Immanuel CollegeAT1 Academic Literacy StudyStage 2 EALMarie Healy
Term 3 2017
Assessment Type 1: Academic Literacy Study (30%)
You will develop your academic literacy skills through creating written and oral academic texts and extending your communication skills and strategies.
You will investigate a question or a topic and present their findings in an academic style by producing two tasks:
• a written report
• an oral interaction, such as a tutorial or discussion.
When investigating the question or topic, you are to use a range of sources.
NB – One of the sources must include a listening and/or multimodal presentation on an aspect of the question or topic studied (e.g. public lecture, online lecture, conference keynote address, public address, seminar, broadcast, podcast, TED talk, interview, speech).
In presenting your findings, you must use language appropriate to an academic context.
Written Report
• The written report consists of the findings of the study.
• The findings of the study should be a maximum of 1500 words.
• The written report must be structured with an introduction that indicates the question or topic.
• The body of the report should be organised under headings and subheadings.
• Elements such as an abstract, a sources analysis, an annotated bibliography, or an account of the research methodology may be included as part of the report, provided that they are within the word count.
• The conclusion should summarise the findings, evaluate information, and/or make recommendations. The report must include references to sources, using consistent referencing.
Oral Interaction
In the oral interaction, within a group context, you should:
• briefly present the findings of your study or an aspect of your study
answer questions posed by other group members, and/or lead a group discussion,
The oral interaction focuses on the spontaneous use of language within a prepared structure.
You may use technology to aid the presentation of the oral interaction.
The oral interaction should be a maximum of 10 minutes.
Assessment Design Criteria
• communication
• comprehension
• application.
Task Requirements:
Written Report (1500 words total max)
• annotated bibliographies (50-60 words each) 2-3 (not included in word count)
• abstract (200 words)
• report(1000 – 1300 words)
• Reference List (correctly formatted ¬ included in word count)
Oral Interaction (10 minutes max) will be video recorded
• present findings (4-5 minutes)
remaining time
• answer questions from audience
• and/or lead a group discussion on issues arising from your presentation (recommended if you wish to achieve in the higher grade bands)
WORK REQUIREMENTS – what you need to do to get the work done!)
• choosing topic & guiding question/hypothesis
• proposal
• background research & note taking; paraphrasing information
• annotated bibliographies
• surveys/interviews- collecting data; summarising findings (draft questions)
• write outline for report
• write draft of report
• prepare for tutorial – presentation; discussion
• present tutorial, answer questions, lead discussion
• hand up final copy of report (including abstract, reference list, appendices, etc.
DEADLINES:
COMPONENT DUE DATE
Written proposal Friday, week 1
Annotated bibliographies Friday, week 3
Interviews/surveys Friday, week 4
Outline of report Friday, week 5
Draft of report (including abstract) Friday, week 6
Oral Interaction presentations Week 7 (to be scheduled)
Final copy of report Friday, week 8
Major components of your ALS report
Title Page:
Name, SACE number, topic & question
Abstract no more than 200 words:
what was the problem?
how was it investigated?
what did you find out and
what do your findings mean?
Table of Contents:
A list of the major and minor sections of your report.
Introduction:
Set the scene; give some background information about the topic. State the aim/purpose of the investigation. Outline the body sections.
Main Body: Organise the sections in a logical sequence:
what you investigated, what you found, what interpretations and what judgements you made.
Use short informative headings and subheadings.
Conclusion:
What has been achieved?
What is the significance of your findings and your discussion?
Have your aims been successful or not?
Recommendations:
What do you recommend as a course of action following your conclusion?
References:
A list of all the sources you used (correctly formatted)
Appendices:
survey questions, graphs, charts
PRIMARY SOURCES FOR INVESTIGATION
What is primary data?
Data used in research originally obtained through the direct efforts of the researcher through surveys, interviews and direct observation. Primary data is more costly/difficult to obtain than secondary data, which is obtained through published sources, but it is also more current and more relevant to the investigation.
What kind/s of primary data would work for my investigation?
Survey?
Interview?
Phone call/email
Original sources?
What do I want to find out? What would be the purpose of my survey or interview?
Survey – question types, how to interpret data (quantitative or qualitative?); survey group; sample size
Interview – expert or just someone with knowledge and/or opinions on topic? Face to face; phone
Drafting/testing
• Draft any survey or interview questions beforehand
How to include primary data in my report
• Copy of questions can be included as an appendix (not part of word count)
• Recording can be submitted as a sound file (evidence that it took place)
• Data should be interpreted, analysed, evaluated throughout body of report in relevant sources
• Should be listed in Bibliography/Reference list at end of report
Any Primary data you are intending to use in your investigation should be collected by.
Drafts of survey or interview questions should have been checked before
