Environmental Crime Assessment 01 Semester 01

Assessment brief (if appropriate, please refer to the module assessment briefing document)

Pick one of the following questions:

• Choose a specific environmental crime (poaching, deforestation, illegal organ trade, etc), critically identifying the social and environmental impacts of this crime alongside how effectively authorities have addressed the issue.
• Enforcement Challenges: What are the primary challenges faced by law enforcement in tackling environmental crime? Critically discuss issues such as resource limitation, corruption, and jurisdictional barriers.
• How do environmental crimes affect communities and economies? Critically discuss both indirect and direct consequences.

Assessment Criteria (The actual assessment components for this assignment) 

Criteria Assessment 1 Presentation

Criteria Report

• Content - the discussion of relevant material, depth of analysis, references to relevant academic and empirical studies, with any methodological issues. 
• Spelling and grammar.
• The structure of the argument in terms of progression from an introduction to a conclusion, which follows from the argument or evidence discussed in the report.
• Evidence of critical discussion of the chosen material, which includes the use of wider reading
• Relevance of the content of the coursework to the question.
• Referencing of the materials consulted in the preparation of the essay and the quotation of all direct transcriptions from such materials
• Provision of a bibliography at the end of the essay.

This Assessment is Testing the Module Learning Outcomes

• L01 A critical understanding of the concepts and theories of environmental crime
• LO2 Detailed knowledge of specific types and forms of environmental crimes
• LO3 An appreciation of some national, regional, and international initiatives to combat environmental crime.

The following Information is Important when:

• Preparing for your assessment. Please ensure that you keep up to date with all reading, as this will make the assessment tasks easier and that you take notes in lectures for guidance. Read from as wide a range of sources as possible to ensure a full understanding of the topic. Do not rely on internet sources alone, as they are often too brief. Ensure you attend seminars to reinforce your understanding and as an opportunity to ask questions on anything you do not understand. Lecturing staff do not provide one-to-one tutorials for issues covered in seminars as a rule. Ensure you have a plan of the points to be made and the structured order they will be made in so that nothing is missed out and the argument follows a logical sequence.
• Checking your work before you submit it: Please ensure you read through your assessment before submission, checking for spelling and grammatical errors; otherwise, your arguments may appear unclear. Additionally, check that your answers have clarity and relevance to the question asked; otherwise, marks cannot be given for discussion of irrelevant issues. Stay focused on the task.
• Interpreting feedback on your work after marking: Please ensure you review your feedback and read it in a thoughtful manner. Try to understand and use it as a tool for self-improvement in future work. With any outstanding concerns, please arrange/contact the individual member of staff who marked it to talk to them.
• Assessments are subject to a word limit to ensure consistency of approach across the module. You should try and meet the word limit indicated (excluding bibliography and appendices).
• Care is taken to ensure that work has been marked correctly. Checks are conducted by a second and third lecturer and an independent expert lecturer from outside the University on batches of work.
• You will receive detailed feedback explaining how your mark has been arrived at and how your work could have been improved upon.
• Always use the Harvard style referencing system. The University's Learning Information Services has produced a series of guides covering a range of topics to support your studies and develop your academic skills, including a guide to Harvard referencing.

Avoid Academic Misconduct

Warning: Collusion, plagiarism, and cheating are very serious offences that can result in a student being expelled from the University. The Faculty of Social Sciences has a policy of actively identifying students who engage in academic misconduct of this nature and routinely applying detection techniques, including the use of sophisticated software packages.

• Avoid Collusion. To avoid collusion, always work on your own when completing individual assessments. Do not let fellow students have access to your work at any stage, and do not be tempted to access the work of others. Refer to your module tutor if you do not understand or need further guidance.
• Avoid Plagiarism. You must use available and relevant literature to demonstrate your knowledge of a subject; however, to avoid plagiarism, you must take great care to acknowledge it properly. Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone else's work and passing it off as your own. This includes incorporating either unattributed direct quotation(s) or substantial paraphrasing from the work of another/others. For this reason, you must cite all the sources whose work you have drawn on and reference them fully under the Harvard referencing standard. (This includes citing any work that you may have submitted yourself previously.) Extensive direct quotations in assessed work are ill advised because they represent a poor writing style, and they could lead to omission errors, and a plagiarism offence could be committed accidentally.
• Avoid the temptation to "commission" work or to cheat in other ways. There are temptations on the internet for you to take "shortcuts". Do not be tempted to either commission work to be completed on your behalf or search for completed past academic work.

Additional Information for Students

The University's Learning Information Services has produced a series of guides covering a range of topics to support your studies and develop your academic skills, including a guide to academic referencing

Your Module Guide and Course Handbook Contain Additional and Important Information Regarding; 

• The required referencing style for your assignment.*

Whilst many modules require referencing under the Harvard Referencing convention, some modules - for example, those within the School of Law - require Oxford Referencing. Please familiarise yourself with the requirements of your module.

• Submission of your work
• Marking, feedback and moderation by the University ofxxx Assessment Handbook
• Extensions on submission dates *
• Additional support*
• Academic conduct with regards to cheating, collusion or plagiarism*
• Links to appropriate sources of relevant information *

Always Keep a Copy of Your Work and a File of Working Papers

The requirement to keep a file of working papers is important. There may be circumstances where it is difficult to arrive at a mark for your work. If this is the case, you may be asked to submit your file and possibly meet with your tutor to answer questions on your submission.

When You Submit Your Work, You Will be Required to Sign an Important Declaration Confirming That: 

• The submission is your work
• Any material you have used has been acknowledged and appropriately referenced
• You have not allowed another student to have access to your work
• The work has not been submitted previously.

The following Information is Important When:

• Preparing for your assignment
• Checking your work before you submit it
• Interpreting feedback on your work after marking.

Module Learning Outcomes

Module Learning Outcomes are specific to this module and were set when the module was validated. 

Assessment Criteria

The module Learning Outcomes tested by this assignment, and precise criteria against which your work will be marked are outlined in your assessment brief.

Performance Descriptors

Performance descriptors indicate how marks will be arrived at against each of the assessment criteria. The descriptors indicate the likely characteristics of work that is marked within the percentage bands indicated.