ssk13

1. Assessment task 1: Article summaries
The first assessment task requires you to summarise two articles. The summaries will
provide the basis for you first essay.
1. Find two articles relevant to one of the topics. The articles should be from an academic journal,
from a book or a reputable website. Choose your articles carefully; they need to have information
which is directly relevant to the essay topic you have chosen.
2. Save both of your articles as either a PDF file, an MS-Word document or an html file - not as a
link to a website.
3. Write a short summary for each of your two articles.
Each summary should provide a brief overview that captures the main points of the article as you
have understood it. After identifying the main ideas of the article, transform them into sentences
and combine them into a paragraph using transitional words. Include a topic sentence. Each
summary should be between 3 and 7 sentences.
The summaries should be expressed in your own words. It is not acceptable to copy out parts of
the article.
4. Type the full bibliographic information for your two articles into an MS-Word document. This
should be done according to the Harvard Referencing style. If you also have a direct web link to
the article, give the web address.
Web Link to Current Library page on Harvard Referencing
5. Save the MS-Word document using your surname as the file name: e.g. Surname_summaries.doc.
Submit this document, and your two articles via the link under Assessment in Blackboard.
Assessment
Students will receive a mark out of 10 for this work.
Each article will receive a mark out of 2
(0 = no relevant information, 1 = marginally relevant information, 2 = directly relevant information).
Each summary will receive a mark out of 2
(0 = no relevant information, 1 = marginally relevant information, 2 = directly relevant information).
Two marks are allocated for referencing according to Harvard style
(0 = no referencing, 1 = reasonable referencing, 2 = correct referencing).

2. Assessment task 2: First essay
The essay provides students the opportunity to put into practice the academic writing skills
covered in the lectures, tutorials and readings.
Choose ONE of the following essays and write a 1000 – 1200 word essay in answer to the
question posed.
1. Critically evaluate the role of consumption in our society today. Is shopping more
important than production?
2. Discuss the role of sport in Australia’s national identity. Is Australia as “sporting”
as we are lead to believe?
3. What role do mobile phones play in society? Discuss the influence of technology
on everyday life: relationships, social movements and education.
4. Is climate change the new apocalypse? Are western nations too influenced by
capitalism to effectively deal with the problem?
A minimum of four appropriate references must be used in the essay.
The following link will assist you in developing your essay:
The Three Basic Elements of essay writing.doc
Assessment
Students will receive a mark out of 20 for this work. The following link provides the
criteria for the assessment of the essays.
Essay Marking Guide SP 4 2009.doc
Individual Work
The essays are individual tasks and must not be completed in collaboration with other
students. If you are having a problem with either of the essays, it is ok to post a question
on the discussion board; however do not share any parts of your summaries or essay with
other students.

3. Assessment task 3: Group Wiki Case Study
This assignment requires students to work in teams to produce a series of pieces of work on a wiki page.
We would like you to work collaboratively to produce a case study research project using the wiki space
on blackboard. In this assignment we want you to look at a smaller example within a larger issue. By
doing this you can potentially produce an insight into the wider situation. Again, as in the first essay, this
is an opportunity to develop the skills that the unit has taught you throughout the study period.
Some aspects that should be covered include: the broad issue for investigation; the example within this
issue that you are going to investigate to bring about some understanding of the broader issue; having
produced your research and developed an argument you come to a tentative conclusion based on your
evidence.
Assessment
Students will receive a mark out of 55 for this work.
The marks are allocated: 40%group/ 15% individual
Group Work
Throughout the group project your interaction with your team will be monitored and we'll give you some
feedback from time to time about your group participation. Part of your individual assessment for the
project will be based on your contribution to the smooth running of the group. This will be assessed by
your tutor.
The things we are looking for here are:
• Were you supportive of others in your group?
• Did you strive to understand others’ points of view/suggestions?
• Did you listen to other people’s ideas and build on them?
• Did you give constructive criticism that helped others to improve their performance?
• Did you show appreciation for what others contributed?
• Did you sometimes initiate discussion?
• Did you contribute useful suggestions?
• Did you post work when you agreed to, or at least inform your group if there was going to be a delay?
Remember throughout the work to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. It's OK to
disagree or to oppose someone else's point of view, but you need to explain why you disagree and support
your argument. Always make your comments about the work and don't criticize the individual. If
someone in the group is not contributing or makes a late contribution there might be all kinds of valid
reasons - ask if there is a problem - maybe you can negotiate with them to do more work at a later stage to
make up.
Note: While it’s easiest for the group to work together if you’re all available and contributing on the
discussion board at the same time – this isn’t always possible. You can still work with each other
asynchronously. That is, one or two group members can make some initial suggestions – either in
discussion with each other or individually. Other group members can respond to these suggestions later.

4. Choose ONE of the following case study topics. The topics should be addressed by
referring to specific instances contained in the questions.
Case Study 1
Does sport create negative roles for the identity construction of Australian youth?
Answer with reference to specific instances of perceived bad behaviour from
individual sports people such as Shane Warne, Ben Cousins, Wayne Carey, Marion
Jones and others.
In producing your case study look at media reports not only about the behaviour but also
about the social expectations placed upon sporting “stars” to be role models. It might also
be useful to see whether instances of the sports’ “stars’ ” bad behaviour is in fact reflected
in wider society, restricted to the sporting field or too difficult to isolate. You might also
consider this proposition in an historical context. Was there the same moral panic about
the “antics” of sports “stars” in the past? The other consideration you might include is that
the hyper-competitive and over-financially-rewarded nature of modern sport may be the
problem that contributes to a “spoilt brat” mentality or the win at all costs nature of sport.
Case Study 2
Are our responses to climate change, in particular water harvesting, as effective as
they could be? Is there an argument that individual household responses can be as
effective as large institutional responses (desalination plants and new dams)? Discuss
with reference to the availability of technology, advice and research on individual
responses to water saving, capture and reclamation.
Here too, media reports will be useful but there will also be a need to research corporate,
environmental and public interest documents. In addition some investigation of
government policies and the Greens’ policies would be useful as well as environment and
advocacy groups.
In your answer you should make a case through evidence and arguments based on the
ability of a household to provide, or not, for their needs. It may be that you disagree with
the proposition and produce a comparative study of the water available to individual
households through major projects. You may need to look at the Victorian state
government’s claims on the production of water from the desalination plant and the
north/south pipeline. You should also keep in mind that rainfall, and as a consequence
predictions into the future, are less reliable and as such might become a crucial part of
your argument.

5. Case Study 3
Is shopping the answer to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)? Is there a fundamental
problem with the underpinning philosophy that has driven modern capitalism?
Discuss this with reference to the attitudes that you have gathered by interviewing
family and friends.
This case study allows you to conduct interviews and produce your own small research
project to address this question. You need to base it on an argument about what modern
capitalism amounts to. This can be gathered from two main sources: academic texts and
journal articles that discuss current capitalism (known as neo-liberalism) and media
reports that talk about the excesses of current capitalism. Having read this material and
developed an introductory explanation to the case study you will need to produce a series
of research questions (6) to test attitudes of your informants to current practices.
You can submit your questions to your tutor or request assistance to develop a series of
questions from your tutor.
Case Study 4
Have the new communication technologies enhanced social relationships? Are the
multiple opportunities to communicate with others building real communities or
simply electronic networks that are mediated more by the forum than the desire to
connect with others? Answer by interviewing friends and family and investigating
the nature of their electronic relationships.
One approach you might want to take is to do comparative research between your parents’
generation and the current generation to determine whether friendship networks were/are
more or less extensive and durable.
You might want to consider email, Facebook and text messaging as the focus for your
research. You should restrict the number of your research informants to about six. As in
the case of the GFC study (above) you can formulate your own questions and submit them
to your tutor or ask for help to develop them.

6. Assessment task 4: Second essay
The final essay provides students the opportunity to put into practice the academic writing
skills they have developed throughout the semester.
Choose ONE of the following essays and write a 1000 – 1200 word essay in answer to the
question posed.
Environment ethics essay
1. Does the human race have a responsibility to all biological life in the environment?
Should our environment be managed exclusively in the interests of humans or
should we alter our practices to protect other species from extinction?
Technology ethics essay
2. Do Internet service providers have a responsibility to regulate the content that is
available on the World Wide Web? Is the presence and ease of availability of
pornography to the general public a tribute to free speech and a reflection of social
maturity or an example of the potential damage that unregulated markets and the
hegemony of technology have reaped upon society?
Business ethics essay
3. Does business have a social responsibility? Are profits the only measure that should
be applied to corporate success? Discuss using examples such as the continuing
manufacturing of 4WD vehicles; resistance to a global scheme to curtail carbon
production; or CEO salary levels.
Assessment
Students will receive a mark out of 20 for this work. The following link provides the
criteria for the assessment of the essays.
Essay Marking Guide SP 4 2009.doc