SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING

ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY

STUDY SKILLS AND ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK FOR

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

IN

EDUCATION AND CHILDHOOD STUDIES DEGREE SCHEMES

Academic Year 2016/17

Content

1 Assessment 21.1 - Methods of Assessment 21.2 - Advice and Support 3

2 Preparing for Assessments – Part 1 43 Preparing for Assessments – Part 2 6

3.1 - Assessment Criteria 63.2 - Essay and Exam Criteria Overview 103.3 - Essay Assessment Marking Criteria 123.4 - Exam Assessment marking Criteria 12

4 References 135 Bibliography 166 Unfair Practice and Bad Practice 187 Submission 19

7.1 - How to submit a Turnitin assignment – guide for students 207.2 - Late Submission and Extensions 23

8 Failure to Undertake Assessment 249 Marking 2510 Feedback 2611 Retention of Work 2712 Dissertations 28

12.1 - General Characteristics of a Dissertation 2812.2 - Registration and Pre-Registration 2912.3 - Proposal and Schedule of Study 2912.4 - Sensitive Material 3012.5 - Structure of a Dissertation 3112.6 - Dissertation Assessment Criteria 31

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1. Assessment

1.1 Methods of Assessment

The School of Education and Lifelong Learning uses the following methods of assessment variously over all its modules (generically labelled as assessment assignments):

end-of-semester unseen written examination

essay within a semester

written project within a semester

undergraduate dissertation (confined to AD/ED33640 Major Dissertation)

oral presentation

poster presentation

reflective diary

role play

portfolio

Details about the assessment requirements of specific modules can be found in the module descriptions which can be accessed from the modules database on the University’s website at:

https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/modules/deptcurrent/?d=Education+and+Lifelong+Learning

You will be formally assessed by a variety of means during and at the end of each module. The precise form of assessment, and the mix of formative (throughout the module/semester/topic) and summative (end of semester/module/topic), will vary according to the nature of the module.

It's important to note that at University, assessment is not only about demonstrating the range and depth of your knowledge. It is also an essential part of the learning process that actively helps you develop and enhance your skills in addressing problems, formulating arguments and communicating often complex ideas clearly and persuasively.

The feedback you obtain from your tutors on your assessed work will help you improve these skills as you progress through your degree programme.

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1.2 Advice and Support

Lecturers and tutors want you to achieve to the best of your ability and are therefore very willing to offer support and guidance relating to assessments. Please make sure that you do ask them if you have any questions or queries about their expectations for assessments. They will be more than happy to advise and provide guidance. It is advisable to speak to them in seminars or to contact them by e-mail.

If you ever need immediate advice and support, the School of Education and Lifelong Learning operates a support rota. During office hours, there will always be a member of staff available for you to contact by email, phone or in person in their office. All members of staff in the department are trained Personal Tutors and all teach on the variety of degree schemes offered by SELL and will be in a position to offer any advice or guidance that you might need. This study support rota is available to access on Blackboard.

Lecturers will comment on your plan and reading for an assignment. E-mail is a convenient way of contacting the lecturer, but individual lecturers may suggest other methods of contact. But lecturers will not mark your plan, and comments at this stage do not predict the mark for the eventual submitted work. It is not the practice in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning for lecturers to read a full draft of the assignment prior to submission.

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2. Preparing for Assessments – Part 1

The first steps in preparing for your assessed work is to attend the compulsory lectures and seminars, and to prepare adequately for those. That will give you a good understanding of the topics that are likely to come up in assessment as well as an understanding of the expectation of the tutor.

Attendance at lectures and seminars will be monitored. If your attendance is poor you could be reported as an unsatisfactory student. This could lead to exclusion from the University.

LecturesLectures are central to the information process and usually take you systematically through the topics or issues outlined on a syllabus. There are as many different styles of lecturing and delivery will vary by lecturer. Some prefer to use PowerPoint, for example, whilst in some other modules, the content imposes its own constraints on the way in which it can be taught. Lectures are a valuable source of information and will help with framing the material. It is important that you attend and take suitable notes, so that you can remember the essential aspects of the lecture. It may be advisable to print out the PowerPoint notes beforehand so that you can add your own comments on the relevant slides. The PowerPoint presentations will be available on the relevant module section of Blackboard at least a day in advance of the lecture. All lectures will also be recorded so that you can re-listen to specific content to ensure the clarity of your understanding. Listening to the recording is not a substitute or an excuse for non-attendance.

SeminarsAttendance and participation in seminars and classes is compulsory. They are an essential part of the learning process. Seminars are designed to help you understand a subject and give you an opportunity to discuss it with your fellow students and tutor. These groups are your opportunity to seek clarification of points made in lectures, or to raise and discuss issues that you have come across in your reading, or clarify points you have not understood. You are, of course, also able to see your lecturer or tutor at other specific times to discuss problems related to your work. How much you get out of seminars depends on how much you and other students put in. Preparation is essential and below are some suggestions regarding what you can do to help the process.

What to do in seminarsMost lecture programmes have an accompanying seminar. This will be set out in the module outline and further details will be provided in the first lectures as well as being shown on your timetable. Please check your e-mail for any additional instructions. For modules taken in other departments you must ask the relevant module co-ordinator about the seminar arrangements.For each seminar:

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1. The module outline or tutor will tell you what topic is to be discussed in each seminar. You should prepare by doing some background reading on the topic. This is usually identified by the tutor. This reading will be of more use if you set aside some time to think about the important points or issues.

2. You should be prepared to contribute in seminars.

The success of a seminar group, or the lack of it, depends on all its members. You should be willing to comment on the topic and on what other people say. With regard to future employment, the ability to contribute effectively to the work of a group is an important skill. In the future, you may wish to ask your tutor for an employment reference. Your contributions and performance in seminars are likely to be important in the tutor’s evaluation of you.

3. You should be willing to ask questions about points you do not understand. It is unlikely that you are the only one who does not understand. The tutor will give you an opportunity to ask questions.

Please be willing to participate!

4. If you are presenting or contributing to a seminar, you have a duty to your fellow students to provide a good presentation on the assigned topic. Presentational skills are important in many jobs and seminars are a good place to improve them.

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3. Preparing for Assessments – Part 2

There is no one way of writing an assignment (a collective term for all forms of assessment), and we offer here a general framework which will help you to develop your own writing and study skills for assessed work in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning.

When writing for an assessed piece of work, it is important to understand the criteria that the markers will be looking for. These are outlined below.

Please note that the points which we emphasise here are the basis of the staff’s assessment criteria when they mark written work. Generic assignment guidance and FAQs’ can be found on the ‘Assignments’ section within each module on Blackboard. Remember to also consult Education – Undergraduate Information on Blackboard for additional guidance.

3.1 Assessment Criteria

The criteria which staff use to assess the quality of written work are based on the study skills which are outlined below. Note that ‘relevance’ is not listed separately but is part of the remaining criteria. The criteria are variously adapted to the main modes of assessment which are used in the School, and you can use these criteria as a guide for the preparation of written work. The closer you follow them, the better your work will be. In addition to these general criteria, individual lecturers may provide a specific list of criteria which relate to their discipline or to a specific method of assessment.

Relevance

Relevance is an essential part of any assignment and one of the key criteria on which your work will be marked. It is mentioned separately here for emphasis. Quite simply, your written work must be relevant to the topic in respect of the skills which are explained here. Waffle, in particular, is guaranteed to lose marks.

Presentation

In considering the standard of written presentation, we consider the following:

Expression.o Sentence structure, word forms, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation.

You are advised to use words whose meaning you understand, and to keep the sentence structure simple.

Use a spell-checker (UK English) to ensure that there are no ill-formed typing errors (‘typos’), but also proof read your finished work.

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Organisation.o Systematic structure of essay (an introduction outlining your intentions

for your work, middle and a conclusion).o Points which are sequenced earlier in the presentation should prepare

the way for points which are sequenced later in the presentation. Formatting

o Line spacing, margins (top and bottom, left and right), bullet points, indentations, paragraphs, headings and sections, and font (size, italics, and bold).

o Illustrations can be used to enhance the presentation — graphs, tables and other displays. These must be properly labelled.

Word-processed presentations are normally required. They not only improve the appearance of the work but also demonstrate your IT skills.

You should also note that the overall presentation of your essay will influence the demonstration of the other assessment criteria.

Coverage

A piece of assessment commonly has a 'content' which can be thought of as a list of points which need to be covered. This content must be:

relevant to the topic, typically comprehensively covered. but if selective coverage is used, reasons must be given and the omitted material

must be briefly identified.

Sources

The assessed work must be based on relevant academic source materials, which can include books, journal articles, reports, and databases.

In respect to Web pages, you should only use those which a lecturer has especially recommended and you need to ensure that you have a balance of books, electronic journals, reports and websites. We advise that you give priority to the other types of sources which we have listed, especially books and journals for library-based work rather than websites. You should not use Wikipedia in your assignments. You should seek guidance on how to access electronic journals. Marks will be lost if a piece of assessed work is based substantially on Web pages which have not been recommended. See the section on Unfair Practice and Bad Practice for further advice on the use and misuse of sources.

Lectures and lecture notes should not be used in the references. Lectures are a useful starting point, but their function is to inform you about published sources, and it is the latter which should be used as references.

Wide reading must be evident. This can be demonstrated by showing familiarity

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with the array of sources which are mentioned in lectures. In addition, you should also seek out other relevant material, exploiting biographical searches. Use Primo (http://primo.aber.ac.uk) as a starting point for these.

These sources must be used and referred to in the body of the assessed work, and not simply listed in a bibliography.

A distinction must be made between primary and secondary references when the latter are used (see section on Referencing).

A recognized referencing system must be used, and the School of Education and Lifelong Learning requires that students use the Harvard system.

Knowledge and Understanding

A knowledge and understanding of the sources which you read is a basic criterion for a good piece of work. You must be able to demonstrate this by:

Selecting material which is relevant to the topic of the assignment. Accurately interpreting and expressing in your own words what you read in

your sources Synthesising a general account by identifying and describing:

differences in the sources; similarities in the sources.

Using theoretical and analytic concepts which are: relevant to the topic, accurately used, properly labelled, illustrated with appropriate examples.

Critical Evaluation

You must be able to critically evaluate what you read by identifying strengths and weaknesses of:

interpretation

theoretical and analytic concepts

The words critical and criticism in everyday language often suggest a purely negative approach which only seeks weaknesses. In an academic context, critical evaluation includes making both positive and negative points where appropriate. The important achievement is to justify both approaches by providing evidence. Critical evaluation in an academic context should never be personal but should concentrate solely upon content, interpretation, analysis, synthesis, and coherent argument.

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Evidence and Coherent Argument

Opinions should not simply be stated. Views must be supported by providing evidence.

Evidence is provided by drawing upon the academic skills of analysis and interpretation of qualitative or quantitative data, competently using a theory or methodology which is relevant to the topic.

The views of a writer can be reproduced (with proper acknowledgements) as evidence in different ways: simply declared; explained, by providing an account of the rationale behind the writer's views; critically evaluated.

When an author’s views are simply declared as part of evidence and argument, this is known as an ‘appeal to an authority’. It is a greater achievement to explain a writer’s views, and an even greater achievement to critically evaluate those views.

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3.2 Essay and Exam Criteria Overview

Essay Exam

PresentationIn considering the standard of written presentation, we consider the following:

Expression.

o Sentence structure, word forms, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation.

You are advised to use words whose meaning you understand, and to keep the sentence structure simple.

Use a spell-checker (UK English) to ensure that there are no ill-formed typing errors (‘typos’), but also proof read your finished work.

Organization.

o Systematic structure of essay (an introduction outlining your intentions for your work, a middle and a conclusion).

o Points which are sequenced earlier in the presentation should prepare the way for points which are sequenced later in the presentation.

Formatting.

o Line spacing, margins (top and bottom, left and right), bullet points, indentations, paragraphs, headings and sections, and font (size, italics, and bold).

o Illustrations can be used to enhance the presentation — graphs, tables and other displays. These must be properly labelled.

Word-processed presentations are normally required. They not only improve the appearance of the work but also demonstrate your IT skills.

You should also note that the overall presentation of your essay will influence the demonstration of the other assessment criteria.

An answer must have an effective organization typically in terms of introduction, discussion and conclusion.

CoverageYour work must be relevant and comprehensive.

Must be relevant and reasonable for the scale of an examination answer.

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You should note that if the word count of your essay is more or less than 10% of the word limit one point will be deducted from coverage.

Sources Relevant to the topic Academic sources (not lecture notes; not

too much reliance on Web) Evidence of wide reading Evident in the body of the assessed work Distinguish between primary and

secondary references Use Harvard System of Referencing Any quotations must be used

economically and appropriately

An answer must show evidence of familiarity with key sources.

Knowledge and understanding

Accurately express in your own words what you read in your sources

Must be relevant to the topic Synthesise a general account by

identifying and describing:o Differences in sourceso Similarities in sources

Synthesise a general account by identifying and describing:

o Differences in the sourceso Similarities in the sources

Relevant theoretical and analytical concepts accurately used, labelled and illustrated

Accurately express in your own words what you read in your sources

Must be relevant to the topic demonstrate familiarity with

differences and similarities in the sources

Relevant theoretical and analytic concepts must accurately used, labelled, and illustrated

Critical evaluation

Identify strengths and weaknesses of the sources in terms of: interpretations analytic concepts evidence

On a scale which is reasonable for an examination answer, strengths and weaknesses of the sources must be evaluated in terms of: interpretations analytic concepts evidence

Evidence and coherent argument

evidence must be provided to support views:o analysis and interpretation of

quantitative or qualitative datao views of a writer (with proper

acknowledgements) conclusions must follow coherently from

the evidence

On a scale which is reasonable for an examination answer evidence must be provided to

support views:oanalysis and interpretation of

quantitative or qualitative dataoviews of a writer (with proper

acknowledgements) conclusions must follow coherently

from the evidence

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3.3 Essay Assessment Marking Criteria

The marking is then based on a five-point judgemental scale which is applied to each of the criteria. The five points on the scale are excellent - good - satisfactory - poor - very poor. Each judgement is re-expressed as a mark based on the table below. The criteria are weighted differently.

Excellent70%-100%

Good60%-69%

Satisfactory50%-59%

Poor40%-49%

Very Poor0%-39%

Presentation (0-8) 6-8 5 4 3 0-3

Coverage (0-10) 7-10 6-7 5-6 4-5 0-4

Sources (0-12) 8-12 7-8 6-7 5-6 0-5

Knowledge and understanding (0-20)

14-20 12-14 10-12 8-10 0-8

Critical evaluation (0-24) 17-24 14-17 12-14 10-12 0-9

Evidence and coherent argument (0-26)

18-26 16-18 13-16 10-13 0-10

Total mark as percentage %

3.4 Exam Assessment Marking Criteria

Excellent

70%-100%

Good

60%-69%

Satisfactory

50%-59%

Poor

40%-49%

Very Poor

0%-39%

Presentation (0-5) 5 4 3 2 0-1

Coverage (0-8) 6-8 5–6 4 3 0-3

Sources (0-10) 7-10 6-7 5-6 4-5 0-4

Knowledge and understanding (0-22)

15-22 13-15 11-12 9-11 0-9

Critical evaluation (0-26) 18-26 15-18 13-15 10-13 0-10

Evidence and coherent argument (0-29)

19-29 17-19 14-17 12-14 0-12

Total mark as percentage %

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4. References

The terms references and bibliography are used to refer to sources that are consulted for the writing of an assignment, but they have different meanings. The term reference refers to works which are directly cited in the assignment. The term bibliography refers to works which a student has drawn upon to write an assignment whether or not they are directly cited. Thus, a bibliography can be said to include references but not vice versa. Bibliography is sometimes used in a narrower sense to exclude references. Where books have shaped your understanding of a topic, you are urged to acknowledge directly that contribution and to treat them as references.

In your written work, tutors will expect you to demonstrate evidence of wide and critical reading. There are various systems of referring to the works which you have read and are quoted in your essays.

When presenting work for this department you should use the Harvard Referencing method.

When you refer to (or cite) a work which you have read, you give the details in the body of the text of your assignment as follows:

Why do we need to reference?

In an academic assignment it is important to acknowledge the source of your information at all times. Acknowledging a source is a courtesy to the person whose idea or words you have used or referred to and it shows that you are not pretending that somebody else’s work is your own.

It helps the readers to find the original texts or webpage to read themselves, should they wish to do so.

It helps you to find the source again if you need it for some other work. It also gives the reader confidence in your assertions. Thoroughness in your

referencing suggests that you have also been thorough in checking your facts.

When do we need to reference? When we use a particular theory, argument or view point from a source. When we use specific information, such as statistics, examples, tables or case

studies. For direct quotations. For every text and electronic information which you paraphrase rather than

quote.

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Where do we need to reference?

This must be done throughout your academic assignments and in all your university work.

Your assignment: books/journals

How do we need to reference?

Within this department we use the Harvard style of referencing, and you must familiarise yourself with this style as soon as possible.

When paraphrasing someone else’s work….Author’s surname in the sentence, and date of publication in brackets

Black (1998) suggests that testing young children under exam conditions can have a negative impact on their learning.

OrAuthor and date in brackets

Group work in schools can often be problematic as children of different academic abilities are required to work together (Douglas,1998).

When using quotations…..You should use quotations sparingly in your work. If possible, paraphrase the work to show your understanding of the topic. However, sometimes it is necessary to include an important or relevant quotation. In these instances you will need to cite the source but also include the relevant page number from that source.For example:

1) Short quotations (less than two lines in word) can be incorporated into a paragraph, e.g.› As Heywood (2009: 77) points out, “during the late nineteenth century and early

twentieth centuries, rather less was heard about infanticide”. This is borne out by the official figures for this period.

2) Longer quotations should be set out on a new line, with the text indented on both sides. For example:

As Heywood points out:

“During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, rather less was heard about infanticide. Some of the pressures behind it began to ease, as living standards rose and birth rates declined. There was in addition a general improvement in infant mortality rates, linked to a growing interest in maternity and childcare”. (Heywood, 2009: 77)

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Variations on referring in the text

If there is more than one author: Two authors:

o Cohen and Smith (2008: 334) noted that..o It was noted that…… (Cohen and Smith, 2008: 334)

Three or more authors:o Barnes, Ernst and Hyde (2007: 7) indicated that …..

If you use that source more than once, you may use the abbreviation ‘et al’ but you must have listed all the authors in the first reference.

o Use the abbreviation ‘et al’o Barnes et al (2007: 7) or (Barnes et al, 2007: 7)

If you are using official reports or documents:For example - OFSTED, ESTYN, DCELLS etc.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) (2009:68) found that…..

It was found that…. (The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED), 2009:68)

The sources that you read may refer to or quote other authors that you wish to include in your own work

These are known as secondary sources or secondary citations In such cases you should acknowledge both authors. E.g.

o Brown (Cited in Douglas, 1998) suggests that.......

Referring to more than one book or paper by the same author published in the same year Use the suffix -a, -b, -c, etc. to distinguish been papers, in the order that you

refer to them. e.g.o (Gibbs,1995a) (Gibbs, 1995b) (Gibbs, 1995c)

Referring to websites Take care only to refer to recommended or academic sources Referred to in a similar manner to printed sources but they may not contain a

page number. E.g.o There is less emphasis on written work in the new Foundation Phase

(Welsh Assembly Government, 2008)

Several authors have expressed similar views include them all in one set of brackets in chronological order of publication. List any

works published in the same year in alphabetical ordero e.g. (Midgley 1994; Smith 1994; UNCHS 1996; Gandelsonas 2002).

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5. Bibliography

At the end of your work you must include a bibliography which gives the details of all the sources you have included and used in your assignment.

It must: show ALL the sources referenced in the body of the text. ONLY include references from the body of the text. Do not separate sources used into books, journal articles etc. It should be one

continuous alphabetical list.

Books in the bibliography:Author Surname, INITIAL/S. (Year of publication). Title of the Book. (edition) Place of publication: Name of the publisher.

(Please note the use of capital letters, punctuation, italic font.)

One author: Penn, H. (2008). Understanding Issues and Controversies. (2nd Edition).

Maidenhead: Open University Press.More than one author:

Drew, S. and Bingham, R. (2009). The Student Skills Guide. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Journals in the bibliography:Author Surname, INITIAL/S. (Year of publication). ‘Title of the article’. Name of the journal. Number of the volume, Number of the part, beginning and end of the page numbers.

(Please note the use of capital letters, punctuation, italic font.)

One author: Nutbeam, D. (1986) ‘Health promotion glossary’, Health Promotion, Vol. 1, no. 1,

pp. 113-126.More than one author:

Fuller, M., Healy, M., Bradley, A. and Hall, T. (2004) ‘Barriers to learning: a systematic study of the experience of disabled students in one university’, Studies in Higher Education. Vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 303-318.

Websites in the bibliographySame as a book or a journal article, but you need to show that you found it online.

Author, INITIAL/S. (Date) Title [online] Available at: www.fullwebaddress.com [Access date]

Example, Deslaurier, C. (2016) Changing the landscape of treatment for chronic diseases

[online] Available at: https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2016/august/changing-the-landscape-of-treatment-for-chronic-diseases [accessed 15/8/2016]

Welsh Assembly Government (2008) Skills framework for 3-19 year olds in Wales.

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Cardiff: DCELLS [online]Available at: http://wales.give.uk/topics [accessed 29/6/2012]

If website has no author use the title or the author instead

Example: Changing the landscape of treatment for chronic diseases (2016) [online]

Available at: https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2016/august/changing-the-landscape-of-treatment-for-chronic-diseases [accessed 15/8/2016]

If website has an author but no date Put ‘no date’ in brackets instead of a year

Example Deslaurier, C. (no date) Changing the landscape of treatment for chronic diseases

[online] Available at: https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2016/august/changing-the-landscape-of-treatment-for-chronic-diseases [accessed 15/8/2016]

If the website has no author or date: Use the title of the website and no date

Example Changing the landscape of treatment for chronic diseases (no date) [online]

Available at: https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2016/august/changing-the-landscape-of-treatment-for-chronic-diseases [accessed 15/8/2016]

If the website has no author or title Use the URL of the website

Example https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2016/august/changing-the-landscape-

of-treatment-for-chronic-diseases (2016)[Accessed 15/8/2016]

If the website has no author, no title, no date you should not be using this as an academic source!!!

Chapters in books in the bibliography

Author Of The Chapter, (year), ‘name of the chapter’, in name of editors, Book Title in Italics, Place of Publication: Publisher. Pages

Example: Rutherford, J. (1988) ‘Who’s That Man’. In CHAPMAN, R. and RUTHERFORD, J.

(eds.) Male Order: Unwrapping Masculinity. London: Lawrence and Wishart. pp 21-68.

If an author has a number of sources in the bibliography that were published in different years you should place the earlier publication first:

Example: Clarke, S. (1998) Targeting Assessment in the Primary Classroom. London: Hodder &

Stoughton. Clarke, S. (2001) Unlocking formative assessment. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

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6. Unfair Practice and Bad Practice

For the purposes of coursework, unfair practice is judged to be using someone else’s words, including instances where there are minimal changes, without any sort of acknowledgement of their source in the body of the coursework nor in the bibliography for the coursework (This is also known as plagiarism, and as cheating).

For the purposes of coursework, bad practice is judged to be using someone else’s words, including instances where there are minimal changes, without any sort of acknowledgement of their source in the body of the coursework but with an entry for the source in the bibliography for the coursework.

We strongly encourage you to consult relevant sources for your ideas. But you must express your use of them in your own words.

You must not copy another writer’s material word-for-word or nearly word-for-word from any source, including Web pages; unless it is acknowledged as a quotation (see previous section) and also properly referenced (see previous section)

You can find the most up to date University regulations on unfair practice at the following university webpage:

http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/regulations/contents/unfair-practice/

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7. Submission

At the beginning of each semester, the School informs via Blackboard and in modules of the dates of submission of all assignments. Please note that work can be submitted at any time before these dates. You should use these dates to organize your work well in advance so that steady progress can be made, especially if a number of submission dates for different assignments coincide. You are strongly advised not to delay undertaking the work until the last moment, at which time it may prove difficult to counter any problems.

It is required that assignments are word-processed. You are informed of any special conventions by the lecturers concerned. Please use suitable professional fonts when writing assignments (not, for example, Comic Sans) and also note that assignments do not need to be printed in colour (apart from the posters).

You are all advised to keep copies of assignments which are submitted for marking. In this respect, word-processing offers advantages as it conveniently caters for maintaining copies in electronic or paper form.

The School of Education and Lifelong Learning operates a system of anonymous marking. You should not reveal your names on the assignment.

You need to submit an electronic copy of your assignment through the Turnitin section on your Blackboard module.

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7.1 How to submit a Turnitin assignment – guide for students

Before you attempt to submit your work through the Turnitin software, complete your work and save it as a pdf document. Your file size must be less than 20 MB.

Save your essay as a pdf document so that the file name reads: Student number - module code e.g. 128352725 ED10120.

Step Screenshot

Step 1

Open the module site on Blackboard, and navigate to the assignment.

Click on View/Complete.

Step 2 Details of the assignment

will appear on the screen. Click on the blue Submit

button.

Step 3 Your name will appear on

the screen.Give the assignment a title e.g. 128352725 ED10120.

Click Browse to attach your work.

Locate your work in the pop-up window and click Open.

Click on the Upload button.

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Step 4 Your assignment will

appear on the screen for you to check you are submitting the correct piece of work.

Click on Submit

Step 5 A Turnitin receipt will

appear on screen. Make a note of the Paper ID.

You will also receive an e-mail as confirmation of your submission.

Step 6 If your tutor is marking the

work online or electronically you may return to the Blackboard page where you originally submitted your work and click on View. You will be able to view your feedback here.

If there are any difficulties with the Turnitin method of submission, you will need to contact the Undergraduate secretary immediately by telephone or e-mail, and after consulting with her, you may be allowed to submit an electronic copy by e-mail by following these steps:

Save your essay as a pdf document so that the file name reads: Student number - module code e.g. 128352725 ED10120. Email your assignment (as an attachment ) to essay-submission-education@aber.ac.uk .

Failed Submission Policy

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You are advised to take all steps necessary in advance of submission to avoid making the above request. You will therefore need to follow these steps:

a. Attempt the submission in sufficient time before the deadline for any problems to be dealt with before the submission is due.

b. Attempt any practice submissions that are made available using the computer you are planning to use for actual submissions. If your own personal computer is not able to be used for submission, you should use the university computers available in a number of locations across the University.

c. Check that your work has been successfully submitted immediately after submitting. Turnitin will generate a submission receipt immediately after you upload your work. A copy of this submission receipt will also be emailed to you. If you do not receive this submission receipt, immediately contact your department and the E-learning team (bb-team@aber.ac.uk).

d. Report any problems to both your department and the E-learning Team (bb-team@aber.ac.uk) as soon as possible.

e. Save copies of any emails sent by the system confirming submission, as well as taking screenshots of any error messages.

Please note that if you are submitting an assignment that is an artefact, a poster or a dissertation, then no electronic submission is needed, and specific submission guidance will be given in due course.

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All assignments should be submitted by 4.00 pm on the essay deadline day. The electronic copy of the assignment will be date stamped on submission.

7.2 Late Submission and Extensions

All work submitted late will receive a mark of zero.

Late Submission

Work submitted after the deadline will be awarded a zero.

A resit may be allowed if a module was failed overall as a result of this penalty. Any assessments that are unavoidably submitted late will be accepted only on the grounds of Special Circumstances, which would only normally be considered on the grounds of illness or severe personal/family problems (e.g. family bereavement), with appropriate supporting documentation.

Absence from Examinations

Absence from an examination will lead to a mark of zero for the exam component of a module.

We recognize that you may have good reasons for absence or non-submission which may involve medical matters, emotional problems, or other distressing circumstances. We are very anxious to support you with all such difficulties, and we advise you to contact us as soon as possible. We strongly advise you to obtain documentary evidence, such as a doctor's letter or medical certificate. We should like to emphasise that a Personal Tutor and the institution's Student Support Services are there to help you when problems interfere with your studies.

If you cannot arrive at an examination room in time to be allowed to enter, or if you go to the wrong examination room, you must phone the Education Office as soon as is reasonably and practically possible. You are also advised to speak to a member of staff inside or outside the examination room, identifying yourself, who then can confirm that you have been there.

Extension Requests

Students must apply for an extension if for unavoidable reasons they are unable to submit coursework on time, by completing the Coursework Deadline Extension Request Form. The request form is available from your Institute/Department and provides detailed advice on the circumstances in which extensions may be granted, the length of extensions, and what to do if an extension is not possible or permitted.

To request a Coursework Deadline Extension, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr Stephen Atherton sta@aber.ac.uk or 01970 628601.

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Special Circumstances

The University aims to assess all its students rigorously but fairly according to its regulations and approved procedures. It does however rely on students to notify it of special circumstances which may affect their performance so that it can treat all students equally and equitably. Examples of Special Circumstances include, but are not limited to: short or long-term illness, severe financial problems, major accommodation problems, bereavement or other compassionate grounds. If you do wish to let the University know of special circumstances, you must complete a Special Circumstances Form and forward it to the designated people (https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/academic-quality-records-office/exams/special-circumstances/stafflist/) in all your departments together with copies of the supporting evidence. Please note the University requires students to notify it of any exceptional personal circumstances which may have adversely affected their academic performance as soon as possible and in any case before the meetings of Examining Boards.

The full guidelines can be found here: https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/academic-quality-records-office/exams/special-circumstances/.

Further information is also available at https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/academic-quality-records-office/exams/exam---conventions/

8. Failure to Undertake Assessment

The conventions of the School of Education and Lifelong Learning for the uncondoned non-submission of assignments or non-attendance at examinations can result in a mark of zero. All other marks which that module legitimately earns are retained.

Uncondoned absence from examinations or uncondoned non-submission of course work is judged to occur when no good reason is given for the absence or non-submission.

We recognize that you may have good reasons for absence or non-submission which may involve medical matters, emotional problems, or other distressing circumstances. We are very anxious to support you with all such difficulties, and we advise you to contact us as soon as possible. We strongly advise you to obtain documentary evidence such as a doctor's letter or medical certificate. We should like to emphasise that a Personal Tutor and the institution's Student Support Services are there to help you when problems interfere with your studies.

If you cannot arrive at an examination room in time to be allowed to enter, or if you go to the wrong examination room, you must phone the Education Office as soon as is reasonably and practically possible. You are also advised to speak to a member of staff inside or outside the examination room, identifying yourself, who then can confirm that you have been there.

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9. Marking

In the School, each piece of assessed work is initially marked out of 100. This is then converted to the actual mark for that piece of work, according to the module weighting for that assessment.

The criteria themselves are weighted differently so that we can recognize higher-order skills, especially critical evaluation and evidence and coherent argument. This is not to suggest that the other intellectual skills are under-valued, but these latter skills are indicative of independent and logical thinking.

The mark given to a piece of assessed work is the total of the marks which are given for each of the above criteria. As explained above, all pieces of work are initially marked out of 100, which are then converted to the actual mark for the piece of work.

The work goes through the following stages of marking:

a first marker assigns the work a grade; another member of staff moderates a sample of all the assignments for a particular module; in the case of Part 2 students, an external examiner looks at a sample of all Part 2 assessments and the moderators’ reports; the School’s examining board, of which the external examiner is a member, approves all marks; an Institute examining board gives the final approval of all total marks for a module.

The grade which you first receive when assessed work is returned has passed through the first two stages only. This is a provisional mark and is subject to the remaining stages. You are notified of your mark via ‘My Grades’ for the module you are studying on Blackboard.

The University notifies you of the final marks for your modules after all marks have been approved by the Institute examining boards via your Student Record.

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10. Feedback

In the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, all staff are required to provide you not only with a grade but also with written comments which help you to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the work, and the grounds for the grade.

You should consider and reflect upon both your assignment and examination feedback as well as the marked copy of each script in order to improve your work.Failure to do this can lead to the same mistakes being made time after time.

In addition, you are encouraged to approach the module lecturer or your Personal Tutor to discuss your work. In this way, you can benefit from advice which will help you to improve your performance in written assignments and examinations.

For most modules where the assignment is electronically marked, your feedback and marked assignment script will be returned to you via ‘My Grades’. For modules where this is not the case, you may contact the Education office to view your marked assignment and arrangements can be made for you to photocopy the work if necessary.

Feedback will be returned if possible within 3 weeks. Feedback may take longer to return if class sizes are large, but you will be informed of this by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

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11. Retention of Work

All Part 2 assignments contribute to the final degree classification, and the School is obliged to retain them until six months after you graduate or longer if there are any special circumstances in force. You are advised to keep copies of assignments which are submitted for marking.

All Part 1 scripts which do not contribute to a final award are normally kept for six months after the end of the session in which they are examined, unless there are special circumstances to extend the period.

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12. Dissertations

12.1 General Characteristics of a Dissertation

Undergraduate dissertations are subject to the following:

A dissertation can normally only be undertaken by Part 2 students in their final year who are following a degree scheme in Education. A dissertation is compulsory for Childhood Studies students in Year 3. Dissertations are assessed by course work without an end-of-semester written examination. A dissertation is worth 40 credits, involves 12,000 words (not including the appendix or any tables) and is undertaken over two semesters.

By the time of your final year, you will be familiar with the demands and practices of an assignment which is based on a taught module. In comparison, a dissertation offers greater intellectual and organizational challenges, and within the scale allowed by undergraduate study, it allows you to:

concentrate on a topic which is of particular interest to you, subject to the approval of the School of Education and Lifelong Learning; develop study skills which you already practice in producing assignments, and which are outlined in section 9 Study Skills: Writing for Assessed Work; familiarize yourselves with organizing and maintaining sustained independent study; undertake field work and engage upon actual analyses of data; experience one-to-one discussions with your dissertation tutor.

The dissertation generally involves the following:

the topic of study should be clearly identified; the aims and objectives of studying the topic should be established; this may take the form of clearly stating research questions and / or hypotheses; it is vitally important to review books and articles which treat the topic; this exercise contributes enormously to achieving all the other aspects of the dissertation which are listed here; the literature should be reviewed critically; the nature of the data which is to be the basis of the study must be clearly explained; this may be: documentary data, questionnaire data, experimental data, ‘naturalistic’ data, research-literature data; the methods which are to be used to collect the data must be explained and properly implemented; ethical, moral and legal issues must be considered where data is collection is involved; the model of analysis which is to be used to analyse the data must be explained and properly implemented; the results of the analysis must be adequately interpreted and discussed.

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These various aspects help to determine the shape of the dissertation, and can contribute to constructing a schedule of study and organizing the content of the dissertation.

Individual lecturers may have other strategies, and you may be encouraged to adopt other approaches.

It is important to have a plan of study which can be achieved within the length of the dissertation and the time available. You can receive advice on this matter from the School.

12.2 Registration and Pre-Registration

For Childhood Studies students, the assessment for the core module Research Methods involves drawing a research proposal. This will be the research proposal that you use for your dissertation. If you decide, however, to research a different topic, you will need to provide a new proposal and a justification for changing the topic.

For Education students, registration on an undergraduate dissertation is subject to the prior approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Before registration, you should submit an outline of study. You should note that a title or topic alone is not enough.

The outline should explain:

the proposed topic of study; the aims and objectives of the study; the literature which is to be consulted, on the basis of understanding at this preliminary stage; the data which is to be the basis of the study (documentary, questionnaire, experimental, ‘naturalistic’, etc.); the methods which are to be used to obtain the data; the model of analysis which is to be used to analyse the data.

In judging proposals, the School takes into consideration your overall performance on modules in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning and also the outline of the proposed study.

12.3 Proposal and Schedule of Study

If you have registered on a dissertation, you should draw up a schedule of study for the fulfilment of the dissertation before the beginning of the semester(s) in which the work is undertaken. You should arrange to meet with the lecturer who has agreed to oversee your work as early in the semester as possible in order to discuss the schedule in conjunction with the pre-registration outline. Full details will be provided in the Dissertation lectures and seminars.

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12.4 Sensitive Material

Where you use sensitive material, including material from Web pages, in your assignments, you should be aware of any legal, moral and ethical consequences for yourself and the School. Consult a member of the School for advice if you are in doubt about the legal, moral and ethical nature of any material which you are considering using. All students will have to follow the Undergraduate Dissertation Ethics Procedure.

12.5 Structure of a Dissertation

Introduction

This should be a brief section to introduce your work to the reader. You may at this point introduce your overriding aim and research questions but explanations as to how these came about will be given in literature review.

Literature Review

This is where you thoroughly review the literature based upon your topic. You may want to split this chapter into relevant sections. Having reviewed the literature, key questions that you want to investigate further should fall out. At the end of your review, therefore, you should have about three research questions to investigate. You should summarise these at the end of your review and suggest any hypotheses if necessary. We do expect to see at least 20 references and you do need to offer a level of criticality.

Methodology

You should begin this section by stating your research questions again. You should divide this chapter up into relevant sections such as the following (the order will depend on your dissertation):

Research Questionsa) Research Designb) Research Instrumentsc) Research Ethicsd) Pilot Study e) Analysis of data

Statement of Results

This is where you state the results of your investigation. You may use graphs or tables or have interview transcripts.

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Discussion of Results

You need to discuss all of your findings in detail by referring back to the literature.

Conclusions and Evaluations

You may like to think of this in the following sections:a) Conclusions (you may also refer back to your hypotheses if you had any)b) Evaluations (highlight any limitations of your study)c) Future work

You will also need to include a list of references and any appendices.

12.6 Dissertation Assessment Criteria

Your dissertation will be marked by considering the above chapters. The marking criteria can be set out as follows:

Excellent

70%-

100%

Good

60%-69%

Satisfactory

50%-59%

Poor

40%-49%

Very Poor

0%-39%

Presentation (0-8) 6-8 5 4 3 0-3

Literature Review (0-28) 20-28 17-19 14-16 11-13 0-10

Methodology (0-28) 20-28 17-19 14-16 11-13 0-10

Presentation and Analysis of Data (0-18) 13-18 11-12 9-10 7-8 0-6

Discussion and Conclusion (0-18) 13-18 11-12 9-10 7-8 0-6

Total mark as percentage %

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