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700002 Business Academic Skills 2015.3
Essay Development Instructions (20%)
This part of the Learning Portfolio is comprised of two sections:
- Essay Plan and
- Reference List.
Section 1: Essay Plan (75/100)
Overview
Linking different pieces of information in a structured manner is important. The simplest way to ensure that your work is structured in such a way is to prepare an essay plan before you start. Essay plans help with structuring by organising information so that each concept flows logically from the one preceding. An essay plan can also help you work out how you will answer a question and which information you will use.
Section 2: Reference List (25/100)
Overview
This part of the assessment is designed to develop students’ research skills and ability to record the bibliographic details of scholarly resources of various genres including books, scholarly journal articles, and other published material as well as scholarly electronic resources related to the topic area.
Details
| Due Date: | Within the first 10 minutes of the Week 10 Workshop and online (Turnitin) |
| Length: | 500 words plus the references |
Required reading
Read textbook, Chapter 9: Constructing an argument
This chapter details the process for developing an argument and constructing a thesis statement.
Read textbook, Chapter 10: Developing, supporting, and documenting an argument
This chapter defines the various types of arguments and fallacies as well as how to structure an essay plan.
Read textbook, Chapter 6: Harvard documentation
This chapter details the Harvard style of referencing and in-text citations.
Presentation and format
Students are required to download and fill in the assessment template by:
- Typing in all required details on the coversheet.
- Ticking all the boxes and signing the declaration.
- Typing responses into the blank fields as indicated.
- Removing any blank spaces/lines.
- Printing single side only.
- Ensuring the Turnitin Report is attached at the end of the assessment.
- Ensuring that all pages, including the marking rubrics, are attached with a single staple in the left hand corner.
Note: All the margins, fonts and spacing are already set so there is no need to make any further adjustments.
Submission requirements
A hard copy of the assessment is due within the first 10 minutes of your assigned workshop in Week 10 along with a copy of the Turnitin Originality Report which should be attached to the back of your assignment. Assessments will not be accepted without the Turnitin Originality Report. Once the 10 minute submission period in the workshop is over, the assessment will be considered late and late penalties of 10% per day will apply, including the day of the workshop.
Note: A penalty of 10% per day will apply to any late submissions. Hard copy is the only method of assignment submission. Turnitin-only submissions will not be accepted. Also submission of the Turnitin report will not be accepted, you must submit the completed original word document with the Turnitin report attached.
Extension of due date for submission
If students need to apply for a short extension of time to complete an assessment item they should attach all supporting documentation to the completed Request for Extension form which is available from Student Services. Students should note that an application for an extension does not automatically mean that an extension will be approved, and that requests for extension must be submitted no later than three working days prior to the due date of the assessment task. After that period this option does not exist and students will need to apply for special consideration (see below).
Special consideration
Where students need to apply for a special consideration, they should attach all supporting documentation to the completed Application for Special Consideration form which is available from the Student Services. Students should note that an application for special consideration does not automatically mean that it will be approved. Work completed also needs to emailed on the due date in accordance with the policy in the Diploma Student Handbook.
Note: Students should note that an application for extension or special consideration does not automatically mean that it will be approved.
Late submission
A student who submits a late assessment without approval for an extension of the due date will be penalised by 10% per day up to 10 days, i.e. marks equal to 10% of the grade given for the assignment task will be deducted as a ‘flat rate’ from the mark awarded. For example, the Essay Development assessment is awarded 90 marks, so you will have 9 marks deducted from the awarded mark for each late day including Saturdays and Sundays. Assessments will not be accepted after the marked assessment tasks have been returned to students who submitted the task on time.
Assessment task – Section 1: Essay Plan
Prepare in 500 words an essay plan that addresses the assessment question below which includes:
- A thesis statement which states clearly your position on the essay topic.
- A minimum of three (3) arguments that will form the body of your essay and include for each:
- A topic sentence (or main idea sentence) that states your point;
- An explanation of the point you’re making;
- Supporting evidence;
- An evaluation or elaboration of the supporting evidence; and
- A conclusion which links your outlined paragraph back to the thesis statement.
- A concluding statement which summarises your main arguments.
Note: This section of the Essay Development assessment will evaluate what students have learnt in Week 8 and 9 workshops.
You must use at least three (3) of the Five Required Resources found in the Essay Development – Week 10 folder.
| Assessment question | Using the three ethical principles of the global business standards codex, evaluate the business practices of the coffee giant Starbucks.
|
Assessment task – Section 2: Reference List
Locate and accurately document the bibliographic details of ten (10) mandatory scholarly genres, including those used in Section 1: Essay Plan, which are relevant to the assessment question below. For reference details, students should refer to Chapter 6 in the BAS textbook or the Library’s Citing Resources (Harvard) on their homepage for advice on the Harvard style of referencing.
To complete this part of the assessment task, it is highly recommended that students complete the library’s Successful Searching online tutorial. This tutorial explains locating items on the reading list; searching the library catalogue; and obtaining other basic research skills. Once completed, students should progress to the Business Information Basics online tutorial where students are provided with a business-related assignment topic and shown how to build a bank of relevant information using various business-specific resources.
| Assessment question | Using the three ethical principles of the global business standards codex, evaluate the business practices of the coffee giant Starbucks. |
Note: This section will evaluate what students have learnt in Weeks 4-6 as well as from the library’s online tutorials – Successful Searching and Business Information Basics.
All the references may not be appropriate for the final essay, but should demonstrate that you are aware of the various resources available and are able to record the bibliographic details accurately in Harvard style.
