Unit assessment overview:

During this unit, you will complete an individual professional research project that contains a number of cumulative components - this means that Assessment 2 will build on the components assembled in Assessment 1. You will be given significant feedback and feed-forward during and after Assessment 1, which you must use to develop Assessment 2.

The key to success in this unit is twofold: (1) to choose a suitable and feasible project, with appropriate secondary data, early in the term, and (2) to remain on track with this suitable and feasible project throughout the remainder of the term. To help you get on track and stay on track, you will write a weekly blog, which not only allows you to progress your project every week, but also gives your tutor an opportunity to identify issues and provide you with feedback. Two of these blog entries will be presented in the classroom as part of the assessments for this unit (akin to an ASSESSED PRESENTATION) – the remaining blogs will carry one mark each and they will be used for formative feedback throughout the term.

Weekly Blog Entries (using the Moodle blogging tool):

The blog entries in weeks 1-6 are part of Assessment 1: the entry written in Week 3 will be presented during the tutorial in Week 4 – this particular entry is worth 10% of the unit marks. The remaining five entries in this time period attract one mark each (cf. 1% of total unit marks) provided they have appropriate content and were submitted during the respective week. Please see Assessment 1 for further information.

The blog entries in weeks 7-12 are part of Assessment 2: the entry written in Week 9 will be presented during the tutorial in Week 10 – this particular entry is worth 10% of the unit marks. The remaining five entries in this time period attract one mark each (cf. 1% of total unit marks) provided they have appropriate content and were submitted during the respective week. Please see Assessment 2 for further information.

*Note: This is only flexible for late enrolments and evidenced unforeseeable circumstances. Otherwise, the time stamp of blog entries will be considered as date of submission.

Assessment 1: Project proposal (40%)
This assessment contains three components:

1. A1.1 is the blog entry posted in Week 3 and presented during the tutorial in Week 4 (worth 10% of total unit marks).
2. A1.2 is a written project proposal, submitted through Turnitin, in Week 6 (worth 25% of total unit marks).
3. A1.3 is the weekly blog entry in Weeks 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 (overall worth 5% of total unit marks).

A1.1 – Blog entry from Week 3, presented during the tutorial in Week 4 (10%):

This blog entry requires you to answer the following questions (suggested length: less than 250 words):

• What is/are your proposed Research Question(s)? Between 1 and 3 clearly articulated research questions that can be answered with the secondary data source(s) you present in this blog entry. To make this very clear, you may possibly need to include a more detailed definition of variables or key themes to be explored.
• What is/are the secondary data source(s) that you propose to use for your project? This needs to include a website link to publicly available raw secondary data set(s) or a short description of how you will use publicly available secondary source(s) as raw data.
• What piece of literature (academic journal article) may be particularly relevant to your project? Please provide ONE suitable journal article reference in APA style.

The blog entry must be posted into the Moodle blog before 11.59pm on Sunday 02 August 2020. During the tutorial in week 4, your tutor will show your blog entry to the class and you may be asked to briefly outline your project and/or answer a few clarifying questions – this will be very brief as more time will be dedicated for the tutor to give you feedback and your mark will be available in Moodle within a week after the tutorial. You need to be in attendance at the tutorial to receive the feedback and to get marked.

A1.2 – written project proposal, submitted through Turnitin, in Week 6 (25%):

For this assignment, due at the end of week 6, you must use the contents of your blogs to date, in particular also the feedback from A1.1, to prepare a project proposal. The proposal is an individual assessment, to be written in professional report format, and contains the following:

• Title page (with a clear project title), executive summary, table of contents
• Background, problem statement and research question(s). This section functions as the introduction to your report. It needs to provide a clear overview of the project in the context of its background, why the problem needs to be researched, and the research question(s) your project will answer.
• Literature review. A short, preliminary literature review that demonstrates your ability to critically review literature and theory relevant to your project.
• Research methodology. A clear presentation of the data source(s) you will use, as well as a detailed description of how you will collect and analyse the data. You should attempt to also explain why your chosen approaches to data collection and analysis will be suitable for your project. Remember that you may only use publicly available secondary data.
• Reference list. All sources, which you have used in the text of your project proposal, need to be referenced correctly in the text AND within a reference list at the end of your proposal. You are required to use a MINIMUM of 10 suitable peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles.

Note: The required length for this report is 1,200 words (+/- 10%), excluding preliminaries, reference list and appendices. Appendices are optional and should be used for supplementary material only. You must use common font (e.g. Arial or Times New Roman) with font size 11 or 12, as well as appropriate margins and spacing.

If the blog entry was posted during the respective week and if it has appropriate content relevant to the given task of that particular week, it will attract 1 mark. Please note that detailed feedback on these blogs will not be provided unless sought by the student, e.g. during consultation hours.

As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice", and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.
Each unit in your Masters program has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, demonstrate an ability to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level course, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit.
You should ensure that you understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if you merely meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research.

Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment. Your assignment will be marked on the following criteria; detailed marking rubrics are available in Moodle:

This assessment contains three components:

1. A2.1 is the blog entry posted in Week 9 and presented during the tutorial in Week 10 (worth 10% of total unit marks).
2. A2.2 is a written project report, submitted through Turnitin, in Week 12 (worth 45% of total unit marks).
3. A2.3 is the weekly blog entry in Weeks 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 (overall worth 5% of total unit marks).

This blog entry requires you to answer the following questions (suggested length: less than 250 words):

• What is/are your Research Question(s)? Please copy and paste your RQs into your blog.
• What EXACTLY did you do to collect your data and prepare it for analysis? You need to clearly outline what activities you have done (in detail) to collect your data and prepare it for analysis – this should include transparent presentation of your data source(s) (e.g. weblinks to data sets or explanation of how you collected data) and transparent presentation of what you did with your data once you have collected it.
• What piece of methodology literature (academic journal article) may be particularly relevant to your project? Please provide ONE suitable journal article reference in APA style.

The blog entry must be posted into the Moodle blog before 11.59pm on Sunday 20 September 2020. During the tutorial in week 10, your tutor will show your blog entry to the class and you may be asked to briefly outline your project and/or answer a few clarifying questions – this will be very brief as more time will be dedicated for the tutor to give you feedback and your mark will be available in Moodle within a week after the tutorial. You need to be in attendance at the tutorial to receive the feedback and to get marked.

This is an individual, written assessment, to be completed in professional report format. You are required to write around 3,000 words (+/- 10%), excluding preliminaries, tables, figures, reference list and appendices. The report requires in-text referencing and a full reference list in APA style, with evidence that you have critically read and integrated a minimum of 20 suitable scholarly references. The purpose of this assessment is to present the final report of the Professional Project you proposed in Assessment 1. This report should build on your blog entries, your Assessment 1 and the feedback from the tutor/co-ordinator.

In order to successfully complete Assessment 2.2, you are required to carry out the investigation you have proposed in Assessment 1 and produce a professional research report that shows that you have followed through from finding a research question to answering that question and developing recommendations that arise from your findings. The report will follow the typical structure of a research report and will need to include the following:

• Title page (with a clear project title), executive summary, table of contents
• Introduction, including: background, problem statement, and research question(s)
• Critical literature review
• Research methodology, including: transparent presentation of data source(s), and how you collected and analysed the data
• Findings from your secondary data analysis
• Discussion of findings in comparison to your previously reviewed literature
• Conclusion, including: answering your research question(s), recommendations (for practice and research) and limitations
• Reference list
• Appendices

Note: Appendices are optional and should be used for supplementary material only. You must use common font (e.g. Arial or Times New Roman) with font size 11 or 12, as well as appropriate margins and spacing.

If the blog entry was posted during the respective week and if it has appropriate content relevant to the given task of that particular week, it will attract 1 mark. Please note that detailed feedback on these blogs will not be provided unless sought by the student, e.g. during consultation hours.

As a Masters-level student, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.
Each unit in your postgraduate course has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF. In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as a Masters student, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. This is an advanced level course, and accrediting bodies are also looking for evidence of independent research, so the ability to conduct this project without continually relying on your tutors and lecturers is an important part of the learning process for this unit.
Students should insure that they understand the specific research that is required for each assessment piece and recognise that if they meet this minimum requirement, you will receive the minimum grade for demonstrated research.
Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE. A full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment. Your assignment will be marked on the following criteria (a rubric is available in Moodle):

Late submission and academic misconduct penalties will be applied in accordance with the university policies.