ASSESSMENT BRIEF

 

ACADEMIC YEAR

 

COURSE(S): BSc (Hons) Business Management (All Pathways)

BSc (Hons) Accounting & Finance

 

 

Word Count:

• 010 – A 8,000-word research report based on secondary data analysis (80%)

 

• 011 – A 2,000-word interim progress report (20%)

 

The deadline by which this assignment must be handed in is:

• 010
• 011 –21^st

 

YOUR TASKS

 

010 Task 1 – DISSERTATION, 8,000 WORDS (80%)

Deadline: 25^th

 

		Mark	Learning Outcome
1.	Introduction	10	1
2.	Use of Literature / Sources	20	1, 2, 4, 5, 6
3.	Research Design & Methodology	20	1-6
4.	Results, Analysis & Interpretation of Data	30	1-6
5.	Conclusion & Recommendations	10	1, 5, 6
6.	Presentation	10	4
	TOTAL MARKS:	100%

 

Grading Form

	Feedback	Mark
Introduction	Is the abstract adequate? Is there a clear purpose and rationale for the study? Clear set of objectives / research questions, and research relevance	10
Use of Literature & Sources	Was the range suitable and adequate? Has a critical review of the literature been adopted? Has the literature been applied clearly to relevant contemporary issues and context?	20
Research Design & Methodology	Was research design and methodology discussed? Was the approach appropriate to the research aim and questions?	20
Results, Analysis & Interpretation of Data	Has the data been accurately been presented and analysed or are findings merely a description?   Has appropriate theory / marketing research and literature been applied to the analysis?   Has the student attempted to interpret their findings?	30
Conclusion & Recommendations	Are conclusions reasoned?   Do they correspond with the objectives of the research?	10
Presentation	Structure and language Harvard Referencing applied Use of tables / diagrams	10

 

 

011 Task 2 – A 2,000-word interim progress report (20%) 21^st January 2022, by 2pm

 

 

		Mark	Learning Outcome
1.	Research aims:   Have clear objectives / research questions been identified and justified?	15%	1
2.	Use of literature:   Is there evidence of engagement with academic literature and concepts to support the analysis of the research questions?	25%	1-6
3.	Outline methodology:   Has an outline methodology been provided?   Is the proposed research design appropriate to the choice of topic and research aims?	25%	1-6
4.	Proposed data sources   Have data sources for the research project been identified?   Have the data sources been justified considering the research aims?	25%	1-6
5.	Structure and language Harvard Referencing applied Use of tables / diagrams	10%	4
	TOTAL MARKS:	100%

 

 

 

TURNITIN

 

You should upload all three tasks to Turnitin for formative feedback at least once before you complete your final upload. Your final upload to Turnitin should be made more than 24 hours before the final deadline, to ensure you can include your originality report in your submission.

 

 

Reassessment Assignment

 

Students undertaking a resit have to choose a different company and brand from the first attempt and use the same marking criteria. Deadline for submission of assignment will be 6^th August 2021, by 2pm.

 

 

YOUR FEEDBACK

 

FORMATIVE FEEDBACK

 

Throughout the module you are advised to take advantage of formative feedback opportunities. These are:

Week 11 (Sem1) – Formative poster presentation – interim project progress review

The module also provides the opportunity for ongoing supervisor support and formative feedback (up to 20% of the final assessment volume)

 

 

SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK

 

You will receive comments on your work within 20 working days of the deadline detailed above. Your feedback may include your un-moderated fine grade, but please note that this will remain subject to change until it has been ratified by the Module Approval Panel. Your final, approved grade will appear on your student record by:

 

 

Your work will be assessed against the following learning outcomes; in undertaking the tasks outlined above, you should ensure that you evidence these. Once your assessor has confirmed that you have met the requirements of each learning outcome, the assessment criteria and marking standards (below) will be used to decide your fine grade.

 

Learning Outcomes (threshold standards):
	On successful completion of this module the student will be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding	1.    Define and explain the rationale and scope for an appropriate research area for secondary, desk-based research 2.    Collect, manage, apply and interpret a range of academic and professional, industry-relevant information from a variety of sources 3.    Identify, select, justify and utilise a range of appropriate research methodologies and tactics appropriate to research area
Intellectual, practical, affective and transferrable skills	4.    Demonstrate the ability to manage a complex research project with minimal supervision 5.    Critically apply and evaluate a range of evidence from a variety of sources to answer research questions and provide reasoned conclusions / recommendations. 6.    Critically evaluate the value of contemporary business research within an applied specialist topic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEVEL 6 Assessment criteria and marking standards

Level 6 is characterised by an expectation of students’ increasing autonomy in relation to their study and developing skill sets.  Students are expected to demonstrate problem solving skills, both theoretical and practical. This is supported by an understanding of appropriate theory; creativity of expression and thought based in individual judgement; and the ability to seek out, invoke, analyse and evaluate competing theories or methods of working in a critically constructive and open manner. Output is articulate, coherent and skilled in the appropriate medium, with some students producing original or innovative work in their specialism.
Mark Bands		Outcome	Generic Learning Outcomes (GLOs) (Academic Regulations, Section 2)
			Knowledge & Understanding	Intellectual (thinking), Practical, Affective and Transferable Skills
Characteristics of Student Achievement by Marking Band	90-100%	Achieves module outcome(s) related to GLO at this level	Exceptional information base exploring and analysing the discipline, its theory and ethical issues with extraordinary originality and autonomy.  Work may be considered for publication within Anglia Ruskin University	Exceptional management of learning resources, with a higher degree of autonomy/exploration that clearly exceeds the assessment brief. Exceptional structure/accurate expression. Demonstrates exceptional intellectual originality and imagination.  Exceptional team/practical/professional skills.  Work may be considered for publication within Anglia Ruskin University
	80-89%		Outstanding information base exploring and analysing the discipline, its theory and ethical issues with clear originality and autonomy	Outstanding management of learning resources, with a degree of autonomy/exploration that clearly exceeds the assessment brief. An exemplar of structured/accurate expression. Demonstrates outstanding intellectual originality and imagination.  Outstanding team/practical/professional skills
	70-79%		Excellent knowledge base that supports analysis, evaluation and problem-solving in theory/practice/ethics of discipline with considerable originality	Excellent management of learning resources, with degree of autonomy/research that may exceed the assessment brief. Structured and creative expression. Excellent academic/ intellectual skills and practical/team/professional/problem-solving skills
	60-69%		Good knowledge base that supports analysis, evaluation and problem-solving in theory/ practice/ethics of discipline with some originality	Good management of learning resources, with consistent self-directed research. Structured and accurate expression. Good academic/intellectual skills and team/practical/ professional/problem solving skills
	50-59%		Satisfactory knowledge base that supports some analysis, evaluation and problem-solving in theory/practice/ethics of discipline	Satisfactory management of learning resources. Some autonomy in research but inconsistent. Structured and mainly accurate expression. Acceptable level of academic/ intellectual skills going beyond description at times. Satisfactory team/practical/professional/problem-solving skills
	40-49%	A marginal pass in module outcome(s) related to GLO at this level	Basic knowledge base with some omissions at the level of theoretical/ethical issues. Restricted ability to discuss theory and/or or solve problems in discipline	Basic use of learning resources with little autonomy. Some difficulties with academic/intellectual skills. Some difficulty with structure/accuracy in expression, but evidence of developing team/practical/professional/problem-solving skills
	30-39%	A marginal fail in module outcome(s) related to GLO at this level. Possible compensation. Sat-isfies qualifying mark	Limited knowledge base.  Limited understanding of discipline/ethical issues. Difficulty with theory and problem solving in discipline	Limited use of learning resources. Unable to work autonomously. Little input to teams. Weak academic/ intellectual skills. Still mainly descriptive. General difficulty with structure/accuracy in expression. Practical/professional/ problem-solving skills that are not yet secure
	20-29%	Fails to achieve module outcome(s) related to this GLO.  Qualifying mark not satisfied.  No compensation available	Little evidence of knowledge base. Little evidence of understanding of discipline/ethical issues.  Significant difficulty with theory and problem solving in discipline	Little evidence of use of learning resources. Unable to work autonomously. Little input to teams. Very weak academic/ intellectual skills. Work significantly descriptive. Significant difficulty with structure/accuracy in expression. Little evidence of practical/professional/problem-solving skills
	10-19%		Inadequate knowledge base. Inadequate understanding of discipline/ethical issues. Major difficulty with theory and problem solving in discipline	Inadequate use of learning resources. Unable to work autonomously. Inadequate input to teams. Extremely weak academic/intellectual skills. Work significantly descriptive. Major difficulty with structure/accuracy in expression. Inadequate practical/professional/ problem-solving skills
	1-9%		No evidence of knowledge base; no evidence of understanding of discipline/ethical issues.  Total inability with theory and problem solving in discipline	No evidence of use of learning resources. Completely unable to work autonomously. No evidence of input to teams. No evidence of academic/intellectual skills. Work wholly descriptive. Incoherent structure/accuracy and expression. No evidence of practical/professional/ problem-solving skills
	0%		Awarded for: (i) non-submission; (ii) dangerous practice and; (iii) in situations where the student fails to address the assignment brief (eg: answers the wrong question) and/or related learning outcomes

 

RESIT ASSIGNMENT:

 

010 Task 1 – DISSERTATION, 8,000 WORDS (80%)

 

You are to reflect on the feedback provided for your first submission and make appropriate reviews, additions and amendments and resubmit your amended report.

 

Deadline: 5^th

 

		Mark	Learning Outcome
1.	Introduction	10	1
2.	Use of Literature / Sources	20	1, 2, 4, 5, 6
3.	Research Design & Methodology	20	1-6
4.	Results, Analysis & Interpretation of Data	30	1-6
5.	Conclusion & Recommendations	10	1, 5, 6
6.	Presentation	10	4
	TOTAL MARKS:	100%

 

Grading Form

	Feedback	Mark
Introduction	Is the abstract adequate? Is there a clear purpose and rationale for the study? Clear set of objectives / research questions, and research relevance	10
Use of Literature & Sources	Was the range suitable and adequate? Has a critical review of the literature been adopted? Has the literature been applied clearly to relevant contemporary issues and context?	20
Research Design & Methodology	Was research design and methodology discussed? Was the approach appropriate to the research aim and questions?	20
Results, Analysis & Interpretation of Data	Has the data been accurately been presented and analysed or are findings merely a description?   Has appropriate theory / marketing research and literature been applied to the analysis?   Has the student attempted to interpret their findings?	30
Conclusion & Recommendations	Are conclusions reasoned?   Do they correspond with the objectives of the research?	10
Presentation	Structure and language Harvard Referencing applied Use of tables / diagrams	10

 

 

011 Task 2 – A 2,000-word review of interim progress and reflection (20%) 5^th

 

Based on your feedback from the progress review, you are required to resubmit an elements of an updated progress review with a personal reflection of the areas for development identified in your initial feedback and justified recommendations as to how the work could have been improved

 

		Mark	Learning Outcome
6.	Research aims:   Have clear objectives / research questions been identified and justified?	15%	1
7.	Use of literature:   Is there evidence of engagement with academic literature and concepts to support the analysis of the research questions?	25%	1-6
8.	Outline methodology:   Has an outline methodology been provided?   Is the proposed research design appropriate to the choice of topic and research aims?	25%	1-6
9.	Individual reflection:   Review the feedback from your initial progress review and write a short reflection in which you identify areas for development from your initial review, explain how these could be addressed and use appropriate justification for your recommendations.	25%	1-6
10.	Structure and language Harvard Referencing applied Use of tables / diagrams	10%	4
	TOTAL MARKS:	100%

 

 

Formative feedback

Your module structure will give clear instructions on what formative feedback opportunities are available to you. These are occasions when you can hand in a piece of work to show your progress. You are encouraged to take up these opportunities as this allows lecturers to ensure you have understood how to approach your assessment.

Please note that lecturers cannot review full assignments and are not obliged to provide feedback on work that is submitted outside of the framework described in the module guide. Formative feedback is not a proof-reading service – it is intended to provide you with an opportunity to identify, with your lecturer, some of the key development points that will make an improvement to your assessment approach.

Students are not able to access additional formative feedback from tutors after their original deadline has passed.

Arrangements for submission of work

All coursework assignments and other forms of assessment must be submitted by the deadlines described within the module guides. It is your responsibility to know when work is due to be submitted – ignorance of the deadline date will not be accepted as a reason for late or non-submission. Information on extensions to deadlines is below.

UCP recommends that all students submit work at least 24 hours ahead of deadline to avoid any unexpected setbacks. It is your responsibility to know when work is due to be submitted – ignorance of the deadline date will not be accepted as a reason for late or non-submission. It is also your responsibility to ensure that complete documents are submitted; additions and amendments cannot be made to an assessment once it has been submitted

Peterborough Campus:

Students should submit their assignments by 2pm on the deadline day. Assignments may be submitted prior to the deadline day, and this is advisable.

 

If you submit work after 2pm on the deadline day, but within FIVE working days, your mark will be capped at 40%. Work submitted after 2pm on the FIFTH working day will not be marked and a grade of 0 will be reported for non-submission. You include a copy of your Turnitin receipt unless you have been instructed otherwise. You MUST also keep a copy of your work.

Work CANNOT be posted. It must be submitted in person or electronically following the instructions from your Module Leader.

Online Submission

Submission is online through Turnitin®UK. There is a designated page in your Canvas module for this. To be accepted by Turnitin, your submission must be a single file. You will be provided with training for the online system during tutorials so that you can use it to formatively test your written work for plagiarism before you submit it.

Your file must:

• contain at least 20 words of typed text
• be no more than 400 pages long
• be 40MB or less
• not be password protected, encrypted, macro-enabled or read-only, or be a hidden or system file.

The file types accepted by Turnitin are:

• Microsoft Word (DOC and DOCX)
• Portable Document Format (PDF)
• Plain text (TXT)
• Rich Text Format (RTF)
• OpenDocument Text (ODT)
• WordPerfect (WPD).

While you cannot upload an image file to Turnitin, you can include the following image types within your submitted file: JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PICT.,

Graphs and tables in Microsoft Word documents sometimes show up incorrectly in Turnitin. If your document contains graphs or tables, save it as a PDF file before submitting.

On occasions when a large or practical assessment submission type cannot be accepted through the online Turnitin system you will be informed by your Module Leader to submit your work by email or paper based to UCP Reception.

Paper Based assessment

Assignments are date and time recorded upon submission. UCP keeps all receipts on file. The student receives a receipt. Students should keep all receipts as proof of submission until they have completed their course. Emails are sent to tutors, listing the work that is ready to be collected for marking, and tutors sign copies of these emails when they collect the work.

This secure system means that the location of the assignment can be checked at any time. If you are concerned about what has happened to your work, you can ask the Student Support Centre staff to show you the receipt as proof of posting (if the work is still waiting for the tutor) or the signed email (if the work has been collected by the tutor for marking).

On occasions when a large volume of work is expected (such as in Week 12), there may be a notice in UCP that gives specific times when the Student Support Centre Office will take in assignments. Please respect the instructions and submit work only at these times. Similar arrangements may be made if a group is expected to hand in work in large files or some other bulky format.

All paper-based assignments submissions must include a completed assignment front sheet available from the Student Support Centre and electronically from https://www.ucp.ac.uk/policies/ . Cover sheets identify the module, the assignment and tutor who is to mark it. It is important you fill this out correctly (especially the tutor name) so that the work is not misfiled in the office.

 

Extensions

If there is a valid reason why you are not able to meet a submission deadline for a piece of assessed work, e.g., sickness, you can request an extension to the submission deadline of up to five, or exceptionally ten, days. You can make an extension request at any time up to 48 hours before your original deadline.

You must complete an Extension Form, available from your Student Adviser, and submit it to your Student Adviser who will decide whether or not to grant you an extension. Students will need to arrive at appointments with documents already completed, and will need to provide independent and professional evidence (e.g., a doctor’s letter) either at that appointment or shortly after.

If an extension is approved, the revised date for you to submit your work will be recorded on Anglia Ruskin’s student database so that the relevant University staff are aware of the new deadline when you eventually submit your work.

Exceptionally, and only in very serious circumstances, it is possible for you to seek an extension which is over the normal ten days. The same process for requesting such an extension applies but the Student Adviser is required to consult the Director of Studies. Long-term extensions are designed to help students deal with extreme situations and are only granted in very rare circumstances. As with normal extensions, academic staff are not permitted to agree to long-term extensions.

Please note that only Student Advisers can approve an extension request. Academic staff are not permitted to do so.

Extenuating circumstances/Mitigation

Visit www.ucp.ac.uk and read the UCP-ASS006 Higher Education Extenuating Circumstance Procedure.

UCP operates a process called ‘Extenuating Circumstances’ for each round of assessment that takes place. You can submit a claim with the Student Adviser if you believe that there are serious sudden and unforeseen circumstances which were beyond your control, e.g., illness, which either:

• prevented you from undertaking an assessment task, e.g., you were unable to attend an examination, give a presentation or submit a coursework assignment; or
• impaired your performance when undertaking an assessment task, e.g., you became ill during an examination

All claims must be submitted by using the official form AO EXTENUATING CIRUMSTANCE CLAIM, available from Student Support, and must be supported by documentary evidence, e.g., a Doctor’s Certificate. The deadline for all claims is five working days after the relevant examination date/presentation date/assignment submission date.

All claims are considered, in confidence, by a properly constituted Extenuating Circumstance Panel which makes formal recommendations on the outcome of your claim to the Anglia Ruskin Awards Board.

A successful claim means that any mark you achieve for the assessment task in question will be annulled and you will be given another opportunity to undertake the assessment task in the future, at a time determined by the Panel. We do not give extra marks to ‘take account’ of an illness – we simply provide you with another chance to complete the assessment task at a time when the circumstances that led to the mitigation claim have elapsed, i.e., you have recovered from an illness.

If your claim is unsuccessful, your mark is not annulled. Therefore, we always advise that, where possible, students submit any work that they have been able to undertake to avoid a being awarded 0 for non-submission should their application be declined.

Please note that the mitigation process is designed to assist students who experience serious, sudden and unforeseen circumstances which impact upon the assessment process. You cannot, for example, claim mitigation if you have neglected to know the time and date of your examination or you have not prepared properly for an examination, e.g., little or no revision!

Students will also not be able to access additional feedback from tutors after their original deadline has passed.

 

 

Module Assessment
Method	Learning Outcomes	% Weighting & Fine Grade, FG. or pass/fail, PF)	Qualifying Mark	Length/duration and other comments
Coursework	1 – 4	80% FG	30%	8,000-word research report based on secondary data analysis
Coursework	1-4	20% FG	30%	2000 word interim progress report
In order to pass this module, students are required to achieve an overall mark of 40%. In addition, students are required to: a.    achieve the qualifying mark for each element of fine graded assessment as specified above b.    pass any pass/fail element