BS13310 Essay assignment tutee details 2008-9.doc
BS13310 Research & Communication Skills
Word Essay assessment (Part A).
Complete in blue or black pen or type
Name of Student
Email:
Name of Tutor
Date
Essay Title
Part A. Essay formatting
Formatting Parameters to be applied to the Tutorial Assessed Essay
Parameters
Details
Paper size
Margins
Top
Bottom
Left,
Right
Body Text Alignment
Page Numbers included?
A4 (Page Layout/size)
Check ‘Page layout/margins’
2.0 cm
2.0 cm
3.5cm
2.0 cm
Left Aligned (Page Layout/paragraph)
Insert at the bottom of each page in the centre
position. (insert/header&footer/page number)
Formatting- Font styles
and sizes
Title
Headings and sub headings,
Body text,
Generic and specific names
Subscripted text included?
Superscripted text
included?
Other important features
Equations and fractions
Picture or clipart
Picture (1)
Word-wrap (1)
Symbols from the
Character map
Spell-checked (1) and readthrough by colleague (1)
(home tab/font)
Any Sans Serif font Bold 14 point (eg Arial)
Any Sans Serif font Bold 12 point (eg Arial)
Any Serif font, 12 point (eg Times New Roman)
Any Serif font, Italics, 12 point
From Keyboard: Select text, press <Ctrl +> or click
on subscript (home tab/font)
Possible
mark
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
From Keyboard: Select text, press <Ctrl Shift +> or
click on superscript (home tab/font)
1
Insert using Equation Editor (insert tab, Equation)
Find a relevant picture, insert into the essay in an
appropriate place and word-wrap the text around it.
Wrapping style: - square and wrap figure to the right.
(insert tab, symbol) e.g.  µ
2
2
Document must be spell-checked and spelling
corrected using UK English (not US English) or
Welsh (review tab/proofing)
Maximum total mark
2
Checker email ID :
Total mark checked and entered by Tutor (signature)
1
20
Student
selfmark
Checker
mark
BS13310 Essay assignment tutee details 2008-9.doc
BS13310 Research & Communication Skills Essay assessment (Part B) Complete in blue
or black pen or type
Name of Student
Email:
Name of Tutor
Date
Essay Title
Part B. Essay layout / References
Layout and Reference list parameters to be applied to the Tutorial Assessed Essay
Essay Layout Criteria
1. Layout (maximum 7 marks)
a. Paragraphs (2 marks for consistent use throughout essay)
b. Subheadings (2 marks for consistent use throughout essay)
c. At least 1 picture or diagram (with legend) (No marks if no legend)
d. Table (or second figure as appropriate)
2. Attention to detail & use of language (maximum 6 marks)
a. No orphaned lines of text or tables or figures spanning two pages?
b. 1.5 pt line spacing?
c. Word count given ? (review tab/proofing)
d. Figures and tables referred to in text?
e. No homophones used incorrectly (eg two & too & to; their & there)
f. Abbreviation(s) included and fully defined at first mention?
3. References (maximum 7 marks)
a. References included?
b. Endnote used?
c. Primary (1°) references (peer-reviewed scientific journals)?
d. Are the references referred to appropriately in the text?
e. Are URLs hyperlinked and access dates provided for websites?
Maximum total mark
Checker email ID:
Total mark checked and entered by tutor (signature):
Mark
2
2
1 (or 2 for good quality)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1 (or 2 for both)
20
Student
self
mark
Checker
mark
BS13310 Essay assignment tutee details 2008-9.doc
BS13310 Research & Communication Skills assessment (Part C)
Complete in blue or black pen or type
Name of Student
Email:
Name of Tutor
Date
Essay Title
Feedback to student
Tutor use only
Mark
Total mark for Part A (Max 20) (Essay Formatting) marked by student
Total mark for Part B (Max 20) (Essay Layout/References) marked by student
Total mark for Part C (Max 40) (Essay content, style, overall quality) marked by tutor
(Mark according to standard criteria in student handbook)
Total D = (Part A + Part B + Part C) (Max 80)
Divide D by 4 to give final mark /20 to 1 decimal place
Final mark /20
Tutor: When completed, make a copy of this page for your records before returning parts A, B
and C to student
BS13310 Essay assignment tutee details 2008-9.doc
Instructions for tutees
Essay assignment: Your tutor will either ask you to think of an essay title on a biological theme or will set a
title for you early in Semester 2. The essay title should include an angle, such as a question, for example; ‘How
is the Rocky Shore Ecosystem Affected by Biotic and Abiotic Factors?’ or ‘Stem Cells: Are they the Answer to
Life's Problems?’. Avoid purely descriptive titles such as ‘Great White Sharks’ or ‘Bacterial infections’.
The mark obtained for this tutorial essay assignment will contribute 20% to the BS13310 RESEARCH &
COMMUNICATION SKILLS module.
Your essay should be no longer than 1500 words (excluding references, figures and tables) and should
be formatted and prepared according to the information in the Part A and Part B mark schemes (the word count
should be included at the end). Your tutor will give you a submission deadline date and advise you on how they
would like you to submit the completed essay and mark schemes. You will be given at least three weeks to
complete and mark your essay.
You should lay out your essay according to the information provided to you in BS13310 lectures and
workshops. This information will be made available in the BS13310 RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION
SKILLS module information on Blackboard.
What to include: You should include information from relevant publications, eg New Scientist, Science,
Nature, books and good quality web sites for pictures. Where possible also aim to consult some peer-reviewed
publications. You should provide evidence of your ability to retrieve and present relevant information in the
text and in a citation list, formatted using the Endnote reference manager. You should include reference to no
less than two ‘authentic’ peer-reviewed references and no more than twenty references overall. References
should be presented in the appropriate format in the essay text (eg (Smith, 2005); (Smith & Jones, 2005);
(Smith et al., 2005)). If you compile the list using Endnote the references will already be in an appropriate
format.
You should use the ‘Harvard’ referencing system available in the Endnote style filters. The reference list
shouldType equation here. be placed at the end of the essay. Web references are permitted and should be in a
separate section following the formal reference list, with the full URL and date(s) of access given. Essays
which rely solely on web references are not acceptable. URLs can be cited in the text as eg ‘Web ref. 1’ etc to
avoid disrupting the text with a long URL. Web references should be hyperlinked to the original source.
Using the equation editor (insert tab/symbols/equation): You need to include an equation at the end of your
essay (but before the reference list), using the equation editor. If possible you should use an equation related to
part of your essay content. If you cannot do this, include your surname as one of the variable names and the
current day and month in numeric form.
What you need to do: Before sending your completed essay to your tutor (as an email attachment or hard
copy), use the mark schemes given in both Part A and Part B to check that you have included all of the
necessary features in your essay. Add up the marks as appropriate and enter the values into the boxes. Then ask
a colleague (preferably from your tutor group) to look through your essay and independently check that your
marking is correct. If you have missed anything in the essay, correct it and alter the mark by striking through
and writing the new mark at the side to indicate that the change has been made. You should not alter the
individual marks given by the checker. Ask the checker to confirm your change. The checker should then adjust
their mark in the same way. If you cannot agree on a particular mark, ask your tutor to decide. Then add up the
marks to give a total out of 20 for each section, A & B. Obviously you have the opportunity at each stage to
ensure that you have completed the task according to the specified criteria and there is no reason why you
should not be able to obtain full marks for this part of the assignment!
Note that your tutor will be making spot checks to ensure that you have completed the marking correctly,
against the given criteria. The marks (maximum 20) for Part A. ‘Essay Formatting’ will be combined with the
Part B. ‘Essay layout’ score (maximum 20 marks), to give a maximum possible total of 40 marks. Your tutor
will provide an additional mark out of 40 for content, quality and style. The total figure will be used to calculate
a final mark out of 20 for the Word assignment. This represents 20% of the total mark available for the
BS13310 module.
Your tutor will provide you with feedback on the content and general quality of your essay.