Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity is an intergral part of the core values and principles contained in the Macquarie University Ethics Statement. Its fundamental principle is that all staff and students act with integrity in the creation, development, application and use of ideas and information. This means that:

• All academic work claimed as original is the work of the author making the claim
• All academic collaborations are acknowledged
• Academic work is not falsified in any way
• When the ideas of others are used, these ideas are acknowledged appropriately
• Self-plagiarism (resubmitting your own work - including past assignments for this or other units - without attribution) is an unacceptable academic activity

University Grading Policy

The grade that a student receives will signify their overall performance in meeting the learning outcomes of the unit of study. Graded units will use the following grades

HD    High Distinction        85-100

D      Distinction                 75-84

Cr     Credit                        65-74

P      Pass                          50-64

F      Fail                              0-49

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University.

Return of Marked Work

As per university policy, written assessments will be returned to students within three weeks of the submission date. Early assignments will not be marked early.

Special Consideration (Extensions)

The University recognises that students may experience events or conditions that adversely affect their academic performance. If you experience serious and unavoidable difficulties at exam time or when assessment tasks are due, you can consider applying for Special Consideration.

You need to show that the circumstances:

1. were serious, unexpected and unavoidable
2. were beyond your control
3. caused substantial disruption to your academic work
4. substantially interfered with your otherwise satisfactory fulfilment of the unit requirements
5. lasted at least three consecutive days or a total of 5 days within the teaching period and prevented completion of an assessment task scheduled for a specific date.

More information about Special Consideration is available in the Policies and Procedures section of the unit guide.

Late Penalties

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 mark of ‘0’ (zero) 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 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. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic.

Student Wellbeing

Macquarie University offers a range of wellbeing services (including [but not limited to]: health, welfare, counselling, disability and student advocacy services) that are available to you at any time during your studies. Campus Wellbeing is here to support you and help you succeed, both academically and personally. More information is available in the Policies and Procedures section of the unit guide.

Lecture and workshop times

Lectures will take place on Mondays from 1 pm to 3 pm in 14 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Ave - T4 Theatre. Lecture recordings and visual materials are available on the iLearn.

Workshops will take place on Tuesdays in 6 Eastern Rd - 118 Computer Lab.

Also, the Workshop instructions are available at https://methods101.com.au. Click SSCI2020 at the left sidebar. You will see 11 workshop guidelines. For completing Workshop tasks, students can seek advice and help from tutors in the workshop sessions.

Textbooks

This course draws on one required textbook:

• Leon-Guerrero, Anna and Chava Frankfort-Nachmias (2018) Essentials of Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, 3rd Edition. Sage: Thousand Oaks.

For those who find the required textbook difficult to read,  the following textbook(optional) is recommended:

• Wheelan, Charles J. (2014) Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, W.W. Norton & Company.

Technology used

The following technologies are used in SSCI2020:

Email

Make sure that you regularly check your student email for correspondence with teaching staff and course announcements.

iLearn

Important information about the weekly schedule for SSCI2020, course readings and assessments are all available on the course iLearn page. If you do not have access, please contact IT help. You are required to check iLearn and your student email regularly for course updates and information.

SPSS

SPSS is the primary statistical analytic tool for SSCI2020. Learning SPSS to analyse datasets is an essential component of this unit. SPSS is available in the workshops and some computers in the library and digital lounge (C5C - 17 Wally’s Walk). Students can also access remotely SPSS through AppStream (see below).

AppStream

AppStream is the university's a new application streaming service which provides students access to existing iLab applications via browser from anywhere, anytime, on any device. Students do not need to install a client on their device to access applications. Google Chrome is recommended browser for AppStream. Login to mq.okta.com with your MQ OneID to access AppStream applications.

Methods101.com.au

Workshop guidelines are available at https://methods101.com.au. The website provides easy-to-follow instructions on how to use SPSS to analyse data. In the website, click SSCI2020 at the left sidebar. Then, you can access the guidelines for each workshop. If you do not have access, please contact the unit convenor.

Turnitin and GradeMark

The written assessment for SSCI2020 needs to be submitted via Turnitin. A link to Turnitin is available via the Assessments tab on the iLearn page. Please contact the convenor if you cannot find it (do not leave it until the due date of the assessment). Assessments will be marked via GradeMark and returned to students electronically.

Leganto

Leganto is the electronic system for accessing unit readings that can be accessed via the iLearn page. Readings are allocated by weekly schedules. As well as the required readings for each week, you will find recommended and optional readings. The required readings are available in pdf or electronic format. If you are not able to access the readings, please contact the unit convenor via email.

Zoom

Zoom is an online video conferencing software platform. It is used for optional meetings, and consultations.