BUGEN 5930
Business, Society & the Planet
Assessment 1 – Reflective Journal – Sustainable Business - 2019
1. Assessment Details
Over the first three weeks of this course, students are required to consider the sustainability-related issues and themes explored in the course and REFLECT on how these issues intersect with the world of business. These reflections are to be presented in a reflective journal, NOT a research assignment or description or summary of these themes.
These themes (including issues, challenges, concepts and approaches) MUST be discussed in terms of their relevance and/or implications for business and MUST be drawn from those raised in class presentations, discussions and activities, resources provided on the course Moodle page and/or prescribed readings. Suitable themes for reflection may include:
· Sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line & business;
· The Six Forms of Capital used by businesses;
· The six phases of business approaches to sustainability (Dunphy, Griffiths & Benn, 2003);
· Examples of businesses successfully engaging in sustainable business.
In this assessment task, students are required to demonstrate not only their understandings of the themes but also their consideration of the implications for the business sector and/or the student’s current/future role in business. Students should provide their thoughts, feelings, responses, reactions, opinions and ideas on the material explored. Critical thinking should be demonstrated in these reflections.
While this task is not a research task, sources referred to in your reflections still need to be referenced using the APA referencing style. For information on the style of writing required, please refer to the samples and guides provided on the course Moodle page.
2. Criteria used to grade this task: This assessment task will be marked out of 100 and is worth 15% of your total mark for the BUGEN 5930 course. For information on how this task will be assessed, please refer to the attached Assessment 1 - Reflective Journal – Sustainable Business Marking Rubric.
3. Task Assessor: Assessment Task 1 submissions will be marked by … PLEASE add assessor names
4. Recommended time: Suggested time to devote to this task - 15 hours.
5. Submission details
· Word Limit 800-1000 words - (assignments exceeding the word limit may not be marked and may be returned to the student for re-writing; assignments less than the required length will risk not covering the topic adequately and may result in a fail). Do not include synopsis, references or bibliography in the word count.
· Note: While a Reflective Journal will mainly comprise of your own thoughts and reflections written in ‘your own words’, Federation University Australia rules relating to referencing, citation and acknowledgement must be complied with for any content from other sources.
· Due Date: The assignment is due by Friday Week 4. Students are required to upload their assignment as a Word doc or PDF (with the FedUni Business School – Assignment Coversheet) via the Assessment Task 1 Turnitin link on the course Moodle page.
6. Feedback and return of work – Assessment Task 1 submissions will be graded and returned to students electronically, including feedback comments from the assessor, via the task Turnitin link, on the course Moodle page.
Reflective Journal – Marking Rubric
Range
Grade
Critical Thinking:
· application, analysis and evaluation of the ideas presented and the implications for business
· Arguments are clear and show insight into theoretical issues and how they are applied
· May include unusual insights. Arguments are well supported by reference to materials covered in course (or through research).
Demonstrates clear and concise critical thinking and the ability to apply sustainable business concepts to ‘real life’ situations, business and/or own experiences in business
20-30
Demonstrates some critical thinking , but the application of the concepts to business activities and own experiences are less clear
10-20
Details fewer concepts and ideas, and/or no application of these to ‘real life’. Limited and/or unclear connections made between course content and themes presented.
0-10
Critical thinking – total possible
/30
Reflection:
· Well-developed connections between content and thoughts, ideas, feelings, opinions , reactions and details, which shows evidence of personal reflection
· Describes personal application and responses to concepts discussed
· Provides comment on the implications for business and current and/or future role in business
Well-developed reflection; new ideas introduced and a good grasp of concepts presented. Shows the application of learning to connect new ideas to existing experience - to what was already known.
20-30
Shows some evidence of reflection, but not well-developed;
Some grasp of concepts presented and some application of learning to connect these ideas to personal experiences.
10-20
Not much thought or detail; shows little connection between concepts and personal impacts;
Little or no evidence of reflection or grasp of concepts explored; little application of learning to connect sustainable business themes to their business/life experience.
0-10
Reflection - total possible
/30
Presentation
· Submitted on time, well organized and well written. Including accurate English expression, spelling, grammar, referencing (APA).
Well written, clear organization and planning, uses standard English grammar, well referenced where required (APA referencing style)
10-20
Inadequate due to lack of organization, grammar, and/or major spelling errors, incorrect or inadequate referencing
0-10
Presentation – total possible
/20
Relevance
· Writing clearly connects the sustainability-related themes from the course and how these are relevant to the individual’s experience and knowledge of the world of business
Reflections clearly describe (and are limited to) the relevance of sustainability to business. Issues are discussed with a high level if accuracy and insight
15-20
Reflection covers one or more relevant themes from classes, with some connections made between business and sustainability
7-15
Reflection is general and/or vague or does not address sustainability in the context of business
0-7
Relevance – total possible
/20
OVERALL TOTAL POSSIBLE FOR REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
/ 100
Feedback comments:
C
