Important Assessment Information 

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
• Chat GPT and other generative AI software programs should not be used when preparing or drafting assessments.

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.

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. You can apply for Special Consideration via https://connect.mq.edu.au/s/

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 (including 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 via a Special consideration application that has been submitted online. The Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

Unit Sessions

Weekly sessions include a 1-hour large group seminar and a 2-hour small group seminar.

The Large Group Seminar will be held at 12pm to 1pm on Thursdays in the 101 Groupwork Lecture Space on Level 1 of Building 01 Central Courtyard from weeks 1 to 13 of semester (inclusive).

Small Group Seminars will be held on Thursdays or Fridays from weeks 1 to 13 of semester. Please check e-student to confirm your enrolment.

Required and recommended resources

There is no required textbook for SSCI1002. Required readings are online available via the Internet and/or Leganto (see below).

Technology used

The following technologies are used in this unit...

Email

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

iLearn

Important information about the weekly schedule, course readings and assessment 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.

Turnitin

All written assessments need to be submitted online via Turnitin only. A link to Turnitin will be available via the Assessments tab on the iLearn page. Please contact the convenor if you cannot find it (do not leave it until the day of the assessment). There is no need to submit a hard copy of the assessment or to include a cover sheet.

Feedback will be made available online via Turnitin. It will take four forms (in no particular order): specific comments in the text of your paper; overall comments; a score on a qualitative rubric (that cannot be used to calculate your mark numerically); and a numeric score out of 100. Once you have received your assignment back, please make sure that you have access to these forms of feedback. 

ECHO Active Learning Platform

Recordings of the lectorials will be made available via the ECHO Active Learning Platform. These recordings will not necessarily cover the entire session and will become available after the session is held on Monday afternoon (typically within 24 hours). 

Leganto

Leganto is the electronic system for accessing unit readings that can be accessed via the iLearn page. Readings are allocated via topic. As well as the required readings for each topic, 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.