Posted: April 4th, 2015

Contemporary Debates in Business;

UGB 117: Contemporary Debates in Business;

Assessment Brief 2014/15
The assessment for this module is in the form of a portfolio presented in two parts:
Part one: (30% of overall mark)
Throughout the module a short ‘thinking summary’ is jointly prepared by each critical thinking
group. This summarises the key points of the debate as presented and identifies the type of
argument made. Your group’s summary is submitted to your seminar tutor. Each group will be
offered formative feedback on their work during the feedback surgeries which the group can then
use to improve the work. At the end of the module your group must collectively choose the best
three thinking summaries (amended according to the formative feedback received) to submit for
final assessment. Each of these summaries can be up to 500 words in length. One copy of the
summaries selected must be submitted with the names of those within the group clearly indicated
on each of the summaries and the submission sheet.
Part two: (70% of overall mark)
You must choose one topic from the five that have been debated and, building upon the group
work that you have done for the critical thinking summary, produce a 2000 word ‘Critical Thinking
Assignment’ that identifies the types of argument made and introduces your own research on the
topic before presenting an evaluative judgment. This is an individual piece of work.
Present your three chosen group thinking summaries together with your individual critical thinking
assignment to be summatively assessed against all learning outcomes for this module, which are:
? Knowledge and understanding of some of the current debates in five key topics, and of the
underlying principles and concepts associated with them.
? An understanding of the role and value of the presentation, evaluation, and interpretation
of a variety of data and the development of lines of argument in making sound
judgments in accordance with the basic theories and concepts of business.
? An ability to communicate the results of your study through structured and coherent
argument.
? Personal responsibility for drawing conclusions based on complex arguments and diverse
information.
To complete the module successfully you will need to have demonstrated that you have met all
of these learning outcomes. They will be marked against the University’s assessment criteria,
which can be found at :
https://docushare.sunderland.ac.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-7861/AQH-F6-
15%20Generic%20Assessment%20Criteria.pdf
Assignment submission:
Your portfolio should be submitted in hard copy to the Library Assignment submission desk at St
Peter’s Campus no later than 2pm on Tuesday April 28th 2015. Ensure that you have submitted
your work with a standard cover sheet on which you should indicate your seminar tutor’s name.
As well as a hard copy, an electronic copy of the assignment should also be submitted through
Turn It In at the same time. You will be given the opportunity to submit one draft through Turn It
In prior to your final submission.
Two separate Turn It In spaces will be also be created, one for the submission of individual work
and the other for the submission of the group work. Please ensure that all group members’ names
are indicated on the group work.
Only one member of a group should submit the group work. The member of the group who
submits the group work should ensure that this is submitted as a separate document to the
library and online – it should not be appended to the individual component of assessment.
If you anticipate any difficulty in handing in your work on time, please make sure that you
adhere to the requirements of the university policy on extenuating circumstances.
Hints and tips for doing well:
1. Remember that this is about how YOU think, so there are no ‘right’ or wrong’ answers. Your
work will be assessed on how well you can demonstrate systematic research into a topic, critical
reflection, and development of argument supported by information from reliable sources
2. Make sure that you are fully familiar with the learning outcomes and assessment criteria
for the module. You have had plenty of opportunity to evaluate your work against these
throughout the module, but if there is anything you don’t understand, ASK. If you fail to
address any of the outcomes we can’t give you credit for that aspect of the module, so
make sure you check your own work before you hand it in to ensure that you’ve
considered everything that is asked of you.
3. Don’t forget the formative feedback you have been given. The guidance contained is just
as applicable to your individual work as it is to your group work.
4. Remember, just because the hand-in date may seem far off, that doesn’t mean that all of
the work should be done in the few days before that. You will undoubtedly have other
pieces of work to hand in around that time, and if you try to do everything in a rush you
will overload yourself and are unlikely to do as good a job as you are really capable of.
Work steadily throughout the module and you will find that it is much easier to complete
an impressive portfolio.