Assessment 2: Essay (25%)
Topic
Explain the sources of economic inequality (‘the gap’) between indigenous and non-­-indigenous Australians and discuss an economic strategy that you think would help to close the gap. How has your own social position influenced your thinking about the best strategy to close the gap?
Details
• Time will be devoted in class to work on the essay within your work groups. From week 5-­-9, groups will work on identifying cultural self-­-concept, mind-­-mapping the essay, developing a thesis statement and revisiting cultural self-­-concept along with other tasks.
• A good place to start your essay is to use the readings for week 5, the lecture and the workshop task on the ‘veil of ignorance’.
• In addition, in vUWS under week 5, there are two former economic development strategies from the Australian Government and the Cape York Institute that take different approaches. As with the ‘Biddle’ reading, the Cape York Institute follows a capabilities approach and you may want to use the capabilities approach to consider the issues.
• The final part of the assessment asks you to think about your own social position and how that has influenced your thinking about the best strategy to close the gap. To do this, think about the ‘veil of ignorance’ exercise from week 5 because this places you in a position where you have no knowledge of your ‘initial position’ and are thus not positioned, as we all are, socially. Consider how this compares to your argument in the essay. Have you argued from an ‘initial position’ under the veil of ignorance or has your current social position influenced your analysis? One or two paragraphs towards the end of the body of the essay is all that is required for this and it should be seen as a caveat to your argument in the paper. That is, you can qualify your argument by stating that your views are affected by your own social position or strengthen your argument by explaining how you have derived your analysis from an ‘initial position’ under the veil of ignorance.
• You will need a minimum of three references in addition to those listed on vUWS for week 5. These could be academic articles and books, textbooks or United Nations or other organization’s development proposals.
• This assessment task assures course learning outcome 4.1 as follows:
Course learning outcome 4.1 Identify cultural issues in a variety of contexts and make recommendations for improved Business practice.
• Submission via Turnitin is required – please go to vUWS, click on ‘assessments’ and then your class folder.
• Due date: August 25, by 1pm for the day class and 6pm for the evening class
• The following writing requirements are, in part, reproduced with permission from the UWS Hub for Academic Literacy and Learning (HALL) http://www.uws.edu.au/hall/hall.
REQUIREMENTS (Note: section headings are not required)
Introduction The purpose of the introduction is to make clear to the reader what the topic of discussion is, what your position on the topic is, and to give an outline of how your essay will unfold. Therefore an introduction typically has the following features:
1) A thesis statement that answers or responds to the essay question or topic by giving your position, or stating your argument, clearly and concisely. The thesis statement tells the reader what to expect from the essay.
2) An outline that sets the sequence of arguments or issues for discussion in the body of the essay.
Body The purpose of the body of an essay is to support the claim made, or position taken, in the thesis statement. The body of the essay should flow directly from the introduction and be divided up into paragraphs that develop and support your thesis statement through to the conclusion.
Each paragraph should include a topic sentence that presents the main idea of the paragraph (typically the first sentence) and supporting sentences that explain and elaborate on the main idea of the paragraph. These may include examples relevant to the topic of discussion and quotes or paraphrases from other sources to back up the claim made in the topic sentence.
Each paragraph should develop one main idea at a time and be structured logically. The structure of your paragraphs will depend on the main purpose of your essay. An essay which discusses the historical development of an idea may have paragraphs which are structure chronologically, whereas an essay which is arguing a specific position may be organised into sub-­-arguments or reasons. If a particular sequence of discussion is outlined in the introduction, then the structure of the body should adhere to this sequence.
In some cases diagrams, tables and charts may be useful in conveying information in a structured format. However, if you use them make sure you refer to them and discuss their meaning and usefulness for your argument.
Critical analysis
and problem
solving When critically analysing a problem or issue, you need to use appropriate theory and/or research to analyse the problem or issue and to come up with solutions where relevant.
Your essay should also reflect awareness that the topic can be analysed in terms of different, sometimes conflicting theoretical frameworks.
Conclusion The purpose of the conclusion is to draw the main arguments and concepts of your essay together and to show how these arguments and ideas support your essay’s thesis. Therefore, the main features of a conclusion include:
1) A summary that briefly restates the main issues or arguments covered in the body of the essay.
2) A thesis restatement that shows how the main arguments or issues discussed confirm your position.
A conclusion should not introduce any new ideas or draw conclusion that are not supported by the body of the essay.
REQUIREMENTS (Note: section headings are not required)
Bibliography/ references The Bibliography should include academic articles and data sources. Please ensure to include the full references/links and the date that you accessed the sites/data bases. Your reference list will be consistently formatted and will use the Harvard UWS referencing style. Full details and examples are available on the library website at http://library.uws.edu.au/citing.php.
Do not plagiarise. Plagiarism occurs when a student submits work in which ideas, words or other work are taken from a source (for example, a web-­-site or computer program, another student's essay or presentation, a book or journal article, a lecture, a performance piece or other presentation) and presented as if they are the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgement of the original author. In this definition of plagiarism, it is the act of presenting material as one's own without appropriate acknowledgement that constitutes plagiarism, not the intention of the student when doing so.
Academic writing Ensure that your writing is as clear, concise and precise as possible. When writing your essay, use simple English to express your ideas where possible. Avoid using “big” words or flowery language. Instead try to write clearly by using simple language and sentence structures to express complex ideas, and incorporate specialised or technical terminology when it’s needed.
Qualify your statements to ensure they are reasonable and express precisely what you mean. Avoid making sweeping statements or unwarranted generalisations. When evidence could be interpreted in many ways, phrases such as “arguably”, “the evidence suggests”, “it seems” and “it is likely” can be used to modify, limit or adjust your claims so that they are more correct.
Ensure that you proofread your writing and that it is free from spelling and
grammatical errors. You will lose marks for poor spelling and grammar and for essays that have not been adequately proofread and edited.
Word limit Minimum of 1,100 words and maximum of 1,300 words.
Marking criteria and standards
CRITERIA BELOW STANDARD MEETS STANDARD ABOVE STANDARD
Essay structure
(5%) Little and/or inappropriate discussion of key issues and thesis statement, little support for thesis statement and/or the argument has
been presented in an illogical manner. Good introduction and discussion of the key issues with thesis statement and adequate and logically argued
support for the thesis statement. Comprehensive introduction of the key issues with clear and appropriate thesis statement. Comprehensive support for the thesis statement and logically presented argument.
Critical analysis and problem solving (5%) Inappropriately applies theory and/or research to analyse a problem or issue, or uses theory/research inaccurately. Applies some relevant theory and/or research to analyse a problem or issue, and provides basic analysis using a limited range of relevant theories/research. Accurately applies a range of appropriate theories and research to critically analyse a problem or issue.
CRITERIA BELOW STANDARD MEETS STANDARD ABOVE STANDARD
Explain the relevance of the perspectives and
culture of
Indigenous
Australians in an economic context
(25%) ??
?? Demonstrates limited understanding of the perspectives and culture of
Indigenous Australians. Does not explain the relevance of information about perspectives and culture of Indigenous Australians to Business contexts. ??
?? Demonstrates a sound understanding of those aspects of the perspectives and culture of Indigenous Australians which are particularly relevant to Business contexts. Identifies and discusses potential issues related to the perspectives and culture of
Indigenous Australians in
Business contexts. ??
?? Demonstrates a broad and nuanced understanding of the perspectives and culture of Indigenous Australians. Predicts and explains critical issues for Indigenous Australians in Business contexts.
Identify cultural self-­-concept and its implications in a diverse
economic environment
(5%) ?? Does not accurately identify how cultural attitudes and behaviours influence self-­concept or suggest how bias or self-­-concept influence one’s own thinking about economic issues. ?? Articulates how key cultural attitudes, bias and self-­concept influence one’s own thinking about economic issues ?? Provides insightful explanation of how key cultural attitudes, bias and self-­-concept influence one’s own thinking about economic issues.
Articulate an appropriate framework to develop greater cultural awareness about
diversity in a
Business context
(25%) ?? Explains some aspects of a framework to develop greater cultural awareness of an economic issue. ?? Explains clearly an appropriate framework to develop greater cultural awareness of an economic issue ?? Analyses or utilises an appropriate framework to provide insight into complex
Economic issues.
Propose a course of action to resolve complex economic issues that derive from cultural diversity
(25%) ??
?? Does not formulate a course of action suitable to a culturally diverse Business environment.
Provides limited justification for the proposed course of action. ??
?? Generates a comprehensive
course of action suitable to a
culturally diverse Business environment
Provides strong and clear justification for the proposed course of action. ?? Provides compelling justification for a comprehensive course of action proposed as suitable to a culturally diverse Business environment.
Bibliography/ references
(5%)
Overall inadequate or no record of bibliography, or inappropriate references. Good logical structure of bibliography and appropriate references and the method of referencing. Exceptionally high quality of bibliography with the use of a wide range of appropriate resources.
Academic writing
(5%)
Low quality presentation with grammatical errors and inadequate attention to
detail. Good quality presentation, no grammatical errors with adequate attention to detail. Exceptionally high quality presentation of report with excellent attention to detail.