Business, politics and sport/Assignmemts

You have three assignments with which to demonstrate your grasp of the learning objectives:

1. Essay
2. Presentation
3. Exam

These assignments are designed to give you the freedom and flexibility to study topics that are of interest, and for you to provide assessors with evidence that you have satisfied the learning objectives for this course.

The learning objectives for this course are:

1. Explain the major catalysts responsible for the commodification of Australian sport
2. Identify the similarities and differences between the commercialisation of Australian sport and international sport
3. Discuss the ways in which sport and politics intersect
4. Contribute to public debates about the politics of sport in modern societies.
5. Communicate - express knowledge and ideas, present arguments and ideas effectively, listen and respond to the ideas of others and create and present new ideas.
6. Develop your information literacy – locate, identify, collate, analyse, evaluate, interpret and present information.
7. Engage in problem solving – identify problems and analyse the main features of problems relevant to their professional field, apply appropriate problem solving processes, arguments and critical thinking, implement and evaluate strategies for the resolution of problems, anticipate and define new problems, and identify and resolve new problems in new fields.

Essay

Frontispice de John Wilkins de An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language (1668)

You are writing a paper for the The Journal of Sport and Exercise Studies. On the fifth week of this unit (15 September), please provide a 250 word outline for your intended topic in your user page on Wikiversity, and notify your unit convener when it is ready for review. If your outline is accepted, it will be listed on the journal's front page as a work in progress. You then have until the twelfth week of the unit (3 November) to complete your 2000 word paper on your Wikiversity user page.

Marking criteria

• 10 marks - Meets the basic criteria, in that the article is submitted on a Wikiversity user page, has a clear title and a 250 word abstract that effectively summarises the introduction, body and conclusions of the article, and the whole article is not 250 words more or less than the 2000 word limit
• 10 marks - Has an introduction that establishes a context (such as why the topic was chosen and what the background is) and introduces the questions, issues, findings and/or arguments that will be made in the article
• 10 marks - Has a body with sub titled sections that details and progresses the questions, issues, findings and/or arguments of the article
• 10 marks - Has a conclusion that reviews the main points in the article, and makes a clear and concise concluding statement based on the content presented in the body of the article
• 10 marks - Supports all factual claims, data, quotes and paraphrased ideas with parenthetical referencing that includes hyperlinks to sources that are available online
• 10 marks - Is well presented, with pictures and/or illustrations, logical section headings, clearly identified quotations, and an otherwise consistent and tidy layout
• 10 marks - The article explains the role that business and politics play in the topic.
• 10 marks - The article comments on the issue of commodification with respect to the topic
• 10 marks - The article communicates an awareness of the similarities and differences in the topic from a local, state, national and international perspective
• 10 marks - You have read and reviewed at least one other article written by a peer in your course*

*You are to review an academic article of one of your peers in this course. Your lecturer will assign you an article to review. Use the template form provided at the top of that article to offer feedback to the author and other readers. Your review should demonstrate that you have read and understood the paper, that you are prepared to give that paper thorough consideration, and that you are able to give useful and constructive suggestions and opinions on the article.

Examples

You can browse examples of work submitted in 2011, at the The Journal of Sport and Exercise Studies: Business, Politics and Sport 2011 and custom essay writing service writing samples..

Presentation

Angela at Wikimania 2007 at the Wikia presentation

You are to record and upload a 10 minute presentation on the same topic as your academic paper, or a new topic all together. You can use video, audio with images, or other multi media, but this presentation needs to be informative and engaging for an online audience.

Marking criteria

• 10 marks - Meets the basic criteria in that the presentation is available online, is 10 minutes in duration, has a topic that is relevant to the business and politics of sport, has a clear title and a 250 word description that summarises the introduction, body and conclusion of the presentation, and that the published presentation is tagged "bsp2011".
• 10 marks - The presentation has an introduction that establishes a context (such as why the topic was chosen and what the background is) and introduces the questions, issues, findings and/or arguments that will be made in the presentation
• 10 marks - The presentation has a body where the details and of the questions, issues, findings and/or arguments are extended on, and progressed toward a conclusion
• 10 marks - Has a conclusion that reviews the main points in the presentation, and makes a clear and concise concluding statement based on the content presented in the body of the presentation
• 10 marks - A credits page that attributes all contributions and sampled media (all sampled media must have had a reusable copyright license), and a copyright license of Creative Commons Attribution over the finished presentation
• 10 marks - The article communicates an awareness of the similarities and differences in the topic from a local, state, national and international perspective
• 10 marks - Is well presented with clear and consistent sound quality, steady and interesting vision, and an engaging or even innovative presentation style
• 10 marks - The presentation explains the role that business and politics plays in the topic.
• 10 marks - The presentation comments on the issue of commodification with respect to the topic
• 10 marks - The presentation communicates an awareness of the similarities and differences in the topic from a local, state, national and international perspective

Examples

You can see examples of student work, by searching for BPS2011 on Youtube

Exam

End of the year exams (maths, 10th class) in Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram, Jaura, India. All the students are grouped on a compound out of the school.

This "open book" exam will test your ability to find, understand, interpret and apply knowledge to do with the business and politics of sport, in a timely and thorough manner.* You will have one hour to complete as many of the 10 questions as you can. Knowing and remembering the detail of the topics covered in this unit will be a distinct advantage. Relying on your book (in our case your computer and the Internet) will slow your progress through the exam. Questions will be based on the seminars and presentations made during the unit, focusing on the major catalysts responsible for the commodification of Australian sport, the similarities and differences between the commercialisation of Australian sport and international sport, and the variety of ways in which sport and politics intersect.

*Please come to this exam with a laptop, or notify your lecturer well in advance that you will be needing one. Please ensure that your laptop is able to connect to the UC wireless during this exam.

Marking criteria

There will be 10 questions in the exam, each worth 10 marks based on your ability to give full answers. Think of each answer as mini essays, with an introduction, a body and a conclusion. The introduction includes evidence that you have understood the question, and what you are going to use to answer it. The body is the detail of the answer. The conclusion is a summary of the question and the answer. It sounds repetitive, but its a sure way of making sure you're answered the question in full.

Examples

View the exam questions used in the 2011 course: Practice exam questions

Support services

You have support to complete these assignments in the form of:

• resources listed in this outline
• unit convenor discussing the assignments in lectures/tutorials
• instructional media and resources listed on the unit website
• the Academic Skills Centre at the University of Canberra will provide one to one support for planning, writing and technical assistance in completing these assignments - for University of Canberra students who make an appointment.