GENC3004 Personal Finance

Overview

*All times are based on Sydney time

The purpose of this assessment is to build a sense of community as we learn about Personal  Finance  together.   It  involves  posting  a   summary  and   some  practical applications from one article of your choice that relates to one of the Units of the course under the 'Learning Community' section of the course website (note that you do not need to post one article on each Unit of the course). An ‘article’ can be a website article, news article, blog article, academic research article, book chapter, video or audio podcast of your choice (please do not use any articles or videos published by Andrew Hingston). However, there is a catch. You must post on an article that no one else has posted  on  this  term.  In  other  words,  there  is  a  'first-mover  advantage'  with  this assessment. You should select your article and post on it early before someone else beats you to it.

The assessment involves three components:

1.  Learning Community Post: Write a short post of up to  1,000 words  (with  no leeway) under the ‘Learning Community’ section of the course website identifying your article, explaining the main points of the article and identifying how you and/or other participants of the course could practically apply those main points (more details on page 7). You only need to make one post on one article for one Unit of the course (you do not need to post one article for each Unit of the course) .

2.  Learning Community Details: Provide the details of both your selected article and your post using the fields provided under the ‘ Learning Community Details’ link in the ‘ Learning Community’ section of the course website. This allows me to create a database of articles and easily check that the article that you have chosen is unique.

3.  Learning Community Report: Provide both a screenshot of your post and the text of the post in PDF format using the Microsoft Word template provided under the ‘Learning Community’ section of the course website. You should then submit it using the ‘ Learning Community Report’ link under the ‘ Learning Community’ section of the course website by the Learning Community Report due date (more details on the format and content of this submission start on page 11). If you notice a typo in your post, you are welcome to correct it in your final submission but any changes should be minor.

Your first post needs to be your ‘final post’ . You cannot just post a short message “I claim this article” and edit it at the end of the term to include some content. Any posts found like this will be deleted.

For your Learning Community Report, you should use the Microsoft Word template provided on the ‘ Learning Community’ section of the course website. This includes a table on page 1 that must be completed. The details in this table should be the same as the ones provided under the ‘ Learning Community Details’ link. Your final file should be submitted in PDF format.

Note that as a student at UNSW, you have access to the full suite of Microsoft Office 365 applications. More information about accessing this software is on page 17. Your Learning Community Report should be submitted using Arial or Helvetica fonts only.

To avoid the situation in which students just copy the articles used by other students, you must choose a ‘unique’ article for which no posts have yet been made under the relevant Unit of the ‘Learning Community’ section of the course website for this term. In other words, once another student ‘claims’ an article for a particular Unit on the course website, you can no longer use it. There is a ‘first-mover advantage’, so you should claim your source by posting on it as soon as possible during the term. Note that if the article is a book, you should base your post on only one chapter of that book. Other students can still post on other chapters of the same book. There is more information on this on page7.

This is an individual assignment. Copying or paraphrasing the work of another student in the current or previous term is academic misconduct and will result in a fail grade being awarded for both this assessment and the course.

The Learning Community Assignment is worth 10% of your assessment for this course.

Note that some students may mistakenly believe that they need to post on one article for each of the ten Units of the course. This is incorrect. You should only post on one article for one Unit of the course.

If you have questions about the Learning Community Assignment, please post your question under the ‘ Learning Community Assignment’ thread in the General Forums. I will only reply to emailed questions if the subject matter of the question is obviously inappropriate for posting on the general forums because it relates to a personal or confidential issue.

Weight

The Learning Community Assignment is worth 10% of your assessment for this course.

You must submit via TurnitIn

As indicated earlier, there are three components to this assessment:

1.  Learning Community Post: Write a short post of up to  1,000 words  (with no leeway) under the ‘Learning Community’ section of the course website.

2.  Learning Community Details: Provide the details of both your selected article and your post using the fields provided under the ‘Learning Community Details’ link in the ‘Learning Community’ section of the course website.

3.  Learning Community Report: Provide both a screenshot of your post and the text of the  post  and  submit  it  via  Turnitin  using  the  ‘Learning  Community  Report Submission Link’ under the ‘Learning Community’ section of the course website (more details on the format and content of this submission start on page 11).

The key thing is that you must both submit your post on the course website for other students to read AND submit it in PDF format using the Microsoft Word template provided. The version that you submit via Microsoft Word is assessed by the Turnitin plagiarism detection software and is the version that will be graded. The post on the forums is for the benefit of other students.

Failing to submit your post using the Microsoft Word template provided  under the ‘Learning Community Report Submission Link’ under the ‘Assessment 3: Learning Community’ section of the course website will result in you being awarded a score of zero for this assessment. If no special consideration is granted, the latest that the file can be submitted is 5 days after the original due date (and time).

Late Penalties

Late submission will incura penalty of 5% per day or part thereof (including weekends) from the due date and time. An assessment will not be accepted after 5 days (120 hours) of the original deadline unless special consideration has been approved. An assignment is considered late if the requested format, such as hard copy or electronic copy, has not been submitted on time or an incorrect document has been submitted.

Note that the late penalty will be deducted from the score that you receive for the submission (not the maximum possible mark). If you receive 70/100 for the submission and it is two days late, you will receive a score of 60/100.

Note that there is a short ‘grace period’ of a few minutes after the submission time to allow for slow internet connections. No penalty will apply if the submission is within this ‘grace period’ . Please do not email me asking if your submission falls within this grace period.

Since this assignment can be submitted at any time during the term, the maximum period of special consideration that will be granted for this assessment (for any reason) is 7 days from the original due date. Also, the maximum extension that will be granted for  Equitable  Learning  Plans will  also  be 7 days from the original due date. Any submissions received after this will automatically be awarded a score of zero.

Special Consideration

Special consideration will only be granted for the Learning Community Assessment in exceptional cases. You are responsible for completing your Learning Community post well before the due date/time to allow for unexpected circumstances or illness. Being ill on the last few days before the date of submission will  not normally constitute grounds for special consideration.

If special consideration is granted, the maximum extension that will be granted is 7 days from the original due date. Any assignments received more than 7 days from the original due date will automatically be awarded a score of zero.

An application for Special Consideration together with supporting documentation must be submitted online within 3 working days of the due date. The process for applying for special consideration is here:https://student.unsw.edu.au/special-consideration

No Short Extensions

The university has recently introduced the option for students to apply for a short extension  without  providing  documentation  (such  as  a  medical  certificate).  This assessment task is not eligible for a short extension without documentation.