Individual Assignment (Essay) Worth 15% Type A Objective: The purpose of this assignment is to…

Individual Assignment (Essay)

Worth 15% Type A

Objective:
The
purpose of this assignment is to enable students to evaluate professional
communication aspects within an industry in relation to the various elements
covered, and to demonstrate the ability to communicate the key issues through a
written essay.

Assignment topic:
Online communication or computer-mediated
communication (CMC)
The
Internet has become an integral part of our lives. Online communication or CMC
is one of the fastest growing modes of communication for individuals within and
between organisations. We use CMC for social, educational, and business
purposes (Mohan, 2008).
Discuss
the following aspects in your essay:
·
The impact of online communication in an organisational
context;
·
The distinctions between traditional
face-to-face communication and CMC in an organisational context;
·
The role of media richness in effective online
communication;
·
The importance of being competent at
intercultural communication using electronic channels of communication.

Description of assignment:
Students will prepare a 2500 word essay (not
including references). The assignment is to be completed individually. This is
NOT a group assignment. Please refer
marking criteria for more detailed breakdown of marks.

Tasks

Weight

1) Draw up a timetable that identifies the
various stages of development in the writing of your essay and allows
sufficient time for each stage. This
time table should include activities in each week.

1%

2) Research the topic using books, journals
and reputable websites. As a
minimum, your research should include at least three (3) books
(may be online books), at least three (3) journal articles (may be
online journal articles) and at least three (3) internet sites
(general websites except Wikipedia), total of 9 sources, all of which are
used to provide you with the background for your essay.

1%

3) Write annotated bibliography for all 9
sources.

2%

4) Produce a detailed concept map showing as
much as you can find out about the topic.
(Mohan, 2008, p.313)

2%

5) Draft essay using strategies 4Ps and 5Ws
(Mohan, 2008, pp. 284-285).

2%

6) Produce a detailed essay outline. (Mohan, 2008, p.314)

2%

7) Final Essay

5%

It is expected that the essay will provide a
balanced view of the issues discussed.

Presentation
of your Essay
·
Essays
are to be presented according to the information contained in the University
Guide for the Presentation of Academic Work (see http://www.ballarat.edu.au/generalguide)
·
In the
essay, you are expected to write in paragraph style with an introduction
and a conclusion. The use of
bulleted/numbered lists should be avoided and headings (if any) kept to a
minimum (no more than 5).
·
Essay
should be presented in the following order and format (Mohan, 2008, pp316-317):

a)
Cover
page;
b)
Table
of contents (Auto-generated);
c)
Abstract;
d)
Introduction;
e)
Sections;
f)
Conclusion.
·
Essays
with unsupported personal opinions will be marked down, as will those that make
excessive use of direct quotes (no more than 8 linesin total).
·
Incorrect
APA referencing will also be penalised.
Your essay should include both
a list of references used in the essay and
a bibliography of the wider reading you have done to familiarise yourself with
the topic.
·
Any
direct quotation from one of your sources (i.e. anything that you have not
written yourself) must be referenced (cited) in-text (as well as included in
the reference list); if the quotation is more than three lines in length it
should be formattedin its own
paragraph indented 0.75 cm, single-spaced, with font size 10; if it is three
lines or less it should be surrounded by quotation marks (double inverted
commas). This is normal practice, which
you should always follow.
·
The vast
majority of your essay should consist of your own writing whether paraphrasing
a specific section of a source or synthesizing ideas from a number of
sources. Paraphrasing should also be
accompanied by in-text citation (as for a direct quotation).
·
If you
use a source either with a direct quotation or by paraphrasing and do not
cite it, you are guilty of plagiarism (refer to the course description).

Plagiarism
It
is important to learn from the work of others and you are encouraged to explore
the library, World Wide Web resources and have discussions with other
students. However, work for the
assessment must be entirely your own work.
*Important*
Plagiarism is the presentation of the
expressed thought or work of another person as though it is one’s own without
properly acknowledging that person.
You
must not allow other students to copy your work and must take care to safeguard
against this happening. In cases of
copying, normally all students involved will be penalised equally; an exception
will be if you can demonstrate the work is your own and you took reasonable
care to safeguard against copying.
Plagiarism
is a serious offence. As set out in the
University Regulation 6.1.1. students
who are caught plagiarising will, for a first offence, be given a zero mark for
that task. A second offence will result
in a failing grade for the course involved and any subsequent offence will be
referred to the Student Discipline Committee.

University
Referencing/Citation Style Guide:

The
University has published a style guide to help students correctly reference and
cite information they use in assignments. A copy of the University’s citation
guides can be found on the university’s web site. It is imperative that students
cite all sources of information.

References
Mohan, T., McGregor, H., Saunders, S., & Archee,
R. (2008). Communicating as Professionals
(2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Cengage Learning.