Experts should pick the topic.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
Choosing a focus
Whatever your interests, you need to ensure that you have a clear focus or aim for your study. This may be in the form of a question or a particular outcome or in the form of examining/developing specific clinical practice. Please note that this should not be primary research.
Make a positive choice:
You will have to live with your Independent Study for some months. Are you really interested in the topic / subject?
Availability of material/resources:
Is the relevant information / material or other resources available?
Do you have access to the resource you need?
Beware of over ambitious projects:
Have you enough time to carry out your study? Remember this is only a single module
Have you a tight enough focus?
Collective work
This must be negotiated with the co-ordinator for your programme. Such proposals are complex and not always feasible in the time span available for Independent Studies. If a collaborative / group project is chosen, each student must provide his / her own individual report.
Assessment information
This module follows the principles of the University’s Assessment and feedback policy developed in conjunction with the Student Union, to ensure good practice and transparency in assessment and feedback processes. The Assessment and feedback policy can be found in your Programme Handbook or on your Programme’s Brookes Virtual site.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment plays a key role in ensuring that you develop and demonstrate the required knowledge and skills to successfully complete your programme.
COURSE WORK -100%
The actual form of assessment will vary, according to your choice of topic and presentation of material. It will be equivalent to a 3,500-word essay. The form of the assessed piece of work will have been negotiated by you and your supervisor, discussed by the Programme team.
Your work will be marked using the M level marking criteria see also section headed . “Learning outcomes assessed and assessment criteria Presenting coursework for assessment”
Your assignment must be presented in the following format:
❑ It must be word-processed in 11 point Arial font and double-spaced
❑ All pages must be numbered
❑ Margins must be as follows: Top: 1 inch, Bottom: 1 inch (2.5 cm), Left: 1.25 inches, Right: 1.25 inches (3.2 cm)
Your supervisor will explain any of the criteria that you are unfamiliar with.
Assignment length
The length of an assignment is limited by a set number of words , to contribute towards the development of writing skills and to ensure all work is assessed equitably. However, the form of independent study assignment is flexible and will be agreed between you and your supervisor, as will be the number of words that you complete. This should be in the region of 3.500 words for a single written submission e.g. an essay or report, or the equivalent if you are using other media or a combination of media, e.g. a video or slide set plus a short reflective paper. Once this has been clarified with your supervisor, you will be required to complete your assignments within the agreed word count.
The specified count agreed refers to the main body of the report and does not include front cover, title page, contents page, executive summary, reference list, bibliography or appendices. The word count does include headings, tables and in-text citations, but not equations or diagrams.
Appendices themselves will not be marked. However, inappropriate use of appendices will be taken into consideration when awarding the final mark.
Words that exceed the maximum allowed will not be marked. If in doubt, you should discuss this with your supervisor before submission.
Turnitin
Written elements of your assignment on this module will be submitted through Turnitin. Turnitin is a web-based tool that supports the development of good academic practice when preparing written work for assessment. This text-matching tool allows academic staff to check assignments for improper use of sources or potential plagiarism by comparing it against continuously up-dated databases (including web-pages and other student work).
Submission date and instructions
Arrangements for handing in coursework:
Please upload your work onto the Turnitin site