LCR3JVJ - Assessment 3: Take-Home Exam

Major Assessment (2000 words MAXIMUM) – 40% of total marks

Due date: Sunday October 24 @ 5pm

Instructions:

There are six essay questions/statements provided. Using a short essay format, you need to select four of the six to address.

1. What is the commercial sexual exploitation of children and how can this be prevented?
2. What is Victoria’s dual-track system, and why should other Australian jurisdictions introduce a similar system?
3. Why are children who come from a single-parent family compared to children from a nuclear family more likely to engage in criminal behaviour?
4. What role does the media play in forming the public’s perception of youth crime, and how do they do this?
5. What are police cautions? Why do police use cautions? Are police cautions effective?
6. Since 2010 the number of unsentenced children held in custody in Victoria has increased by 106%. Explain why.

The assessment is marked out of 100. Each short essay attempted is worth a total of 25 marks. Therefore, if you only attempt 2 short essays you can only obtain a maximum of 50 marks.

It is important that you at least attempt four short essays to maximise the total amount of marks that can possibly be awarded.

Further Instructions

References

Each short essay should have its own reference list and should be located at the end of each short essay.

You are required to do your own independent research. Peer reviewed resources must be used to inform your work. Additionally, you can also incorporate government and NGO reports. Media articles and lecture slides are not to be relied on to inform your essay.

No minimum/maximum number of references is outlined. The number of references needed for each response is dependent on what information you are providing. Remember, you should be providing references for all assertions, claims, and evidence being presented.

The required referencing style for this assessment is Harvard Referencing. If you require assistance with your referencing please refer to the La Trobe Library Referencing Tool: https://latrobe.libguides.com/referencing-tool.

When writing and referencing your work you need to be mindful of the La Trobe University’s Academic Misconduct policy (for more information see: http://latrobe.libguides.com/academic-integrity/ethical_use).

Essay Structure

Do not waste words on an introduction or conclusion. Just answer the question.

You can choose to either provide the number of the essay question/statement you are addressing at the top of the page before you commence writing, OR, you can provide the essay questions/statement (this will not be included in the word count).

Each short essay should begin on a new page.

Writing

The way the information is presented is one of the most significant aspects. In your assessment you need to keep in mind to write clearly, identify and justify your choices. There are a few easy steps you should follow in your writing:

• Your essay needs to be grammatically sound, so make sure to check the spelling and punctuation before submitting.
• To avoid grammatical mistakes, avoid the use of overcomplicated sentences (sentences that are more than a couple of lines in length).
• Do not write your essay in first person, only write in third person.
• When using abbreviations make sure you provide the full word first followed immediately by the abbreviation in brackets afterwards (e.g. Youth justice conferencing (YJC))
• This is an academic essay, therefore, do not use dot points or lists. Instead, incorporate these points into sentences.
• Do not include tables, diagrams, or figures in your essay. Any information from these sources you want to include needs to be summarised in your own words.
• Avoid the use of quotes. The only times you should be using direct quotes is when you are citing legislation, policy, definitions etc, or you specifically wish to discuss/analyses something someone has said. Other than these two reasons you should be demonstrating understanding of content by paraphrasing all information in your own words.

Formatting

Your take-home exam should be formatted in the following ways:

• Font should be Times New Roman.
• Font size should be size 12.
• Text should be a minimum of 1.5 spaced to a maximum of 2 x spaced.
• Paragraphs should be indented.
• Page number top right hand corner.
• Running header top left hand corner.
• Text colour should be black.

Your take-home exam should be submitted with a title page that includes the following information:

• Title: Take-Home Exam
• Your name
• Student number
• Tutorial day and time
• Tutor’s name
• List of the 4 essay questions/statements you have addressed, in the order they appear in your assessment.
• Total word count (not including reference list)

Submission

You will submit the essay to Turnitin for marking purposes. To do this, you will submit the essay to the submission point located under the assessment two tab on the LMS. The submission point will open 7 days prior to the due date.

Please note – your essay must be submitted using a MS word document only. No other files will be accepted.

Extensions

Extensions for this assessment will work differently. Anyone who is approved an extension will instead be given an alternative take-home exam to be completed at a later date. This is to ensure fairness and consistency with all students being given the same ‘assessment conditions’ (i.e., the same time frame in which to complete the assessment once you have seen the questions. As such, the alternative take-home exam will not have the same questions.

Due to having to be provided an alternative take-home exam for this assessment if an extension is awarded, extension requests MUST  be supported with documentation via the online extension form located at the following link https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/admin/forms/request-an-extension.

IMPORTANT: Please note that if you are a graduating student and your extension request is a long request, this could potentially mean your marks for the subject will not be ready for the Chief Examiners Meeting where all university grades are officially approved. If this happens, this will mean you will not be able to graduate until the end of the summer semester (i.e., T1 2022).

Remember, extension requests need to be submitted at least 3 days before the due date. Please note, unless there are exceptional circumstances, requests for extensions less than 3 days before the due date will not be granted, including requests for retrospective extensions.

 Do not email your tutor requesting an extension, they do not have the ability to approve these requests.

If you are struggling to meet the due date, please reach out to either your tutor or subject coordinator ASAP so we can do our best to work with you and support you in completing your assessment. It is important to contact us before the due date as soon as possible, it might be the case that you have grounds to apply for special consideration.

Late submissions

Please keep in mind that the penalty for submitting after the due date without an approved extension is 5% of the total marks available for the assessment each day the submission is late, up to a maximum of 5 working days. Assessments will not be accepted after the fifth late day, and you will automatically receive a grade of zero for the assessment.