Assessment Task: Guidelines and Collaboration Tools for International Tourism Presentation

There is no penalty for submitting below the time limit, but students should be aware that there is a risk they may not maximise their potential mark.

Assignments should be presented appropriately in line with the restrictions stated above; if an assignment exceeds the time limit this will be taken in account in the marks given using the assessment criteria shown.

Assessment Task

You will be provided with ONE international tourist destination country to work together on. Group members must work on a specific part of the presentation and build from the activities and tasks scheduled in the seminars. The use of maps and figures of the appointed tourist destination country is mandatory.

The presentation must include the following insights

• Key tourism figures of the allocated country (domestic and international);
• At least THREE of the Tourism Competitiveness Index indicators from the

World Economic Forum (WEF);

• At least ONE of the following perspectives:
• Rural tourism in the country
• Urban tourism in the country
• Initiatives towards sustainable tourism development in the country.
• Key tourism resources and natural and cultural attractions to promote to the audience.

Collaboration tools for online group working

There are many applications which enable you to share documents and collaborate on projects in real time. Maximise the tools available to you in order to keep organised as a group.

Microsoft One Drive (Access via Portal App 'my files')

You have access to Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel through your university account as well as cloud storage space on One Drive to save the documents you create. You can set up shared folders for group projects and collaborate on documents in real time by using the 'edit in browser' function. 

This free online project management and collaboration tool will help you organise tasks, track progress and work together to get things done. It can be very useful for dividing and keeping track of tasks on a group project.

If you can't meet in person, you can arrange a video meeting on google hangouts. (This application requires you to have or set up a Google account).

• Agree a group work contract at the start of the process and send a copy to the Tutor & Unit Leader. 
• Identify and agree individual and team responsibilities.
• Meet with the Unit Tutor twice during the process of completing the work. 
• Each student must attend all lectures and seminars as they will contain important information needed for the presentation. 
• Adhere to the group contract which will detail individual and group responsibilities. 
• Meet with the Unit Tutor to receive formative feedback in the timescale set by Tutor. 

This assessment will enable students to demonstrate in full or in part the learning outcomes identified in the unit descriptors.

Late Submissions

Students are reminded that:

• If this assessment is submitted late i.e. within 5 working days of the submission deadline, the mark will be capped at 40% if a pass mark is achieved;
• If this assessment is submitted later than 5 working days after the submission deadline, the work will be regarded as a non-submission and will be awarded a zero;
• If this assessment is being submitted as a referred piece of work then it must be submitted by the deadline date; any Refer assessment submitted late will be regarded as a non-submission and will be awarded a zero.

The University’s Extenuating Circumstances procedure is in place if there are genuine circumstances that may prevent a student submitting an assessment. If students are not 'fit to study’, they can either request an extension to the submission deadline of 5 working days or they can request to submit the assessment at the next opportunity (Defer).  In both instances students must submit an EC application with relevant evidence.   If accepted by the EC Panel there will be no academic penalty for late submission or non-submission dependent on what is requested.  Students are reminded that EC covers only short term issues (20 working days) and that if they experience longer term matters that impact on learning then they must contact the Student Hub for advice.

Academic Misconduct

Any submission must be students’ own work and, where facts or ideas have been used from other sources, these sources must be appropriately referenced. The University’s Academic Handbook includes the definitions of all practices that will be deemed to constitute academic misconduct.  Students should check this link before submitting their work.

Ethics Policy

The work being carried out by students must be in compliance with the Ethics Policy. Where there is an ethical issue, as specified within the Ethics Policy, then students will need an ethics release or an ethical approval prior to the start of the project.

Grade marking

The University uses a letter grade scale for the marking of assessments. Unless students have been specifically informed otherwise their marked assignment will be awarded a letter grade. More detailed information on grade marking and the grade scale can be found on the portal and in the Student Handbook.

Students not initially in a group should inform the Module leader by Week 7

The Module  leader will be responsible for reallocating any group members or allocating anyone not in a group which will be completed Week

As part of the process of working as a group it is necessary to: 

• Agree a group work contract at the start of the process and send a copy to the Tutor & Module Leader. 
• Identify and agree individual and team responsibilities.
• Meet with the Unit Tutor twice during the process of completing the work. 

Each student must adhere to the following: 

• Each student must attend all lectures and seminars as they will contain important information needed for the presentation. 
• Adhere to the group contract which will detail individual and group responsibilities. 
• Meet with the Unit Tutor to receive formative feedback in the timescale set by Tutor.

If the group is not functioning effectively students should: 

• Email the Unit Tutor as soon as problems arise. 
• Arrange a meeting with the whole group to discuss the issue. 
• Identify actions to be undertaken by each member of the group. 
• Communicate those actions to the Unit Tutor.
• Inform the Unit Leader if problems are not resolved. 

At the end of the assessment each member of the group will be:  Given a formative group grade, and final peer assessed individual grade.

If individual grades are allocated the evidence used to make these judgements will be:  Compelling evidence at presentation and submitted written work that contribution is significantly above/below the other group member and/or; 

Prior notification and evidence of non-engagement and contribution from specified group member. 

Nature of peer assessment undertaken:  Observation followed by anonymous feedback.  All students will undertake this role.