academic English

Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving Portfolio 1 (Individual Assessment) Page 12

Demonstrate Your Learning

Your tasks are to:

1. Find at least three different sources of information about writing a Team Code of Conduct. They should be from text books, journal articles, etc. and not just Wikipedia. Google Books lets you search through some books and you can also find

online books and articles in the USQ Library website. Having sourced the information you should:

i) Quote the research verbatim, as per the examples above; then

ii) Paraphrase it into a number of paragraphs using about a third to a half of a page. The essay structure should (a) introduce your idea; (b) support your idea; and (c) conclude your idea.

2. Answer the following quick questions about referencing. Remember to research your answers and reference that research within your answers.

i) When undertaking tasks at university why is it necessary to use reference materials and acknowledge such use? Aim for at least four points.

ii) Identify at least five different types of information (not resources) from authors that must be referenced if you use them in your own submissions. Note that

books and journals are examples of different resources, not types of information.

iii) Define plagiarism and discuss how you can avoid it.

Tip: Information is contained in resources. If a book is a resource, what different types of information in that book should be referenced?

3. Document how you have applied the problem solving cycle to this Task. This can either be in your answers themselves, as separate paragraphs, or as an Appendix (but you should refer to this so the marker knows where to look). It can cover all the Task questions or just one question if you prefer. Your aim is to clearly demonstrate your current understanding of the PSC and how to apply it.

Question One has a problem within a problem. Can you see that

one problem is the writing of a Code of Conduct, whilst the bigger problem is demonstrating that you’ve learnt how to paraphrase and reference? Be clear in your use of the PSC for each of these problems and you will find answering them much easier.

Paraphrasing is different to copy+paste+citation and it better

helps demonstrate your learning. Do you know the difference? It is vital that all quotations are very clearly formatted and can’t be confused as your own words (a form of plagiarism).

Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving Portfolio 1 (Individual Assessment) Page 13

How We Assess the Demonstration of Your Learning

Table 2: Marking criteria for Task 1 (mouse-over links for more information)

Task 1 Level 1

(0-20%)

Level 2

(21-40%)

Level 3

(41-60%)

Level 4

(61-80%)

Level 5

(81-100%)

Information

relevance,

paraphrasing &

acknowledging

sources

Insufficient

information &

acknowledgement

Limited

information &

acknowledgement

Sufficient Effective,

relevant &

correct

Highly relevant,

significant,

accurate &

concise

Examining &

discussing

academic

communication

and plagiarism

Insufficient Limited Sufficient Well developed

& effective

Critical &

comprehensive

Problem solving

cycle

Insufficient

application or

lack of

understanding

Limited

application or

understanding

Followed

sufficiently

Well developed

with good

understanding

Critical &

comprehensive

Expression of

ideas and use of

language,

grammar,

structure &

presentation*

Poor &

insufficient

Limited clarity &

significant errors

Sufficient with

some clarity

Mostly clear,

concise &

appropriate

Clear, concise &

highly

appropriate

Referencing

style*

Does not follow

correct style

Inconsistent Some errors Minimal errors Accurate with

few or no errors

* Note that the last two criteria apply to all Tasks of Portfolio 1.

End of Task 1