The assessments for this module will be two essays, due in by the
end of Week 6 and Week 11. The first is worth 40% and the second one is
worth 60%. Submissions should be made electronically using Canvas, and
there will be opportunities to upload drafts and get comments before
the final submissions. There is no exam.
You should submit a draft of your essay about 2 weeks prior to the
submission deadline, and comment on other students' essays (and
receive comments on your own draft). Although there are no marks for
this draft stage, it is an important part of the exercise, because
- You will also be able to see other examples of work by students at the same stage as you.
- If there are important issues that look like they will affect your mark the lecturer or
a teaching assistant will point them out and ask you to address them.
So if there are issues with the final essay these will be either
ones that were already pointed out to you or problems that you
introduced at the very last minute. Doing the work at the last minute
is not a particularly good thing, and it's a good idea to do as much
as you possibly can for the draft to ensure you get the best possible
feedback on it.
If you do not agree with what other students say in their feedback,
do not worry. You will have to pay some attention to what the
lecturer and/or teaching assistant says, however. Note that if there
are no major comments from the lecturer and/or teaching assistant that
means your essay is looking OK and has no major problems and you just
need to complete it as planned.
Some students "miss" assessments. If you miss one assessment in
this module it makes it much more difficult for you to pass. If you
miss two assessments it makes it almost impossible to pass the
module. So please do not miss assessments. If you really have to
because of mitigating circumstances let us know and we will be
sympathetic. If you do an essay but have to submit it late, make sire
you do submit it as soon as possible after the deadline and let us
know the reason for the delay. A late essay is better than no essay
at all!
Since essays are normally considered "unusual" for mathematics
(there is really no reason for this at all) the rest of this web page
indicates what you can write in your essay, and how it will be marked.
- Essays will be judged on argued or reasoned
statements/facts/assertions/calculations/examples/opinions/diagrams; in fact
you may write any sort of thing you like provided it is relevant
to the question and reasoned. Generally speaking, personal opinions are
OK, but these do still need to be explained carefully. Of course the bulk of your work
will be in English, but you can include calculations, proofs, diagrams, or any
other mathematics. The main criteria for marking will be the number of
things you say and their relevance, and (particularly) the arguments
you put forward supporting them. These arguments do not have to be
overly formal (these guidelines might make it seem more formal
because I have to talk in generalities that apply to all kinds of things
you might write) but they do have to be there.
- Essay work must be the student's own work. Anything you
use from any external sources (such as Gowers' book, these web
pages, anywhere else) must be referenced precisely at the
place where you quote or use it. This applies to any material you use, including
adapting or paraphrasing material obtained elsewhere. You must
still reference it at the place where it was used and say what material was used
and how. Simple referencing like this is best done as footnotes or as part of
the text. There is no need to have a complicated referencing system
at the end of the essay.
- As well as being necessary for good academic work, referencing
like this will result in credit (i.e. more marks) since it is, after
all, another kind of reason for adopting a point of view.
- Essays must be legible, in English, and written in such a way that you
can reasonably expect another student in the same class to be able to
read and understand them.
- You will not lose marks for bad spelling, grammar,
punctuation, presentation, etc., provided your meaning is clear
and unambiguous, and it is not difficult or time-consuming to read and
"decode" what you have written.
- That said, you should keep in mind what the main reasons for good
spelling, grammar, punctuation, presentation, etc., are. They are regarded as
"good", precisely because they make your work easier to read and less
ambiguous. In other words, if your use of English or presentation is
poor, then the chances are you will lose marks because your work is
difficult to read or interpret.
- Lack of ambiguity is particularly important. If a sentence you
write can be understood in two different ways, then the reader cannot
know which you intended. If that reader is the marker he or she will
not be able to give you marks for understanding something, because the
sentence you wrote does not prove that you understood it.
- Above all, you can only be marked only on what you actually
write, not what you or someone else thinks you might have meant! We
will read your work, but we cannot read your mind.
Marking will be done in a university scale based on the following.
- More than 80%: showing excellent understanding of the facts and ability to
put them to very good use.
- 70-79%: showing good understanding of the facts and ability to
put them to use.
- 60-69%: showing understanding of the facts and mostly able to
use them correctly.
- 50-59%: showing ability to understand most of the facts and their relevance.
- 40-49%: showing ability to identify some of the relevant facts.
- 0-39%: not showing sufficiently clear understanding of the question or enough relevant facts.
"Facts" of course means anything relevant. "Use" might mean combining
several facts to give one conclusion, or an argument to support something else.