LIBRARY AND LEARNING COMMONS

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 Learning Skills Advisors Subject Librarians
Charmaine Botha Sibusisiwe Mgquba
Focus: Focus
Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Social Sciences,
PGD & HDR PGD & HDR
Tel: 011 950 4455 Tel. 011 950 4150
charmaine.botha@monash.edu Sibusisiwe.mgquba@monash.edu
John Small Linda Mbonambi
Focus Focus
Bus Eco, IT, HDR, PGD & FP Bus Eco, IT, HDR, PGD & FP
Tel: 011 950 4248 Tel: 011 950 4032
John.small@monash.edu Linda.mbonambi@monash.edu

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 Writing an academic essay is like
being a lawyer presenting a case in court

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 What do we want to achieve with
an academic assignment?

RSD facets of research

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 Assignment 1

Assessment task1
A reflection on the development of the child and youth care (CYC) profession
Due date:
1 April 2016 by 5pm

Details of task:
To demonstrate your knowledge about where the CYC profession originated
from, provide information on the following:
Explain the need for children and youth to be protected by summarizing some
historical events that lead to childrens right being acknowledged in a more
serious light.
In two paragraphs mention one pioneer and what s/he did to improve the
well-being of children
Reflect on what you would like to change for children and youth

Word limit: Maximum of 1000 words. Indicate word count underneath your index
Weighting/Value (%): 20%

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 Additional Instructions
Presentation requirements:
Assignments should be typed in Arial font, 1.5 line-spacing, and on A4 white
paper. Assignments must be submitted to turn-it-in for the plagiarism score and
the final version must then also be submitted on Moodle.
You will need to submit your assignments on turn-it-in prior to your
assignment deadline and add your originality score at the bottom of your
index. A percentage above 25% is regarded as plagiarism and discipline
procedures will be initiated in these cases.
Students are reminded to keep a copy of their work in case of lost
assignments or disputes over grading. Student assignments will incur
penalties if work is submitted late (i.e. after the due date).
Use of resources: Be sure to use wider resources than the provided reading
and make it interesting with old news articles, pictures and biographies.
Reference at least 4 other sources of information which you found through
your own literature search. Strictly adhere
to referencing guidelines in your undergraduate guide.

Hurdle requirements: Must be handed in and marked to pass unit

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Rubric: Letter to the Editor

What is a marking rubric?

Poor Developing Average Good Excellent
Accuracy
(has correct names, dates, places)

Structure
(has proper introduction, conclusion,
signposting)

Expression
(is clear /concise/grammatical/lively)

Relevance
(answers the question/avoids digression
or repetition)

Depth
(has quotations, examples, drawn from
a range of appropriate sources)

Intellectual engagement
(engages with the sources/makes an
argument)

Format
(correct essay format, has a
departmental cover sheet/has
bibliography, notes if required)
Presentation
(has proper margins/no unsightly
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 Analysing your question

Begin by identifying the key concepts e.g.

the topic/content areas
Identify the directive words e.g. analyse,
discuss, etc.
Note any limitations e.g. scope, time
period, field of study, area
Format of the assignment (essay, report,
review, poster, annotated bib etc)

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 Analysing the assignment brief
A reflection on the development of the child and youth care
(CYC) profession (in South Africa)

Details of task:
To demonstrate your knowledge about where the CYC
profession originated from, provide information on the
following:
Explain the need for children and youth to be
protected by summarizing some historical events
that lead to childrens right being acknowledged in a
more serious light.
In two paragraphs mention one pioneer and what
s/he did to improve the well-being of children
Reflect on what you would like to change for
children and youth
Key concepts
Limitations
Directive words
Format

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 Find Witnesses
Once you have identified the content area you will
need to examine, you will need to consider what kinds
of resources are required (books, journals, websites,
statistics, etc.) and set about acquiring them.
Look at your reading list, use the reference lists of
these books and journals, and identify what will be
required.
Remember you will need to evaluate the worth of
these resources, so read critically.
Decide what kind of supporting information will be
necessary, and set about organising your resources to
achieve your goal. Often books are good for big
picture information, while journals are often good for
supporting details.
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 Library resources
Resource Name Keywords Results Comments
SEARCH
Library Catalogue Main key concept (e.g.) Physical Book(s) in SA libarary SA has limited books in this area at least
one or two versus large number of students
Physical Books (lecturer needs to reserve)
Electronic Books
E-Books Do a secondary search within the book of your Everyone can use the same e-book at
sub-key concept the same time

DATA BASES Keywords Results Comments

(S) > Main key concept(e.g.)
Africa and South African research Articles relevant to
SA e Publications and publications SA and Africa
(F) > Journal articles / Books/ available
Families and Society Theses/ Web pages
Collection
(E) > Main key concept (e.g.) Examples of relevant articles in Large number of articles
Expanded Academic ASAP journals and other resources as well available international
(P) > (these are interdisciplinary
Proquest databases)
(C)
Child and Welfare
(G) >
Google Scholar (Monash)
Cyc-net.org
WEBSITE (CYC)
http://cyc-net.org/index.html The Profession
http://cyc-net.org/theprofession.html
Google Search
Main key concept (e.g.)

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 Academic Integrity and Library resources

Be sure to use wider resources than the provided reading

and make it interesting with old news articles, pictures
and biographies.
Reference at least 4 other sources of information which
you found through your own literature search.
Make sure you have read the essay guidelines provided
in your undergraduate student guide.
Adhere to the referencing guidelines given in your
undergraduate student guide to avoid plagiarism. You will
be penalized if you use another persons ideas and work
without the appropriate reference to it.

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 Mapping your argument

Once you have analysed the topic and gathered

references, you will need to construct a rough plan.
Some students prefer to make a plan before
reading, some after. However, it is important to
remain flexible, as your knowledge of the topic and
opinion on it may change as you read more.
You might find that your witnesses are vague or
unreliable and you may need to find others

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 Mapping
A reflection on the development of the child
and youth care (CYC) profession
(in South Africa)

Explain the need for children and youth to be protected by In two paragraphs mention one
summarizing some historical events that lead to pioneer and what s/he did to
childrens right being acknowledged in a more serious light. improve the well-being of
(WHY) children (WHO)

Finding information

Reflect on what you would

like to change for children
and youth (WHAT)

Combine: Essay

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 The essay/letter structure
Can be seen as a diamond with the introduction and conclusion at the top and bottom and the
body paragraphs fitting into the middle of the diamond in a series of smaller diamond shapes.

Connect to
next paragraph
and main idea

Your
own
voice

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 Body paragraphs
Paragraph element Purpose

1. Topic This sentence starts by referring to the thesis/your argument. It

Sentence continues to include the main point of this paragraph (your voice)

2. Additional This explains further the point made in the topic sentence. (your voice)
Information

3. Evidence These are essential to justify your point. Your evidence comes from
sentences your research and may include examples, data, quotes, statistics,
graphics and illustrations. All supporting evidence must be from
authoritative sources and cited in your essay. (quote or paraphrase
reference /witness voice)

4. Concluding Again, this sentence links the main thesis of the essay with the main
sentence point of the paragraph. (your voice) and links to the next paragraph

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 REFLECTION

Reflection
We all learn from experience and from thinking back
over our experiences. When done in formal ways to
identify areas for learning this process is known as
reflection.

Reflective learning is a process of examining

experiences with the intention of learning or
gaining new insights to improve practice.
.

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 What is reflective writing?
(PLEASE also SEE NOTES ON SHARE DRIVE)

Reflective writing is evidence of reflective thinking. In an academic context,

reflective thinking usually involves:
Looking back at something (often an event, i.e. something that
happened, but it could also be an idea or object).
Analysing the event or idea (thinking in depth and from different
perspectives, and trying to explain, often with reference to a model or
theory from your subject).
Thinking carefully about what the event or idea means for you and your
ongoing progress as a learner and/or practising professional.
Reflective writing is thus more personal than other kinds of academic writing.
Basically, reflective writing can be broken down into three parts:
1. Description (keep this bit short!) - What happened? What is being examined?
2. Interpretation - What is most important / interesting / useful / relevant about the
object, event or idea? How can it be explained e.g. with theory? How is it similar to
and different from others?
3. Outcome - What have I learned from this? What does this mean for my future?

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 Acknowledging your resources:
Citing and referencing
NB NB NB : if you cite and reference correctly, you will not plagiarize
Ways to cite and reference:
1. MANUALLY (DO the library on-line tutorial 15minutes):
http://monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/citing/
http://resources.lib.monash.edu.au/learning-objects/test/apa-quick-
guide/
2. Using MICRO-SOFT WORD REFERENCING (but you still need to
have the manual referencing background knowledge)
3. Using ENDNOTE (but you still need to have the manual referencing
background knowledge)

Referencing resources:
Monash Library Website, Moodle and Libguides
https://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials
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 Additional resources on Referencing

Monash Share Drive

- UG - Library > Charmaine Learning
skills > Referencing

Lib Guides
Moodle

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 ASK for HELP
For
assistance
with learning, writing or communicating
your findings,
contact
a learning skills advisor
in
the library

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