BCO3442 INFORMATION ETHICS AND MANAGEMENT
Assessment Two: Argumentative Report
Introduction
This is an individually prepared assessment task. In this assessment task you are required to argue
both points of view (for a topic assigned by your tutor) in a written assessment known as an
argumentative essay. Your submission must present a clear and logical argument, be 2000 words in
length and cite at least eight quality references to justify each of your key points. This assessment
task is worth twenty five per cent your final mark for this unit.
Learning objectives
After successfully completing this assessment task, you should be able to:
Do independent research
Demonstrate knowledge of current Information Systems issues
Construct and communicate a logical argument
Communicate using professional business language in written format
Requirements
This assessment task must be completed individually. It should be 2000 words in length (excluding
the reference list) and provide Harvard format references for at least eight quality references that are
cited appropriately within the body of your essay. Your work should contain a maximum of three
direct quotations (each no greater than two to three sentences long in length). You should aim to
paraphrase sources, writing the essay in your own words and including citations and corresponding
reference list entries to demonstrate research. Your essay must be submitted to Turnitin and achieve
a similarity index of twenty per cent or less. Please see your tutor for advice if your similarity index is
greater than twenty per cent on submission to Turnitin. Note that you can resubmit your essay up
until the submission deadline. Initial originality results are returned within minutes. Resubmission
results can take up to twenty four hours to process.
You must include an appropriate introduction to the topic to provide context for the reader and
outline the point of view that you will be arguing in the essay. The body of your essay must present
both sides of the argument. It should conclude with a summary of key points, reiterating the point of
view you support and summarising why you have taken this position. The essay should be written in
the third person (e.g. do not use I, we or our). You should write in simple, professional business
language. As noted in the marking criteria overleaf, marks are awarded for structure, clear and valid
arguments, quality of research and overall presentation. The criteria awards up to a total of twenty
five marks which equates to twenty five per cent of the final unit assessment.
Submission
This assessment task is due for submission during the tutorial in Week 8. Accompanying the
Essay, you must enclose a copy of the Turnitin Report. NOTE: Do not upload the assessment
declaration overleaf to Turnitin as it will reduce Originality Report results. In submitting to
Turnitin you certify that you have read and agree to the assessment declaration that appears
overleaf.
Debate Topics
Instructions
Your tutor will assign one of the following topics for your debate and whether you will
debate in favour or against the topic.
Topics
1. In the interests of freedom of speech, there should be no restrictions on what
can be posted on the internet.
2. That the notion of copyright is obsolete and requires the development of new
laws.
3. That the offshore outsourcing of IT is dangerous to the profession and the
economy and should be severely restricted.
4. That legal restrictions on the downloading of music and videos from the
internet should be abolished.
5. Rather than criminalising hacking, programmers should be encouraged to
enhance their skills by freely engaging in hacking.
