying and anti- discrimination policies; dress standards; confidentiality and privacy requirements; internet policies and ethical guidelines; any special training required for their role;
• Negotiate in good faith with the student/s if it is considered that their work during a PACE activity will, or is likely to generate Intellectual Property rights, and if required, enter into a separate agreement with the student/s relating to Intellectual Property rights ownership;
• Provide the required Work Health and Safety information to the University to enable the University to complete a risk assessment of the PACE activity prior to the student/s commencing the activity. This will include completion of a short WHS survey about the environment where the student will be working when based with the partner organisation;
• Comply with the Work Health and Safety laws of the state or territory where the PACE activity will be undertaken;
• Advise the University and the student/s of any necessary clearances that the student/s will need to undertake the PACE activity (e.g. working with children check, police checks,vaccinations);
• Acknowledge, where possible, the student’s role in authoring or contributing to any materials produced during the PACE activity;
• Provide the student with feedback on their work and help them to resolve any difficulties they experience;
• Contact the Unit Convenor or Faculty PACE Manager as soon as possible, should there be any changes or issues relating to the agreed activity or the student’s participation.

Mondays 4-5:30pm in 14 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Ave (E7B) - tutorial room 263

Tuesdays 5-6:30pm in 11 Wally's Walk (E5A) - room 170

In order to enrol in BIOL3640 students require Special Approval. Special Approval is granted on the basis of:

• attendance of the pre-enrolment workshop (in person or virtually) and review of all essential resources in the BIOL3640 pre-enrolment iLearn site as confirmed by adeclaration;
• meeting the pre-requisite of 130cp (including 40cp in BIOL units) at the time of requesting SpecialApproval;
• a projected PACE activity and partner organisation meeting the PACE criteria (e.g. mutual benefit, ethical,etc.);
• a projected PACE activity enabling the learning outcomes of theunit;
• a projected PACE activity and partner organisation meeting WHS and riskconsiderations.

Requests for Special Approval involve the submission of a PACE Student Profile – the link for which is available to students via the BIOL3640 pre-enrolment iLearn site. Requests for Special Approval must be submitted no later than 4 weeks prior to the start of session (as published in the Handbook) unless otherwise communicated by staff. Eligible students will receive an email to confirm receipt of Special Approval, following which they should enrol in the unit via e-student asap. In cases where additional information is required or enrolment is not possible, students will be consulted by email.