Assignment 1 – Flexi, 201802

Introduction
There are seemingly endless amounts of information in our society. Each day, as scholars and
professionals ponder new ideas and ask questions, or as events unfold, more new information is
created. As a student doing research for assignments, presentations and other projects during
your academic learning journey, it is an essential skill to be able to effectively locate and access
appropriate resources that is in alignment with your research needs. What is equally important
is the ability to critically evaluate the quality and usefulness of these information resources and
distinguish between those that have impact upon usage in terms of credibility, reliability,
evidence and other quality attributes.

Assessment Overview
The remaining sections of this assignment will take you through a series of instructions detailing
the requirements of the assignment. In a nutshell however;

 You will select a topic from the list provided

 You will devise effective search strategies/techniques to locate two different types of
information resources (scholarly journal article vs non-scholarly information resource)
pertaining to your given topic
 You will then critically evaluate the two information resources using the START criteria to
identify positive/negative indicators that aid in determining the quality and usefulness of
the two resources
 You will state your preference of the better resource after comparing quality of the two
information resources
 Note: You WILL NOT be writing an essay or report to address your selected research topic

Research Topic Selection

Select a single research topic from the list provided below. Your submission will not be graded if
the two information resources that you are required to locate and critically evaluate is not based
on your selected topic.

 "Drones & Privacy: The rise of the drones and what it means for your privacy”
 "Cyber-crime: What are the latest ways to steal identity and money?”
 "Effects of ICT on Social Skills: What influence does the internet have on the Socializing
Skills of Children?”
 "Bitcoin & Blockchain: Will the Blockchain technology undo the banking systems around
the world?”
 "Video Games and Violence: Do violent video games contribute to youth violence?”
 "Global Inequality: How income inequality has a global impact?”

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 Assignment 1 – Flexi, 201802

Part A: Sourcing Information (13 Marks)

After selecting a research topic from the provided list. Then using appropriate search tools and
search strategies, you are required to find 2 different types of information resources [a peer
reviewed scholarly journal article] and either a blog, website/webpage, newspaper or magazine
article, reports, etc...] based on your selected topic. Lastly, you will have to critically evaluate the
two information resources using the START criteria. Document your answers in the template
provided on the Assignments Page on Moodle.

Note: You are to find two information resources using two different search tools. You can use
one Academic Research Database such as ProQuest, JSTOR, Emerald, or Web of Science to locate
the peer reviewed scholarly journal article and one Web Search Tool such as Google, Bing or Meta
Search Engines like dogpile to locate the other resource.

You are required to use the template provided. For each of the two information resources selected:

i. State the Information Resource type along with its title. Clearly state the search tool used
to locate the information resource.
ii. Identify the Task, Topic and Focus Words of your selected research topic and related
questions. This will help you understand your research topic and the needed information.
You will use the identified keywords as search terms to find two different information
resources that sufficiently addresses your research topic and related questions.
iii. Describe your search strategy, i.e. your search terms and search techniques that were used
to locate the two information resources. State the number of information resources
(results) your search strategy returned. Ensure you have access to the entire content of the
selected information resource to carry out the critical evaluation.
iv. Using EndNote; create a bibliographic citation using the Harvard referencing style for both
the information resources selected. Export the bibliographic citation and copy and paste it
into the last row of the table in PART-A. Also provide a direct web link (URI) to both the
information resources in this row.

Part B: Critically Evaluating (20 Marks)

i. Use the START Criteria to thoroughly review the Scope, Treatment, Authority, Relevance
and Timeliness of the articles based on your of the selected information resources. While
critically evaluating each resource you will identify various positive and negative indicators
that dictates the overall quality and usefulness of the information resource for academic
research. To support the identified positive/negative indicators, it is essential to provide
actual examples where applicable i.e. excerpts from the information resource being
reviewed. There is also a need to draw up evaluative conclusions as shown in the examples
below for each criterion of START.

ii. Draw an evaluative conclusion collectively on the identified (positive or negative indicator)

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 Assignment 1 – Flexi, 201802

of the information resource which includes the IMPACT it has on the overall quality and
usefulness of the document. Also provide a rating for how well the information resource
has done against each criterion in the given column.

iii. State which of the two information resources would you prefer to use in academic
assessments and why.

Note: For the discussion of impact factor(s) of an identified positive/negative indicator for
a particular criterion; an example could be:

Example #1: If a book is chosen as an information resource and it is identified to be in its third
edition (which is a positive indicator/feature/element of the information resource) then an
analytical/evaluative perspective can be drawn, that for books – “further editions indicate the
book has been revised to reflect changes in knowledge and is in harmony with the information
needs of its audience. Repeated editions may also indicate that the information resource has
become a standard source in a particular discipline and is therefore deemed reliable."

Example #2: During your evaluation of the information resource against the “Treatment”
criterion you have identified that the document contains typographical and grammatical
errors and also lacks coherency (which is a negative indicator /feature/element of the information
resource). You will first provide examples (excerpts) from the information resource that
validate your claims that such errors exist in the document and then you will come up with
an evaluative conclusion that – “Since the document contains numerous errors such as (typos,
grammatical, logical) there is doubt that the information resource was vetted through any
form of editorial review. Also, the authors skill and experience in writing is questionable and
subsequently so is the overall quality of the document. The use of such resources in academic
works (assessments) should be avoided.”

Submission Requirements: (3 MARKS)

Note: You are going to use a single word document (template provided) to capture your
answers/responses to both Parts A & B using the template provided. Your assignment file
should also entail the following:
1. Cover page must include the following details:
LAST NAME, First Name [Student ID]
[USP Campus]
UU100A Assignment 1 - Flexi, 201802

2. Use EndNote to create Bibliographic citations using the Harvard referencing style to list
the two information resources identified in Part A.

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 Assignment 1 – Flexi, 201802

3. Justify the paragraphs in your document. Underline the Headings. Apply line spacing and
page numbering where necessary and bold/highlight key points in the table.

4. Save the file containing answers to Parts A & B as single word document (.docx) with the
file name “UU100A_A1_SXXXXXXXX” where SXXXXXXXX is your actual Student ID
Number.
5. The final version of your Assignment 1 solution file is due on Monday, the 2nd of July,
2018 - 11:55 PM (FJT) and it is submitted to the Assignment 1 Dropbox located on the
UU100A “Course Assignments” page on Moodle

6. Check your assignment for possible plagiarism. Upload your draft assignment using the
UU100A Assignment 1 Dropbox – located on the course assessments page on Moodle.
Use the plagiarism report generated by TurnItIn to determine whether necessary changes
to your assignment is required to minimize similarities. The final version of your
assignment must have a Similarity Index of less than or equal to 20%.

7. Also be sure that you upload your assignment only when you’re totally satisfied. We will
not accept “corrected versions” submitted through other channels, nor will late
assignments be accepted. This assignment should not be exported to Mahara or
displayed on your ePortfolio Page as it is a separate assessment component altogether.

IMPORTANT
When the TurnItIn Similarity Index (SI) value exceeds 20% percentage your submission
will be flagged for review. Upon thorough review, if the designated marker establishes
that actual plagiarism has occurred then the appended table details plausible penalties.
Note: penalties will not be applied if the SI value is high due to common word matches
from the template or the bibliography. You donot need to edit your submission if this is
the case. However, you are required to delete all instructional content from the template
used before submission of your final draft in the required dropbox to avoid common word
matches and subsequently a higher SI value.

Value of Similarity Index Deduction

0 to 20% No deduction
21 to 30% 15% of scored mark deducted from total
31 to 40% 30% of scored mark deducted from total
Upon through review of the TurnItIn report and
confirmation of an attempt at plagiarism
Above 40%
assignment will be returned unmarked and student
gets a grade of zero for the assignment.

8. Please be advised that students are responsible for protecting their intellectual property
and any attempt at collusion i.e. facilitating or enabling another student to plagiarize or
cheat in any way which includes sharing their works willing, intentionally or
unintentionally will be subject to the same penalties of engaging in dishonest academic
practices as per University Regulation 3.0 “Penalties for Academic Misconduct” on Page-
464 of the 2018 Handbook and Calendar.

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 Assignment 1 – Flexi, 201802

Plagiarism
Any kind of plagiarism or cheating like submission of work that is not your own will lead to a ZERO
(0) score AND you will be subject to disciplinary action. Discussing is permitted however you must
avoid giving your working copy or the final assignment file to anyone. This increases the risk of
your assignment being cited as a plagiarized work. The university now keeps record of students
who commit dishonest academic practice in a central database in the effort to crack down on
repeat offenders through stringent penalties and also to make students’ credibility transparent.

For this course, plagiarism detection software TurnItIn will be actively used to identify similar
assignments. Upon through review of the TurnItIn report all detected and confirmed plagiarized
assignments will be subject to the regulations of University Academic Misconduct Regulations.
Any offence for which there is clear evidence of a deliberate attempt to ‘cheat’ Turnitin, will result
in ZERO mark for the submitted work and the course, and mandatory reporting student
disciplinary committee.

Note: If you need clarifications while doing this assignment, you may post a message on the
Assignment 1 Help! Forum located on the Course Page. Students are advised to read through the
thread of queries made by other students before posting their own to avoid repeating questions
that have already been addressed. Click on the Assignments Icon on the UU100A Course on
Moodle to take you to the Assignments page which houses the specifications document and the
dropbox for the assignment.

All the very best!

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