Assignment Brief
As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a Social Psychology assignment comprising of a press release and a newspaper article (2000-word each) on two different social psychology topics. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.
Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module, you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge and a critical understanding of a range of theoretical approaches in social psychology.
2. Demonstrate a critical understanding of methodological and ethical issues in social psychology.
3. Apply alternative perspectives to the analysis of social groups.
4. Employ evidence-based reasoning in the explanation of group behaviour.
Graduate Attribute: Discipline expertise
Guidance
Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and the exact word count of your submitted document; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list (see referencing section for more information).You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.
You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number.
Maximum word count: 2000 words per article
Please refer to the full word count policy which can be found in the Student Policies section here: Arden University | Regulatory Framework
Please note the following:
Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment.
The word count includes everything in the main body of the assessment (including in text citations and references). The word count excludes numerical data in tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference list and appendices. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count.
Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a 10-percentage point deduction.
Assignment Tasks
Task 1
You are the communications officer of a County Council. Please produce a press release addressing concerns on anti-social behaviour relating to littering in public spaces (parks, roadside etc). In your answer you will need to not only refer to what happened, but offer the public an understanding of the mechanisms that lead to and/or trigger this behaviour. For the latter you will need to pay attention to the social constructs/phenomena connected to the displayed behaviour. Please use language that is both grounded in social psychological theory and easy to understand.
Task 2
(2000 words)
(50 marks)
(LOs: 3 & 4)
You are required to write a newspaper article reporting on the increase of xenophobia in the UK in the last six years. When composing the article please do not restrict your reporting to only what happened. It is also necessary to connect the news to theories from social psychology to explain the phenomenon.
(2000 words)
(50 marks)
(LOs: 1 & 2)
Assignment Guidance
• Write the assignment as two separate pieces, each of 2000 words.
• Each piece should be written in the style of a press release/newspaper article accordingly, with the additional requirement of using academic referencing as per your programme of study.
• Follow a similar structure to the following, but do not use headings: Title
Introduction Main body
Formative Feedback
You have the opportunity to submit a draft/plan of the assessment (30% of the word count) to receive formative feedback.
The feedback is designed to help you develop areas of your work and it helps you develop your skills as an independent learner.
If you are a distance learning student, you should submit your work via
Turnitin. Please check your iLearn module pages/forum for the formative feedback deadline and submission link.
If you are a blended learning student, your tutor will give you a deadline for formative feedback and further details. If you have a confirmed extension to your summative (final submission) deadline, please contact your lecturer for information on extensions to the formative feedback deadline.
Formative feedback will not be given to work submitted after the published date or the date specified by your tutor (if a blended learning student).
