Essays and assessment tasks
Essay format
Essays should adhere to the following criteria:
- Essays should be typed on a computer, except where advised by the subject coordinator
- Both left and right margins should be at least 4 cm wide
- Lines should be double spaced
- Pages should be single sided and must be numbered
- Headers should be included with the student’s name and number, subject code and the assignment title
- Australian English should be used, except where advised by the subject coordinator. Students should refer to the Australian Government Style Manual if unsure about grammar, punctuation or usage, and the Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary or the Macquarie Dictionary for spelling
- All work must be appropriately referenced and include a bibliography. Information about different styles of referencing is available on the Library Re:cite website. Please contact your subject coordinator if you have any questions about the referencing style to be used
- Essays must be submitted with an Asia Institute Coversheet (275kb pdf)
Students may also wish to refer an essay writing guide. A number of these are available in the library, however the following are recommended:
- John Clanchy and Bridget Ballard: Essay Writing for Students: A Practical Guide, Addison Wesley Longman, Melbourne, 1997
- Jonathan Anderson, Millicent Poole: Assignment and Thesis Writing, John Wiley and Sons, Brisbane, 1997
Plagiarism is taken very seriously by the Asia Institute and the University and assessment tasks may be submitted to Turnitin. More information about plagiarism is available on the University’s Academic Integrity website.
Assessment submission
All hardcopy assessment tasks for Asia Institute subjects must be submitted by 5pm on the due date to the essay box on level 2 of the Sidney Myer Asia Centre.
Assessment tasks should be accompanied by an Asia Institute Coversheet (275kb pdf). Both sections of the coversheet must be completed by the student to ensure that essay submission can be recorded.
Assignment extensions
Students may be granted an assignment extension of up to 10 days by their subject coordinator or of more than 10 days by submitting a Special Consideration application. For more information please see the Undergraduate web page.
Return of assessment tasks
Essays are usually returned to students in class, however some subject coordinators may prefer to hand back essays individually. Students who are not present when essays are returned must contact their subject coordinator to arrange alternative collection. Students wishing to have their essays returned to them by post must provide an A4, stamped and self-addressed envelope at the time of submission.
Final essays will not be returned until after the final results for the subject have been released. Students wishing to have their final essays returned must provide an A4, stamped and self-addressed envelope at the time of submission.
Results and assessment reviews
Feedback and results of assessment should normally be available to students within 3 weeks of the submission date of the assessment, however the results of the final assessment task will not be made available until after the final results for the subject have been released.
Students are entitled to meet with their subject coordinators to discuss their performance in their subject following the release of final results.
Students may request an account of the marks awarded to each piece of assessment conducted in the subject, however it should be noted that marks may be subjected to adjustment. Students may discuss any adjustments made to marks with their subject coordinator.
More information about the University policy on results and assessment is available on the Melbourne Policy Library website.