PURPOSE: This assessment task is designed to develop your skills in distinguishing theory from evidence, evaluating research, and utilising empirical evidence to support a written argument

PURPOSE: This assessment task is designed to develop your skills in distinguishing theory from evidence, evaluating research, and utilising empirical evidence to support a written argument.
TASK: Write an evidence-based, scholarly essay that takes a position on one of the topics above. You will need to select, understand, and synthesise relevant empirical articles to support a clear, logical argument. You should read broadly (more than 10 articles) to familiarise yourself with the research and decide what argument you will make, decide what your thesis/position statement will be, and decide which articles you will use as your 2-3 key pieces of evidence. The critical literature review planner in this document can be used as a guide to structure your thinking for the essay.
TUTORIAL CLASSES TO GUIDE YOU: Full details as to how to complete the critical literature review will be given in the tutorials in Weeks 2-6. It is critical that you attend these tutorials to develop the skills needed to complete this assignment well and optimise your mark on this assessment piece, which is worth 40% of your grade for this Unit. You should participate in all of these classes, and work progressively on your assignment from Week 3.
FORMAT AND STYLE: The formatting and referencing of your essay should conform to American Psychological Association (APA) style. Your essay should include a cover page, in APA style (see example in this document) and a reference section. You are not required to write an Abstract (a summary) for this assignment.