Brighton School of Business and Management Student Newsletter May 2009

Welcome to your May 2009 student newsletter

Contributions, information, advice, website links, or ideas, that may be of help to other students are very welcome please email them to: studentservices@brightonsbm.com

Our New Website

We are delighted to announce our new website is still at www.brightonsbm.com but completely refreshed with a new layout and additional features.

One new feature that should be of interest is the News and Views page, which has articles giving advice on studying, written by our Senior Tutors, and a facility for you, the student, to add comments and suggestions.

To find familiar pages such as Useful Websites and other study resources, see the Study Resources link at the bottom of the site pages.

Study Advice and Guidance

In the current difficult economic climate, it is even more important to show that you are professionally developing yourself studying for a relevant qualification, or generally improving your knowledge.

As you are already undertaking professional development, this issue is dedicated to providing advice and guidance on how to study effectively.

Subject Study Advice from our Tutor Team

The amount of hours you spend reading and studying is flexible and depends on your personal situation. However, for most of our national qualification courses, most students will need to spend a minimum of 5 hours per week studying if you can do more, especially the supplementary studying on the internet that will be beneficial to you.

For each Subject Unit / Module we recommend that you:

• Read the Study Materials (that we have sent you) carefully, making notes where appropriate
• Complete any mini-exercises/activities thoroughly
• Search on the internet each time you see/read about a subject/issue/topic that you are not familiar with, or that is of particular interest to you for articles, case studies, reports, etc
• Talk with colleagues, specialists, associates, friends who are also interested in Business & Management issues
• Start work on the Assignment

If you have not studied in this manner, and in sufficient depth and breadth, this will show in the quality of your assignment.

Don’t forget that you can email your Personal Tutor, and ask questions, ask for advice, ask for information or where you can find information your Tutor will be happy to advise you.

Writing Assignments

Before starting to write the Assignment:

• Read the Assignment Brief and make a note of the criteria, the tasks, that are required this is essential your assignment must cover all the criteria that are listed
• Look at case studies, articles, reports, on the specific Assignment topics (use the Internet, the BSBM website, your Professional Institute website)
• Prepare an Outline Plan of the structure and content of your assignment make sure that all the criteria are included in your plan
• Include in your plan a section on Models, Theories, Tools, Techniques you are expected to show that you are aware of and understand the established models, theories, tools, techniques, that are relevant to the assignment topic (some, not necessarily all, of these will have been mentioned in your core materials)

structure your assignments in a professional format, with headings similar to theseor if there is a Marking Scheme, then structure your headings in line with the Marking Scheme headings:

• Assignment Task and Criteria
  * these must be shown in full on the Title Page
• Introduction
• Background / The Problem
• Section Headings break down your text into appropriate sections
• Proposal if needed
• Implementation Plan if needed
• Recommendations if appropriate
• Conclusion
• List of Sources of Information / References using the simplified Harvard system
  * make good use of your Tutor for further advice and guidance

Assessment of Assignments

For those of you new to completing Assignments, it may be of help to you for us to explain how they are assessed.

Coursework Assessor

Your Personal Tutor will assess and grade your assignments (for CQI Assignments the Tutor carries out a first-assessment and the CQI Examiners carry out the final, formal, assessment).

Grading

For most assignments grading is not by a % mark, but is: Not Yet Satisfactory – Pass – Merit – Distinction (this is an Accreditation Body format that we are obliged to (but happy to) follow). For some assignments, such as for our CQI Quality qualifications, a % Mark is given as well as the Pass, Merit, or Distinction.

Assessment Criteria

The final Unit/Module grade assessment we make is based on:

• How well you have met the Assignment Criteria / Task Requirements: we look primarily for evidence that you have followed the Assignment “instructions” and have responded to the Assignment in a way that meets the specific requirements / criteria as described in the Assignment brief.
• The depth and breadth of your work: where we look for evidence of supplementary reading and research, appropriate examples, some “original” thought, a professional standard of layout, structure, and overall presentation in order to come to a decision about the actual grade (there are Edexcel guidelines that HND tutors work to).

As always, keep in contact with your Personal Tutor for additional advice and guidance.

Advice from the Gurus

The Gate of Change is Locked on the Inside – Margaret Ferguson.

Quote of the Month

Effective CPD is a commitment to professionalism it shows that you have taken personal responsibility for ensuring that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to meet the challenges of an ever changing world Chartered Management Institute CMI.

Study Resource of the Month

This one time our own, new, website www.brightonsbm.com look at our course portfolio pages for potential further development courses, and our study resources pages for help with your current and future studying.

Your Contributions

To submit contributions to the newsletter, please email them to: studentservices@brightonsbm.com

We cannot guarantee to publish all contributions, but we will try to include as many as possible.