Assessment descriptions

Detailed instructions on the essay/opinion pieces along with rubrics can be found on the unit’s iLearn page. A summary of each assessment is provided here:

Early Semester Task (2%)

Word limit: By arrangement with supervisor

Due date: Week 3, by 11:55 pm on Sunday 14 August    

     Write one or two paragraphs summarising a key paper. The main aim of the assessment is to provide some early feedback on writing, including aspects of correctness, comprehensibility, and style. The student will be provided feedback as to whether substantial practice to improve writing is needed.

Essays (40% each)

Word limit: 2500 words (each essay), not including title page, abstract, references, tables, figures, and figure captions

Due dates: Essay 1 – Week 8, by 11:55 pm on Sunday 2 October; Essay 2 – Week 12, by 11:55 pm on Sunday 30 October

     Students will submit two essays (Essay 1 and Essay 2) on two, possibly related topics. Marking criteria are provided in a separate document. For each essay, students will be assessed on coverage and comprehension of the literature relevant to the chosen topic, critical evaluation of the material, and style and writing.

     The essays will be independently assessed by the convenor and the supervisor. More staff may be co-opted to act as independent assessors if required.

Oral presentation (18%): 6 Wally’s Walk 106, 9:00–12:00, 4 November

Time limit: 15 minutes, plus 5 minutes of question time

     Whether it be at scientific meetings or conferences, in schools, or in boardrooms, oral presentations are a time-honoured way of disseminating information and reporting results to an audience. Each student will be expected to present a seminar of 20 minutes in duration (15 mins talk + 5 mins for questions/discussion).

     This will be your chance to argue your point of view and discuss the evidence in front of an audience.
With only 15 minutes, it is important to structure your talk well, keeping the structure simple, but logical. Do not try to cram everything you have learned about the topic into 15 minutes. For a 15-minute presentation you should be looking at no more than a dozen PowerPoint slides (+ 1 slide showing references).

     You will need to carefully evaluate and present only essential, important, and relevant materials, especially illustrations, in an organised and logical sequence. The best seminars are those that are simple to comprehend, logically organised, clearly illustrated, and infotaining! The seminar is worth 18% of your final mark and so we expect high-quality work, especially in terms of scientific evaluation, factual correctness, relevance, and clarity. Seminars will be presented to an audience consisting of at least 2 staff members. Relevant postdocs, postgrads, and MRes students will also be invited to attend. Other students completing BIOL3630 will also be present.

We expect students to present live and in person unless they live far from campus.
Marks will be allocated for scientific content, interpretation, logical flow and organisation, presentational quality, both oral and visual, adequate acknowledgement of relevant sources, and ability to answer audience questions. See the rubric for the seminar presentation on iLearn.

Assignment submission

All written assessments are to be submitted via the Turnitin Assignment submission section on the unit’s iLearn page. You should also email a copy of the assessment to the Convenor (ken.cheng@mq.edu.au) and your supervisor. Sometimes, the turnitin upload may get stuck in cyberspace. Submit Word files for written work, Powerpoint slides for the talk.

Turnitin is a plagiarism-detection software. It compares each submission to most other electronic sources, including the work of your classmates or of previous students from Macquarie and other universities, web sites, and published material available on the Internet, such as electronic journal articles and book chapters. The results will be analysed with reference to the University's Policy on Academic Honesty.

Extensions and penalties: new this year

Late penalties are now standardised across the University. Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark, out of 100) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

Extensions are granted only on grounds of illness or misadventure, and appropriate supporting documentation should be submitted. All applications for special consideration or extension must be sought before the due date unless this is absolutely impossible. All applications for extensions of deadlines must be submitted via the University’s online system.

See the unit's iLearn page for many resources provided for students.

This unit does not have any set classes. We have one scheduled oral presentation session in Week 13, Friday 4 November in 6 Wally's Walk 106.