1.1 Marking Criteria

Detailed marking criteria for the report are provided in Appendix 1 and a general guide to the marks attributable to different levels of attainment is also given.  Please ensure you read the marking criteria in detail and that you cover all aspects of the marking criteria in each deliverable.

Marks are provided under various criteria based on the given guidelines. The comments by the marker will reflect how the deliverable has been marked to ensure that the student can understand the mark given and to provide advice on how to improve in the future.

1.2 Style

The report should be produced in a professional manner as if you are working in industry. The word limit for part 1 is 3,000 words.

1.3 Report Formatting

All reports should be word processed, professionally produced and submitted in pdf format.  Either:

•    You may use the IEEE template provided on the module page for report formatting.

•    You may use either Times New Roman or Calibri and 11 point type with at least 2cm margins at the top/bottom and sides of the page.  You should use 1.5 line spacing.

All figures  must  be  professionally  produced  and  not  hand  drawn.    Figures and  tables  should  be numbered appropriately, referred to in the main text and include a long enough caption to be able to understand  the  figure/table  without  reading  the  main  text,  i.e.  captions  should  be  at  least  1-2 sentences long.

You can use any correct referencing style.  The following library resources are very good guides to referencing in the (author, year) and [numbered] formats

http://www.librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/shef-only/referencing/engineering_harvard.html http://www.librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/shef-only/referencing/engineering_ieee.html

Write professionally, do not use first person, i.e. “I” or “we”.

Do not underestimate how long it takes to compile a professional report.

1.4 Schedule of Project Deliverables/Assessment

All deliverables must include the group number and full list of registration numbers.

1.5 Penalties for Late Submission

Late submission will result in a deduction of 5% of the total mark awarded for each working day after the submission date.

* standard mathematical founding rules should be applied and marks should be rounded up.

The 5 working day deadline for late submission is absolute and any work submitted after the 5 working day period without a special dispensation will receive zero.

For further information seehttp://www.shef.ac.uk/ssid/exams/policies.

1.6 Use of Unfair Means in the Assessment Process (non-vigilated assessment)

As taken fromhttp://shef.ac.uk/ssid/exams/plagiarism.

The University expects its graduates to have acquired certain attributes. (See the Sheffield Graduate -http://www.shef.ac.uk/sheffieldgraduate) Many of these relate to good academic practice:

•    a critical, analytical and creative thinker

•    an independent learner and researcher

• information literate and IT literate

• a flexible team worker

•    an accomplished communicator

•    competent in applying their knowledge and skills

•    professional and adaptable.

Throughout your programme of study at the University you will learn how to develop these skills and attributes. Your assessed work is the main way in which you demonstrate that you have acquired and can apply them. Using unfair means in the assessment process is dishonest and also means that you cannot demonstrate that you have acquired these essential academic skills and attributes.

What constitutes unfair means?

The basic principle underlying the preparation of any piece of academic work is that the work submitted must be your own work. Plagiarism, submitting bought or commissioned work, double submission (or self plagiarism), collusion and fabrication of results are not allowed because they violate this principle (see definitions below). Rules about these forms of cheating apply to all assessed and non-assessed work.

1. Plagiarism (either intentional or unintentional) is the stealing of ideas or work of another person (including experts and fellow or former students) and is considered dishonest and unprofessional.

Plagiarism may take the form of cutting and pasting, taking or closely paraphrasing ideas, passages, sections, sentences, paragraphs, drawings, graphs and other graphical material from books, articles, internet sites or any other source and submitting them for assessment without appropriate acknowledgement.

2. Submitting bought or commissioned work (for example from internet sites, essay “banks” or

“mills”) is an extremely serious form of plagiarism. This may take the form of buying or commissioning either the whole assignment or part of it and implies a clear intention to deceive the examiners. The University also takes an extremely serious view of any student who sells, offers to sell or passes on their own assignments to other students

3. Double submission (or self plagiarism) is resubmitting previously submitted work on one or more occasions (without proper acknowledgement). This may take the form of copying either the whole  assignment or part of it. Normally credit will already have been given for this work.

4. Collusion is where two or more people work together to produce a piece of work, all or part of which is then submitted by each of them as their own individual work. This includes passing on work in any format to another student. Collusion does not occur where students involved in group work  are encouraged to work together to produce a single piece of work as part of the assessment process.

5. Fabrication is submitting work (for example, practical or laboratory work) any part of which is untrue, made up, falsified or fabricated in any way. This is regarded as fraudulent and dishonest.

How can I avoid the use of unfair means?

To avoid using unfair means, any work submitted must be your own and must not include the work of any other person, unless it is properly acknowledged and referenced.

As part of your programme of studies you will learn how to reference sources appropriately in order to avoid plagiarism. This is an essential skill that you will need throughout your University career and beyond. You should follow any guidance on the preparation of assessed work given by the academic department setting the assignment.

You are required to attach a declaration form to all submitted work (including work submitted online), stating that the work submitted is entirely your own work.

If you have any concerns about appropriate academic practices or if you are experiencing any personal difficulties which are affecting your work, you should consult your personal tutor or a member of staff involved with that unit of study.

The following websites provide additional information on referencing appropriately and avoiding unfair means:

The Library provides online information literacy skills tutorials

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/services/infoskills.html

The Library also has information on reference management software

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/refmant/refmant.html

The English Language Teaching Centre operates a Writing Advisory Service through which students can make individual appointments to discuss a piece of writing. This is available for all students, both native and non-native speakers of English.

http://www.shef.ac.uk/eltc/services/writingadvisory

What happens if I use unfair means?

Any form of unfair means is treated as a serious academic offence and action may be taken under the Discipline Regulations. For a student registered on a professionally accredited programme of study, action may also be taken under the Fitness to Practise Regulations. Where unfair means is found to have been used, the University may impose penalties ranging from awarding a grade of zero for the assignment through to expulsion from the University in extremely serious cases.

Detection of Unfair Means

The University subscribes to a national plagiarism detection service which helps academic staff identify the original source of material submitted by students. This means that academic staff have access to specialist software that searches a database of reference material gathered from professional publications, student essay websites and other work submitted by students. It is also a resource which can help tutors to advise students on ways of improving their referencing techniques. Your work is likely to be submitted to this service.

For further information

(www.shef.ac.uk/ssid/charter/guidance_taught.html)

(www.shef.ac.uk/ssid/procedures/grid.html#discipline)