LO 1: Demonstrate effective communication skills, applicable to academic and professional contexts.

Assignment Brief

Academic Year 2022-23

Module code and title:

FY026 Preparing for Success at University: Knowledge and Creativity

Module leader:

Assignment No. and type:

CW2: Portfolio and Reflective Summary

Assessment weighting:

60%

Submission time and date:

Friday 27^th January before 2 pm.

Target feedback time and date:

3 weeks after submission deadline

Assignment task

Using materials generated by the project classes and through your independent study, populate a portfolio of evidence of your learning and development during the module. The word count for this portfolio will be around 1,500 words (see instructions below).

Write a 500-word reflective summary to explain how and why these materials have supported the development of your employability. To complete the 500-word reflective summary, write around 50 words of summary under each of your ten (10) pieces of evidence, to explain the reasons for your choice of materials used to populate the Portfolio. The total word count for your summary must therefore be in a range of 450 - 550 words.

This assignment requires you to:

·       Create a portfolio using Microsoft Word.

·       Create a minimum of 10 portfolio artefacts.

·       These artefacts should be materials generated during FY026 classes, or through independent study relevant to this module.

·       This might include a selection of reading logs, photographs of work completed in class, or examples of academic writing.

·       Ensure the artefacts are clearly organised and sequenced within the portfolio: use themes to organize and manage the documentation of     your portfolio.

·       There is no specific word count for each portfolio document, although it is anticipated that they should provide a total of around 1,500 words     to the whole assignment (meaning an assignment total of around 2,000 words, including your Reflective Summary).

·       Write the 500-word summary.

·       Using the Learning Outcomes may help you to choose which documents to include.

Portfolio workshops will be provided to help you to complete these tasks.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

LO 1

Demonstrate effective communication skills, applicable to academic and professional contexts.

LO 2

Reflect on their individual performance, behaviour and experience in education and/or employment.

LO 3

Locate and evaluate resources for academic and employment-related purposes.

LO 4

Think critically and creatively about graduate employment opportunities in the futur

Task requirements

 Written work submitted as part of this assignment should be presented according to the following: 

1.     The summary should be 1.5 line spaced

2.     Font must be Arial 12

3.     Follow the reference guidelines

4.     The summary must be within the word count range 450-550 words

5.     Written work for this assignment should be submitted through the appropriate Turnitin submission point through LSST Connect.

6.     Written work for this assignment should be saved and submitted as a Word document (.docx) or as a .pdf file. If other file formats are used, these may not be compatible with Turnitin and the work cannot be marked.

Referencing and research requirements

 Please reference your work according to the Harvard referencing style as defined in Cite Them Right Online (http://www.citethemrightonline.com). This information is also available in book form: Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2016) Cite them right: the essential reference guide. 11^th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Copies are available via the university library.

How your work will be assessed

Your work will be assessed against the assessment criteria which have been provided at the end of this brief.

These criteria have been designed specifically for this assignment and are intended to measure the extent to which you have demonstrated your achievement of its associated learning outcomes (see above). They have been aligned with the institutional grade descriptor appropriate for your level.

The assessment criteria provide a basis for fair and consistent marking and indicate what is expected of you in this assignment. It is strongly recommended that you engage with them while you are working on the assignment and use them in combination with any feedback you receive once your work has been marked to help you plan for future learning and development.

Assessment Criteria:

· Information Presentation:          35%

· Self-Reflection and Criticality: 35%

· Written Communication:             30%

Submission details

 ·You are required to submit the complete portfolio to Turnitin via the relevant submission link

Upload My Assignment on LSST Connect.

 · You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic integrity, which can be viewed on the University website: https://www.bucks.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2021-07/academic-integrity- policy.pdf. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations.

· Please also note that work that is submitted up to 10 working days beyond the submission date will be considered a late submission. Late submissions will be marked and the actual mark recorded, but will be capped at the pass mark (typically 40%), provided that the work is of a passing standard. Work submitted after this period will not be marked and will be treated as a non-submission.

You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: https://www.bucks.ac.uk/current-students/registry-helpdesk-and-academic- advice/academic-integrity-and-misconduct. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations

Before you submit

·Please use the provided checklist below to make sure you are ‘fit to submit’ your work

·We recommend you use this checklist as soon as you get this assignment brief to help you plan your work

Fit to submit: Assignment Checklist

 This brief assignment checklist is designed to help you avoid some of the most common mistakes students make in their coursework.

Have you read the assignment brief? If not, do so now!

In it you will find details of the assessment task, word count, the assessment criteria your work is marked against, and the learning outcomes – the basis for the assessment strategy in each module.

Students often lose marks by forgetting some of the more straightforward elements of their assignments. We recommend that you “tick off” each of the points below as you prepare your work for submission. If you need any help, ask your tutor and/or visit https://bucks.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/assessment-and- examination

· Have you read and understood the assessment criteria?

· Have you met the learning outcomes? You will lose marks and your work may even be failed if you                have not.

 · Have you demonstrated you can think and write critically in the completed work? This means you have supported your arguments/explanations       appropriately e.g. using relevant academic sources and you have offered discussion points which extends your own or others’ viewpoints to make  reasoned conclusions/judgements.

· Have you maintained an appropriate tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, developed and clear?

· Have you checked that the referencing in your assignment is in line with your program  requirements?

· Have you proof-read your work and used spellcheck software to check your spelling and grammar?

· Have you checked the presentation of your work is as specified by your tutor, for example, are font size, colour, style, line spacing and margins as the tutor specified?

· Have you kept to the word count (or equivalent)? If you are not sure, check with your tutor.

· Can you confirm that the work submitted is your own and maintains academic integrity?