ECH 113 Session One, 2018 ASSIGNMENT GUIDE

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ECH113 UNIT ASSESSMENT AND ASSIGNMENTS

This section contains information that you need to know about the completion and assessment of your ECH113 assignments.

Understanding the assignment instructions Instructions for assignments are often overwhelming at first. We have taken many steps to describe each assignment carefully so that you can clearly see what is expected of you. The following suggestions will help you to understand the requirements for each assignment:

• Read the assignment details through slowly and underline/ highlight each requirement. • Refer to the academic honesty flowchart on the Flowchart for Instructions on the last page of

this guide to ensure you are not breaching University academic honesty policy. • As you are preparing for and writing the assignment, keep checking that you are covering

the question that is being asked of you. If you miss bits out, you will sacrifice marks. • Find the key words of the questions that you will need to repeat when writing your answers

(e.g., if the assignment questions asks for “significant safety concerns”, be sure to use those same words in your answer when you are answering that particular question).

• Read and make sure you understand the assessment criteria. These are the features that markers will be looking at when they grade your assignment.

If you are unsure about anything after you have done the above, then please make an appointment to consult with your tutor or the unit convener for advice.

UNDERSTANDING THE MARKING PROCESS How will my work be assessed? Assessment is an important aspect of the teaching strategy in ECH113. Each assignment is marked according to the Content and Academic Literacy Outcomes that are listed on the following pages. All four Academic Literacy Outcomes are assessed in each assignment, but not all Content Outcomes are assessed in each assignment. As well as receiving a final mark for your assignment, you may receive feedback about your performance in each of the relevant Outcomes. Please read this feedback carefully as it will help you to address any weaknesses and build on your strengths in the remaining assignments.

A passing grade (between 50 and 65%) means that you have met the assessment criteria to a satisfactory standard. Most students will gain a mark in this range. Higher marks indicate that you have demonstrated a level of understanding that exceeds a foundational level of achievement that expected of passing students in this unit. If you fail an assignment, it is most important that you understand why you didn’t meet the assessment criteria (i.e. where the problem was). Please read the feedback on your assignment carefully. Feedback will help you make up any lost marks in your remaining assignments.

WHAT HAPPENS ONCE I HAVE SUBMITTED MY WRITTEN WORK? 1. Once the due date is passed, randomly chosen assignments are assessed by the unit convener in

order to provide guidance to markers. 2. A meeting is called for markers to discuss the criteria to ensure marking consistency, then

assignments are allocated to markers. 1. Steps 1 – 2 usually takes 2-4 working days. 2. Work is assessed. Note that your tutor will not necessarily mark your work and your work will be

marked by as many markers as possible. 3. Step 3 usually takes 2 weeks, depending on the number of assignments to be assessed and the other

commitments of the markers 4. Work is checked by unit convener, who coordinates any double-marking and randomly checks again

for consistency between markers. 5. Marks are recorded and work is returned to students 6. Steps 4 –5 usually takes 2-3 working days.

As you can see from the steps above, a thorough and fair marking process takes time, so please allow 3-4 weeks for the return of your work.

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If you have evidence that your task has been incorrectly assessed against the grade descriptors you can request a remark. To request a re-mark, you need to contact the unit convenor within 7 days of the date of return of the assignment and provide a detailed assessment your script against the task criteria. Evidence from your assignment must be provided to support your judgements. Please note: The outcome of a remark may be a higher/lower or unchanged grade. Grades are standards referenced and effort is NOT a criterion.

ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTENT OUTCOMES Your written assignments (assignments 2, 3, and 5) are assessed according to the ECH113 Content Outcomes. This assessment is based on the Macquarie University Grade policy and descriptions (see unit outline) and the Revision of Blooms Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain (Anderson & Krathwohl (2001). Definitions of each taxonomy can be found at http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/curric/newtaxonomy.htm

The diagram below shows how the assessment of ECH113 Content Outcomes relate to these taxonomies. You will notice that a minimum level of competence expected in this unit is that of understanding and applying. Simply remembering (recalling or reproducing information) is not sufficient for a passing grade.

Reference. Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of

Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives. New York, NY: Longman. Assessment of the Academic Literacy Outcomes The assessment of the academic literacy outcomes is based on levels of proficiency that are expected of first year students who are transitioning to university study. The outcomes are strongly associated with academic success at tertiary study level, and proficiency at these academic literacy skills will set a foundation for subsequent study for your degree in general. As well as providing direction via the feedback given on assignments, we have worked closely with the Macquarie University Learning Skills unit to support students in developing proficiency in these academic literacy outcomes. A separate section of the ECH113 iLearn site has been developed to link to relevant resources which can assist all students in this area. Detail of the standard associated with each grade level for both the Content and Academic literacy outcomes is provided in the assessment rubrics over the page. These standards remain consistent across all assignments in this unit.

If you do not meet requirements for any of the Unit Outcomes, and do not understand how you can improve, please contact your tutor or unit convener for assistance. All

tutors have consultations times and are can meet with you to discuss your progress.

Fail

Credit

Distinction

Pass

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Assessment of Content Outcomes

The Content Outcomes for ECH113 are:

1. An understanding of the characteristics of young children’s play and inquiry across different contexts 2. An ability to identify and apply relevant theoretical knowledge about play and inquiry in order to address the assignment requirements. 3. An ability to analyse the features and potentials of young children’s play environments and materials 4. An ability to generate ideas about play/inquiry experiences that will enhance children’s experiences and learning

The Content Outcomes that apply to each assignment are clearly listed with the assignment instructions. These outcomes indicate the unit content that should be applied in that assignment. The standard of your work is assessed holistically against the criteria associated with the achievement levels described below.

Fail ( < 50%) Satisfactory (50-64%)

Credit (65–74%) Distinction ( > 75%)

You have not demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the unit content for one or more of the following reasons:

Your demonstrated understanding of relevant unit content is insufficient

Your responses are too brief or non-specific, aspects may be missing, or you may not have answered the question.

You have relied on simply reproducing material from elsewhere, showing little evidence of your own understanding.

You have shown a foundational level of understanding of unit content related to the specified outcomes.

In general, your understanding shows an ability to identify, define and describe relevant unit content and demonstrate how this content can be applied it to the assignment task.

You have shown a proficient level of understanding of unit content related to the specified outcomes.

Your understanding shows a consistent ability to identify, define, describe and apply relevant unit content to the assignment task, and shows that you can analyse (compare and contrast) this understanding with reference to a range of other topics or issues covered in the unit.

You have shown an exceptional level of understanding of unit content related to this outcome.

As well as demonstrating an ability to identify, define, describe, apply and integrate ideas, you have shown an ability to synthesize (bring together and identify key themes) and critically evaluate multiple ideas to address the assignment topic.

Key indicator words / phrases: for each achievement level:

• Insufficient understanding of unit content

• Too brief • Non-specific • Not answered the question • Simple Reproduction

• Foundational Understanding of unit content

• Identify • Define • Describe • Apply

• Proficient understanding of unit content

• Analyse • Range of

topics/issues

• Exceptional understanding of unit content

• Integrate • Synthesize • Critically evaluate

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Assessment of Academic Literacy Outcomes Outcome Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Proficient

5. An ability to format and submit assignments appropriately and on time, as per instructions in the Unit Guide.

The assignment does not demonstrate an understanding of what is expected in regards to formatting or submission, and/or The assignment was submitted late.

The assignment meets unit expectations in regards to the required formatting and submission of the work. The work was submitted by the stipulated date and time.

Not Applicable

6. An ability to address assignment requirements using appropriate academic written expression.

Some assignment questions, sections or required concepts are not addressed, and/or Writing lacks a logical structuring of ideas, and/or There are significant grammatical, spelling or Standard Australian English errors which result in unclear meaning in many portions of the assignment. The assignment does not comply with the specified word limit

Each required part of the assignment has been addressed. The assignment is generally well structured, demonstrating logically organised ideas and concepts. There may be minor spelling or grammatical errors which make the meaning unclear in small portions of the assignment

The assignment complies with the specified word limit

Ideas are expressed clearly throughout, showing a proficient use of standard academic Australian English. The assignment is competently structured and the ideas are well organised throughout. Grammatical and spelling errors are minimal, and do not detract from the clarity of expression.

The assignment complies with the specified word limit

7. An ability to use appropriate academic readings, identify the key arguments and use these appropriately to support the views expressed in assignments

Work is inadequately supported with academic sources (limited or no cited sources, false citations), and/or

Inappropriate sources have been used, and/or There is insufficient evidence that the content of required readings has been understood, and/or

Academic sources, as required in this assignment, have been used to support the ideas expressed in the work.

The assignment shows an ability to identify the key arguments in the required readings.

The work shows an ability to locate appropriate academic sources that go beyond the minimum requirement for this assignment.

An effective use of academic literature clearly enhances the academic quality of the assignment.

8. An ability to use in-text citations and construct a reference list using APA 6th style.

There is limited demonstrated ability to use the APA 6th referencing and citation style and/or There are multiple major referencing errors throughout the work and/or The assignment is missing in-text citations and/or a reference list. And/or

There is evidence of plagiarised work (work copied and inappropriately unacknowledged from another source).

A consistent effort has been made to use the APA 6th referencing and citation style. There are a few style errors and/or some inconsistency that will need to be addressed in future assignments.

All consulted sources have been acknowledged through in-text citations and included in the reference list Quoted material has been appropriately represented in quotation marks, with in-text citations to correctly identify the source

APA 6th referencing and citation style has been applied correctly and consistently throughout the assignment. Any errors are very minor and do not detract from the professional presentation of the work

All consulted sources have been acknowledged through in-text citations and included in the reference list

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ASSIGNMENT 1: READING ANALYSIS Assessment Weight: 20% Word Length: 700 words (not including referencing list, and including the standard 10% margin of difference in word counts, meaning the assignment can be as long as 770 words) Due Date: 11:59pm, Sunday 18th March (to be submitted via Turnitin link on iLearn) This assignment involves the analysis of a set article relating to the topic of play. As university students your understanding of any topic is greatly enhanced by the ability to effectively evaluate and analyse readings and other information sources. This assignment asks you to analyse an academic article, demonstrate your understanding of it, and relate it back to content from the unit so far. As shown in the taxonomy above, The article to be analysed is “Play: Children's Context for Development” by Klein, Wirth and Linas. Find the article using the Multisearch function of the library website. To complete this assignment you will need:

1. The article 2. Your readings from Module One of the unit 3. An APA–style 6th Edition referencing guide (e.g., Perrin, 2015)

Instructions: Please complete each of the following in turn. Number each section of your response so that it corresponds to the relevant instruction. 1. Using APA 6th edition referencing, provide the full reference for the set article.

2. In one sentence identify the main topic of the article. In 2-3 further sentences summarise the main ideas

and arguments that are presented by the authors 3. Compare and contrast how information in the article relates to information or ideas that have been

discussed in at least 6 of the required readings.

4. In a few sentences, evaluate the evidence Klein and colleagues (2003) provide. How convincing are their arguments? What evidence, theoretical ideas and/or arguments do they use to strengthen their claims? Are they sufficient?

5. Provide a reference list of all the other sources cited in the assignment in APA 6th edition (not 5th ed.).

Only cite works that you have read yourself.

Assessment Criteria: The following unit outcomes apply to the assessment of this assignment (percentages indicate importance):

1. An understanding of characteristics of children’s play and inquiry across different contexts (20%) 2. An ability to identify and apply relevant theoretical knowledge about play and inquiry in order to address the assignment requirements (25%) 5. An ability to format and submit assignments appropriately and on time, as per the instructions in the Unit Guide (5%) 6. An ability to address assignment requirements using appropriate academic written expression (20%) 7. An ability to identify key arguments in academic readings and use these appropriately to support the views expressed in assignments (25%) 8. An ability to use in-text citations and to construct a reference list using APA 6th edition style referencing (5%)

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ASSIGNMENT 2: PLAY ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS In this assignment, you will design and analyse a play environment for young children. During tutorial 7 (or at the first on-campus day) you will work in groups of 4-5 students to design and then set-up an environment using materials that will be provided. You will then work individually to analyse the features of your play environment according to particular principles outlined in the lectures and tutorial preparation readings for Module 2 (weeks 4-7) Essential resources for this assignment are:

• Your required readings for Module 2 • Your IEC Referencing Guide (Perrin, 2015) • A digital camera (or smart phone with camera) for the tutorial-based aspect of the task

Instructions: Analyse the environmental features of the play environment that you designed and set-up with your group during your tutorial. While the environment is constructed as a group, and you will have discussed its features during your tutorial, the submitted analysis must be your individual work.

Please address the following requirements: 1. Provide up to 3 photographs of your play environment

2. Provide a short introduction (no more than 150 words) to explain to the reader what you are going to discuss in your assignment

3. From the list below, choose 2 environment topics that you feel are most relevant to your play environment. Justify the set-up of your environment with reference to your chosen two topics:

A. Engaging interests B. Provoking curiosity and inquiry C. Aesthetics D. Fostering social relatedness

Ensure you have made reference to at least 5 of the required readings for Module 2. Within each section on your chosen topic, be sure to i) define each of your chosen topics, ii) explain why it is important to consider that topic when thinking about the play / inquiry experiences of young children, and iii) explain why you have assembled the materials in your environment in relation to your two chosen topics. Justify all your claims with evidence from academic texts such as the set readings.

4. In 2-4 sentences, identify what you feel are the two most significant health and/or safety issues related to your environment, and briefly explain how you would use these two risks to maximise their learning potential. Do not merely explain the risks/hazards.

5. Provide a correct reference list (following APA 6th edition) of all sources cited in this assignment

Approximate word length: 1000 words (+/- 10%; not including reference list).

Due date: 11:59pm, Sunday 29th April (assignment must be submitted via iLearn Turnitin link before midnight on or before this date). Assignment weight: 30%

Assessment Criteria: Please note that your play environment itself will not be assessed. It is the analysis of the environment which will be assessed according to the following unit outcomes (percentages indicate relative importance):

2. An ability to identify and apply relevant theoretical knowledge about play and inquiry in order to address the assignment requirements (15%) 3. An ability to analyse the features and potentials of young children’s play environments and materials (35%). 5. An ability to format and submit assignments appropriately and on time, as per instructions in the Unit Guide (5%) 6. An ability to address assignment requirements using appropriate academic written expression (20%). 7. An ability to identify key arguments in academic readings and use these appropriately to support the views expressed in assignments (20%). 8. An ability to use in-text citations and construct a reference list using APA 6th style (5%).

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ASSIGNMENT 3: WEEKLY QUIZZES Three weekly multiple choice quizzes based on the content of lectures and required readings for tutorial weeks 8, 9 and 12.

Essential resources for this assignment are: Your lecture and reading notes for weeks 8, 9 and 12

Instructions: The quizzes will all be conducted online, via the ECH113 iLearn site, and will become available progressively as you progress through Module 3. Each quiz will become available on Monday and will remain open until midnight on Sunday of the same week. You will have one attempt and one hour to complete each quiz.

It is expected that you will complete the quiz independently. Clear cases of collusion will be regarded as a breach of the MQ academic honesty policy.

Each quiz will comprise approximately 10 multiple choice questions based on the lecture and reading content of that week, which will then be scaled to a mark out of 5 for that quiz. You do not have to complete all of the quizzes, but your best three scores will be summed to make your final grade out of 15 for Assignment 3

Due dates: Week 9 quiz: 8am Thurs 10th May to midnight Weds 16th May

Week 10 quiz: 8am Thurs 17th May to midnight Weds 23rd May

Week 11 quiz: 8am Thurs 24th May to midnight Weds 30th May

Week 12 quiz: 8am Thurs 31st May to midnight Weds 6th June

Assessment weight: 15% in total (5% per quiz)

Assessment Criteria: The following unit outcomes apply to the assessment of this assignment:

2. An ability to identify and apply relevant theoretical knowledge about play and inquiry in order to address the assignment requirements.

3. An ability to analyse the features and potentials of young children’s play environments and materials.

5. An ability to format and submit assignments appropriately and on time, as per instructions in the Unit Guide.

Note: Students who do not complete any of the quizzes on time are able to continue with the unit, but will forfeit the 5 marks associated with that quiz. Students who are unable to complete the quiz due to clearly documented, very extenuating circumstances, may apply via ask.mq.edu.au to complete a make-up piece of work. This make-up piece will be in written, not multiple choice, format. Please note short periods of illness or inconvenience of less than 3 days will not constitute extenuating circumstances.

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ASSIGNMENT 4: ANALYSIS OF LEARNING POTENTIAL Due date: Sunday 10th June (assignment must be submitted via Turnitin before midnight)

Assignment weight: 35%

Approximate word length: 1200-1400 words (with strict adherence to 10% rule), excluding reference list.

In this assignment, you will draw on your understanding of content from across the entire unit to analyse the learning potential of a play experience. A play scenario will be made available when Assignment 3 has concluded. Your task is to analyse the learning potential of this play experience with particular reference to topics that have been covered in the readings for Module 3. A demonstration of ALL required readings is necessary because topics overlap considerably. Essential resources for this assignment are:

ü Your readings for weeks 8 - 13 ü Lecture, reading and tutorial notes from Modules 1, 2 and 3 ü Your Referencing Guide (e.g., Perrin, 2015)

Instructions 1. Choose 2 of the following topics to use as the basis of your analysis

a. Creative thinking b. Literacy development

c. Social development d. Physical activity

NB: your analysis does not need to cover all aspects of your chosen topic. You can choose to analyse elements of the scenario that relate to your chosen topics.

Then, using essay form (your essay should not need question numbers, but rather answer the questions using the keywords, such that it is clear which question you are answering):

2. Write a short introductory paragraph to introduce the topic of your essay, explaining what you aim to achieve in your essay and the areas that you chosen to use for your analysis (approx. 150 words).

3. Analyse the children’s play scenario in reference to each of your two topics in turn. Ensure that you i) define your two chosen topics, and ii) analyse how the children’s play demonstrates development and/or learning in this area. Make reference to your definition to do so. All claims need to be supported with relevant set readings from Module 3.

4. Write one concluding paragraph summing up your analysis and identify 2 different ways which you, as an educator witnessing the play scenario, could step in and actively enhance the learning in children’s play. These ways should use the active practices from the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009, p. 15) and are not passive practices such as mere provision of materials or allowing children to do something. Your suggestions must include convincing explanations of how the experiences would improve children’s learning or development, based on the set readings.

Assessment Criteria: The following unit outcomes apply to the assessment of this assignment (% indicate importance):

2. An ability to identify and apply relevant theoretical knowledge about play and inquiry in order to address the assignment requirements (15%) 3. An ability to analyse the features and potentials of young children’s play environments and materials (15%) 4. An ability to generate ideas about play/inquiry experiences that will enhance children’s experiences and learning (15%) 5. An ability to format and submit assignments appropriately and on time, as per instructions in the Unit Guide. (5%) 6. An ability to address assignment requirements using appropriate academic written expression. (20%) 7. An ability to identify key arguments in academic readings and use these appropriately to support the views expressed in assignments (25%) 8. An ability to use in-text citations & construct a reference list using APA 6th style (5%).

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