Submitting coursework

Coursework is an integral component of your degree and counts towards the final module mark. It is through writing articles and undertaking projects and presentations that you develop your ideas and assess your own grasp of the teaching and study material. It is both an important part of your continuous assessment and provides feedback from academic staff on your progress. The coursework requirements for each module will be set out in the Module Outline together with a date by which the work must be submitted. You should plan your work in advance to ensure that you allow sufficient time to complete assignments, allowing for unforeseen difficulties.

You must ensure that you understand the requirements of the coursework and if not, resolve any problems or ambiguities with the tutor or lecturer concerned prior to the submission date for the assignment. Submitted work must be well presented, legible and, where appropriate, in good standard English. The use of word processing and spell checking is essential in producing written work. Written work (essays, articles etc) should be presented as follows:

• Times or similar Serif font, 12 pt, double-spaced.
• 2.5 cm margin on either side of the page.
• Student number and module code in the header
• Page number in the footer
• Word Count on the front page of the assignment.

Some modules may have different requirements for the presentational aspects of your coursework, in particular practice-based and broadcast modules. These will be communicated to you during week one of your module. Please check with your module leader if you are unsure about the presentational requirements for your assignments.

Canvas

Canvas is the University’s VLE (virtual learning environment). All assignments should normally be submitted online via Canvas to a dedicated submission point, unless instructed otherwise by the lecturer. It is the official policy of the Discipline not to use paper-based assessments for environmental sustainability reasons. Depending on the nature of the assignment, you may be required to submit your assignment to a Canvas assignment point or to a Turnitin assignment point. Specific requirements may be in place for multimedia based assessment – these will be communicated to you by the module coordinator.

Unless you have been given specific instructions, all written assessments such as essays and reports must be submitted as Word documents (doc or docx) in A4 page size. If you are using other word processing suites (e.g. Pages or Open Office) you must ensure you export your work as a Word document before submission. You can access Canvas here: https://universityofgalway.instructure.com

For FAQs on how to use Canvas, visit:

https://universityofgalway.instructure.com/courses/27585

Word limits

Word limits are set by academic staff with the level, range and depth of the piece of work in mind. Setting a word limit ensures that students are being assessed on the same criteria and ensures that the focus of the assignment is maintained. Where a word limit is identified for an assignment, you must declare the accurate word count on the front page of your assignment. You should not go either above or below the set word limit by more than 10%.

The word limit runs from the introduction to the conclusion of the assignment and will include quotes and footnotes which appear in the body of the assignment. The word limit does not include the following: abstracts, contents page, diagrams, graphs, images, reference list, bibliography or appendices. Exceeding the word limit demonstrates an inability to distil information and make cogent arguments in both journalism and in academic work, and will result in a lower mark being awarded. A penalty may apply for work that excessively exceeds the word limit.

Time limits

Like word limits, time limits for broadcast assignments are set with the level, range and depth of the piece of work in mind. However for broadcast time limits are precise and must be adhered to exactly.

Deadlines

Coursework MUST be submitted by the set deadline in order for you to keep up to date with your work and to receive feedback on your performance. You should aim to have your work completed before the deadline in order to allow for any problems such as uploading your work on time. The Discipline follows a policy of allowing a 10 minute grace period on electronic submissions, so long as the timestamp for the submission shows the upload began before the deadline passed. Students who have difficulty uploading an assignment may email it to the lecturer before the deadline, and it will be accepted.

The following sanctions apply to assignments throughout the School of English and Creative Arts submitted after the deadline:

Two points deducted per day including weekends and bank holidays with work not able to be accepted past 14 days late even with a medical certificate or other documentation without a deferral from College Office. 

Deadlines for weekly formative coursework do not carry a formal penalty as this work is not formally graded. However, if you do not submit formative coursework you will not receive any feedback and will you find improving more difficult. Practical class convenors will normally not mark work submitted after the deadline, save for exceptional circumstances.