Note that the Session 3 offering of PHIL1037 is an intensive (accelerated) unit of only FOUR teaching weeks, and the course load is identical to the standard 13-week session in which one topic is studied per week. There is no difference in the requirements between an ordinary unit and an intensive unit, except for the shortened time frame. Please plan your time well.

Pass/ Fail Unit

PHIL1037/PHIX1037 is a a Pass / Fail unit. This means that all students will receive either "S" for satisfactory or "F" for fail as their final result. However, marks will be awarded for each assignment. If students score 50% or higher overall they will be awarded an "S" grade for the unit. 

Formal exam arrangements

This unit has a formal invigilated open-book exam for all students. Students enrolled in PHIL1037 will complete the exam on campus. Students enrolled through OUA in PHIX1037 will complete the exam as an invigilated exam on zoom. PHIL1037 students who live outside Sydney will be able to apply to take the online exam. The date for the exam has not yet been set, but it will be within the formal exam period, which goes from 27/1/26 to 2/2/26, so you need to be available for an exam for that period. 

Detailed assessment information and rubrics

Detailed information about each of the assessments, including rubrics and submission instructions will be available in the Assessment block in iLearn. Please make sure you read the assessment information carefully, watch the Guide to Assessment video, and post a message in the relevant Assessment forum if you have any questions. 

Special Consideration

Requests for extensions should be submitted via a Special Consideration request, which is available in the https://connect.mq.edu.au/s/ portal. Your request should be submitted no later than five days after the due date and should be accompanied by appropriate documentation. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/special-consideration for further details and instructions. Read this information closely as your request may be turned down if you have not followed procedure, or if you have not submitted a request in a timely manner. The Macquarie University Special Consideration Policy can be found at the end of this document.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty  

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 11.55pm. 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. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

Academic Integrity

In Philosophy, academic honesty is taken very seriously, and a range of methods, including but not restricted to the use of Turnitin, are used to detect plagiarism. Misrepresenting someone else's work as your own may be grounds for referral to the Faculty Disciplinary Committee. If you have questions about how to properly cite work or how to credit sources, please ask the convenor for help and see also the  Academic Integrity Policy https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/academic-integrity

Note: All assignments in this unit are individual assignments. Collusion (unauthorised collaboration on individual assignments) is a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy. This includes sharing or making use of shared assignments, in person or online, including through file-sharing websites.  If in doubt, contact a member of teaching staff. 

A helpful resource if you would like to know more about referencing and avoiding plagiarism is  Macquarie's Academic Integrity Module, available here: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/skills-development. You will need to complete this Module before accessing the unit content, if you have not already done so. More information is available in iLearn. 

GenAI/ChatGPT

In this Unit, and unless notified otherwise in writing by the Unit Convenor, substantive assessment content that has been generated by AI may be regarded as not the student’s own work. This applies to all assessments, including online forums. In submitting assessments in this unit, all students will be required to confirm their agreement with the following:

In submitting this assessment, I certify that this submission is my own work and demonstrates my own understanding, analysis, research, reflection, critical thinking, and writing. I am not submitting anything that I cannot myself fully explain and defend, if called upon to do so. I understand that if my teachers have concerns about whether this submission is my own work, I may be required to attend an interview with the Unit Convenor/Integrity Officer/academic staff to verify my research methods, my understanding of the content, and my close familiarity with all sources I have cited. If I am found to have submitted work that is not my own, my work may be further investigated, and I may be found to be in breach of the MQ Academic Integrity Policy.

PLEASE NOTE: The first two assessments in this unit are specifically designed to prepare you for the exam, so if you use GenAI for the assessments, you will not be well prepared for the exam where GenAI is unavailable.

Academic Writing and Study Support

Macquarie University offers a number of services to help with academic writing, referencing and study skills. For details, see: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/skills/assignments

For information about policies related to Assessment, see Policies and Procedures section below.

Lectures 

Lectures in this unit will be delivered online. There are no scheduled lectures.

One two-hour lecture video for each of the 12 topics will be released through the Echo 360 block in iLearn. You should watch these videos before joining the relevant forums. The weekly schedule is below.

Please note, that since this is an intensive subject, we will be doing between 2 - 3 topics per week (for a total of 5 weeks), meaning each week will contain between 4 - 6 hours of required lecture content in addition to the time required for assessments, engagement and reading. 

We would recommend that you do not enrol in multiple units in S3, but if you do it is your responsiblity to check and manage the assessment dates.

Online  Participation

At the beginning of semester, you will be assigned to an online participation group with a member of the teaching staff as an On-line Engagement Group leader. You will be expected to use self-assessments for understanding and contribute to your online group about assigned material. This will all be made available to you through the course web-site. See the Online Engagement information in iLearn for information about the assessment of Online Engagement in this unit. 

The forums after the break will be focussed on preparing for your Portfolio assignment, and for exam preparation. 

Course Texts

The Course Notes available through the PHIL/PHIX 1037 ilearn site constitute a text for the course. No other text is required. If you would like advice on supplementary texts, contact the convenors.

Teaching staff consultation times

Teaching staff consultation times will be advertised in iLearn. You are strongly encouraged to make use of these consultation times, if you are having any trouble or if you would like to discuss the unit content. 

Unit Webpages and E-Resources

This unit is delivered online through iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au). PC and Internet access are required. Basic computer skills (e.g., internet browsing) and skills in word processing are also a requirement. Please consult teaching staff for any further, more specific requirements.