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What is a ‘scholarly conversation?’ What is the best way to enter into a “scholarly conversation”?

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Students:  I thought it might be helpful to have another example, so I’m attaching here a lesson plan from one of the most recent workshops I did for a WRIT 150 class here at USC. The students were tasked with writing an Op-Ed on a topic of their choosing using some research. So attached is what I did with them. It’s quite rough but I thought it might give you some more idea of directions you can take, especially for the next parts of the assignment sequence.

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Kevin Klipfel

LIM 511 Lesson Plan Example

PART ONE

Goals and Understandings

  1. Please provide a detailed explanation of your chosen instruction context, including the setting, your students, and any relevant information.

My lesson is for a “one-shot” information literacy workshop at the University of Southern California Libraries (USC). The goal of information literacy instruction at the USC Libraries is to introduce students to basic information literacy skills that will provide the foundations for successful research throughout their academic career.

Beginning information literacy instruction at USC primarily takes place in WRIT 150, a course all USC Freshmen are required to take in their first year. Information literacy instruction in these classes is “embedded:” librarians teach research skills required for specific research assignments in a particular course. The goal of embedded instruction is to teach students research skills within a meaningful, relevant learning context, so that these skills can transfer to other, related context.

This lesson plan is tailored to a section of WRIT 150 with the following assignment requirements:

Writing Task: Write a thesis-driven three to four-page mock Op-Ed for a specific publication/blog/ or readership. Take care to research the publication’s Op-Ed page to examine the scope and style of previous Op-Eds to determine if the publication is a good fit for your chosen concern or idea.

Sources: If appropriate to your paper, provide sources to support your view. There is no specific amount of source material required; however, for a four-page paper two to four sources are within a proper ratio. If you hold an expertise, you may establish that within your paper and offer your experiential evidence as support.

  1. What are the established goals for my instruction? What will students understand based on my instruction?

The overall goal of my instruction is for students to be able to develop the information literacy skills needed to write an informed Op-Ed on a topic of personal significance to them. In my experience and in consultation with the course instructor, I believe it will be helpful for students to see how to take a “vague” topic idea – where all research starts off – and be able to use specific information literacy skills to inform themselves on their topic and express themselves in writing using research backed by evidence.

My goal is for students to understand that research is borne out of genuine curiosity or things we think about in our ordinary lives; that there are specific strategies they can use to refine a research topic from a broad interest; and that research at the college level is an iterative process that requires many different searches of multiple modes of information.

  1. Essential Questions:

Write out a list of 3-5 essential questions that you hope to address in you lesson, then provide a detailed explanation for why you think these questions are essential questions.

Given these considerations, my lesson will address the following essential questions:

  1. How can I turn things I am interested in or passionate about into a general research topic?
  2. How can I turn my broad interest into a specific research topic for an Op-Ed?
  3. What is a ‘scholarly conversation?’ What is the best way to enter into a “scholarly conversation”?
  4. Students Will Know & Students Will be Able to…

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this lesson?

  • Students will be able to use an online scholarly encyclopedia to locate background knowledge on a topic of authentic interest.
  • Students will be able to use an online scholarly encyclopedia to locate a “seminal” peer-reviewed scholarly article on a topic of authentic interest.
  • Students will use keyword searching to search the USC Libraries general search for at least two peer-reviewed scholarly articles on a topic of interest.

What should student be able to do as the result of your lesson?

After my lesson, students will be able to use information to think critically about a topic and write a well-informed Op-Ed on an issue that matters to them.

How will these skills transfer beyond this immediate learning context? What are some situations you see these skills transferring to?

These skills will transfer to most of the research students will conduct at the university level. Additionally, students will be able to transfer these strategies to non-academic contexts where the goal is to become informed by credible information about a topic and to express one’s opinion informed by and backed by research. As such, the goal is to use this context to teach critical thinking skills across domains.

PART TWO

For Part 2, you’ll practice beginning to “think like an assessor” about your learning plan. Indeed, though it may often seem to you that students are learning, good design also involves more formal assessments of student learning. Your goal in Part 2 is to think like an assessor by answering the following questions about your lesson:

  1. What kinds of evidence would show that students have achieved the desired results of your instruction?

The evidence that would show students achieved the desired results of my instruction would be if the students are able to achieve the learning goals set out for them. This relates directly to the learning goals I set out in the first part of this lesson plan.

One goal is for students to be able to use a scholarly encyclopedia to gain the requisite background knowledge to engage in a scholarly conversation of a topic of interest. Thus, an assessment piece that measures whether students are actually able to complete this task would be a valuable assessment piece.

A second learning goal is for students to be able to use that encyclopedia to actually locate a “seminal” article on this topic. Evidence that students were successfully able to complete this task would help me assess whether students were successfully able to meet this learning goal.

Lastly, my goal is for students to be able to successfully use keywords to locate two scholarly articles on their topic. It would, thus, be helpful to be able to see students’ keywords and see if these keywords led to them successfully locating to quality peer-reviewed articles on their topic.

  1. What specific performance tasks would provide concrete evidence of student learning in your scenario? What problems or scenarios might you use to measure your students’ learning?

The performance tasks in this lessons are for students to:

  • use a specific scholarly encyclopedia through the USC Libraries, CREDO REFERENCE, to find background info on their paper and narrow their topic
  • locate a seminal article on their topic using the USC Libraries general search box and use that source to further narrow down their topic.
  • develop keywords to locate two scholarly articles using the USC Libraries general search box.
  1. What plan might you implement to measure student learning within the context of your instruction scenario? Be specific (for example, if you ask the students questions or provide students with concrete scenarios, be sure to include a description). What software, tools, or other technologies might help you assess your students’ learning?

I plan to use Qualtrics survey software for students to concretely demonstrate their own learning. After a short “mini-lesson” presentation, students will be asked to spend most of the time period completing the following active learning exercise:

https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5uOIo94cUlEz4kR

This simple assessment should give me a very specific, concrete sense of whether the goals for my instruction have been met.

PART THREE

  1. What concrete learning activities and experiences will help you achieve your desired results? Your objective in Part 3 of this project is to provide an answer to this question by detailing the concrete learning activities you plan to implement in your session.

There are two major learning activities that I will use for this lesson.

The first learning activity is modeling topic development through narrative. I try to approach teaching students empathically. What this means for the current purposes is that I looked at the students assignment requirements – to choose an magazine or newspaper to write an informed Op-Ed on a topic of their choosing – and I modeled some specific research strategies through a narrative. I imagined that I was a student in the course and demonstrated how I’d go about taking a vague topic idea, use resources to narrow down the topic and find important info on it, and broke down the specific information literacy skills I used that they can then transfer to their own projects.

I used a specific narrative that was relevant to my life. I told the students that I had just been to Las Vegas with my wife to see a heavyweight championship fight between my favorite boxer, Tyson Fury, and heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. I told the students why this interested me (I box, etc). and also what makes me such a fan of Tyson Fury. Not only is he a great boxer, but he has gone through (as have I, I briefly discussed) serious metal health issues. In short, Tyson Fury won the heavyweight championship in 2015 but had to give it up because he went through a period of terrible suicidal depression. However, he came back to boxing in 2017 and has now become a huge ambassador for mental health. Specifically, I told the students that I recently read an article how Tyson Fury is “redefining masculinity” by being so open about his mental health problems. In our culture a man is “supposed” to be tough and showing emotions is considered “weak.” However, this creates a serious stigma around mental health, especially for men. So one way that Fury is “redefining” masculinity is by overcoming “toxic masculinity” by being open about his mental health struggles and letting people know that you can be, e.g., a fighter and also show your emotions, even when they’re as vulnerable as depression or suicide.

So, I told the students, it might be cool to treat stigma around mental health as a men’s health issue – and maybe I could fashion my op-ed specifically for Men’s Health magazine to argue that mental health and de-stigmatizing depression is an important men’s health issue.

I then modeled for students how I took that kind of vague topic – my favorite boxer Tyson Fury and just having come back from a Las Vegas title fight– to develop keywords, “e.g, depression stigma mental health men athletes etc”, combined these in various ways, and developed info about my topic.  I showed them how to use research encyclopedias to get an overview of “stigma around mental health,’ how to find “seminal articles” using that resource, and also how to do keyword searches in the library.

The second strategy was active learning through meaningful cognitive engagement. We devoted the rest of the session to the students’ own searching of information for their Op-Eds. To scaffold the students’ learning environment, they were given a link to the active learning exercise from Part Two of this assignment. I then went around to work with students individually to help them brainstorm ideas and locate information sources.

  1. Why do you believe these specific learning activities will help you achieve your learning goals? Please be specific, and reference any relevant readings or learning theories that have been discussed in class.
  2. The first method I used, narrative modeling, has been demonstrated in the research literature to facilitate intrinsic motivation. The facilitation of intrinsic motivation has been demonstrated across multiple studies to facilitate learning (see Klipfel Cook).

[…] Additionally, I sought to develop relationship rapport through being vulnerable and talking about a topic that mattered to me. This followed on the Rogerian three core conditions …

[You should go into much more detail here J.]

  1. The second method is active cognitive engagement through practicing essential, transferrable concepts. I chose this methodology because research indicates that practicing the “deep structure” of learning in a meaningful context facilitates retention and transfer of information. (See Klipfel/Cook)….

[You should go into more detail here but ya get the idea]

What are the shortcomings of the existing risk management frameworks used in DAD projects?

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Title: A risk management framework for distributed agile projects.

Actually, this project is to propose a risk management framework for distributed agile projects…
First of all, need to find out the causes of all risks affecting DAD projects, understand how dsd properties/characteristics/features are impacting Distributed agile (DAD) projects.
then we need to find out all existing risk management frameworks developed by other authors that are being used in DAD projects. and then analyze their shortcomings and advantages… then propose a better risk management framework to eliminate these shortcomings and risk causes/factors… then need to validate this proposed improved framework by implementing in real-life DAD projects.

My 5 Research questions are as follows:
RQ1: What are the causes and factors of risks that adversely affect DAD projects?
RQ2: How do the DAD features adversely affect DAD projects?
RQ3: What are the shortcomings of the existing risk management frameworks used in DAD projects?
RQ4: What efforts can be made to improve the risk management framework to minimize these shortcomings identified in RQ3 in DAD projects?
RQ5: To what extent will the proposed risk mgt framework benefit real-time DAD projects (in Mauritius?)?

Dissertation format- should include
abstract
introduction
literature review
methodology
data analysis
recommendations for better framework
validation of improved framework
conclusions + recommendations
references [around 50 references]

Review the article links attached in excel sheet… and omit if not relevant but need to state why omitting them.. and look for other relevant articles if not sufficient.

This topic is mixed [quan + qual] … so need to include survey questionnaire + interview questions / answers [should collect from around 150 participants + interview at least 10 experienced professionals] … SPSS will be use to analyze quantitative data

Please do send me draft each day if possible or two days for progress.

Research and analyze professional opportunities in the media and creative industries.

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Length: 2500 words excluding references Research report setting out a strategic plan for starting and developing a career in the creative industries (with reference to a specific sector of your choice) First, your report should provide an account of employment opportunities, roles and pathways into a specific sector. It should detail the skills and experience required for the particular job/jobs you are interested in and explain what are the entry level positions or other entry routes (including informal ones) that might lead to this position, relating them to your own current level of skills and experience, as appropriate. Second, based on the evidence set out above, it should formulate a plan of action for getting started as a professional in the sector that you’re interested in. This can take many forms, ranging from freelancing and portfolio working to starting a business or applying for work at a company. For most students, the point of this assignment is for you to be able to research assess the current state of the sector, the employment opportunities, and make a clear case for which strategies are suitable for you, based on your own individual skills, experience and goals, as well as on the realities of the sector itself. As such, the second part of this report will be written in the first person. However, if you have no intention of entering the creative industries, it is possible for you to write the report from a more distanced standpoint, providing recommendations for a would be entrant to the creative industries, rather than for you specifically. If you have undertaken a placement, then your report should draw extensively on the primary research you have carried out during the placement. It should also draw on at least 5 secondary sources. If you have not undertaken a placement, your report should still draw on some kind of primary research, based on workplace observation or interviews. In addition you should show evidence that you have consulted at least 10 secondary sources.
Course Learning Outcomes to be met through this Brief:

Research and analyze professional opportunities in the media and creative industries.

Reflect upon how you might best develop and position your own projects, skills and professional plans in relation to these models and contexts.

Research using qualitative methods and professional sources. Note that these are the general learning outcomes for the course that are relevant to this assignment. However, for more specific guidance on what to include in your report please consult: 1. The Assessment Presentation Guide and Report Structure Guide sheets on Moodle. 2. The checklist and assessment criteria for this assignment below.
Equipment/Facilities/Resources required: University libraries and databases.
Estimated Hours for completion: 100
Appearance and Format All assignments should be typed, double-spaced, in 12p Times or similar font, with 3cm margins. All submitted work should be proofread and spell-checked thoroughly, with all references cited in the Harvard System (http://www.gre.ac.uk/studyskills/referencing).
Assessment checklist: Does the report present a coherent set of options and strategies? Support: Is the plan realistic and credible, supported by data? Sector: Is the sector clearly defined? Do you locate the role(s) you’re investigating in the professional context (e.g., through trade sources, practitioner-interviews, etc.)? Are the references relevant and used appropriately (e.g., you reference trade publications and other industry sources, books, journal articles, or news reporting)? Is it well written and proofread, with correct citations and a list of references (Harvard style) at the end?
Have you included your research tasks (2 individual and 1 group) as appendices?
Assessment Criteria: Plan of Action Support Analysis References Style 1st (70+)
Very clear plan of action.
You deploy primary and secondary data in a compelling way to support your case.
You offer a nuanced and full account of the sector, employment opportunities and a range of potential options for gaining entry to the sector
Your source materials are varied, current, and clearly relevant to your topic, demonstrating an independent approach.
Written in an engaging, accessible style, free of presentational errors, referenced in correct Harvard Style. Correct use of report template.
2:1 (60-69)
Plan of action noted, with some room for clarification.
You use primary and secondary data well, with room for improvement.
You provide a clear account of the sector, employment opportunities and a range of potential options for gaining entry to the sector
Your sources support your claims well, showing that you’ve done extensive research.
Your style is polished, with only minor errors of presentation and referencing.
2:2 (50-59)
Plan of action present, but need further articulation.
Primary and/or secondary data present, could be deployed better or more extensively.
You present the sector, employment opportunities and options, but clarification is needed.
You have done research, but with evident gaps.
Some errors of presentation and referencing.
3rd (40-49)
Plan of action only partially presented.
Limited or little use of data and references.
You have a partial account of the sector, employment opportunities and options, missing key aspects.
The use of sources is unclear, or too narrow to qualify as research at this level.
Noticeable shortcomings in presentation and referencing, errors present.
Fail (30-39)
Vague, confusing plan of action.
Insufficient use of data to support argument.
Missing many key elements relating to sector, employment opportunities and options.
Insufficient evidence of research.
Critical problems of presentation and referencing, many errors throughout.
Serious Fail (-29)
No plan of No use of data No reference No evidence of Severe,
action. to support argument.
to sector, employment opportunities or options.
research sources.
numerous errors, compromising readability. No use of Harvard Style.

Find additional sources which provide information about the policy statements which should be covered in three policies for the Employee Handbook.

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Project #1: Employee Handbook

Company Background & Operating Environment

Red Clay Renovations is an internationally recognized, awarding winning firm that specializes in the renovation and rehabilitation of residential buildings and dwellings. The company specializes in updating homes using “smart home” and “Internet of Things” technologies while maintaining period correct architectural characteristics. Please refer to the company profile (file posted in Week 1 > Content > CSIA 413 Red Clay Renovations Company Profile.docx) for additional background information and information about the company’s operating environment.

Policy Issue & Plan of Action

The company has grown substantially over the past few years. The current Employee Handbook was created from a set of templates purchased from a business services firm. The policies in the handbook were reviewed by the company’s attorney at the time of purchase. The attorney raised no objections at that time. During a recent legal review, the company’s corporate counsel advised that the company update the Employee Handbook to better address its current operating environment. The Chief Executive Officer has tasked the Chief of Staff to oversee the handbook updates including obtaining all necessary approvals from the Corporate Governance Board.

The Chief of Staff met with the full IT Governance Board to discuss the required policy updates. (The IT Governance Board is responsible for providing oversight for all IT matters within the company). The outcome of that meeting was an agreement that the CISO and CISO staff will update and/or create IT related policies for the employee handbook. These policies include:

  • Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology
  • Bring Your Own Device Policy
  • Digital Media Sanitization, Reuse, & Destruction Policy

 

Your Task Assignment

As a staff member supporting the CISO, you have been asked to research what the three policies should contain and then prepare an “approval draft” for each one. No single policy should exceed two typed pages in length so you will need to be concise in your writing and only include the most important elements for each policy.

The policies are to be written for EMPLOYEES and must explain employee obligations and responsibilities. Each policy must also include the penalties for violations of the policy and identify who is responsible for compliance enforcement.

Your “approval drafts” will be submitted to the IT Governance Board for discussion and vetting. If the board accepts your policies, they will then be reviewed and critiqued by all department heads and executives before being finalized by the Chief of Staff’s office. The policies will also be subjected to a thorough legal review by the company’s attorneys. Upon final approval by the Corporate Governance Board, the policies will be adopted and placed into the Employee Handbook.

Research:

  1. Review the table of contents and relevant chapters in the Certified Information Privacy Professional textbook to find information about legal and regulatory drivers.
  2. Review the remaining course readings.
  3. Review the sample policies and procedures provided in Week 3.
  4. Find additional sources which provide information about the policy statements which should be covered in three policies for the Employee Handbook.

Write:

  1. Prepare briefing package with approval drafts of the three IT related policies for the Employee Handbook. Your briefing package must contain the following:
  • Executive Summary
  • “Approval Drafts” for
    • Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology
    • Bring Your Own Device Policy
    • Digital Media Sanitization, Reuse, & Destruction Policy

As you write your policies, make sure that you address security issues using standard cybersecurity terminology (e.g. 5 Pillars of IA, 5 Pillars of Information Security). See the resources listed under Course Resources > Cybersecurity Concepts Review for definitions and terminology.

  1. Use a professional format for your policy documents and briefing package. A recommended format is provided in the assignment template file (see the recommended template under Course Resources).
  2. You must include a cover page with the assignment title, your name, and the due date. Your reference list must be on a separate page at the end of your file. These pages do not count towards the assignment’s page count.
  3. Common phrases do not require citations. If there is doubt as to whether or not information requires attribution, provide a footnote with publication information or use APA format citations and references.
  4. You are expected to write grammatically correct English in every assignment that you submit for grading. Do not turn in any work without (a) using spell check, (b) using grammar check, (c) verifying that your punctuation is correct and (d) reviewing your work for correct word usage and correctly structured sentences and paragraphs.
  5. Consult the grading rubric for specific content and formatting requirements for this assignment.

Submit For Grading

Submit your Employee Handbook approval draft in MS Word format (.docx or .doc file) for grading using your assignment folder. (Attach the file.)

Discuss the types of stocks or categories of stocks that you will take ownership of and why?

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Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 3, 6, and 7, and review the corresponding PowerPoint slides. In the next five weeks, you will be working on building a well-diversified portfolio. Your initial investment stake will be $50,000 (the portfolio should use at least 95% of the initial investment amount, but do not use more than $50,000). Each week, you will use a portion of this money to make investments. You will use the closing prices from the first day of class to determine the price of each issue. Only whole lots of any issues may be acquired: that is no less than 100 shares of common or preferred stock with a maximum dollar purchase amount of $10,000, no less than five corporate bonds and U.S Treasury bonds with a maximum value of $10,000 (par or face value $1000). For mutual funds, your maximum amount of dollar investment is $20,000. Your options, future contracts, and any other related investment instrument cannot exceed $10,000. Take into consideration that transaction costs are a flat 6% of the gross purchase.

In this assignment, you will make an initial purchase of publicly traded stocks in order to build your portfolio. You will have a spending budget of $10,000 to be purchased in units of a 100 shares (include commission cost). Before you purchase and record your purchased stock, you will need to complete the following steps:

  • Create your personal investment objectives and financial goals, using the portfolio spending amounts and allocation of the various types of investment alternatives in the Final Project (key areas to consider may be risk and safety of principal, current income versus capital appreciation, liquidity considerations, and managing and evaluating the portfolio over a short-term or long-term).
  • Discuss the types of stocks or categories of stocks that you will take ownership of and why?
  • Discuss the types of stocks or categories of stocks that you will take ownership of and why?
  • Develop a company profile sheet or fact sheet for each stock company you have selected.
  • Analyze your selected stock companies’ fundamentals, which should include a summary of the companies’ qualitative and quantitative data. Also include supporting data justifying why you selected the companies. Additionally,
    • Create a tracking spreadsheet or table for your purchases.
    • Develop a holding return calculations table for your purchases.
    • Summarize the companies’ peer-group analysis, year-end comparison, annual financial highlights, news events of the companies, and ratio analysis.

The Building your Stock Portfolio paper,

  • Must be 3 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style(Links to an external site.)
  • Must include a separate title page with the following:
    • Title of paper
    • Student’s name
    • Course name and number
    • Instructor’s name
    • Date submitted

 

Discuss which career opportunities in your discipline appeals to you most based on your research.

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In your chosen discipline, there are likely to be a lot of different career opportunities.

For this assignment, research three different types of career opportunities in your discipline (e.g., accounting, finance, economics). Using the materials you develop, write an essay of 500-750 words that compares and contrasts three different types of jobs within your chosen discipline. The paper must address the following areas:

Discuss which career opportunities in your discipline appeals to you most based on your research.
Explain what you learned from this research.
Discuss how this information will influence your studies and future career.
The paper may be written in the first person and must be grammatically correct.

Early explain the Project and grab the reader’s attention. What is it about? What is the key question? Why is it relevant or important?

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Introduction:
1. Early explain the Project and grab the reader’s attention. What is it about? What is the key question? Why is it relevant or important?

2. Present a literature review that summarizes current knowledge on your research subject. This component requires extensive reference to appropriate literature sources, putting the ideas or findings of other researchers into an appropriate context. Keep it relevant; not everything written about your topic will be relevant to your study. Your literature review should be a focused argument that explains and justifies your aim and objectives, based mainly on up-to-date academic literature.

3. From the review of the literature, identify an appropriate research question –a gap in current knowledge or an area that requires clarification. This provides the justification for your research. In some Projects, your research questions will lead on to a statement of your hypothesis(es).

4. You should conclude your introduction with a statement of the aim of your work. The aim itself should be stated as concisely as possible but should be followed by specific research objectives to help you to achieve your aim.

Note: you should have a single aim; and the objectives are the steps required to reach that aim.

Investigate and report on how Early Childhood Educators apply knowledge of social and emotional development of children aged 3-5 to establish and foster respectful relationships.

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Assessment task 1: Social and emotional developmental report.

Details:
1. Investigate and report on how Early Childhood Educators apply knowledge of social and emotional development of children aged 3-5 to establish and foster respectful relationships.

2. You will begin by describing the social and emotional development of children aged 3-5.

3. Analyze and describe social and development in relation to establishing and maintaining respectful relationships between … the child and the educator and between the child’s and his /her peers.

4. Identify and critically discuss pedagogy, principles and practices that support.

5. Include in your discussion practices use in early childhood education to prepare young children for the transition to school and the role of early childhood educators in this preparation.

6. Support your claims with relevant theories about early childhood development and education that inform practice.

7. Examine, analyze and describe social and emotional development within a current framework either the NQS ( National Quality Standard ) or EYLF ( Early Years Learning Framework ).

Assessment Criteria
The discussion report must:
1. Explain social and emotional development of children 3-5 years old links to contemporary theories that inform practice

2. Examines, analyses and describes social and emotional development links to a current framework (NQS or EYLF)

3. Contain correct spelling, grammar and punctuation and APA style referencing.

4. Must contain 10 peer reviewed articles / References. (citing at least 10 peer reviewed articles or similar).

5. Discussion points must be supported by relevant early childhood scholarly literature, theory and EYLF/NQS.

Identify the relevant international treaties and national laws which affect international business transactions.

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Assessment Information

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the legal environment of international business.
  2. Understand the various ways in which international business transactions {export, licensing, FDI etc} are conducted and the legal issues involved in each.
  3. Evaluate the social, political and legal risks of conducting business transactions beyond national borders.
  4. Identify the relevant international treaties and national laws which affect international business transactions.
  5. Understand how international business disputes are resolved with particular appreciation of the problems of jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments.

 

This assignment is an individual assignment.

Assignment question

This assignment requires you to write an essay on the following question:

  • Globalization and neoliberal ideologies are driving an increasing internationalization and liberalization of trade and markets. Local barriers, such as tariffs, however, constrain international trade, while regional arrangements, such as preferential trade agreements, are criticized as a threat to the future stability of a multilateral trade system. The GATT/WTO system tries to resolve some of these issues and promote free international trade. Critically discuss the GATT/WTO system and its relationships with preferential trade agreement and critically assess its effectiveness in the context of globalization and local resistances, also providing perspectives and recommendations for improvement.

All essays must rely on a solid knowledge of the relevant law and on appropriate academic theories, evidence from case studies, official documents etc. Please do not cite lecture slides and unreliable online sources.

Criteria for Assessment

  • Clearly written, coherently structured and well-referenced presentation;
  • Evidence of individual research;
  • Depth of analysis of the subject matter;
  • An objective justification of points argued and personal views expressed. Students are reminded of the University’s strict policy on plagiarism.  Students must follow the Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) and use it correctly) (details can be found in Plagiarism section).

 

Word Count

The word count is 4000.

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark (after internal moderation) for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

The word limit excludes references.

How to submit your assessment

The assessment must be submitted by 18:00:59 on 6 April 2020. No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.

  • Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.
  • Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents.
  • All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero.
  • The University wants you to do your best. However we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict.  If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.

You will find information about the process and what is or is not considered to be an event beyond your control at https://share.coventry.ac.uk/students/Registry/Pages/Deferrals-and-Extension.aspx

  • Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
  • Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT

Plagiarism

As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work.  Doing so is known as plagiarism.  It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw.  You can also check your understanding of academic conduct by completing the Good Academic Practice quiz available on Moodle.

Self-plagiarism or reuse of work previously submitted

You must not submit work for assessment that you have already submitted (partially or in full), either for your current course or for another qualification of this and any other university, unless this is specifically provided for in your assignment brief or specific course or module information. Where earlier work by you is citable, ie. it has already been published/submitted, you must reference it clearly. Identical pieces of work submitted concurrently will also be considered to be self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism is unacceptable because you cannot gain credit for the same work twice.

 

Moodle includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise yourself with the Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought.  The OSCOLA quick reference guide can be found on your Moodle page and on the Courseweb. For the full guide, please visit https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/publications/oscola. Again, if you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing, a member of the course team or refer to the OSCOLA LibGuide available on Locate.

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have marked work returned to you in 15 working days for level 4 and 5, 10 working days for level 6 and 7 level. If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed his / her review.

What types of research will you perform? What internal and external sources will you utilize? Why? What will you do with the data outputs?

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Read and analyze the case Segway: A Unique Personal Transportation Device.

Imagine you are the Product Manager for the Segway Personal Transportation Device and need to determine what its market potential is.

What questions do you need to answer?

What types of research will you perform? What internal and external sources will you utilize? Why? What will you do with the data outputs?

Examine the macro-environment, what does it tell about the potential for the Segway?

What mistakes and pitfalls could have been avoided if your research plan had been implemented?

Create a 3-year forecast for Segway based on current market conditions. Be sure to explain your methodology and defend your reasoning. You are allowed to make your own assumptions in situations where the data is incomplete.

Guidlines
Your analysis must be a minimum of 1,000 words, but no more than 1,200. Your paper should formatted according to APA standards (double-spaced,Times New Roman,12-point font, 1-inch margins)