Description:
• Complete this assignment in groups of 4-5 students.
• Maintain a portfolio of financial issues taken from 8 news sources.
• Analyse the articles with reference to theory covered in class and highlight links with the theory. You may need to do additional research to understand certain terms in the articles.
Layout and Content:
• Provide a copy of the article together with the full source above your analysis.
• A reference list should be included at the end of your assignment and any sources you refer to in your analysis must also be referenced in-text. A referencing guide can be found on the portal under "Academic Success Centre/ Library" and is also uploaded under assessments on the portal site.
• Below the article provide a 200-280 word commentary which includes:
o A very brief summary of the article's content (no more than 30-50 words)
o An identification of a clear link between the issues discussed in the article and theory covered in class
o An analysis of the financial issue and a comparison with the theory studied in class.
Consider how financial theory applies/ doesn't apply/ partially applies to the article and comment on the similarities and discrepancies.
o You can include calculations as part of your analysis.
• See "Example of Article Analysis" uploaded under assessments on the portal.
Assessment Rubric
• Please see "Part 1: Written Assignment Rubric" uploaded under assessments on the portal.
You will be assessed according to the criteria on this rubric.
• Marks will firstly depend on the way students identify the link between the news articles and financial theories and concepts learned in class. Secondly, students need to demonstrate analytical skills where they find similarities and differences between the way financial concepts are addressed in class and how they are addressed in the articles.
• Plagiarism or inadequate references will attract harsh penalties.
Evidence of Group Work
• Please note that all group members need to contribute equally to the task.
• Each group must provide 3 brief records of group meetings as part of the assignment. These briefly list who was present at meetings as well as tasks and contributions.
• Please see "Example of Group Meeting Record" on the portal under assessments
• If a group member does not contribute to the task, the group's meeting minutes can be used as evidence to demonstrate this. The student's mark can be reduced by the lecturer if they consider that there is sufficient evidence that they did not contribute.
Part 2: Group Presentation
Description:
• In the same group of 4-5 that did the group written assignment chose one article from your written assignment and develop a presentation around this article.
• The group must conduct in-depth research on the financial issue discussed in their chosen news item and relate it back to finance theory studied in class.
• Students must analyse the issue discussed in the article with reference to finance theory and at least 2 other credible sources.
• Students will also be given marks for how engaging and interesting the presentation is.
Layout
• The presentation must be 10-15 minutes long.
• Groups must present the lecturer with a hand-out of the slides.
• Slides need to be structured in a logical manner.
• A reference list should be included at the end of your slides and any sources you refer to in your analysis must also be referenced using in-text referencing. A referencing guide can be found on the portal under "Academic Success Centre/ Library" and is also uploaded under Assessments on the portal site.
Assessment
• Please see "Part 2: Group Presentation Rubric" on the portal under assessments. You will be marked according to this rubric.
• Feedback will be provided to students the week after the presentation.
• The group will be given one mark which will apply to all group members
• Plagiarism or inadequate references will attract harsh penalties.
Evidence of Group Work
• Please note that all group members need to contribute equally to the task.
• Each group must provide 3 brief records of group meetings as part of the assignment. These
briefly list who was present at meetings as well as tasks and contributions.
• Please see "Example of Group Meeting Record" on the portal under assessments
• If a group member does not contribute to the task, the group's meeting minutes can be used as evidence to demonstrate this. The student's mark can be reduced by the lecturer if they consider that there is sufficient evidence that they did not contribute.