Disciplinary Mapping Quick facts

Disciplinary Mapping

Quick facts:

DUE DATE: Week 6 - Friday 6th September, by 11:59pm

(For those with an Academic Plan- please note that your plan due dates have been added into Canvas. Your academic plan extension is added on to the official due date of 6th September. The date that comes up for you in Canvas is your final due date, including your plan's extension. If you need additional time beyond this please apply for a simple extension or special consideration).

LENGTH: 1000 words (Please note: If your submission is below or above the +/- 10% threshold, e.g. 1100 or 900, your grade will be affected.)

WEIGHTING: 20%

Aims

The purpose of this assignment is to apply your disciplinary knowledge and expertise to an aspect of a chosen case study. This is useful for thinking about the skills you have developed over the course of your degree, and is also important preparation for Assignment 2, the Case Study Project (a group assignment).

Task

The assignment consists of two parts:

Part A) Identify and critically reflect upon your discipline (600 words)

In this section you will identify and critically reflect on the features of your disciplinary knowledge, and the assumptions, research skills and practices associated with your discipline. You will find it useful to draw on readings, lecture materials, workshop experiences and your own research. You might use some of the following questions to prompt your reflection in this section:

What is the subject matter of your discipline?

What approach(es) does your discipline adopt to research?

What kind of theoretical frameworks, paradigms, or specific practices tend to prevail in your discipline?

Are there specific methodologies and data that your discipline prefers to employ in conducting research?

Have there been any major recent changes/developments in the way the discipline has unfolded?

Are you aware of any debates and/or divisions existing within your discipline and/or criticism towards your discipline?

Throughout your assignment, it will be helpful to support your discussion with specific details (e.g. explain a theory, say how a particular practice is used, or provide an example of a specific development or debate).

Please note, when we refer to “your discipline” we mean a discipline in FASS.

If you have two FASS majors, you should choose ONE and use that major when completing ALL the assignments in the unit (including this one).

If you only have one FASS major (and a non-FASS major), you MUST use your FASS major when completing ALL the assignments in the unit.’

Part B) Apply your disciplinary knowledge (400 words)

For this part, you will select one of the case studies available in the unit (these are available to view via the Case Studies (https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/60795/modules/467740) modules). (Do not forget to name the case study that you select. You may find it helpful to choose the case study your group is considering for the Case Study Project, but you do not have to.)

Consider how your disciplinary perspectives, as discussed in the first part, can help you contribute to addressing one of the driving questions set for this case study (you should identify the specific question you are discussing). You might consider questions like:

What theory or methodology from your discipline could be helpful to address the question and why?

Or, what type of data would you employ to address the problem and why would it be helpful?

What kinds of proposals could your discipline provide to address the problem?

Exemplars

Exemplars for this assignment are available to view here (https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/60795/pages/disciplinary-mapping-assignment-exemplars-2022-examples) . Please note that these are from an earlier iteration of the unit, in which the word counts for Parts A and B were different and the assignment instructions were a little different. You can use these exemplars to get a sense of the assignment, but should not attempt to replicate them exactly in your own work.

Marking Criteria

This task assesses your ability to:

Understand and critically reflect on your discipline and its approach to research

Articulate how your disciplinary knowledge can be applied to a real-life problem

Demonstrate an understanding of the protocols of academic research and writing; and

Use appropriate formats including correct referencing to present your work.

The task will be marked according to these criteria (you can find more detailed information in the marking rubric below):

1. Critical consideration and evaluation of the knowledge, skills, assumptions and research practices associated with the discipline /50

2. Application of disciplinary knowledge and practices to the problem. /40

3. Overall presentation, including use of appropriate academic writing style. and referencing conventions. /10

Presentation and style.:

In structuring your assignment, you can use headings and subheadings, if you wish to do so. A short introduction could be helpful, but be wary of the word count.

Use an academic writing style. (e.g. avoid colloquial phrases or contractions such as isn't, wouldn't, can't). Pay attention to referencing. Please note that you can use the first person.

Remember to edit your assignment before submitting it (e.g. check clarity in sentence construction, grammar and spelling).

You can use any academic referencing style. (https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation) (e.g. APA, Harvard, Chicago), but make sure that you use it consistently.

Remember to provide a reference list at the end of your assessment. The reference list is not included in the word count.

If you want help with your writing, try these useful sites:

Academic Writing: https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/writing.html (https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/writing.html)

The Write Site: https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/12076 (https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/12076)