IEC Assessment Presentation & Submission Guidelines

 Please follow these guidelines when you submit each assignment:

• Allow a left and right-hand margin of at least 2cm in all assignments.
• Please type all assignments using 12-point font and 1.5 spacing.
• All assessments must be submitted through turnitin in .doc or .pdf format for submission.
• It is the onus of the student to ensure that all assessments are successfully submitted through turnitin.
• Faculty assignment cover sheets are NOT required for this unit.

 Draft Submissions & Turnitin Originality Reports

• Students may use Turnitin’s Originality Report as a learning tool to improve their academic writing if this option is made available in the unit.
• Students are strongly encouraged to upload a draft copy of each assessment to Turnitin at least one week prior to the due date to obtain an Originality Report.
• The Originality 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.
• Generally, one Originality Report is generated every 24 hours up to the due date.

 When preparing your assignments, it is essential that:

• Students must retain a copy of all assignments before submission, and retain the copy until your final grade for the subject has been received;
• Marks will be deducted if you submit your assessment late (refer to the ‘late assessments’ section below for more details);
• Unless there are exceptional circumstances, no assessment will be accepted after the date that the assessment has been returned to other students.
• If an assessment is considered to be below passing standard, another academic staff member will provide a second opinion. No failed assessment may be re-submitted.

 Final Submissions

• Students are responsible for checking that their submission has been successful and has been submitted by the due date and time.
• Late submissions due to last minute technical difficulties will incur a lateness penalty.

 Late Assessments:

A deduction of 5% of the total possible mark allocated for that assessment would be made for each day or part day that assessment is late, weekends counting as two days. For example, if an assessment is worth 20 marks and you submit it 2 days late, you will have 2 marks (2 x 5% of 20 marks) subtracted from your awarded mark. 

Extensions:

In extenuating circumstances, students may apply to the unit coordinator for an extension to the assessment due date. Reasons for the extension need to be documented through the Disruption to Studies form accessible through ask.mq.edu.au under "Disruption" and supported (e.g., a Professional Authority Form must be used in the case of illness). Note that:

• Students MUST speak with the unit coordinator prior to submitting their request through https://ask.mq.edu.au
• Extensions will only be granted in receipt of the completed form submitted through ask.mq.edu.au plus documentation.
• Emails are not appropriate means of extension requests.
• It is essential that you plan ahead and organise your study time effectively. Poor time management is not grounds for an extension.
• In the case of computer malfunction, a draft of your assignment may be requested. Please ensure that you print out a draft regularly, so that it is available for submission on request.   
• Extensions are usually not granted on the due date.

IEC Academic Honesty Guidelines:  

All assignments should cite and provide full bibliographical details of all material that you have used to inform or support your ideas. At the Institute of Early Childhood, students are required to use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing procedures. Full details about how to cite and reference correctly can be found in Perrin (2015) and in the IEC Academic Honesty Handbook.

The following guide can be purchased from the Co-op Bookshop. This is a required text:

Perrin, R. (2015). Pocket guide to APA style (5th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Submissions of Family and Children’s Records at IEC

Some assessment tasks require students to submit records about families and about children and their learning. It is expected that the records submitted are original, authentic, adheres to the ethical practices of the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics (2006) and is the work of the student. Issues with the authenticity of such records will be investigated for possible forgery (see Fabrication in the IEC Academic Honesty Handbook). Please note that submitted records can only be used once for assessment purposes.

Confidentiality

Students must respect the need for sensitivity and confidentially and ensure that privacy obligations are met. There should be nothing in assessment submissions that identifies a centre or school. Use only the first name for children, families and staff. Do not record details that enable identification of the site, and of the adults or children.

Grades

The final grade a student receives signifies their overall performance in meeting the learning outcomes for the unit. The number assigned to a grade (Standard Numerical Grade or SNG) reflects the extent to which student attainment matches the grade descriptors.

Your raw mark for the unit (i.e., the total of your marks for each assessment item) may not be the same as the SNG which you receive. Results may be scaled to ensure there is a degree of comparability across the university, so that units with the same past performances of their students should achieve similar results. The process of scaling does not change the order of marks among students. A student who receives a higher raw score mark than another will also receive a higher final scaled mark.

IEC Electronic Communication

During semester time, staff may contact students using the following ways:

• Dialogue function on iLearn
• Official MQ Student Email Address

It is the students responsibility to check all electronic communication on a regular weekly basis.

Resources

The information in this Unit Guide must be read in conjunction with the following documents that are available for download from iLearn:

• Assessments, Readings & Study Guide
• Professional Field Visits Guide
• IEC Professional Experience Handbook
• IEC Academic Honesty Handbook

IEC Unit Expectations

1. Workshops will be held on four Fridays from 9am - 4pm in Building X5B, Level 0, Room 041

• ​​4 Mar, 1 Apr, 6 May & 3 Jun
• Attendance at all workshops are compulsory
• Punctuality is expected. Consistent lateness will jeopardise a passing grade. 

2. Students are required to contribute to all online and workshop tasks

• Students are expected to read the relevant prescribed and non-prescribed readings before completing tasks and attending workshops
• Students are expected to listen to the relevant iLectures before completing tasks and attending workshops.

3. All assessment tasks must be submitted

IEC Professional Field Visits Placement Expectations

• Students are required to complete eight (8) half-day (4 hour) professional field visits to an early childhood centre for children aged birth-5
• A Working with Children Check or State/Territory equivalent is required by the end of Week 3 to be eligible for a placement. Students may need to withdraw from this unit if this has not been obtained in time. 
• To be eligible to commence the professional field visits, students must have submitted all written assessment tasks and/or associated unit component requirements prior to the commencement of the professional field visits. 
• Students may not be able to commence their placement until all alleged academic honesty breaches have been investigated and concluded. 

**Withdrawing from this PG Unit

If you are considering withdrawing from this unit, please seek academic advice by writing to pg.educ_iec@mq.edu.au before doing so as this unit is a prerequisite for three units in semester 2 and may result in an addition of 12 months to your program. 

Required Textbooks

These texts can be purchased as a bundle from: Co-op Bookshop on campus or http://www.coop.com.au

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2015). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (6^th ed.). Victoria: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.

Crowther, I. (2016). Creating effective learning environments (4^th ed.). Ontario: Thomson

Perrin, R. (2015). Pocket guide to APA style (5th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

The following eTextbooks can be purchased from Mia Mia Child & Family Study Centre. Please complete the order form located at http://iec.mq.edu.au/research/mia_mia/publications_and_resources/ and email to e-press.miamia@mq.edu.au to place your order. 

Mia Mia Child & Family Study Centre. (2013). The language of three things: Lids, gumnuts and cups. Sydney: Macquarie University.

Mia Mia Child & Family Study Centre. (2014). A glimpse into an early childhood learning environment: Mia Mia. Sydney: Macquarie University.

These texts can be downloaded from the links

Australian Government Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia.  Australia: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved from  https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf

Early Childhood Australia. (2006). Early childhood Australia code of ethics.  Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp content/uploads/2014/07/code_of_ethics_brochure_print_2010.pdf

Required Readings

The full list of required readings can be found in the Assessments, Readings & Study Guide.