2. Assessment 1:
Essay (50%)
• Length: 1,000 words (+/- 10%)
• Acceptable range = 900 to 1,100
words
• Submit to Turnitin folder
“Assessment 1: Essay”
• Deadline: Fri 23 February 2024
at 11.59 am
• Results release date: Fri 22
March 2024
• Further info: Module handbook
pp. 11-13
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3. Turnitin submission
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• Deadline: Fri 23 February
2024 at 11.59 am
• That is one minute before
noon, UK time
• You may resubmit up until
the deadline
• To help some students
who may submit the wrong
version
• Not intended for trying to
change similarity score
(more on this later)
• Make sure your name is
not shown anywhere in the
document
• MUST keep Turnitin receipt
(sent to your email after
submission)
4. 4
Formatting of your
essay – note that:
• In-text citations
are included in
word count, but
• List of references
at the end does
not count
5. Referencing requirements
• At least 8 academic sources
• Journal papers (preferred)
• Textbooks
• Contemporary non-academic sources
• News
• Reports (consultancies, governments, NGOs, etc.)
• Non-academic books
• Do Not:
• Do not use websites for definitions (e.g. “utilitarianism
means …”)
• Do not use any website ending with “pedia”
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We are looking for
both quality and
diversity of sources
• Timeliness
• Relevance
Formatting is
the easy part.
Don’t lose
marks here!
6. Essay Example:
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Yellow highlights: Notice where the brackets go, and
where the page number needs to be specified
A few notes on being “interpretive” and “critical”. Look
at the corresponding numbers on the essay.
1. Introduce your main message
2. Be organised with the content sequence. Here, one
paragraph is about practical solutions, and the next
one is about policy.
3. We are trying to sell action research (AR) as a
method. So this must be stated upfront.
4. “Critical” - This para deals with a) misunderstanding
that AR needs different techniques, by saying that
b) underpinning intention is what characterises AR.
5. “Interpretation” – This para explains further, in an
organised way, what is involved in doing AR.
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2
3
4
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7. Do I need to worry about similarity
score?
• Our position: Students should not be too worried just by looking at the
similarity score (%) on its own.
• Why?
• Assessors always look at where and how the similarity occurs.
• In longer pieces of work, small similarities of less than 1% each may add up to 40%
similarity index. But this does not mean the student has plagiarised.
• In contrast, similarity score of e.g., 3% indicates that the student may not be using
any evidence at all.
• Therefore, whatever the number is, human judgement will be necessary.
• Our advice: Make sure you specify the sources from which you have
taken the content (no matter how small).
• If you include direct quotes, make sure to put them in quotation marks “…” and
cite properly.
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9. Extension (and deferrals)
• If you think you need an extension, you must contact student advice center on ASK
BAL – Extensions and Deferrals – Business and Law Students (dmu.ac.uk) as soon as
possible.
• Do not leave this until the deadline as it is highly unlikely you will be granted an
extension on or after the deadline.
• Likewise, if you have a registered disability this does not automatically entitle you to
an extension before or after the deadline.
• Requests for extensions must be in writing using the relevant form (use this link) and
submitted prior to the deadline
Further information
• Assessment brief (module handbook)
• University Regulations (e.g. grounds for extension).
• See: University regulations
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10. Support for your assignment
• Seminar Week 20
• Exercise worksheet asking you to think about some important questions
• A chance for you to ask any questions you want
• FAQs combining all frequently asked questions will be uploaded at 5 pm on Friday of Week 20
• Learning Zone (e.g. lecture slides, “read this first” resources, seminar discussion
summaries)
• Advice and Feedback hours
• See “staff contact” section on the Learning Zone, and book using “Calendly” link
• CLaSS Centre for Learning & Study Support
o https://library.dmu.ac.uk/class/resources
o https://library.dmu.ac.uk//class/academicwriting
o https://library.dmu.ac.uk/ineedhelpwith
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12. Essay question: Read carefully!
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Reflective essay: There are many purposes
to “reflective” writing. In this case, it is
reflecting on things you have read and
linking theory with practice/reality
Current issues: The issues you are
reflecting on must be “ongoing” (i.e. not
finished, the jury is still out)
Required: There must be
an example organisation
Reflection based on
evidence, not only your
opinion
Required: There must be
theory or academic
framework being used
14. DMU undergrad mark descriptors
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Link: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/documents/about-dmu-documents/quality-management-and-
policy/academic-quality/learning-teaching-assessment/ug-mark-descriptors.pdf
15. A little more on reflective writing
• For this assignment: Reflecting on things you have read and
linking theory with practice/reality
• It is meant as an opportunity to advance your independent learning,
using connection between theory and practice
• In academic reflective writing, try to achieve the following:
• develop a perspective, or line of reasoning
• demonstrate that you are well informed, have read relevant literature
and reflected on its relevance to your own development
• show that you recognise that situations are rarely simple and clear-
cut
• (where possible) write about the link between your
experiences/practice and your reading
• write in an appropriate style
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Find out more:
Advice on
reflective writing
(links)
Birmingham
Edinburgh
Portsmouth
17. Choosing and scoping your topic
• The obvious: Specify an organisation of your interest (must be current, so NOT Enron
or VW)
• Pick one issue: The overall problem might be very broad. Try to see if you could
narrow down to one aspect of the problem.
• Find a linkage to theory: Revisit previous lectures and textbook, to see if any theory is
especially relevant
• Example: My process of discussing “CSR and social media” (Week 18)
• Focus on Facebook (as they get a high volume of publicity), but also note where the analysis
might be applicable to other tech companies as well
• Focus on misinformation problem (which is one of the many problems with social media),
because it is the most familiar issue to me and I have already been following the news
• Overview of situation – combination of description and (very brief) explanation of FB’s
business model
• Central discussion point – debate re: Facebook as neutral platform or media publisher
• Theory: Contrasting free speech and harm prevention, based on a few ethical theories
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Hinweis der Redaktion
This picture is just for illustration purpose. On Learning Zone, you would find the Resource list in a folder named ‘Resource List’ and the useful guides is found in a folder named ‘module information’
