Level 3Assignment Guide

2020/2021

Academic Research & Writing

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Contents
1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………. 3

2. Portfolio Task Guidance ……………………………………………………………………….. 4

2.1. Report (800 Words) ………………………………………………………………………… 4
2.2. Reflective Writing (500 Words) ………………………………………………………..5
2.3.Personal Development Plan (200 Words) ………………………………………… 5

3. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………

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1. Introduction

The Assignment Guide should be used in conjunction with the Assignment Brief as its
purpose is to provide guidance as to how best to respond to the requirements of the
assignment brief. It also gives an indication of what the marker will be looking for in the
piece of work.
All four learning outcomes are addressed within the tasks of the assignment:

1) Reflect on personal achievement and continuous improvement;

2) Prepare a personal development plan;

3) Demonstrate awareness and the use of evidence-based writing to support

conclusion and recommendations;

4) Understand good academic writing and referencing.

To succeed in the module you must satisfy all learning outcomes, which in turn means
addressing each part of the assignment brief – missing something out will impact your grade
negatively.

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2. Portfolio Task Guidance

2.1. Part One – Report

“The submission of a written report that discusses a business issue using a wide variety
of research materials (800 words)”.
a) Firstly choose one topic from the list below – your whole report task will be about
this issue:
 Adapting to new technology
 Environmental sustainability
 Workforce planning

b) Begin your research by reading the related piece of research from the module –
your lecturer will have indicated which research is relevant to each of the topics.
YOU MUST CITE FROM THIS PIECE OF RESEARCH WITHIN YOUR REPORT.

c) The remaining research that you carry out needs to provide information for allof
the following areas of the report:
 What the issues is – including a definition of the issue from a reliable source
 How the issue is affecting different companies – you need to give positive and
negative examples.

d) The structure of the report is as follows;

 Introduction (100 words) – what the issue is.
 Main body paragraph 1 (250 words) positive effects on companies.
 Main body paragraph 2 (250 words) negative effects on companies.
 Conclusion (200 words) – summarises what report has covered and future
implications.

e) REMEMBER – EVERY STATEMENT/PIECE OF INFORMATION YOU WANT TO INCLUDE

IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT MUST COME FROM YOUR RESEARCH AND BE REFERENCED
CORRECTLY.

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2.2. Part Two – Reflective Writing (500 words)
“Using content from the module (e.g. academic skills) and the work you have produced
for Part 1, reflect on the learning you have taken from the module and how this
learning will support yourstudies and future career/business development plans”
Each of the following must be addressed in one paragraph for each point, and you must
include research when relevant (each paragraph should be approximately 160 words):
a) What you have learnt from the module - this should be personal to you and not a list of all
the topics covered in the module. – for example if you have learnt how to use the Harvard
Referencing System – use a citation to explain what the system is and then add your own
words as to how this will help you achieve at university.

b) Why the learning may be important – what can you achieve with the new knowledge? – this
section need to highlight how what you have studied within the module will help you
achieve your overall aim of coming to university.

c) How is the learning going to be of use to you in your future studies and development plans?
– how is studying business going to help you further your career?

2.3. Part Three – Personal Development Plan (200 words)

“Create a personal development plan that focuses on the academic skills from within
the module that you want to further develop and improve.”
a) ONLY USE THE TEMPLATE PROVIDED – DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN TABLE.
b) Keep the information in each box within the table brief to ensure your work stays
within the allotted word count.
c) The ‘Academic Skill’ column needs to only name the skill e.g. ‘note taking’.
d) You need to include at least two different academic skills in the plan.

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3. Conclusion
This assignment is a portfolio that has three parts – however you must type up all parts
within one Word document.
You cannot submit three separate pieces of work into Turnitin.
Please ensure if you do not have the relevant IT skills to be able to create all of this
assignment as one Word document, that you book in with the Academic Support team in
advance of the Summative deadline to get the It help you need.
To ensure that your work has enough research you need to cite from the two core textbooks
and the selected piece of research for your report topic. In addition to these three pieces of
research you need to aim to find at least seven more pieces of research that come from a
range of books, websites journals etc.

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