Your lecturer will place several links in Interact to a number of relevant articles and/or case studies. These will be available to you just after your second assignment has been submitted.
- Choose one of the media articles or case studies listed by the lecturer in Interact.
- Use the title of the article/case study provided in interact as the title of your essay, so that the lecturer knows which article you are analysing.
- Undertake further research about your chosen case, to assist you in analysing and discussing it in your essay.
You are required to complete the following:
Step 1. Construct a diagram to map the arguments about a moral claim that you have identified in the article/case study:
- Include all supporting and objecting claims. These claims should include facts collated from your own research and classical ethical theories that support or object to the claim
- You are expected to ‘finish off‘ the case’s arguments, turning it into a valid and properly structured argument.
- You should use information from the article/case study, other sources discovered during your research, and your own reasoned arguments. A balanced and impartial argument is the objective.
- The main claim/conclusion must be an ethical claim.
Step 2. Write an essay, which maps closely to the diagram that you constructed in Step 1.
- The word limit for the essay is 1,500 words ± 10%. Headings, citations and references do not count towards the word limit, but quotations do.
- All the claims shown on the diagram must appear in the essay, and all claims made in the essay must appear on the diagram. The essay must present all the detailed information that the diagram cannot.
- Remember to analyse the article/case study from the perspective of at least two different classical ethical theories and present well reasoned arguments for your assessments and recommendations.
Step 3. Write an overall conclusion that justifies your recommendations made in your essay.
Step 4. Reference list
- Include a Reference list at the end of your work, in the correct APA referencing style, corresponding to in-text citations.
- You must include at least five (5) quality references from different sources. Please note that these five references are in addition to those provided to you through this subject (for example, you still must reference, Tavani, the Interact subject lecture notes etc BUT these references cannot be used as one of your five quality references from different sources).
- Only use references that have been cited in the body of your assignment and ones that support what you have presented in your assignment.
NOTE: Format your assignment according to the instructions given in the Assessment Information, Presentation section.
This assessment extends the skills practiced in Assessment item 1 and 2, to help you to achieve all the learning objectives.
In addition to identifying a contentious situation in ICT and dissecting the argument(s) about it, you must also now demonstrate the ability to convert an argument into proper form and evaluate the elements of the argument by introducing classical ethical principles where appropriate.
Since Assessment item 1 and 2, your knowledge will have grown, and you will now realize that almost all ICT ethical dilemmas can be classified under one of the main ICT ethical issues that are discussed in this subject; for instance, surveillance is a sub-issue of privacy, harmful software is a sub-issue of ICT professionalism, and piracy is a sub-issue of intellectual property.
In ICT, the main ethical issues are taken to be:
- ICT professionalism
- Privacy
- Security
- Cyber-crime
- Intellectual property
- Regulation on the internet
- Social inclusion
- Community and identity
- Pervasive and convergent computing.
The assessment item is designed to help you to build skills towards achieving the learning objectives, by requiring you to:
- identify an ICT-related ethical issue from a media article or case study;
- using a critical analysis technique, analyse the detailed logical structure of the arguments given in the media article/case study and convert the overall argument into a valid and well-structured argument that supports or refutes an ethical position;
- apply classical ethical theory to the analysis of an ethically questionable situation to determine the rightness or wrongness of actions/decisions made therein;
- derive logical and justifiable conclusions to resolve the ethical issue(s);
- develop structured, coherent and logical arguments to support or refute claims; and
- apply proper academic referencing.
The following marking sheet will be used to assess students’ submissions.
Please check that you have met all the criteria before you submit your assignment.
Criteria
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Standards
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High Distinction (HD)
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Distinction (DI)
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Credit (CR)
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Pass (PS)
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Fail (FL)
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Classical Ethical Theory |
Demonstrates an excellent ability in understanding and applying ethical theories to the ethical issues raised.
Ability to consider and expand on topics and issues in the broader disciplinary context. Evidence of having researched more widely than the core materials provided through the subject.
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Demonstrates a very good ability at applying ethical theories to the ethical issues raised.
Ability to consider topics and issues in the broader disciplinary context.
Evidence of having read beyond the core materials provided through this subject. |
Demonstrate an ability to relate how ethical theories can be applied to the ethical issues.
Demonstrates an understanding of how the resources provided thought the core text and readings can be applied to the ethical issues.
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Demonstrates how the ethical theories can be applied to the ethical issues raised..
Demonstrates evidence of having read material presented in core texts and readings.
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The ethical theories are not properly, or not, applied to the ethical issues. Limited demonstration applying the key principles and concepts presented within this subject. .
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Rationale Diagram |
Evidence of outstanding level of understanding of logical argument structure.
Highly developed ability to consistently employ the Golden, Rabbits & Holding Hands rules
Highly developed skills in expression & presentation of claims. |
Evidence of very high standard of understanding of logical argument structure.
Consistently employ the Golden, Rabbits & Holding Hands rules Well developed skills in expression & presentation of claims.
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Evidence of high standard of understanding of logical argument structure.
Consistently employ the Golden, Rabbits & Holding Hands rules but with a few errors Very good skills in expression & presentation of claims.
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Demonstrates a basic level of understanding of logical argument structure.
Employ the Golden, Rabbit and Holding Hands rules but with many errors Good skills in expressing and presenting claims.
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Fails to satisfy minimum standards of logical argument structure.
Limited or no ability to consistently employ the Golden, Rabbits & Holding Hands rules. Rudimentary skills in expressing and presenting claims.
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Essay based on diagram | Strictly maps arguments and argument structure to diagram.
Evidence of having researched/read more widely than the core materials. Provides very strong and clearly articulated arguments with supporting evidence from the academic literature and/or real-world examples to justify claims. |
Closely maps arguments and argument structure to diagram.
Evidence of having read beyond the core materials. Provides strong and clearly articulated arguments with supporting evidence from the academic literature and/or real-world examples to justify claims. |
A genuine attempt is made at mapping arguments and argument structure to diagram.
Demonstrates thorough understanding of material presented in core texts & readings.
Provides well articulated arguments to justify claims. |
Arguments and argument structure do not link well with diagram.
Demonstrates evidence of having read material presented in core texts & readings, however, literature is presented uncritically, in a purely descriptive manner.
Articulates some arguments to justify claims. |
There is no correlation between arguments/structure and diagram.
Demonstrates little evidence of having read material presented in core texts & readings. Inaccurate or inconsistent acknowledgement of sources. Considers only those factors of a claim that support a premise. |
Writing & structure | Highly developed skills in expression and presentation of ideas.
Fluent writing style appropriate to assessment task/document type. No errors in grammar & spelling. |
Very well developed skills in expression & presentation of ideas.
Fluent writing style appropriate to assessment task/document type. Grammar & spelling accurate. |
Well developed skills in expression & clear presentation of ideas.
Mostly fluent writing style appropriate to assessment task/document type. Grammar & spelling contains a few minor errors. |
Good skills in expression & presentation of ideas.
Meaning is clear and apparent, but writing style not always fluent or well organised. Grammar & spelling contains several careless errors. |
Rudimentary or poor skills in expression & presentation of ideas.
Not all material is relevant &/or is presented in a dis-organised manner. Meaning apparent, but writing style not fluent or well organised. Grammar & spelling contains many errors. |
Conclusion | Superior conclusion that ties the results of the analysis together into a coherent, logically valid and convincing argument in support of a premise. | Very high standard conclusion that ties the results of the analysis together into a coherent, logically valid and convincing argument in support of a premise. | High standard conclusion that ties the results of the analysis together into a coherent, logically valid & convincing argument in support of a premise. | Good conclusion that provides an argument in support of a premise but does not clearly tie all the results of the analysis together | Sub-standard (or no) conclusion that does not tie the results of the analysis together in present a convincing argument to support a premise.. |
Referencing | Faultless APA referencing, including reference list and citations.
Use of very high quality relevant academic references. |
Evidence of very good APA referencing, including reference list and citations.
Use of high quality relevant academic references. |
Evidence of good APA referencing, including reference list and citations.
Good quality relevant academic references.
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Evidence of basic APA referencing skills but with errors.
Mix of good and poor quality academic references. |
Not referenced according to APA referencing standard or no references included.
Poor quality or inappropriate (or no) references. |