Coursework
Coursework is likely to include practical laboratory exercises
(individually or in groups), written reports and essays, seminar presentations,
and/or other forms appropriate to each individual course unit. The
weightings of coursework and examination marks used in computing the
course unit results are given in the course unit descriptions.
Make sure that you understand all issues related to academic
malpractice as summarized in Appendix *, and
the following issues pertaining to coursework: make sure you read all
of these sections carefully before undertaking any coursework.
There are two types of
coursework, Group and Individual. Students may not elect to undertake
a given assignment as group work when it has been set as individual
work.
Individual work is an assessment of your own ability to complete the
coursework. It should not be tackled in a group and you are
responsible for ensuring that you submit your own original work.
You should read Appendix * carefully before submitting
individual coursework.
Some coursework requires students to work in groups. The marks awarded for a student can be generated in two ways:
- a group mark: all members of the group will be awarded the same mark irrespective of the contribution of the individual team members.
- an individual mark: each member of the group will gain an individual mark that will be based on their individual contribution to the group.
Where given, an individual mark is often computed from a group mark
(awarded to the entire group) and an individual mark that will be
based on observation by members of staff and/or the assessment of an
individual report.
You should be clear about the means of assessment that is to be used before you embark on coursework.
You should also be aware of the basis on which the coursework is
assessed. There are two types:
- Academic quality only: in this case the groups mark is
determined solely by the standard assessment of the academic quality
of the work. No marks are given for group organisation and
management; of course, well-organised, well-managed groups will
generally produce higher quality submissions than those groups that
are not.
- Academic and organisational quality: in this case a group's
marks are based on the academic quality of the work and the
ability the group have demonstrated in managing and organising itself, and the ability of the groups members to work together.
Finally, you should be aware that most group projects are assessed
through a number of group deliverables (for example, a single
group report). However, in some cases individual reports or
presentations will also be required from the group's members. In
this case, the individual assessment will be treated in the same
way as individual work.
and rules for late submission will be set by the course unit lecturer(s), but the default is as follows:
- coursework is handed in weekly, to cover that week's topics. Deadline is 9:00 of the 'next' taught day.
- each piece of coursework that has not been handed in by the
deadline is marked with 0 marks, and deadline extensions
are only given on the basis of mitigating circumstances (see
Section *). Late submission is not possible.
- in order to prevent students from failing a course unit due to missed coursework, there is an additional, complementary set of coursework that can be answered by students to make up the marks they need in order to pass the coursework part - but these are capped at 50%. This coursework can also be used to prepare for exams and deepen students understanding of the material.
This is the default model only: make sure you understand the deadlines and procedures for each of the course units you take. Also, a course unit lecturer may make exceptions if there are practical considerations (such as problems in a lab).
