IND/Assessment One

Document for Professional Peers

Value: 20%
Length: 750

Rationale

This short task provides practice in working with academic sources and writing in formal and respectful manner. Constructive feedback will be provided that can be used in subsequent assessments and in work documents. The task provides you with an opportunity to apply the course content to your particular field of study and practice. The task addresses the following learning outcomes:

• explain the diversity of Indigenous Australian cultures both past and present
• demonstrate professional communication skills when working with Indigenous Australian peoples and communities.

Task

Write a document for your future professional peers who will work with Indigenous Australian colleagues or clients. Explain Indigenous Australian cultures by engaging with the ideas found in the key scholarly readings for this course.

1. Give your document the title ‘Indigenous Australian Cultures’ and divide the document into three sections with the following headings:

• The Dreaming
• Kinship
• Economic Organisation

Each section should be approximately 250 words in length. (The total word count for the three sections should be 750 words).

2. The information under each section heading should aim to explain and demonstrate aspects of Indigenous cultures relating to that heading:

• define and explain each topic,
• explore the role and function of the topic in Indigenous Australian life,
• provide examples from specific language groups,
• refer to diversity within Indigenous Australia (i.e. there is no single concept of the Dreaming as each is dependent on the nation or language group from which it stems),
• link these three aspects of culture together.

3. Reference list.

• Provide a reference list on a separate page at the end of your assessment. The reference list must use the APA referencing system and be in alphabetical order. All sources that you cite in your assessment task must be included in the reference list.

Reference requirements

• Use at least four (4) reference sources in total.

• You must use a minimum of three (3) required readings from Module 1.

• You must cite and reference one additional source that you have located yourself. This text must be of academic standard, such as a journal article, text book, text book chapter or conference paper proceeding. Assess the quality of content in web sources very carefully. In general, website references are unlikely to provide reliable, researched information suitable for this task.

• Do not reference Creative Spirits, Wikipedia or Skwirk/Red Apple as these are unreliable sources.

• Do not cite or reference the module. You may cite and reference the readings linked to the module.

• Use in-text citations to identify other people’s ideas and words. These in-text citations must follow the APA referencing style. Quotes must be in quotation marks and the in-text citation must include the page number.

• The reference list must follow the APA style.

Formal and respectful language requirements

• This assessment task must be in professional and formal language. This means there should be no abbreviations or slang.

• Care must be taken to avoid spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

• Respectful and appropriate terminology must be used when referring to and writing about Indigenous Australian people and cultures.

Submission requirements

• Submit as a Word document only.

Presentation

• Assessment tasks should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document. Do not submit as a PDF document.
• The first page should contain your name, subject name, word count and due date. Please use 12 point font and avoid the use of fancy templates with added colour or graphics
• Line spacing should be double spacing.
• The assessment tasks should be within +/- 10% of the word limit. The word count is taken from the first word to the last word and includes quotes. Quotes must comprise less than 10% of the total word count.
• Proof-read your work so that it is free of spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. Use language that is appropriate to academic and professional tasks. Ensure you use respectful and appropriate terminology.
• Your reference list should contain all source documents that you refer to, quote or paraphrase from. It must conform to the APA referencing style. Style guides are available at: Style guides are available.

Marking Criteria

Assessable Component	HD 17-20	D 15-16.5	C 13-14.5	P 10-12.5	F 0-9.5
Defines and explains foundational aspects of Indigenous cultures	Holistic Indigenous principles are examined. Conveys links between all 3 topics, sub-topics, explanations and the identified Indigenous principles. Examines the contribution of each topic to Indigenous cultures.	Each topic is accompanied by at least one specific example from an identified language group. Each topic explains the role and function of the topic in Indigenous societies and lives	Explains 2 sub-topics for each topic, presenting more detailed information. Describes connections between the 2 chosen sub-topics and how they relate to the topic.	Outlines all 3 topics. Each topic contains a definition and an explanation. Outlines broad and relevant ideas.	Explores fewer than 3 topics, or explores different topics to those requested without justification. Definitions or explanations are missing. Presents Irrelevant or inaccurate ideas.
Explains Indigenous Australian cultural diversity.	The content relating to cultural diversity provides an examination of similarities and differences between Indigenous cultures.	At least one topic compares and contrasts examples from two language groups that demonstrate cultural differences relating to that topic. Provides reasons for the difference/s.	Each topic describes more detailed information about cultural diversity in relation to the topic, including reasons for cultural diversity	The explanation for each topic contains broad statements that outline cultural diversity specific to that topic	Does not recognize cultural diversity. Presents irrelevant or inaccurate ideas.
Selects and uses appropriate terminology and respectful language.	All language and terminology uses are appropriate and informed	Language and terminology choices allow for diversity and do not ‘generalise’ Indigenous people or cultures.	Any racial or historical terms used are accompanied by an explanation.	Avoids common terminology issues. Uses appropriate non-racial terms to describe groups of people.	Common terminology issues are evident, such as non-capitalisation, use of inappropriate words without context or explanation (e.g. half-caste, native, tribe), interchangeable use of Indigenous and Aboriginal, use of words such as ‘they’, ‘we’, ‘our’,‘their’, other issues
Uses formal language and fulfils the technical aspects of the task.	Writing shows control and skilful construction of expression to convey specific understandings. Seamlessly integrates citations and referencing into the writing.	Written expression and referencing show clear organisation. Uses a variety of techniques to incorporate source material and citations.	There are no errors relating to writing and references. Uses formal written expression consistently without errors. There are no imprecise or unsupported statements or generalisations. Uses the APA reference system without error.	There are few errors. Uses formal written expression with fewer than 6 instances of slang, contractions, spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. Uses full sentences consistently. Paragraphs identify and explore one idea. Paragraphs are linked using effective methods. Content is accurate and supported; there are fewer than 3 instances of unsupported assertions and/or inaccuracies. At least 3 required readings and 1 self-located reading are cited and referenced. Shows judgement in choosing reliable, relevant, academic sources of information. Uses the APA referencing system; there may be some errors however there is consistency in approach. All task requirements have been met and submitted	There are serious errors. Informal or inappropriate written expression is evident and there are more than 6 instances of slang, contractions, spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. Phrases or run-on sentences are used habitually. Paragraphs are unfocused, too long or too short, or links between paragraphs are undeveloped. Content is not supported; there are more than three instances of unsupported assertions and/or inaccuracies. Fewer than 3 required readings are cited and referenced. The self-located reference is not included or is not appropriate. APA referencing is not used. Referencing style is inconsistent showing a lack of understanding of its purpose. There is evidence of unacknowledged sources or plagiarism. One or more task requirements are unmet or missing.