NCO102 Tutor-Marked Assignment 1
This individual assignment accounts for 50% of the total grade in the NCO102 Effective Writing course.
This assignment consists of 1 task.
Task 1: 700-word academic essay
Due: 11:55 PM on 20 February 2026 (Friday)
Write a 700-word academic essay in response to the question below.
Select an environmental or technological change implemented in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025 that was intended to improve the lives of a particular population group within a specific part of a country. However, this change has unintentionally created a new issue in that same part of the country. Present developed and supported arguments explaining why you believe the new issue needs to be addressed immediately.
For your academic essay, which must not exceed 700 words (counting in-text citations but not the reference list), please include the key components mentioned in the bullet list below. Use information from external sources (such as articles, reports, studies, etc.) to support your arguments. Remember to ensure these sources are properly cited within the text and listed in the reference section.
- Introduction
o What is the background and the context of your chosen topic?
o What is your thesis statement? - Body paragraphs
o What is the main idea in each body paragraph?
o What are the explanations, supporting details, and links for each body paragraph? - Conclusion
o What is your conclusion after the discussion of your arguments?
o How did you draw your conclusion from the summary of your points?
A. Note to Students Regarding Submission
- This is an individual assignment. You are required to upload a single Word document (not PDF) via your tutorial group site on Canvas. You are responsible for the timely upload of your assignment on Canvas.
- Include the following information in the filename of your submission: Course Code, Title of the TMA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.
- Do not include footnotes, endnotes, or a cover page in your submission as these may affect your Turnitin Similarity score.
- Submit your assignment before the specified deadline. Note that for every 24-hour delay, Canvas’s Gradebook system will automatically reduce your score by 10 marks. Please refer to the Student Handbook for more details.
- You cannot re-submit a TMA after the submission deadline (including the grace period) as per the Student Handbook. The latest copy of your TMA uploaded before the deadline will be considered your final submission and will be marked by your instructor.
- Your essay must not exceed 700 words. There is no 10% allowance for exceeding this limit.
B. Note to Students Regarding Plagiarism
- Students can be subject to disciplinary action for plagiarism, which occurs when a student submits the work of another person or his/her own work from another assignment as his/her own original work and/or paraphrases or uses material from a source without appropriate or adequate acknowledgement. Plagiarism can include, but is not limited to:
- Self-plagiarism, where work that had been submitted to satisfy the requirements of a course is submitted for another course and passed off as original work.
- Using a choice phrase or sentence from another person or source and failing to attribute them appropriately or to distinguish clearly between the words and language of the person or source and those of the student.
- Not providing references, or providing incomplete or inadequate references (e.g., not using quotation marks for words or ideas from a source, paraphrasing sentences from another person or source without references).
- Using text, statistics, figures, photographs, pictures or diagrams or facts from the internet, an app, another person or source, without appropriate or adequate acknowledgement of the source (e.g., inappropriate use of AI tools).
- Putting together ideas from various sources without offering original work.
- Factors that may lead to a high Turnitin Similarity score:
- Using points from other sources without proper citation or quotation marks.
- Minimal paraphrasing of source material.
- Copying text directly from external sources.
- Reusing your own previous work submitted for other assignments.
- Using another student’s work, even with minor changes.
- Note: This list is not exhaustive. Always uphold academic integrity by ensuring that your essay reflects your own understanding, analysis, creativity, and writing style.
C. Note to Students Regarding Use of AI
- Students are not allowed to use AI tools to substantially generate or complete the final submitted assignment which is meant to evaluate their own skills and knowledge. Students must ensure that the core of their submissions reflects their own understanding, analysis, creativity, and writing style.
- Students cannot claim work created by AI tools as their own without proper attribution. Falsely representing AI-generated content as one’s own would be considered academic dishonesty.
- Students are responsible for properly disclosing any use of AI tools to assist with assignments via citations and tables detailing the AI tool used.
- Turnitin now includes an AI-detection feature that indicates the percentage of your submission likely generated by AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, Quillbot). This feature produces a detailed AI report highlighting segments it identifies as AI-generated. Please note the AI indicator and report are only visible to instructors and administrators, not students. NCO102 instructors may, using their professional judgment and the Turnitin report, deduct marks if a submission contains academic content (e.g., arguments and explanations) or sentences that appear to be generated by AI tools.
- Below are some factors that may cause a submission to have a high Turnitin AI score:
- Submitting arguments and explanations generated by AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT and Gemini).
- Using AI-based paraphrasing tools (e.g., Grammarly and Quillbot) to reword full sentences or paragraphs.
- Note: This list is not exhaustive. Your essay should demonstrate your own understanding, analysis, creativity, and writing style.
D. Note to Students Regarding Use of Grammar Checkers
- Below are a few guidelines on the use of grammar checkers such as Grammarly and Quillbot:
- If you are using grammar checkers such as Grammarly for proofreading purposes (i.e., correcting spelling, punctuation, or grammar), it is similar to using Microsoft Word’s built-in spellchecker and is generally acceptable. However, please avoid using grammar checkers’ AI features that rewrite full sentences/paragraphs or generate text on your behalf, as that would go beyond proofreading and will most likely be flagged by Turnitin as AI-generated content.
- To be safe, if you are using grammar checkers, use it only for small corrections (e.g., fixing verb tenses or missing articles), while keeping the ideas, structure, and phrasing
in your own words. Always review a grammar checker’s suggestions carefully before accepting them so that your submission continues to reflect your own writing style.
Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcome (LO) Assessed | Task
(please place ü against each relevant LO) |
|
| 1 | Describe the audience, purpose and tones of academic writing as well as professional writing | ü |
| 2 | Identify the correct organization and language styles for academic writing as well as professional writing | ü |
| 3 | Apply the writing feedback to improve the writing drafts | ü |
| 4 | Write effective academic papers in the university setting | ü |
| 5 | Demonstrate effective writing in the workplace setting | |
| 6 | Organize external resources critically into the writing | ü |
NCO102 TMA01 Assessment Criteria & Marking Rubric
| CONTENT (50%) | Mark (50) | Classification |
| Very Good to Excellent answer
Introduction – very focused background, and leads well into the topic. Thesis statement – the purpose is stated very clearly, accurately and excellently. Main and supporting ideas – interesting, relevant and sophisticatedly developed with maturity in handling the purpose of the synthesis essay. Conclusion – addresses the thesis thoughtfully, and is in sync with the rest of the paper. |
45 – 50
40 – 44
|
Excellent
Very Good
|
| Fair to Good answer
Introduction – relevant background, and leads well into the topic. Thesis statement – the purpose is stated clearly and accurately. Main and supporting ideas – interesting, relevant and welldeveloped, but may not have addressed the purpose of the synthesis essay fully. Conclusion – addresses the thesis fully, and is in sync with the rest of the paper. |
35 – 39
30 – 34 |
Good
Fair
|
| Weak to Very Weak answer
Introduction – generally relevant to the topic. Thesis statement – the purpose is stated fairly clearly and accurately. Main and supporting ideas – mostly relevant, sensible and interesting, but not necessarily sufficient; can be better focused and developed. Conclusion – addresses the thesis, and is still in sync with the rest of the paper. |
25 – 29
20 – 24 |
Weak
Very Weak |
| Fail
Introduction – attempted but not entirely relevant to the topic. Thesis statement – the purpose is stated but may not be clear or accurate, although the general idea is identifiable. Main and supporting ideas – identifiable but may be simplistic ; lack sufficient development ; some irrelevant ideas. Conclusion – attempted; may not address thesis, but is still partially in sync with the rest of the paper. |
15 – 19
10 – 14
|
Poor
Very Poor |
| Bad Fail
Introduction – poor; unrelated to the topic. Thesis statement – states the purpose unclearly and/or inaccurately, OR does not state the purpose at all. Main and supporting ideas – not obvious ; repetitious and mundane with no relevant support; many irrelevant ideas. Conclusion – none/poor and may not be in sync with the rest of the paper.
|
0 – 9 | Little understanding of the content |
| ORGANISATION, CLARITY & CITATION (30%) | Mark (30) | Classification |
| Very Good to Excellent answer
Paragraphs – coherent throughout with well-controlled organizational pattern; unified as a whole. Fluency & Cohesion – text flows very smoothly with an impressive range of transitions; connections are always or almost always successful. Citation – excellently used and correctly documented. Paraphrase – demonstrates and highlights key information from the cited reading clearly and appropriately.
|
27 – 30
24 – 26 |
Excellent
Very Good
|
| Fair to Good answer
Paragraphs – mostly coherent with a clear organizational pattern; unified as a whole. Fluency & Cohesion – text flows smoothly with a good range of transitions; connections are often or mostly successful. Citation – well used and properly documented.
Paraphrase – clearly demonstrates and highlights key information from the cited reading but could be more fully elaborated.
|
21 – 23
18 – 20 |
Good
Fair
|
| Weak to Very Weak answer
Paragraphs – some lapses in coherence; organizational pattern may be blurred; generally unified. Fluency & Cohesion – text is still generally smooth flowing with an adequate range of transitions; connections are not always successful. |
15 – 17
12 – 14
|
Weak
Very Weak |
| Citation – attempted but may not be properly documented a few times.
Paraphrase – demonstrates and highlights some key information from the cited reading but some may be irrelevant, inappropriate or inaccurate.
|
||
| Fail
Paragraphs – frequent lapses in coherence; organizational pattern is not followed through; mildly unified. Fluency & Cohesion – some text may be disjointed which may impede comprehension; transitions/connections may be insufficient or inappropriate. Citation – attempted but not properly documented most of the time.
Paraphrase – inadequately demonstrates and highlights the key information from the cited reading; there may be a tendency to focus too much on details.
|
10 – 11
5 – 9 |
Poor
Very Poor |
| Bad Fail
Paragraphs – many lapses in coherence; organizational pattern is not apparent; not unified. Fluency & Cohesion – text is generally disjointed which impede comprehension; transitions/connections are limited or unsuccessful.
Citation – no attempt.
Paraphrase – may confuse key information from the cited reading; demonstrates limited ideas which may be largely irrelevant, inappropriate or inaccurate.
|
0 – 4 | Little understanding of
organisation, clarity and citation |
| LANGUAGE (20%) | Mark (20) | Classification |
| Very Good to Excellent answer
Syntax & Grammar – expert use of sentence types, and grammar is almost always to always accurate. Vocabulary, word usage & idiomatic expressions – a sophisticated range and used effectively. Punctuation & Spelling – almost no errors. Style – formal and highly suitable for an academic audience. |
18 – 20
16 – 17 |
Excellent
Very Good
|
| Fair to Good answer
Syntax & Grammar – flexible use of sentence types, and grammar is quite accurate with some minor slips only. Vocabulary, word usage & idiomatic expressions – a fairly wide range and used accurately. Punctuation & Spelling – occasional errors. Style – formal and mostly suitable for an academic audience. |
14 – 15
12 – 13
|
Good
Fair
|
| Weak to Very Weak answer
Syntax & Grammar – adequate use of sentence types, and grammar is generally accurate; errors rarely confuse intended meaning. Vocabulary, word usage & idiomatic expressions – adequate range and generally well used; a few may be inappropriately used. Punctuation & Spelling – some errors; they rarely obscure intended meaning. Style – formal, but may have a few inappropriate expressions.
|
10 – 11
8 – 9 |
Weak
Very Weak |
| Fail
Syntax & Grammar – inadequate use of sentence types, and grammar is fairly accurate; errors confuse intended meaning occasionally. Vocabulary, word usage & idiomatic expressions – fairly adequate range, correctly convey simple meaning but lack flair; some may be inaccurately used. Punctuation & Spelling – some errors may obscure intended meaning. Style – mostly inappropriate. |
7
5 – 6 |
Poor
Very Poor |
| Bad Fail
Syntax & Grammar – poor use of sentence types, and grammar is generally poor; errors confuse intended meaning frequently. Vocabulary, word usage & idiomatic expressions – limited range to even convey simple meaning correctly; many are inaccurately used. Punctuation & Spelling – errors obscure intended meaning. Style – inappropriate.
|
0 – 4 | Little understanding of accurate and appropriate language use |
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