I thought I would jot down a few FAQs for the report assessment. This is normally a very straightforward exercise and you all have excellent topics to write about, thanks to the sound research you already conducted for your oral presentations.
FAQs
Q. How important is the word count?
A. It is important, as the unit descriptor asks for 650 words minimum and that is imperative as an immovable SQA starting point. I have set an upper word limit as 1000 which helps you focus your research.
Q. Do I have to use the MS Word table function to construct my contents page?
A. No, I haven't asked for that level of prescription, but I would advise that if you are good at making a table up from Word, please use those skills. (I'm not a master at that myself incidentally!) If you are in my camp, please just type up the contents page manually. This often saves on time.
Q. What is the process of submitting the report?
A. Everybody will e mail me their final report by e mail, anytime before 11th January 2022. I will then save that in a folder and mark them all in the "flexible working week" and mail you back individually with detailed feedback. You then make the necessary changes (if there are any) and upload to Turnitin on Moodle. This will be opened up around 14/1/22. This checks for similarity issues and whether all recommended amendments have been made.
Q. What generally speaking are the avoidable mistakes that learners make when they submit their drafts to you?
A. Submissions often contain errors such as: no date on the front cover, word count, contents page doesn't have numbered headings, no page numbers, contractions are used and the weblinks in the final section don't have the date they were last accessed.
Q. Am I right in saying that you don't want us to use the word I in the reports?
A. Yes, that is correct. It isn't an essay, so the report should be analytical and evaluative. If you look at the exemplar reports I showed you, you will see they don't start with "I was asked to...". Rather, the phraseology is "Stan Free was requested by Mark Hetherington (Lecturer in Communication) to write a report on the topic of..." There should be no personalisation in the reports, which means the reporting should be objective. I will send you a short document on using formal English after the class on 30th November. This has some handy tips and tricks to help you.
Q. Once the report is uploaded to Turnitin, what is the accepted similarity percentage?
A. Now, that is an interesting question, because I guess there isn't a definitive answer to that. Sometimes the headings can bump up the %, as can the references and other issues, such as statistics. But the general rule is, the lower the better! I will look at each report independently, but you should be careful to check you don't see large chunks of text which infers there could be some unreferenced copy and pasting at work! I would be surprised to see any evidence of that given the level of study you are working at, but it is certainly worth reinforcing. If the report needs to be resubmitted with some minor amendments, I will advise you on a one to one basis where, when and why!
Q. Could I change my report topic?
A. Yes, you can. But my general advice is to stick with the same subject you presented so well on for the first assessment as the research is already done, or in progress (more info. can always come to light, as the process is by definition, dynamic). If you DO change topic, please a) make sure it is still Counselling related and b) consult with me before you start writing and researching. Please don't forget to diarise (in some way) when your other assessments are due in. That should always be a consideration when thinking about assessment submissions!
Q. How many sources of information should I use to provide a detailed report at this level?
A. Again, whilst there is no specific guidance on this within the unit descriptor, I would advise that three sources absolutely minimum would be the order of the day. But rarely have I seen just three assessing this outcome over many years, as learners are so engrossed in their respective areas of research. As a very rough and not particularly scientific piece of advice, my advice is at least one source per 200 words, which works really well most of the time.
Q. Can I use graphics, tables, statistics in my report?
A. Yes you can. It is a formal document, and sometimes this enhances the document and is often dependent on the research topic whether you would include this type of information.
If any more questions come up, I will address them either here, within our Zoom sessions and/or via e mail.
I hope this helps!
Mark
These are very helpful resources indeed, thank you.
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