Assignment No. and type: Written coursework, 1500 words Assessment weighting: 100%
Submission time and date: 21 March 2022 – Before 2pm Target feedback time and date: 3 weeks from the date of final submission
Assignment task
This assignment involves preparing a reflective report on your learning development and preparation of continuous improvement portfolio of assembled work and reflections.
This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:
LO 1 Reflect on personal achievement and continuous improvement;
LO 2 Prepare a personal development plan;
LO 3 Demonstrate awareness and the use of evidence-based writing to support conclusions and recommendations;
LO 4 Understand good academic writing and referencing.
Task requirements
OVERVIEW
Prepare a portfolio that applies the academic skills from the module to a business issue, reflects on the learning that has taken place and also includes a personal development plan.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TASK – WHAT YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO DO?
The portfolio is split into three key parts:
1) The submission of a written report that discusses a business issue using a wide variety of research materials (800 words).
2) A reflective piece of writing that summarises the learning from the module and how it will be of use for both your studies and future plans (500 words).
3) A personal development plan that focuses on academic skills.(200 words)
See below for more information on the constituent parts.
PART 1 – REPORT (800 WORDS)
Throughout the module we will be examining a variety of current business issues using a variety of research materials.
You will need to choose one business issue from the list below to base your report on:
1. Adapting to new technology
2. Environmental sustainability
3. Workforce planning
The report must:
a) Give the full Harvard reference within the reference page for each item used, and the correct Harvard ‘shortened’ reference within the report;
b) Include both direct and indirect citations from a wide variety of sources (including at least one academic journal articles)
c) Make use of the relevant research items from within the module;
d) Explains and discusses the business issue of your choice by describing what the issue is, and how companies are reacting – positively or negatively?
A suggested format would be to create one paragraph of 250 words each, within the main section of the report for each of the questions raised in bullet point (d) i.e what the issue is and how companies are reacting , ensuring that the conclusion offered recommendations of how a business can solve the issue. The remaining 300 words need to be used for the introduction and conclusion of this report task.
PART 2 – REFLECTIVE WRITING (500 WORDS)
Using content from the module (e.g. academic skills) and the work you have produced for Part 1, reflect on the learning you have taken from the module and how this learning will support your studies and future career/business development plans.
The reflection needs to explain:
a) What you have learnt from the module – this should be personal to you and not a list of all the topics covered in the module.
b) Why the learning may be important – what can you achieve with the new knowledge?
c) How is the learning going to be of use to you in your future studies and development plans?
You will need to include direct and indirect citations and a reference page.
A suggested format would be to briefly introduce the reflective piece and create one paragraph for each point above (approximately 150 words each).
PART 3 – PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (200 WORDS)
Create a personal development plan that focuses on the academic skills from within the module that you want to further develop and improve.
The plan needs to highlight:
a) Which skills you will focus on;
b) How you plan to develop them.
c) A minimum of three different skills need to be included.
A template has been provided for you to complete – see attached.
Referencing and research requirements
Please reference your work according to the Harvard style; you can access guidance on this here: https://libguides.uos.ac.uk/academic/referencing/Harvard
How your work will be assessed
Your work will be assessed on the extent to which it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend upon your use of academic referencing conventions.
This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 3
Submission details
This assignment should be submitted electronically via Moodle (module tutors will discuss this process with you during class time).
• Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format (Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, or PDF are the most widely used; Google Docs is also accepted). DO NOT upload your assignment in .pages format. Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size.
• You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.
• Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment
• You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: https://www.uos.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Academic-Misconduct-Policy.pdf. In
submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations
Submission date and time
This assignment should be submitted to Moodle before 2pm on Monday 21st March 2021.
You should submit all work for summative assessments by the above deadline. Work submitted up to three working days after the deadline will be accepted and marked, but the mark will be capped at the pass mark (40%) unless there is a valid reason for the late submission (i.e. having been granted an extension to the deadline or a deferral under the terms of the Extenuating Circumstances Policy).
Work submitted more than three working days after the deadline without a valid reason will not be accepted and will be recorded as 0% RN (refer, no work submitted).
For more information please refer to: http://studenthandbook.uos.ac.uk/index.php/studentguides/assessment-the-basics-undergraduate
Feedback and marks for this assignment will be available in three weeks from the dead line.
Academic Skill
Action
Future Implications
(Identify topics of learning from module) Detail how you plan on improving the skill e.g.
reading more on the topic, attending a separate training course etc. Once the skill has been developed, how do you hope to use the skill both in your academic and career plans.
Instructions to students:
Before final submission – please delete the light blue coloured row with instructions.