Homework answers / question archive / You have been given the freedom to design your own assignment and, by the end of the autumn term, you will be required to submit a proposal including an indicative list of resources that you plan to use

You have been given the freedom to design your own assignment and, by the end of the autumn term, you will be required to submit a proposal including an indicative list of resources that you plan to use

Management

Share With

---

You have been given the freedom to design your own assignment and, by the end of the autumn term, you will be required to submit a proposal including an indicative list of resources that you plan to use.  The submission of the proposal is one of the portfolio tasks and further information is provided below in the engagement activity section.   

 

Whilst it is expected that many students will choose an assignment that will result in the production of an essay or report, this is not required.  You can design your own assessment, the key requirement being that what you do enables you to demonstrate that you have met the module learning outcomes and, in completing the assessment, your work must draw upon insights from at least three academic disciplines.     

 

Guidance and support will be provided throughout the autumn term to help you decide what you want to do.  You are encouraged to contact Robert at an early stage to discuss your ideas.  It will often be the case that your early ideas are very general and will need refinement.  During the latter part of the autumn term, there will be special drop-in sessions (in addition to the timetabled classes) so that you can see Robert to discuss your proposal.  There will be a drop-in session of this kind during the Independent Study Week.  Please note also that the compulsory questionnaire (part of portfolio 1) also provides an opportunity for you to provide and seek feedback. 

 

What sort of essay?

 

Essays take many forms and it is important that you understand what sort of essay you are expected to produce for the FBC module.  You are required to produce an argumentative essay.  Robert DiYanni has recently written about the different types of essay in his book You Are What You Read (London and Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021) and he says (at p. 61 and pp. 63-64): 

 

“Essays explain or explore a set of circumstances, persuading readers to see them in a certain ways … We can position essays on a spectrum ranging from narrative essays that feature anecdote and personal experience, on one end, to formal arguments that rely on syllogistic reasoning and other strategies of argumentation on the other … Speculative essays are journeys, excursions into thought, which don’t necessarily arrive at a destination or resolve a clearly defined problem … Argumentative essays differ in providing evidence to support their claims.  In reading essays with a clear argumentative intention, we evaluate the nature and quantity of the evidence as well as how the writer deploys it, where and how various forms of evidence appear, how they relate to one another and to the essay’s overall argument.  Evidentiary support takes many forms: facts, statistics, data, examples, anecdotes, analogies, and more.  Opposing viewpoints need to be acknowledged and discredited, if an argumentative essay is to be persuasive.  Concessions may need to be granted”.  

 

What is the difference between an essay and a report?

 

For the purposes of the FBC module, a report shares many of the hallmarks of an argumentative essay but it will contain recommendations – essays need not contain recommendations.  If you are producing a report with recommendations, the case for these recommendations needs to be clearly made.  Your report must, therefore, do more than describe or tell an interesting story: your report must persuade and make the case for the recommendations you are advocating.  

  

Presentation requirements:  

  

Where the chosen assessment is an essay or report, the word limit is 2,500 words.  This the upper limit and it is a strict maximum.  Work exceeding 2,500 will not be marked because this would be unfair on those students keeping to the limit.  

 

Work must be produced using line spacing of 1.5 or 2, with a font size of 12.  Double line spaces should be used between paragraphs.  Paragraphs do not need to be indented.  

 

Your work must be accompanied by a bibliography.  The bibliography does not contribute to the word limit.  You can decide which referencing system to use (e.g., Harvard; Chicago; BPS; Oscola).   Your bibliography should include all of the sources and materials you have used as part of your research and in the process of generating ideas, even if you decide not to cite them in your final piece of work.  

 

Footnotes containing references to sources will not contribute to the word count but any other text in footnotes will be counted.  The labels or titles attached to diagrams or charts included in your work will not contribute to the word limit, but words within tables will be counted.   Appendices, if you have them, will not contribute to the word count.  

 

This guidance is a starting point.  Further (and perhaps different) guidance will be provided in December 2022/January 2023 when your proposal is approved.   

  

Submission date and time: 

 

The main assessment is due for submission by midday (UK Time) on [TBC].  This date has been chosen as it is near the end of the academic year, but not too close to the time when you will be revising and preparing for end of year exams in your other modules.  You can, therefore, get your assessment for the module “out of the way” before your exams.    

 

The module leader cannot grant an extension.  If there are circumstances affecting your performance, or impeding your ability to submit on time, you should make an ‘Exceptional Circumstances’ claim and discuss this with your personal tutor as soon as possible.  

   

Assessment criteria:  

  

Assessment criteria relevant to your chosen assignment will be provided in December 2022/January 2023 after your proposal has been approved.  The criteria will make clear how your particular assignment will be graded, and these criteria will take into account your chosen methodology and the nature of your chosen assignment.  The standard assessment criteria, which are likely to apply to most assessments, are available on Blackboard. 

  

  

Referencing, plagiarism and Turnitin:  

  

You will submit your work electronically through Turnitin on Blackboard.  Turnitin provides your tutor with a score (as a percentage) indicating the extent to which elements of your assessment ‘match’ existing academic literature, web based materials and other students’ work from across the world.  Turnitin is one of the tools used by universities to verify the authenticity of students’ work and to deter and detect plagiarism.  It is a word matching tool.    

 

When you submit work you are certifying that it is your own work.  Plagiarism – a form of academic fraud – is a serious academic offence, in respect of which various penalties can be imposed and recorded on your student record.  It may be something that the University is required to mention in a reference and it may mean that you are unable to qualify in your chosen career.  

 

Plagiarism can be avoided by following the appropriate academic referencing conventions when using the work of others and preparing and researching your assessments.  Please see Robert if you are unsure of what is acceptable or would like further guidance.