Academic honesty

• At all times, students should be aware of and apply the Macquarie University policy on academic honesty (https://policies.mq.edu.au/document/view.php?id=3)
• Information on the acceptable and permitted use of generative artificial intelligence tools (GAIT) is outlined in the instructions for each unit assessment task

Assessment preparation guidelines

• Allow a left and right-hand margin of at least 2cm in all assignments.
• All assignments should be types using a minimum of Arial, 12-point font and 1.5 spacing.
• Word limits (+/- 10%) should be adhered to.
• Faculty assignment cover sheets are NOT required.
• Students must use the Turnitin Similarity Report as a learning tool to improve their academic writing and, in consideration of the report outcome, attend to any potential academic integrity issues, prior to submission of the final version of the assignment.
• Students are strongly encouraged to upload a draft copy of each assignment to Turnitin at least one week prior to the due date to obtain a Turnitin Similarity Report. The Turnitin Similarity 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.
• GAIT use is NOT permitted. For all SPED8912 assessment tasks students are not permitted to use any content or ideas generated by third parties or artificial intelligence sources (i.e., Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools or GAITs) for any purpose, including summarising texts on the subject. Students may continue to use spelling/grammar checkers, e.g., Microsoft spell-check, Grammarly, and Turnitin Draft Coach; and referencing software, e.g., Endnote and Mendeley.
• Engaging with GAITs for all SPED8912 assessment tasks constitutes, and will be treated as a breach of academic integrity.

Assessment submission guidelines

• The assignment title page should include the student’s name, student number, unit code, title of the assessment and correct submitted word count.
• All assignments must be submitted electronically through Turnitin as a word document – do not submit as a pdf.
• It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all assignments are successfully submitted through Turnitin - students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment as no re-submissions will be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error. 
• For written assignments, the Turnitin Similarity Report must also be submitted using the correct Turnitin submission point at the time of assignment submission.
• Online quizzes are an individual assessment task and MUST BE COMPLETED by each student individually. Similarities in responses between students will be checked and investigated for possible collusion.

In submitting responses to an online quiz, students agree that they:

• are not participating in any unacceptable academic activities such as cheating, collusion, deception, fabrication, impersonation, obstruction, plagiarism and/or sabotage.
• have not included content that has previously been submitted for academic credit in this or any other unit
• are submitting answers which are their own work
• acknowledge they are aware of, and are acting in accordance with the Macquarie University Academic Integrity Policy at: https://policies.mq.edu.au/document/view.php?id=3

Application for Special Consideration – extensions

• Applications for Special Consideration - extensions must be made via AskMQ (https://ask.mq.edu.au/).

Late submission of assessments

• Unless a Special Consideration (see: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/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 mark of‚ 0 (zero) 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 issue. This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc).
• Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special Consideration application.
• The Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic.
• It is not the responsibility of unit staff to contact students who have failed to submit assessments. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the unit convenor when assessments are missed.

Assessment marking

• Word limits are strictly applied. Work 10% above the word limit will not be marked. Work below the word count may attract a penalty.
• All assessments are marked using a clear marking scheme or a rubric.
• Marking of all assessments is moderated by the Unit Convenor.
• Turnitin plagiarism detection software is used to check all written assessments.

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. For Professional Experience units the PE Report is marked as satisfactory or unsatisfactory and the Teaching Performance Assessment (in final PE units) is marked as not meets, meets or exceeds. 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.

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

Withdrawing from this unit

If you are considering withdrawing from this unit, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator Tanya Kysa on 0484913641 or student.enquiries@nextsense.org.au, prior to withdrawing, for advice related to your progression. You can also seek academic advice via https://ask.mq.edu.au before withdrawing as this unit may be a co-requisite or prerequisite for units in the following sessions and may impact on your progression through the degree.

Results

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

Resilient

Reflexive

Responsive

Ready to learn

Research engaged

Students gain exposure to the disability sector and develop an understanding of the critical role they will play, the need for personal resilience and resilient approaches when supporting people with disability.

Students are encouraged to critically reflect in the context of themselves as a practitioner, their previous and future professional experiences and the engagement they will have with people, organisations and society in general.

The individualised learning content encourages students to be responsive to clients, organisations and critical issues faced in the disability sector.

Students are expected to be responsive to the ideas of peers and provide meaningful and supportive feedback.

Students are encouraged to reflect and then identify their own learning needs for their context, to pursue learning that achieves great outcomes for all people they work with now and into the future.

Students take responsibility for learning independently as well as fostering collaborative learning in other students.

Students engage with literature and base their practice on evidence. Students practice academic integrity as they learn to explore contemporary and relevant literature.