Assessment for the course will be in the form of two essays (CLOs 1, 2 and 3), one video presentation (CLO 1 and 2) and participation in tutorial forums, including responding to weekly tutorial questions and posting on the online forum (CLOs 1 and 2).

The assessment is designed to develop students' writing, analytical and presentation skills, to encourage independent thinking and learning, and to assess knowledge of the subject area gained through the course.

Essays (2 essays each worth 30%)

Essays questions will be made available on Moodle (there will be two essays each worth 30% of the course mark). Detailed guidance on completing the essays including marking criteria will be provided on Moodle.

Online tutorial forums - questions, answers and participation (20%)

Tutorials (run as online forums) begin in the second week of class. There is no tutorial in the first week.

Note: 10% of your final mark for this class comes from posting your answers to the weekly tutorial questions and then providing comments for discussion on the forums, which is another 10%.

The segment of Moodle where the forum is located is called ‘Tutorial Discussion’. Each week, questions will be posted in the forum. Students need to enter the weekly forum and post your answers to the questions (click ‘reply’ in the forum and type in your answer as a ‘message’).

This is how the online tutorial forums are run:

1. Each week you need to do the readings and post your answers to the questions by 5pm Thursday in the forum form that week. After this time, your tutor will reply to each set of questions with comments and their thoughts.

2. Then to fulfil the ‘participation’ part of the assessment, you will need to respond by 5pm Friday, the next day, to either the tutor's response to your questions, or you can respond to the answers anyone else from the course has posted. It’s up to you what you say – you may seek further clarity about the questions and answers, simply have something interesting to comment on, write about something going on in the world that day or week that relates to the questions, or simply comment on whether you agree or disagree with the answers someone else has posted.

Feel free to share your personal political views and opinions too but be respectful on the forums – if you disagree with someone it is best to back it up with facts and explaining you’re reasoning for disagreeing or holding that opinion. Feel free to be provocative and suggest ideas you think others may not have considered.

Video presentations (20%)

Your assignment is to upload to Moodle a 7-8 minute video presentation on one of the topics provided on Moodle (topics to be confirmed). Presentations will not be ‘live streamed’ so you can take your time and upload the best version of your presentation). Slides, e.g. Powerpoint, should also be used to outline the key points of your presentation (do not use more than 6 slides), and each presentation will be available for the class to watch.

The presentation itself will be worth 15% of your final grade.

Providing Feedback (5%)

An additional 5% of the assessment total will be for providing feedback and asking additional questions about the content of other student’s presentations.

This is just like the online tutorial forums where you will discuss the weekly reading questions with your tutor and with each other.

Your feedback should not judge the quality of your peer’s presentation, rather you should ask any additional questions related to the presentation topic or raise additional points you think worth discussing with the presenter.

To receive the full 5% here you should ask questions/comment on at least three other presentations after the video uploads have been completed.

Presenters who are asked additional questions or have comments are expected to reply but their responses will not be marked.