Grade descriptors and other information concerning grading are contained in the Macquarie University Assessment Policy. All final grades are determined by a grading committee, in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Policy, and are not the sole responsibility of the Unit Convenor. Students will be awarded a final grade and a mark which must correspond to the grade descriptors specified in the Assessment Procedure (clause 128). To pass this unit, you must demonstrate sufficient evidence of achievement of the learning outcomes, meet any ungraded requirements, and achieve a final mark of 50 or better. Further details for each assessment task will be available on iLearn.

Late Submissions

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE MARK) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.    

Late submission of time sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Special Consideration If you are unable to complete an assessment task on or by the specified date due circumstances that are unexpected, unavoidable, significantly disruptive and beyond your control, you may apply for special consideration in accordance with the special consideration policy. Applications for special consideration must be supported by appropriate evidence and submitted via ask.mq.edu.au.   

As a student enrolled in this unit, you will engage in a range of online and face-to-face learning activities, including readings, online quizzes, lectures, and lab activities. Additional details can be found on the iLearn site for this unit.

Textbook

Purves D. et al. (Eds.) (2017) NEUROSCIENCE, 6th edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. The hardcover version is available for purchase through Booktopia or you can rent the digital eBook from Oxford University Press. In addition, a number of copies of the hardcover textbook will be on reserve at the Macquarie University Library. 

iLearn

You will need access to the internet to access the COGS1005 iLearn page. Through iLearn you will be able to access the lecture recordings (Echo360), additional readings, and feedback and marks for the assessment tasks. Please allow time to familiarise yourself with how to access iLearn. ​Further information about iLearn can be found at: https://help.ilearn.mq.edu.au/

Lectures

Lectures will start in Week 1. The officially scheduled lecture time is Monday 9:30 - 11:00 AM. Lectures will be delivered face-to-face in 29WW T1 (29 Wally's Walk -- T1 Theatre), but depending on prevailing conditions, may be live-streamed online via Zoom or Echo360 during the officially scheduled time. In some cases, lectures may be pre-recorded and uploaded through Echo360 prior to the officially scheduled lecture time. The Zoom meeting link and password will be provided securely through the COGS1005 iLearn page. All lectures, regardless of initial delivery mode, will be recorded and made available for asynchronous viewing through Echo360. Lecture slides will be uploaded to iLearn just before the lecture time under the lecture link in the relevant week below. Updated lecture information will be provided through iLearn.

Tutorials

Face-to-face tutorials and lab sessions are an essential part of COGS1000 and these cannot be delivered online. All students are therefore required to come to campus to participate in these sessions and complete the associated in-class assessment tasks.  If you are unable to attend a lab session in person due to unavoidable reasons (quarantine, illness, etc.), you should apply for Special Consideration through AskMQ. Reasonable adjustments will be made for students with approved special consideration. 

If you are an offshore international student or have other exceptional circumstances that prevent you from coming to campus for the entire semester, you will have the option to enrol in an online Zoom-based tutorial. If this applies to you, please send an email request directly to the unit convenor (david.kaplan@mq.edu.au). The online tutorial option is not available for students who simply prefer to study online.

Weekly Online Quizzes

This unit has weekly online quizzes designed to keep you on track during the fast-paced semester. Quizzes will be graded either as full credit or no credit; no partial credit will be given. To receive full credit on a quiz, you must correctly answer at least 50% of the multiple-choice questions. If you correctly answer less than 50% of the questions, you will receive no credit for that quiz. No make-up quizzes will be permitted (with the exception of officially approved Special Consideration requests). However, your 2 lowest quizzes will be dropped at the end of the semester.

As indicated above, quizzes must be completed online each week prior to the lecture. Each quiz will be open until 11:55 PM Sunday night, the night before the relevant lecture. Only quizzes completed before this deadline will be recorded. These quizzes are open book, and you may take each quiz multiple times before the deadline, but only the first submitted attempt for each quiz will be counted. You will receive feedback as to your correct and incorrect answers at the completion of each quiz.  There are no quizzes during the week of the Mid-term Exam (Week 5), the mid-semester break, and the final wrap-up discussion (Week 13).

The quizzes are delivered through iLearn, so you need to have access to a reliable computer with connection to the Internet. Technical difficulties will not be accepted as a reason for special consideration.

To access the online quizzes:

1. Navigate to the appropriate week in iLearn (e.g., Week 2) and click on that week’s quiz (e.g., Week 2 Quiz).
2. Read the information provided about what Chapters or page numbers that quiz will cover (it’s open book!), and note the date and time the quiz will close.
3. Click “Attempt quiz now” to begin. After answering each multiple-choice question, click “Save and review”.
4. Next, ensure you have answered each question (i.e., “Answer saved”). If you have not answered a question (i.e., “Not yet answered”), click “Return to attempt”.
5. Once you are satisfied that you have answered every question, click “Submit all and finish”. This will submit your quiz for scoring and log your grade.
6.  Finally, you can carefully review your feedback to note which questions you did and did not answer correctly. The correct answer for each question will be given.
7.  Click “Finish review” to exit. Remember, you can attempt the quiz again by selecting “Re-attempt quiz”, but only your first attempt will count towards your grade.

Social inclusion at Macquarie University is about giving everyone who has the potential to benefit from higher education the opportunity to study at university, participate in campus life and flourish in their chosen field. The University has made significant moves to promote an equitable, diverse and exciting campus community for the benefit of staff and students. It is your responsibility to contribute towards the development of an inclusive culture and practice in the areas of learning and teaching, research, and service orientation and delivery. As a member of the Macquarie University community, you must not discriminate against or harass others based on their sex, gender, race, marital status, carers' responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, age, political conviction or religious belief. All staff and students are expected to display appropriate behaviour that is conducive to a healthy learning environment for everyone. 

In the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, professionalism is a key capability embedded in all our courses. 

As part of developing professionalism, students are expected to attend all small group interactive sessions including clinical, practical, laboratory, work-integrated learning (e.g., PACE placements), and team-based learning activities. Some learning activities are recorded (e.g., face-to-face lectures), however you are encouraged to avoid relying upon such material as they do not recreate the whole learning experience and technical issues can and do occur. As an adult learner, we respect your decision to choose how you engage with your learning, but we would remind you that the learning opportunities we create for you have been done so to enable your success, and that by not engaging you may impact your ability to successfully complete this unit. We equally expect that you show respect for the academic staff who have worked hard to develop meaningful activities and prioritise your learning by communicating with them in advance if you are unable to attend a small group interactive session.

Another dimension of professionalism is having respect for your peers. It is the right of every student to learn in an environment that is free of disruption and distraction. Please arrive to all learning activities on time, and if you are unavoidably detained, please join activity as quietly as possible to minimise disruption. Phones and other electronic devices that produce noise and other distractions must be turned off prior to entering class. Where your own device (e.g., laptop) is being used for class-related activities, you are asked to close down all other applications to avoid distraction to you and others. Please treat your fellow students with the utmost respect. If you are uncomfortable participating in any specific activity, please let the relevant academic know.