Assessment Brief

·         Biochemistry Dissertation

·         Pharmacology Dissertation

·         Biological Science Dissertation

·         SLS4013

·         SLS4014

·         SLS4016

Assessment Task:

Setting the scene:

–          The project was proposed during the course of SLS2013; specific expectations in relation to conducting the project will be communicated in session and on NILE.

–          The research must be carried out by you, the student, autonomously and agreed in advance with your supervisor.

–          The purpose of this piece of independent study is to increase knowledge and understanding in the topic area as well as developing subject-specific skills, such as critically reviewing primary research papers, and transferable skills such as efficient time management and effective written communication.

–          Task: Dissertation: systematic review, lab-based project or bioinformatic analysis

–          This is an individual submission and the word limit for this assignment is 8,000 (+10% permitted).

–          Late submission within 7 days (mark will be capped to 40%) or extensions are permitted for this assignment.

Consider:

You should consider the following when preparing your submission.

You will be assessed on your ability to do the following:

·         Select and critically analyse literature that is relevant to your project.

·         Justify the methods and techniques used in the project and explain why they are appropriate.  This could be experimental, bioinformatics or systematic literature review methods.  Include justification of data/ statistical analysis.

·         Analyse data, including numerical and statistical analysis.

·         Present and interpret complex research data and apply it to the wider research literature.

·         Write a research dissertation in a scientific style and in enough depth for the reader to evaluate the results of the project.

·         Plan, execute and complete the dissertation by the deadline

·         More specifically, you are asked to write a dissertation which fulfils the following requirements:

Your final written report should be 8,000 words (+ 10%).  Where the submission exceeds the stipulated word limit by more than 10%, the submission will only be marked up to and including the additional 10%.  Anything over this will not be included in the final grade for the assessment item.  Title pages, abstract, citations, figure and table captions, figure legends, reference lists, appendices and footnotes are excluded from any word limit requirements.

Learning Outcomes aligned to this Assessment:

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

a)            Design, justify, and conduct a research project that is appropriate for the biomedical science /human bioscience topic under investigation, including methods of data collection and analysis.

b)            Critically construct an account of previous research in the chosen topic area.

c)            Critically analyse findings in relation to previous research.

d)            Present research findings to professional standards.

e)            Communicate complex information by a variety of methods.

f)             Take responsibility for own research programme and manage time effectively to an agreed format and schedule.

Academic Practice (referencing style, literature usage, AI Usage):

Your work must be supported by relevant literature citations that are referenced within the body of the text. All sources must be listed in a reference section at the end of the essay in Harvard style format. Advice on the use of this format can be found online here, or from Academic Librarians.

–          You will find a link to your online reading list on NILE in the “About this module” section.

Use of Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) within this Assessment:

·         Some uses of Generative AI may be deemed unethical in your Assessment. Further guidance on the conditions for allowable use of Generative AI will be given by the module team.

·         GenAI page https://libguides.northampton.ac.uk/GenAIGuidance where the students will find further information.

AI Categories:

Category 2: GenAI can be used in an assistive role

GenAI can be used in an assistive role, you may make use of GenAI in your assessment in an assistive role, but you must acknowledge this appropriately.

You can use AI in an assistive role to:

·         Assist you in generating initial ideas for your assignment that you research in more depth and expand upon.

·         Help you understand complex ideas and concepts that you articulate in your own words.

·         Find information that you verify using alternative sources and research in depth e.g., find initial literature/sources that you read, understand, and use to access additional literature.

·         Check spelling, punctuation and grammar. However, you cannot use AI to rewrite your work.

·         Insert citations and generate a reference list using a citation manager.

 You cannot use AI to:

·         Generate and submit text for your assignment. This includes software used to rewrite your work.

·         Generate ideas and use these as your own. You can use AI to help with initial research and planning, but you must understand all concepts, expand upon them, and articulate them using your own words

·         Analyse data and report outputs.

 General advice

·         Misuse of AI may result in a referral for academic misconduct.

·         AI performs poorly when asked to research and/or generate assignments. AI often:

Uses a limited range of poor references, leading to bias and poor accuracy.

Generates a limited range of arguments and information that are not appropriate.

Fails to understand the context of the assignment and generates material that is not appropriate.

Hallucinates and generates fake material and references.

Academic Practice support

·         Please refer to the attached document on NILE Site SLS4010 under assignment and submission – D1 for further information and guidelines for Research Report

·         The dissertation must be typed using Verdana size 11 font with line and a half spacing throughout. The margins preferably should be 25mm (top); 25mm (bottom); 20mm (outer edge); 30mm (inner or binding edge).  All pages must be numbered consecutively.

·         In general, the style should be in good English using the past tense and without the use of personal pronouns.  You should consult scientific research articles such as in Nature, Nature Medicine, The Lancet etc. for examples of appropriate style.  There are also some excellent books on good scientific writing in the module reading list.

·         Careful editing and proofreading are essential to ensure clarity and professionalism..

·         Figures should be chronologically numbered (e.g. Figure 1.) and have a descriptive caption underneath the figure.

·         Tables should be chronologically numbered (e.g. Table 1.) and have a descriptive caption above the table.

·         Units of measurement should be used whenever data are referred to in text, figures, or tables.

·         Figures should have axes labelled and error bars for standard deviation, if mean data are being presented.

·         Referencing should be in University of Northampton Harvard format.

·         Your report should have a logical format. Details should be clear and concise. Chemical structures and mechanisms can be drawn freehand (BioRender or ACD labs highly recommended).

·          Students can then paste a photo of their chemical structure and mechanism into the correct place within their report.

·         All diagrams must be referenced and adapted from the original source. You must get permission from the creator of any material/images/diagrams, if you intend to cut and paste material into your report. Cutting and pasting images/figures without permission violates copyright law.

·         Attention to spelling and grammar is important and will be taken into consideration when marking the submitted version of your report.

·         This assignment must be submitted electronically by 15:00 pm on the submission date. You must upload your work to the ‘Assessment and submission’ folder within the NILE module concerned.

·         You can resubmit your work as many times as you like until the deadline. If you choose to resubmit, your earlier submission will be replaced – you may NOT receive an Originality Report until 24 hours from when the submission was made. Do NOT leave it until the last minute to submit as there may be a delay due to the volume of students submitting work.

·         You are reminded of the University’s policy regulations on mitigating circumstances and extensions. Please ensure that you have read the assignment brief thoroughly and included all elements stated within. You are reminded that it is your responsibility to keep an electronic copy of your assignment for future reference.

·         GRADES: In line with university policy, assignment grading is internally moderated by a second member of staff. The final grade is subject to approval by the external examiner and the university exam board.

·         Please ensure that you read the university guidelines regarding plagiarism, collusion, and academic writing (refer to ‘Support for students’ section of the SLS4010 NILE module site).

·         Your assignment will be screened using software to check for originality. You must ALWAYS reference ALL sources of information. Failure to do so, and even the slightest degree of plagiarism, will be referred to the Academic Integrity Officer (AIO) appointed by the university

·         For guidance with writing academic assignments and referencing visit the Skills Hub and engage with the material provided – https://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk/ .

·

Please note: if you do not achieve minimum pass mark (40%), you may have the opportunity to a second submission this assignment by the second submission deadline date. You should ONLY re-work the content that has failed (refer to assignment feedback). You MUST clearly identify (e.g., highlight) the changes that you make in your second submission.

The Skills Hub is a central repository where you will find a range of support for your study and assessments: https://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk/

An announcement will be sent out via NILE to inform you of when feedback is available.

Instruction on Anonymity for students Further guidance is available online

Work submitted is of no academic value / nothing submitted.

5-39%

Evidence included or provided but missing some very important aspects.

(Third)

40-49%

Of satisfactory quality, demonstrating evidence of achieving the requirements of the learning outcomes.

50-59%

Of sound quality, demonstrating evidence which is sufficient and appropriate to the task or activity.

(Upper Second)

60-69%

Of high quality, demonstrating evidence which is rigorous and convincing, appropriate to the task or activity.

(First)

70-100%

Of very high quality, demonstrating evidence, which is strong, robust and consistent, appropriate to the task or activity.

Good evaluation of key issues with appropriate reference to prior studies.

Exceptionally well-structured, coherent, and engaging evaluation.

responsibility for own research programme and manages time effectively to agreed format and schedule.

command of academic/professional conventions appropriate to the discipline.