IT5010- Advanced Learning and Study Skills

Assignment 2– Critical Writing

Objective

Academic writing skills are essential for this course. As well as the dissertation which requires
the skill to create a large piece of academic writing, many of the modules you take will be
assessed by reports or essays. Depending on your background, you may have this skill
already, in which case it is a good idea to check out that you can apply it in this area and at
the appropriate level. If you have been out of education for a while, or if you have not come to
this course via a conventional education route or if you have a highly mathematical degree
with little writing in it, then this may be a skill you need to work on.

Learning outcomes assessed by this assignment:

 Use effectively the learning environment, study support materials and various
tools to support your studies and to enhance your learning
 Select, assess, analyse and critically evaluate a variety of types of information
and literature (both sources provided by lecturers and ones you find yourself)
 Present and communicate information, ideas and outcomes in an effective and
appropriate manner for Masters level
 Critically analyse and evaluate organisational based situations and systems
within the context of the academic subject area. (partly assessed by this assignment)

Assessment Contribution
This assessment will counts for 60% of your marks for this module.

Assessment Specification

Select a topic from the list provided below, research this topic and submit a short written
report of your findings. The structure, format and content of the report are left to you. You
should, though, attempt to use traditional academic forms where they are appropriate. A
structure which you may use includes:

• Brief introduction to your topic area

• One of
o A technical evaluation of the topic and its relationship to your study program
o A technical evaluation of the topic and its relationship to information flows
within a modern enterprise
o An evaluation of the potential business, organisational, or social impact
o A mix of all the above
• Your conclusions.

You might want to structure your argument this way, and use these as headings but please do
not regard this structure as either necessarily complete or restrictive. You are free to structure
your work in whatever way best communicates your findings. For example, putting your
conclusions at the beginning can be highly effective if the argument is then constructed
appropriately.

The evaluation and comparison should be your thoughts on the topic, based on the evidence
and information you have gathered. Evaluation does not imply mere repetition of material.

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Rather you must weigh its worth within the context of your argument. You must present
material which is supportive of your overall thesis and material which contradicts it.

You should provide justification and evidence to support your arguments and points of view.
Please ensure you include relevant literature and reference it correctly. Lastly you must not
include material copied from elsewhere except where it is obviously presented as a ‘quote’
and if you present ideas, information, data, diagrams or tables based on someone else’s work,
you must acknowledge this – OTHERWISE YOUR WORK COULD BE CONSIDERED AS
PLAGIARISED.

Topic Areas

You must select one of the following topics:

1. Security: can we secure our information systems in the modern world of Web Services. If
so, what are the trade-offs? How could aspects of security impact a business?

2. Internet of Things (IoT): what are the implications for IoT? How the human life has been
changed with IoT?

3. Machine Learning: Are we choosing what we want or what machines predicts for us? Are
we governed by algorithms?

4. Artificial Intelligence: Is it for our development? Or Extinction. Does it grab opportunities

available for humans or is it a helping hand?

5. Block chain: Is it really anti-fragile? Is it a hype?

6. Cloud Computing: Do we really have control over our data? Do we really know the
business interests of the person or organization that keeps our data?

7. Data Science : Are we making the right decisions using data ? Does data science helps
us to predict the future markets ?

8. E-Learning : Does the pandemic drove us for better e-learning platforms ? Does e-
learning achieves the expected learning outcomes of the education system ? Can we
replace education with e-learning ?

*** Any other topic related to above areas can be chosen.

Plagiarism Policy

Offence Criteria/Turnitin value (%) Nature of Punishment

T1 - Use of exact words or 20 – 40 Severe warning (one time only, if not reduction
ideas from someone else that of 50% Marks)
makes up as your work,
whether you give credit or 41 – 60 Reduction of 50% Marks
not.
61 – 80 Resubmission of the work. Maximum mark is the
pass mark range for the activity

81 - 100 Zero Score for the activity

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T2 –
a. Paraphrasing by changing Judgmental or could use Resubmission of the work. Maximum mark is the
words but copying the paraphrasing tool pass mark range for the activity
sentence structure of a source
without citing and not giving
credit to the source

b. Giving incorrect
information about the source
of a quotation;

T3 – Replication of another - Zero score for the entire component or

person’s work indicating that Zero score for the entire module (if the grade for
it is one’s work the module heavily depends on the weight of
this submission)

Student repeatedly Number of times

committing plagiarism committing offence during
a semester:

(T1 & T2) 03 times (If number of Zero score for the entire component
activities for the module is
02 then consider 02 times)

02 times Zero score for the entire component with not

T3 more than pass mark in the repeat attempt

Submission Criteria

Phase 1 (Feedback only, no marks)

Submit your first attempt at the assessment for review and comment by some of your fellow
students.( May be your group Members ). All of these comments are shared by the group. We
hope that this will give you not only a good idea of your own skills in this area but also an
insight into some of the different ways of tackling a question like this. Obviously the more
complete the draft, the better the quality of feedback you will get on it. We would suggest that
you submit drafts as complete as you can make them to gain maximum benefit. A form will be
available for the feedback in the courseweb. The filled form at least by two peers have to be
included in the final submission.

Submission Deadline for Draft Report to Peers: 7th September 2021

Phase 2 (Marked by Lecturer)

Submit your final document

1. pdf document to the courseweb link provided. ( zipped file including including the
feedback forms )

Word Count: 1500 words

Please note:

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  Include a word count at the end of the main text.
 Word count is usually taken to include all the main body text of the piece of work,
including headings for ease of counting automatically. Title, contents, list of
references, bibliography and any appendices are excluded from the word count.
 Word count ±10% is acceptable within the University's normal submission guidelines.
Beyond that margin you may be penalised. And lecturer may check the word count,
so don’t cheat.

The DEADLINE for the submission of the final version of your report
is 12 Midnight (Sri Lanka time), 7th October 2021. Late submissions
are not marked.
Notes on submission:
It is important that your work is presented well and clearly. Please follow these guidelines:
 Your work should be word processed with the main text in a minimum of 12 point.
 Include at least your name, registration number, the module name, and page
numbers on every page (usually in a header or footer). You may also want to include
the assessment title.
 If you include diagrams, make sure they display and print correctly.

 IMPORTANT: Keep a copy of all work you submit. This is a University requirement as
we are entitled to ask for a copy should work be lost. You should keep all your work
at least until you receive official notification of your results from an exam board.

Instructions for sharing drafts

You will be asked to review the draft assignments of the other students in your group.
For each review we would like you to try to find

- three key good things about each piece

- three key things which need to be improved i.e. constructive criticism

Try to make sure that feedback is constructive and in line with the requirements of the
assignment.

You may also find it helpful to try and map your colleagues' work against the marking
grid.

For your own draft assignment:

• A draft may be anything from a four line outline of what you are intending to do,
to a complete, ready-to-hand-in piece of work. It is up to you what you submit
as a draft but obviously the nearer it is to complete, the better everyone will be
able to comment. Conversely a near-complete draft which is subject to
comprehensive suggestions for revision may be both time-wasting and
demoralising.
• It is suggested that you map your own assignment against the marking grid. If
you have not done this yet, now might be a good time.
• The comments which are made on your draft are NOT taken into account in the
final marking, we mark the final submission as if we were seeing it for the first
time.

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Sources of Information

You will need to look in the current literature to find out information on your chosen topic area.
Because of the fast changing nature of IT systems, Internet based materials are often useful
and indicative of the current position. Not all sources are of equal worth. You should pay
greater attention to and place greater reliance upon peer-reviewed sources than upon hearsay
or personal contact.

The following are possible starting points for finding out the current position in both academia
and industry:

1. Academia

Journal articles. In the networking area, suitable journals include any of the
communication series published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(available via the online databases) – the magazines such as IEEE Network, are often
the most ‘readable’ whereas the ‘Transactions’ often publish the more academic and
more specialised research. Please look at both. Other journals include
Communications of the ACM, which is rich in database related resources, and those
published by Elsevier Science. There are many journals in the Business Source
Premier library for a more commercial focus.

Conference Proceedings. Particularly those sponsored by reputable organisations

such as Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and ACM.

PhD/MPhil theses. All PhD theses are available from the British Library.

Google Scholar This special feature of the popular search engine will give you access
to the full text of many academic papers. Due consideration should be given to the
prestige of the authors, the journal or conference proceedings within which it was
published and the extent to which the paper has been cited by other academics.

2. Industry

Trade journals e.g. Telecommunications International, Networking magazine

Web sites of well known companies e.g. Cisco, British Telecom, Oracle
Online technical knowledge centres: e.g. http://www.databasejournal.com
Bulletin Boards, etc
Personal knowledge and contacts!

3. Standards

Standards are very important in networking so it may also be useful to look at

standards bodies such as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), International
Standards Organisation (ISO) and its constituent bodies such as British Standards
Institute (BSI) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) and professional bodies such as Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE).

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Marking Criteria
Your report will be marked according to the following criteria:-

Assessment Criteria Mark Fail Pass Distinction

(%)
1. Select and assess 30% Literature is either not relevant, or is Relevant literature is selected from a + Literature is highly relevant and
relevant literature too limited in scope. variety of sources (including own selection demonstrates a real insight
(LO1, LO2 & LO5 partly) Selection is not justified or is sources). Selection is justified. into the topic as well as a clear
inappropriate. Little or no assessment Relevance and value are assessed. search strategy.
of relevance and value.
2. Analyse and critically 50% There is minimal analysis and Analysis and comparison of concepts / + Well-reasoned arguments justify the
evaluate literature evaluation or it is incorrect. Material is techniques and tools / models / key judgements made. Synthesis of
selected (LO2 & LO5 described, not analysed and issues / ideas and opinions expressed in ideas, with succinct and pertinent
partly) evaluated. Reasoning is not clear the literature. Some critical evaluation conclusions offer new or unusual
and/or not logical. There is a lack of of these. Decisions / conclusions are insights into key issues and/or into
evidence of decisions making, or based on logical reasoning and the topic domain or its wider
decisions are not clear. evidence. implications.
3. Present and 20% Referencing techniques are non- Correct referencing techniques used. + Presentation is meticulous, content
communicate information, standard, inconsistent or poorly used. Structure, style and content are is highly appropriate with excellent
ideas and outcomes in an Structure / style / content is inadequate appropriate for the purpose / topic / structure and style. Succinct
effective and appropriate and/or inappropriate. Communication situation and audience. Communication communication of key findings are
manner for Masters level is not clear. Work submitted is too and reasoning is clear and delivered to the intended audience.
in a written report (LO3) lengthy or too short. understandable, and close to
recommended word limit.

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