Assignments

Go to to download individual assignments


ARE ASSIGNMENTS COMPULSORY?
NO, they are not, but is strongly advised that you attempt and submit all of the assignments. Research done at Unisa has shown that students who submit assignments has a far better chance of success because:
• assignments ‘force' students to work throughout the year, which in turn makes it possible to identify problems early;
• students build up a year mark, which might prove to be valuable if something goes wrong in the exams.
• the course, especially this one, may prove be to difficult to ‘cram' in the two weeks before exams.


CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS FINAL MARK
Will the assignments contribute towards the final mark?
According to UNISA regulations, the assignments may count a small percentage of the final mark. In this course, our assignments can contribute a maximum of 15% to the final mark. The reason why it cannot be more than 15% is that we have no guarantee that the work submitted is the student's own work. Also, we allow students to work in groups, which implies that the work submitted is not entirely the own work of the student who submitted the work. However, we acknowledge the fact that most students work throughout the year and recognise your effort by making the assignments count. In most other courses at UNISA, assignments do NOT count towards the final mark, but simply serve as an entrance requirement for the examinations.

The maximum of 15% is allowed by letting each assignment count 5% of the final mark.


WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT AN ASSIGNMENT?
Nothing really, students will not be disadvantaged if they do not submit assignments. For this certificate course, ALL students have automatic entrance to the examination. If you have not submitted any assignments, you will simply have not year mark, and as a result, your examination mark will be the final mark. On the other hand, if you don't submit all the assignments, for example, If you submit only 1 of the 3 assignments, your year mark will only make up 5% of your final mark. We have a policy in this course, not to disadvantage students through their year mark, but use it to help them. For example, if your year mark is average (say 60%) and you gets 80% in the exams, your year mark will be disregarded.


TYPES OF ASSIGNMENTS
Informal Assignment for students with Internet access
If you have Internet access, please introduce yourself to the rest of the class on the discussion forum under the "Hello..."-thread. The reason for this assignment is twofold. First, it ensures that you have proper access to our discussion forum and knows how to use it. The second reason for introducing yourself is to get to know the rest of your classmates. Experience has told us that students benefit a lot by communication with their fellow students! If you have Internet access, please make sure that you become part of this group.

Formal Assignments
There are THREE formal assignments for each module (four in total). The first two assignments are comprised of multiple choice questions. All assignments must be submitted ON or BEFORE a specified due date for marking. NO late assignments will be marked. Due to the tight time constraints of fitting everything into a semester, we will NOT be able to consider late assignments for marking. If you cannot make a due date, remember that it will not be counted against you - you can only benefit by submitting it in time.


MULTIPLE CHOICE ASSIGNMENTS (Prepare for submission)
• WORKING FROM PAPER
Many people find it easier to work from paper than to work from a monitor. Web-based students might therefore find it easier to first print out the assignment before working on it.

• USE A DUMMY ANSWER SHEET AT FIRST
You can use a copy of our DUMMY ANSWER SHEET, (found at the end of this document) to assist you in preparing your answers for submission. For each question, select only the BEST possible answer, and write down the number of that answer next to the question number eg. (1.) 4. Complete all questions on your dummy answer sheet. If you intent to submit your answers electronically, keep your dummy answer sheet ready.

• COMPLETE A MARK-READING SHEET
If you are a correspondence student without Internet access, use one of the computerised mark-reading sheet that you have received with your registration papers, and carefully complete the mark-reading sheet from your dummy answer sheet.


WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS (Prepare for submission)
Assignment 3 is a practical exercise based on the entire course. For this exercise, you will have to install (if you have not yet) and use the XML Spy editor that accompanied your textbook. You are expected to do the exercises, PRINT them and submit them through SOL or through postal mail. Only printouts of your practical work will be considered.


SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS
Please remember that submission must be ON or BEFORE the due date. If there is a consistent problem with the Unisa-servers two days prior to the due date, we automatically extend the due date for a week (Also the section on Possible Problems). Remember that the automatic extension of one assignment does NOT imply extension of the follow-up assignments, you must therefore continue with your study programme as initially planned and not adjust your schedule according to the new date.

Electronic submission
Using this method, the assignment must be admitted through the SOL server (https://sol.unisa.ac.za). Do NOT e-mail your assignment to the lecturers please since it cannot be marked by the computer program which marks the incoming assignments.

Postal submission
Put your assignment in a Unisa envelope and post it to Unisa. (Use the services and procedures booklet, that you have received with your registration papers if you have any queries in this regard.


MARKING OF ASSIGNMENTS
All multiple choice assignments are marked electronically as a batch on a predetermined date. The system does NOT mark assignments as they are submitted, but all are marked at the same time as a single batch. This means if your assignment is not part of the batch it will not be considered for marking. The Assignment Department publishes the results of the marked assignment on SOL or send it by postal mail to correspondence students.

Assignment 3 is marked by hand. Our response will be sent back to you as soon as possible. Remember, since this assignment is due a few weeks before the examination, it will NOT be possible to extend the submission date, as this will not allow us enough time to assess and return your work.


SUBMISSION DATES
Because the first two assignments are marked by batch processing, we cannot arrange for the marking of individual assignments. It is therefore very important that you submit your assignment ON or BEFORE the due. Please DO NOT ask for extension to submit an assignment. Because we cannot arrange for individual assignments to be marked, we also cannot grant extension. If you miss an assignment, please start working on the next assignment. The date of marking is usually set THREE days after the due date.

As explained in the previous section, we can unfortunately also not accept any late submissions for Assignment 3. Please be on time to be eligible for improving your term mark.


GROUP WORK?
Can students work together in groups?
Absolutely! You may work together in groups, as long as each person submits his or her own work. The electronic submission does not make room for group submission, therefore each person in the group has to submit an assignment.