Students will prepare a formal academic paper in an essay format of 2500 (±10%) words which must address one of the FOUR (4) essay questions provided by Week 2 (on Blackboard under the Assessment tab

 Students will prepare a formal academic paper in an essay format of 2500 (±10%) words which must address one of the FOUR (4) essay questions provided by Week 2 (on Blackboard under the Assessment tab). The requirements for this essay will also be discussed in the class in details. The major essay has to include both a descriptive and an analytical component. In other words, you need to be able to present credible information on the topic that you select in an organized and structured way as well as provide a critical analysis (not just a summary of the relevant literature). ‘Credible information’ means that your information derives from scholarly i.e., peer-reviewed references. ‘Critical analysis’ in this instance means identifying, defining and discussing discipline-related concepts and problems raised in your lectures and readings and applying them to the credible information you have collected. Your essay needs to be fully referenced and written to academic standards. The assessment criteria (rubric) for the major assignment is available on Blackboard. Your essay needs to demonstrate the evidence of having read and absorbed AT LEAST TEN (10) scholarly academic journal articles (you can include other authenticated reference sources e.g., Books, Australian Bureau of Statistics, as needed, but these do not count towards the minimum required number of scholarly articles). Nor will online reports by academics (Working papers, Discussion papers, commissioned reports of all kinds) or by organizations or institutions, including NGOs and Government departments, be counted as scholarly.