Economics topic and Business Topic

Task sheet

INTO City, University of London

International Foundation Programme (Business & Humanities)

ECONOMICS

September 2019 intake Economics Coursework Project

Summative Assignment

This assignment is Economics Coursework Project (15% of the final mark for

this module).

It is a co-assessed assignment.

1. The criteria that will be taken into account when awarding the mark for it as an

Economics Coursework Project are specified in this document.

2. The criteria that will be taken into account when awarding the mark for it as an

EAP presentation will be explained to the students by their EAP and Study

Skills tutor.

All presentations will be video recorded for second marking and other quality

assurance reasons.

Coursework on this module is 20% of your final mark for the module, and it

consists of:

• Coursework project (15%)

• Academic Engagement (5%) (Please also read Academic Engagement

criteria on Moodle)

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Deadlines:

• Assignment set in w/c 30th September 2019

• Assignment research question is due via turnitin as a PDF (NOT

POWERPOINT SLIDES AS THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH

TURNITIN) or a WORD DOCUMENT (NOT PAGES APP AS IT IS NOT

COMPATIBLE WITH TURNITIN) FILE by 10am Monday 20th January

2020.

• Assignment slides draft is due as a PDF (NOT POWERPOINT SLIDES

AS THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH TURNITIN) via turnitin by 10am

Monday 3rd February 2020

• Assignment slides final submission is due as a PDF (NOT

POWERPOINT SLIDES AS THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH

TURNITIN) VIA TURNITIN: by 10am Monday, 2nd March 2020

• Assignment presentation: ALL WEEK of 2nd March 2020.

All presentations will be video recorded for second marking and other

Quality Assurance purposes.

1. Instructions

1.1. Your Economics coursework project is a research based presentation of your

findings on the research question you choose.

1.2. You will present your findings in front of (a) teacher(s) and an audience of

your classmates.

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1.3. Your presentation will be video recorded, and the recording will be kept

together with the Turnitin submission of a PDF of your slides for second

marking purposes as well as for the approval by the external examiner and

the exam board.

Both pieces of evidence will be kept for the duration of time specified by the

City, University of London requirements to keeping such records.

1.4. You need to choose a real life (present or historic) economic problem you

want to research, and make it into a research question.

1.5. It may be a case study of an individual company or an industry, consumer

behaviour, market failure of certain government policies of a country of your

choice, economic development in a certain country, or a specific current,

recent or historic economic situation.

1.6. You have to submit your research question via Turnitin by 10am on Monday

20th January 2019. Late penalties apply.

1.7. If you fail to do so, you may lose 5% of your overall mark for this assignment

as this is the weighting of your research question criterion.

1.8. You may lose the 5% for the research question even if later you come up with

one.

1.9. The project is a research-based presentation with a short Q&A (Question

and Answer)

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1.10. The time limit for your presentation is 10 minutes. You do not have to use all

the time, and you will not be directly penalised for a presentation below the

time limit.

However, an unreasonably short presentation may not allow you to present

and evaluate all your findings thoroughly enough to achieve a grade you may

be aiming at. This way, you may be indirectly penalising yourself.

1.11. At least two questions will be asked during the Q&A question. More questions

may be asked if the teacher feels that it is beneficial to probe your knowledge

further.

1.12. You need to prepare PowerPoint slides to support your presentation.

1.13. Your presentation should consist of the parts listed below, and there should

be at least one slide for each of the parts.

Suggested content inside the parts of the presentation:

• Cover slide with your:

▪ full name

▪ student number

▪ group

▪ research question

• Overview slides (which part will your presentation consist of)

• Introduction:

▪ background information (e.g. brief explanation of the area of

economics the chosen or allocated problem belongs to, such as

micro-, macro- or international economics, or a question

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bridging these areas of economics, narrowing up to a more

specific area, such as analysis of supply and demand factors,

or fiscal policies)

▪ hypothesis (what the expected answer to your research

question will be – you will have to say in your conclusion if this

indeed was the answer, and provide rationale why this is the

answer)

• Main part:

Part 1: Theoretical background

▪ definitions of key terms and

▪ explanation of relevant economic laws

You can use diagrams in this part but they need to be made verbally relevant to

your presentation.

Part 2: Application of the theory to the problem

▪ Causes of the problem

▪ Statement and evaluation of (potential) impacts (consider both short run and long

run impacts if appropriate)

▪ Existing solutions currently applied and their evaluation, for example, their

efficiency and/or practicality (consider both short run and long run evaluation if

appropriate)

▪ Suggestion of other solutions and their evaluation (both in the short run and in the

long run)

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You can use diagrams in this part but they need to be applied to your scenario

(e.g. when labelling the axes, make sure you have specific labels, such as quantity

of coffee rather than just quantity) and made verbally relevant to your

presentation.

• Conclusion:

▪ Answer the research question

▪ Provide a relevant critical comment/rationale for the answer

▪ State if your hypothesis proved to be correct

• Reference list (following Harvard referencing format, in alphabetical order),

including a separate slide with the references for images if used.

1.14. Expectations:

Time limit: 10 minutes

• Presentations which are below 8 minutes are highly unlikely to discuss the

problem to the expected depth.

• If the presentation exceeds 10 minutes, the tutor will stop you, allowing you to

finish the sentence.

• You will not be awarded marks for the content that you did not have time to

deliver even if there is a slide for it.

• You can use a timer on your iPad or your phone to make sure you pace your

presentation appropriately.

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Use of sources

You are expected to use:

▪ Essentials of Economics by John Sloman and Dean Garratt

and at least:

▪ One other academic source (book or academic journal article) for Part 1;

▪ One reliable database (for example, https://www.ons.gov.uk/ or

https://ec.europa.eu/info/statistics_en).

• You may use more sources than that.

• In addition, you may use company or industry reports.

• Journalistic sources should be limited to broadsheets and may only be used to

evidence that the problem exists (i.e. it is widely discussed) but not for statistics

or support of an argument. They can only be used in addition to the three

compulsory source types, listed above.

• Wikipedia, Investopedia, Economicshelp, Pettinger, online revision notes for

exams in Economics, BBC bitesize, blogs (even from ac.uk sites) and other

similar sources are not acceptable for academic coursework.

NB: Use of unacceptable sources is not mark neutral. Their use will result in a

lower mark awarded for the research criterion.

• Use ACCAA tool you know from your EAP classes to assess suitability of your

sources for an academic coursework.

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• Use City University of London library, INTO City LRC, JStore and government

data bases to find suitable data and theoretical support for your arguments.

• You need to cite them on your slides and include them in your Reference List.

• All referencing is expected to follow Harvard referencing system.

NB: Please see your Student Handbook and further in this document for more

details on referencing and anti-plagiarism techniques.

Use of graphs, diagrams and data

• If you use a diagram to illustrate a specific question you are researching, you are

expected to adapt the generic diagram to this particular problem.

• If you use a diagram and/or data in the form of a graph or a table, you are

expected to comment on them verbally.

• Avoid describing the data you use as a graph or table; instead, evaluate it or

comment on a trend or a specific expected or unexpected piece of data.

Overall

You are also expected to use the presentation techniques and other skills you

learned during your EAP and Study Skills classes to do research, reference your

sources, develop and support your arguments, create professionally looking slides

and present your research.

1.15. Draft submission and feedback on it:

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• You will be submitting a draft of your coursework slides in a PDF (NOT

POWERPOINT SLIDES AS THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH

TURNITIN) format via Turnitin by 10am on 3rd February 2020.

• A Turnitin link for your draft submission will become available on your

Economics Turnitin page w/c 7th October 2019.

• You can practise submission of the whole draft or any parts of it before the

deadline, but the teacher will only provide feedback on the latest version of

the draft submitted before the submission deadline.

• Feedback on your draft will be provided via Turnitin.

• You will lose 5% of the overall mark for this assignment in case you fail to

submit a meaningful draft (please see the criteria and learning outcomes

further in this document).

A meaningful draft for this assignment is a draft which:

• Is at least 1 slide for each of the required parts for this assignment (cover,

introduction, part 1, part 2, conclusion, reference)

• Has the content on each of the slides which is relevant to the title of the

assignment

• Is not repetitive (i.e. is not one bullet point, or any length of the text repeated

several times on a number of slides in order just to meet the slide count

requirement)

• Has the list of references consisting of the minimum required sources

• Has some evidence of the sources being used on the slides

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NB: copied and pasted information on slides will be treated as an academic

misconduct and referred to the plagiarism officer for investigation; penalties may

apply.

2. Guidelines

2.1. Slide format

• Your EAP teacher will provide you with guidelines for slide format

• Make sure there is not too much text on the slides (use Font 30 to make sure

you have not overloaded your slides)

• Follow the one slide – one aspect rule to make sure the content on each slide

is connected to its heading

• Use effects (e.g. animation) and images (cited and referenced) reasonably

• Make sure the font and background colours allow your audience to see the

text on your slides

• Don’t put ‘the whole story’ on the slide so that you could expand on it when

you are presenting

• Use bullet points, not full sentences (you will be able to put more information

on a slide and you will avoid reading from it)

2.2. Presentation techniques

• You will learn what a good academic presentation looks like during your EAP

classes

• Although we will not be assessing your presentation techniques as part of

your Economics coursework project, they are part of your EAP assessment.

• Remember T-T-T: tap (the screen) – turn (to the audience) – talk

• Pace your presentation effectively and project your voice appropriately

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• Speak, do not read. Although you can use notes, we would advise either not

to use them, or keep them to minimum as reading will affect both your

Presentation Technique and Use of English marks.

2.3. Use of English

• Although we will not be assessing your Use of English as part of your

Economics coursework project, it is part of your EAP assessment

• It may still indirectly affect your mark for the Economics coursework project if

it impedes communication of your findings and/or hinders with clarity of your

message

2.4. How you will be assessed

• You will be assessed for the criteria below.

• You will be awarded mark from 0 to 5 for each the criterion below but they will

have different effect on your final grade as the criteria have different weighting.

• If you fully meet the criterion and all learning outcomes within it), you will be

awarded 5 for it.

• You may achieve certain learning outcomes within the criterion better than the

others, or you may not meet all the learning outcomes within the criterion at all.

This will affect the mark for the criterion.

Criteria and learning outcomes within them:

Meaningful draft submitted: 5% weighting

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NB: If your draft does not meet all minimal learning outcomes below, it will be

awarded a zero even if it has been submitted

• Draft is at least 1 slide for each of the required parts for this assignment

(cover, introduction, part 1, part 2, conclusion, reference)

• Draft has the content on each of the slides which is relevant to the title of the

assignment

• Draft is not repetitive (i.e. is not one bullet point, or any length of the text

repeated several times on a number of slides in order just to meet the slide

count requirement)

• Draft has the list of references consisting of the minimum required sources

• Draft has some evidence of the sources being used on the slides

NB: if the student did not pace their presentation appropriately and had no

time to present one or more parts, including conclusion, all those parts are

considered not delivered even if they exist in the slide form.

Therefore, the student cannot be awarded full marks for any part that was not

delivered. They may, however, be awarded partial marks for what is evident

from the slides.

Slides: 5% weighting

• There is a slide for each part (cover, overview, introduction, Part 1, Part 2,

Part 3, Part 4, conclusion, references)

• The research question is on one of the slides

• Hypothesis (= expected answer to the research question) is on one of the

slides

• The font colour has been chosen with the colour of the background in mind

and can be easily read

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• The font size is big enough (approximate minimum is size 30)

• There are not too many words on slides (approximate maximum is 20)

• There is not an excessive number of slides: the student is expected to

expand and elaborate on the slides rather than rush through them reading

from them (12-15 slides should be enough)

• Slides look professional but not boring (e.g. no excessive pictures or

distracting animation)

NB: if the student did not pace their presentation appropriately and had no

time to present one or more parts, including conclusion, all those parts are

considered not delivered even if they exist in the slide form. Therefore, the

student cannot be awarded full marks for any part that was not delivered.

They may, however, be awarded partial marks for what is evident from the

slides.

Research question: 5% weighting

Zero marks are awarded for this criterion if the student did not submit the

research question via TurnItIn by the deadline (10am Monday 20th January

2019).

• The area of economics the research is related to is clearly stated either in

the question, or in the introduction, or in another appropriate part of the

paper (e.g. Part 1)

• A current, recent or historic economics issue has been identified and clearly

stated

• The research question is focused

For the main part, credit for the relevant learning outcomes is given even if

not demonstrated as a separate section of the presentation.

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However, if the part is not clearly identifiable, the student is considered not to

have achieved the first learning outcome (they have not attempted this

part/section) but they still have achieved the rest of the outcomes for this criterion.

This way, they cannot achieve a 5 for the part but may be able to achieve any mark

1-4 for it.

Part 1 (knowledge): 15% weighting

Was attempted; if yes:

• Defines the key terms (with references)

• States and explains relevant economic law – how it should work in theory

• Diagrams, if used, are referenced and verbally explained)

If the part was not attempted but there were definitions and relevant economic laws

later in the presentation, the student is considered not to have achieved the first

learning outcome (they have not attempted this part/section) but they still have

achieved the rest of the outcomes for this criterion.

Part 2 (application): 15% weighting

Was attempted; if yes:

• Clearly links the theory in Part 1 to the specific case/scenario/problem the

student is researching

• Explains any peculiarities of the case they research

• Provides evidence (reliable referenced data and/or examples)

• Diagrams, if used, have specific case-relevant labels on the axes

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Part 3 (analysis): 15% weighting

Was attempted; if yes:

• States which parts of theory worked in the case they research case, and

which did not

• Provides possible reasons for that

• Provides any further relevant explanation/elaboration – optional as may not

be applicable

• States existing solutions for improvement – optional as may not be applicable

• Provides other possible solutions for improvement – optional as may not be

applicable (to be assessed through the student’s argument rather than the

teacher’s level of knowledge)

• Diagrams, if used, are verbally contextualised

Part 4 (evaluation): 15% weighting

Was attempted; if yes, any or all of the below – to be assessed through the

student’s argument rather than the teacher’s level of knowledge:

• Provides relevant comparison (compare and contrast)

• Evaluates reasons

• Evaluates solutions

• States limitations

Q&A session: 10% weighting

Question 1 answered; if yes:

• the answer is correct

Question 2 answered; if yes:

• the answer is correct

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NB:

• Question 3 will be asked if one of the first two questions was not answered.

• Questions, although probing students’ understanding of what they have just

presented, should be aimed at allowing the students to show what they know

rather than looking for what they do not know.

• In case the teacher suspects the student had unauthorised help with the

assignment, questions may be more of a viva voce type to probe the

students’ familiarity with what they have just presented.

• If the Economics teacher cannot attend a session due to a timetabling clash,

they need to provide the EAP colleague with two questions to ask each

student plus one to ask in case the student does not know one of the

answers, and will mark their side from a video.

Research and Use of sources: 10%

Referencing is not penalised here

Sources have been used in the presentation. If yes,

• Sources are relevant. If yes,

• A variety of reliable sources has been used ((core textbook, another academic

source – may be your other textbook, reliable data from a reputable source,

rather than just one type of sources) as per the task expectations

o If you met the minimum requirement for the sources, you will be awarded

three marks for this criterion.

o If you use more relevant sources, you may be awarded a higher mark

(depending on the quality of the sources) for this learning outcome as

long as none of the sources is from the ‘forbidden’ list (Wikipedia,

Investopedia, Economics Help Baidu, etc.).

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o Sources from the ‘forbidden list’ have negative point weighting, and a

student using any of them can only be awarded maximum of two for this

learning outcome.

• The number of sources used is as per the task expectations (core textbook,

another academic source – may be your other textbook, reliable data from a

reputable source).

o If you met the minimum requirement for the sources, you will be awarded

three marks for this criterion.

o If you use more relevant sources, you may be awarded a higher mark

(depending on the quality of the sources) for this learning outcome as

long as none of the sources is from the ‘forbidden’ list (Wikipedia,

Investopedia, Economics Help Baidu, etc.).

o Sources from the ‘forbidden list’ have negative point weighting, and a

student using any of them can only be awarded maximum of two for this

learning outcome.

• Sources have been used reasonably naturally

Referencing: 5%

(NB: suspected plagiarism will be dealt with according to the Academic

Misconduct policy and procedures and may incur other penalties than just

mark reduction for this criterion)

PAP/inaccurate referencing, however, is penalised under this criterion

• Sources have been cited on the slides

• Pictures, if used, have been cited on the slides

• In-text (on-the-slide) citations are accurate according to the Harvard referencing

system

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• Sources have been referenced in the Reference List on a separate slide

• Pictures, if used, have been included in the Images Reference List on a separate

slide

• Reference List entries are accurate according to the Harvard referencing system

• The Reference List is in alphabetical order

2.5. Submission

The final version of the PDF (NOT POWERPOINT SLIDES AS THEY ARE NOT

COMPATIBLE WITH TURNITIN) of your slides must be submitted via Turnitin link

on your Economics Moodle page by 10.00am Monday 2nd March 2020.

Failure to complete the submission before the deadline will result in penalties being

applied (please see your Student Handbook for details).

Presentations of your findings will take place during your EAP (and sometimes your

Economics) classes during the whole week commencing 2nd March 2020.

You have to attend the whole two-hour slot for which your presentation has

been scheduled by your Economics and EAP teachers.

This is an exam, so being late for the two-hour slot and/or failure to attend the

slot will be treated as missing an exam. Zero marks will be awarded for the

assignment both for EAP and Economics.

In case you did not attend the assessment for a valid reason (e.g. illness

evidences by an NHS doctor’s note), you will need to apply for an EC

(extenuating circumstances). Please see your Student’s Handbook for details.

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• Any sources should be referenced according to Harvard referencing

conventions (Please consult Cite Them Right – available online through the

City University library).

• Students should bear in mind that instances of plagiarism (copying material

from any text without giving the reference) and collusion (copying work

written by another person or including in your assignment any work that is not

your own) are taken very seriously. Please refer to the student handbook

for details of penalties.

2.6. Details for late submission of PDF (NOT POWERPOINT SLIDES AS

THEY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH TURNITIN) of your slides:

Work submitted Number of Marks Deducted

On the due date after 10.00am 5

On the day following the due date 10

On either the 2nd or 3rd day after the due date 20

On the 4th day after the due date or later All marks deducted

2.7. Turnitin instructions

Coursework is to be uploaded to the Turnitin Assignment through the link on your

class Economics Moodle page, in order to maintain academic integrity and high

standards of coursework.

You will need to be logged in as yourself, and to upload your work to your specific

course and your lecturer. It is very important not to upload to another course or

another lecturer.

The Turnitin link for this Assignment will be open two weeks before the coursework

deadline for editing and proofreading. When starting your assignment, please refer

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to the Plagiarism Moodle page, where you should watch the videos and do the

activities.

You can, and should, edit your slides as many times as you like before the deadline.

Before your Similarity Report is ready, you will see the word ‘pending’.

If you cannot see this word, and see a small Turnitin logo instead, it means you

have not submitted the assignment. Check all the details of the procedure and try

again.

Please remember that Apple devices may be incompatible with the Turnitin; to

avoid this, you may choose to use a laptop available for you in the centre, e.g.

in the LRC self-study area.

Submissions take up to 24 hours, whereas resubmissions will always take 24

hours.

When you have uploaded your final version, which is suggested no later than 24

hours before the deadline, you will receive an electronic receipt of submission.

The time of online submission explained above is considered the time of

submission.

For more information about plagiarism and Turnitin, you should explore the

Plagiarism Moodle Page, and read your Handbook.

For technical problems with log-ins contact the IT helpdesk

intocity.itsupport@intoglobal.com.

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For problems relating to Turnitin/Originality Reports, contact the Plagiarism &

Collusion team intocity.plagiarism@into.uk.com.

2.8. Academic Misconduct in Coursework

The university takes a serious view of academic misconduct and will act to ensure

that students found breaching its guidelines are dealt with severely. This action can

lead to expulsion from the university. This is in the interests of the vast majority of

students who work hard for their degree through their own efforts, and is essential in

safeguarding the integrity of the university's awards.

To prepare you for your undergraduate course, we follow the procedure similar to

the one applied at the university.

The following are all types of academic misconduct. Remember that this is not an

exhaustive list, and there may be other behaviour that may be seen as misconduct:

1. Plagiarism: passing off the ideas or words of someone else as though they were

your own. It applies equally to the work of other students as to published sources

and can include:

• Submitting as one's own an assignment that another person has completed.

• Downloading information, text, artwork, graphics or other material from the internet

and presenting it as one's own without acknowledgment.

• Quoting, summarising or paraphrasing material from any source without

acknowledgment.

• Resubmitting your own work as if it were a new piece of work

• Taking ideas, or the way in which you think about an issue, from one or more

sources without acknowledgment. If the ordering of evidence and argument, or the

organisation of material, reflects one or more particular source(s), then this must be

stated and a reference given.

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• Contributing little or nothing to a group assignment and then claiming an equal

share of the marks.

2. Cheating: either by copying from other students or using unauthorised notes or

other aids.

3. Collusion: this means students working together to create and submit a similar

or identical assignment or assessment without authority from their tutor or School.

Students who plagiarise other students’ work and students who allow their work to

be plagiarised will both be subject to penalties.

This does not include those times when students are asked to undertake group-

work and may legitimately work together. Please ask your tutor if you are unsure.

4. Impersonation: where a person assumes the identity of another person with the

intention of gaining unfair advantage for that person.

5. Falsification or fabrication: inventing or altering data or references.

6. Duplication or self-plagiarism: preparing a correctly cited and referenced

assignment from individual research and then submitting part or all of that work in

for more than one assignment

7. Ghosting: submitting as your own work that has been done in whole or in part by

another person on your behalf, or deliberately making or seeking to make available

material to another student for it to be used by the other student. Investigating the

possibility of using another person’s work can also be counted as academic

misconduct.

8. Disruption: preventing an assessment from being conducted in an orderly and

appropriate manner.

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Inaccurate referencing is considered Poor Academic Practice; however, repeated

Poor Academic Practice may be treated as Academic Misconduct.

2.9. Good practice: how to avoid plagiarism

Producing work with the aim of honesty and respect for academic knowledge

Quoting

Never copy anything (including the work of other students) without explicit

acknowledgement. Quotation directly from a book or paper is entirely acceptable

provided that it is referenced correctly.

This means that:

• All quotations must be clearly identified either by enclosure in quotation marks

(inverted commas) or by paragraph indentation.

• Sources must be identified using one of the prescribed formats.

• Sources used must be listed in a bibliography or reference section at the end of

each piece of work.

The quoted section should not be too long. For short pieces of work (under 5000

words) it is better to quote a short phrase or a sentence to illustrate your point. It is

also a good idea to comment on/interpret the quotation to show you understanding

the author’s meaning.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words.

Paraphrasing is entirely acceptable provided that it is referenced. It does NOT mean

copying whole sentences or phrases and replacing some words with others of

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similar meaning. A general rule for acceptable paraphrasing is that an

acknowledgement be made in every paragraph. There are many ways in which such

acknowledgements can be made (e.g. “Smith goes on to argue that...” or “Smith

provides further proof that...”). As with quotation, full details of the source used must

be given at the end of the text.

Plagiarism can occur through laziness or poor note-taking. It is not enough to just

cite an article once and then continue to use it throughout the rest of your work

without proper references. If you do not make a correct citation every time you refer

to or quote someone else then you are plagiarising. It is also unacceptable to just

list material you have read at the end of your work and not in the body of the text

itself – you must provide full referencing (in-text referencing) within your work.

Note: any student who is unclear about the rules regarding the use and referencing

of other people’s work or ideas should seek advice from their Tutor or Plagiarism

Officer.

Penalties

Please see the Plagiarism Moodle page for details of the procedure to check papers

for originality and the penalties you may be subject to in case of Plagiarism and/or

Collusion.