COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATION

Module Title: Human-Computer Interaction

Module Number: KV5003
Module Tutor: Marta Cecchinato
Academic Year: 2019-20
% Weighting (to overall module): 60%
Coursework Title: Individual Essay

Dates and Mechanisms for Assessment Submission and Feedback

Date of Handout to Students: Week commencing Monday 30th September 2019.
Mechanism for Handout to Students: via Blackboard.
Date and Time of Submission by Student: submit by 23:59 on Thursday 16th January 2020
Mechanism for Submission of Work by Student: via Blackboard.
Date by which Work, Feedback and Marks will be returned to Students: 20 working days after
submission deadline.
Mechanism for return of assignment work, feedback and marks to students: via Blackboard/email.
KV5003: Human-Computer Interaction

Individual Essay
60% of Module Mark
September 2019

Module Tutor: Marta Cecchinato

Northumbria University
CIS Building, Rm 307

<marta.cecchinato@northumbria.ac.uk>

1
Contents
Assessment Overview............................................................................................................................3
Learning Outcomes................................................................................................................................3
Relation to Module Activities/Schedule................................................................................................3
Essay structure......................................................................................................................................3
Submission Format/Requirements........................................................................................................4
Opportunities for Formative and Final Feedback..................................................................................4
Academic Integrity.................................................................................................................................5
Assessment Criteria/Grade Descriptors.................................................................................................6

2
Assessment Overview
For this module there are two pieces of coursework (summative assessment), this is part 2. This
INDIVIDUAL assessment is worth 60% of your overall mark. This piece of work is a 2000 word (max)
essay. You are expected to research the topic and answer the essay discussion question, citing
references to relevant academic literature, that you have read, in support of your position.

There is one essay question for this assignment:

“Discuss the role of context when designing and evaluating technology use”

Learning Outcomes
The learning activities, tasks, criteria and marking scheme have all been aligned to a set of module
learning outcomes, which in turn map onto the relevant programme learning outcomes (see
Programme Handbook).

Module Learning Outcomes: the assessment covers all the learning outcomes for the module.
Students should be able to demonstrate achievement of the following.

Knowledge & Understanding:

[MLO1] Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of user needs, capacities and limitations
in multiple contexts of technology use and across technology platforms  

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

[MLO5] Demonstrate critical engagement with contemporary HCI research (e.g. recent research
papers)

Relation to Module Activities/Schedule

The practical sessions in the module will give you hands on experience to understand what work is
actually done within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and the skills and techniques of user
research. The supporting lectures will give you insight in to various research areas within HCI which
should help broaden your understanding and provide you with a number of areas from which you
might develop your essay discussion. We will also provide practical sessions before Christmas which
specifically focus on how to write essays, do literature searches and best practice for citing
references.

Essay Structure
For the purposes of this assessment, your essay should contain the following sections:
 Title page.
o Module code and title; assessment title; date; your Student ID (please do not include
your name); word count (excluding title page and references).
 Essay response (please DO NOT include a contents page or acknowledgements)
 References
o A full list of references used within the essay should be provided. The APA style of
referencing should be applied throughout the report. See the online resource called
Cite them Right for further details of APA referencing techniques (note; you will
need your University username and password to access this resource which can be
found at http://www.citethemrightonline.com).
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Submission Format/Requirements
For this assessment:
 All content including references should be contained in a single document.
 Only Microsoft Word (.docx) file formats will be accepted.
 The essay should be written in a formal style using the exact structure and format specified
above.
 The essay should be written in the third person without use of personal pronouns (for
example, no use of ‘I, me’). If you find this difficult, try using a passive voice.
 Layout should make reasonable use of margins, clear headings and font size should be 10-
12pt (depending on choice of font), preferably using a Sans-Serif typeface although you may
use a Serif-based font should you wish.
 Please note, these assessments are marked anonymously so do not include your name
anywhere on the document.
 The overall word limit for the essay is 2000 words (excluding title page, and references). In
accordance with the University’s Word Limit Policy the following penalties will be applied:

Under the word No Penalty: In not making use of the full word count, students
limit may have self-penalised their work. If students have been able to
achieve the requirements of the assessment component using
fewer words than allocated, they will not be penalised.

Up to 10% over No Penalty: Situation flagged by tutor in feedback but over-run is

word limit tolerated and no deduction is made from the final mark for the
affected component.

More than 10% Deduction of marks: 10% of the total marks available for the
over the word limit affected component shall be deducted from the assessment mark.
For clarity: a piece of work which would have scored 65% for that
component but that has a word count greater than 10% of the
prescribed word limit will be allocated 55%; a piece of work which
would have scored 45% for that component but that has a word
count greater than 10% of the prescribed word limit will be
allocated 35%.
 Referencing should be in the APA style (see Cite Them Right available at
http://www.citethemrightonline.com). Please note, you will need your University Student ID
and password to access this resource.

Opportunities for Formative and Final Feedback

During practical sessions towards the end of term we will cover key skills for essay writing and you
will be welcome to discuss any issues you have with your essay at that point. You are of course
available to email any of the teaching team – Dr. Marta Cecchinato or Lynne Conniss if you have any
questions. We will NOT however, be able to review drafts of your essay before submission.

Unmoderated marks and summative feedback for the assessment will be returned within four
working weeks after the final submission deadline.

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 Please use the classes for clarification, guidance or
support on any aspect relating to this assessment.

Academic Integrity
You must adhere to the university regulations on academic conduct. Formal inquiry proceedings will
be instigated if there is any suspicion of plagiarism or any other form of misconduct in your work.
Refer to the University’s Assessment Regulations for Northumbria Taught Awards if you are unclear
as to the meaning of these terms. The latest copy is available on the University website.
 https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/-/media/corporate-website/new-sitecore-
gallery/services/academic-registry/documents/qte/assessment/guidance-for-
students/academic-regulations-for-taught-awards-2017-18.pdf

Remember, this is INDIVIDUAL assessment and should be entirely your own work. Where you have
used someone else’s words (quotations), they should be correctly quoted and referenced in
accordance to the APA System. Help regarding referencing and guidance on avoiding plagiarism can
be found in the Study Skills section of the module site on Blackboard.

Failure to submit: The University requires all students to submit assessed coursework by the
deadline stated in the assessment brief.  Where coursework is submitted without approval after the
published hand-in deadline, penalties will be applied as defined in the University Policy on the Late
Submission of Work; please refer to the link below.
 https://northumbria-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/corporate-website/new-sitecore-
gallery/services/academic-registry/documents/qte/assessment/guidance-for-
students/late-submission-of-work-and-extension-requests-policy_v2.pdf?
modified=20190619071234&la=en&hash=C112B22E14B9075D4E92C6A5842088F
7921BAAA4

Anonymous marking: University policy requires that work be marked anonymously. In order to
facilitate this, we request that only your student number is included on work submitted

Academic Misconduct Policy:

 https://northumbria-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/corporate-website/new-sitecore-
gallery/services/academic-registry/documents/qte/assessment/guidance-for-
students/pl,-d-,005-v003-academic-misconduct-policy.pdf?
modified=20190605171211&la=en&hash=A55A56D5BAD5746FC530D31C6291B1
0F861275CE


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Assessment Criteria/Grade Descriptors

Essay grade descriptor

The following grade descriptor is used in the marking of essays. The descriptions for each category
are intended as a ‘best fit’. It is inevitable that some essays will have characteristics of more than
one of the descriptions, or that not all aspects of any one description are met, in which case
academic judgement is used to assign a mark based on the overall quality of the work.

Class Mark Range Criteria

Fail 0 - 15 Very little material; or irrelevant or incomprehensible material.
Fail 16 - 29 Wholly unsatisfactory, little or no evidence of preparation, analytical or
evaluative skills. No evidence of understanding of the material or ability to
structure or present material. Hastily thrown together. Presentation poor.
Expression/style/grammar extremely poor
Fail 30 - 34 Unsatisfactory. Lacking evidence of preparation, evaluative or reflective skills.
Largely irrelevant. Little or no understanding. Expression / style / grammar /
presentation very poor. Hardly any, or no, evidence of reading / organisation.
Fail 34 - 39 Bare fail. Little or no reading at an appropriate level. Some material of
relevance but with major omissions and errors. Generally unsatisfactory but
with redeeming features. e.g. some evidence of preparation, some limited
understanding, some reflective thought. Expression/style/grammar poor.
Pass 40 - 44 Bare pass. Some relevant material, few or no relevant examples. Little or no
attempt to relate this to the question. Very little reading. Many unsubstantiated
remarks. Naïve – i.e. simplistic and lacks control / awareness of the subject
material and reflective thought. Referencing poor. Limited understanding.
Lacks a structure. Material not well organised. Expression/style/grammar
weak.
3rd 45 - 49 Weak. Argument obscure, weak or unbalanced. Only partially relevant. Has
major omissions. Some understanding, reflection, structure and referencing.
Partially successful attempt to use relevant examples and facts. Some reading.
Conclusions weak. Expression/style/grammar limited.
Lower 50 - 54 An adequate piece of work which shows some structure, relevant use of
2.ii examples and evidence of background reading. Some limited referencing.
Limited evidence of independent thought and the development of a
substantiated argument. Conclusions not well developed.
Expression/style/grammar adequate.
Upper 55 - 59 A competent piece of work which shows reasonable understanding of the
2.ii material and presents it satisfactorily with appropriate examples and
referencing. Structure is apparent and there is a coherent (though possibly
weak) argument with adequate conclusion. Evaluative/critical /analytical skills
present but not highly developed. No obvious weaknesses except a lack of
originality. Expression/style/grammar moderately good.
Lower 60 - 64 A good piece of work. Shows a firm grasp of the majority of the relevant
2.i material. Argues well and effectively. Is able to criticise and evaluate material.
Well structured and shows good evidence of wider background reading.
Correctly and appropriately referenced. Some evidence of originality of
thought. Expression/style/grammar good.
Upper 65 - 69 A very good piece of work. Demonstrates all the qualities of 60-64 level essay
2.i to a higher degree of development. Evidence of extensive background reading
beyond the materials suggested. Sustained argument throughout.
Lower 70 - 79 An excellent piece of work. High level of understanding of all relevant material
1st with excellent, relevant use of referencing and examples. Communicates
clearly and effectively using a coherent structure showing insight and
perceptiveness. A commendable degree of academic originality.
Expression/style/grammar excellent.
Upper 80 - 89 An outstanding piece of work. Has total control of relevant material and shows
1st an excellent synthesis of factual and conceptual components. Work of a very
high order. Expression/style/grammar excellent.
Upper 90 - 100 A brilliant piece of work of outstanding quality and innovation. Has total control
1st of all relevant material. Shows outstanding insight and an ability to structure
and synthesise material. Work of the highest order. The candidate could be
expected to achieve no more. Expression / style / grammar outstanding.