Academic Handbook

6. Assessment

6.1. Preparation and Submission of Assessments

Preparation and Submission of Assessments

General Submission Guidelines

COVER SHEET:

With exception of the critical reflective pieces as a from of assessment, the NICE cover sheet must be submitted with the assessment task, and the declaration signed. This is available on the subject home page. Students agree that their work is their own and all sources acknowledged as part of the signed declaration.

Students must submit all assessments for the subject - every task must at least be attempted as per Alphacrucis Assessment Policy.
Students should always keep a copy of their assessment.
All assessments are to be formatted as specified below:
- Pages should be numbered in the footer and the student’s name and assessment details should appear in the header.
- APA 7^th edition referencing style to be used for assessments. Generally, no footnotes are used.
- Essays should be in portrait orientation with 2.54 cm margins all round and double spacing. 12-point font (Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri are preferred)
- Each line typed is a maximum of 16.51cm in length. Use the flush left style and do not justify lines. Words should not be divided at the end of a line and the hyphenation function should not be used. The first line of a paragraph should be indented.
- Units of work, lesson plans etc. should be in landscape orientation and 10-point font or a slightly smaller font may be used if necessary to fit in the information.
- Upload the assignment in MS Word format onto Moodle.
- Avoid use of we and our, for example: “we believe that . . .” Also, use the designation "I" in academic writing appropriately: when you are deliberately expressing a personal opinion.

Referencing

A reference list is a list of all in-text references used in the document. APA 7th edition referencing format must be used which means generally no footnotes. Arrange the reference list in alphabetical order by the author’s last name or, if there is no author, by the first main word of the title.

A bibliography is a list of sources used in compiling a document. Normally the assignment will indicate if a bibliography is to be supplied, otherwise it is expected that a list of references will be given, set out according to the Style Guide / APA7.

Many resources are available in the Student Information Centre and online to help students master APA7 format.

Quotations

Quotations are exact words taken from any published or unpublished material. In general, you should use direct quotations judiciously in your written work. As a rule of thumb direct quotation should make up less than 15% of an assignment. However, throughout your assignment you are expected to paraphrase the work of many scholars and attribute that paraphrased section to them, without including a specific page number (for example, “Scott (2014) notes that...”). Your writing should be very little of your own opinion but based on many scholarly articles, substantiated by relevant literature.

Direct quotations should only be used where:

rewording the quote in any way would substantially alter its meaning, or
the quote is phrased in such an elegant manner that rephrasing it would destroy its substantive literary quality.

Quotations can also be used to give a definition of technical or key words/concepts or to restate or elaborate a main idea or generalisation.

Turnitin

Submitted assessments go through Turnitin. This is an internet based service that helps detects plagiarism through a similarity report.

Academic Integrity and Misconduct

The National Institute aligns with the Alphacrucis Assessment Policy and the Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy. Be sure to read these documents.

Where there is concern, AC will be consulted. Any academic integrity or misconduct concerns are recorded and kept on a shared register between AC and NICE, reported on quarterly.

NOTE: lecturers also use Turnitin to detect use of AI.