Diploma in Insurance. About your continuous assessment (CA) course Student guidelines. A CENTURY OF PROFESSIONALISM

Transcription

1 Diploma in Insurance 2014 Student guidelines About your continuous assessment (CA) course A CENTURY OF PROFESSIONALISM

2 Welcome to your continuous assessment course Overview of the course If you have previously studied using a continuous assessment (CA) course from the CII, you will notice some changes to the course you have purchased. An enhanced Diploma continuous assessment course is now available, featuring a reduced number of assignments and online submission, whilst retaining the benefit of a 10% adjustment to your exam result on successful completion. Please ensure that you read the following information carefully, even if you have previously studied using a continuous assessment course, to understand the rules that apply. The Diploma continuous assessment course is an online tutor-assisted learning scheme which enables you to undertake a structured learning programme, working through the course material in a logical way over a period of months, testing your knowledge and understanding along the way. A course tutor, an expert in the field, will mark your assignments and provide you with valuable feedback on your performance, allowing you to monitor your progress as you work through the course. The course is based on a set of assignments testing your knowledge and understanding of the CII study text and your wider reading. You must complete and pass all the assignments to successfully complete the continuous assessment course. All assignments must be completed and assessed as grade B or above in order for you to complete the course successfully. Successful completion of the continuous assessment course entitles you to a 10% adjustment of your examination mark. This adjustment is available for the two consecutive exam sessions after your course is completed. The course materials you have received will form the basis of your studies although you are strongly recommended to supplement this with wider reading. The course is designed to be as user-friendly as possible and there are a number of features available to you as a distance learning student. Main features The following summarises the main features of the course: Assignment marking and feedback Updating materials Online Nature of assignments Number of assignments Syllabus Submission Online chat and discussion forums Assignment re-submission Closing date This is one of the most valuable components of the continuous assessment course. A subject matter expert will mark your assignments and provide feedback on your performance. As part of your 12 months enrolment, an online updating service is available for your study text. You should therefore regularly check for any updates. Continuous assessment for these units uses online submission and marking of assignments through the RevisionMate study support tool. Each assignment is made up of a series of questions based on a particular chapter(s) of the study text and may also refer back to material previously covered. Many assignments include case studies or scenarios. Each assignment has 100 marks. Units P61, P62, P63 and P64 three assignments. Units P21, P80, P81, P85, P86 five assignments. Units P05, P90, P91, P92, P93, P94, P96, P97, P98 seven assignments. You should also consult the syllabus for your relevant unit which is available at the front of your study text and at You are encouraged to submit your assignments sequentially so that you can benefit from feedback prior to submitting the next assignment. You will be able to discuss issues with other students using the online chat and discussion forums available within RevisionMate. If you have any other queries about your distance learning course, please contact Customer Service on +44 (0) If you do not achieve the required B grade on your first attempt at each assignment you will have one opportunity to resubmit your assignment to be marked without penalty. All submissions must be made via RevisionMate. All assignments (and any re-submissions) must be submitted for marking by the continuous assessment deadline for the exam session entered or before your course expires, whichever is sooner (see

3 completing the assignments Completing the assignments The assignments have been designed to test not only your knowledge and understanding of the technical material in the study text but also your ability to interpret and apply this information to practical scenarios. In completing the assignments, you should note that you will often be expected to: think beyond what is in the study text in order to apply your knowledge to particular situations; and/or draw conclusions based on your understanding of the study text material. To do this you may need to draw on both your further reading and work experience. You should also refer to the Assumed Knowledge section of the examination syllabus as you may be required to draw on this knowledge in answering the assignment questions. Grammar and punctuation Marks will not be deducted in the marking of your exam paper for errors in grammar and punctuation; likewise your tutor will not deduct marks for such errors in your tutor-assisted learning course. However, errors will be highlighted and it is important to remember that the assignments and the exam itself are an exercise in communication. You should help the reader by presenting your work as clearly as possible. When answering your assignments, you can take the opportunity to improve your spelling by using a dictionary or spell check and noting the correct spelling and precise meaning. Style Your answer must be in the format asked for in the assignment, for example, you may be asked to write a report, produce a paper etc. You are free to use headings, bullet points, graphs and diagrams where relevant to enhance readability and the quality of your work. Submission of assignments All assignments (and any re-submissions) must be submitted for marking by the continuous assessment deadline for the exam session entered, which is usually 3 weeks prior to the exam or by your course expiry date, whichever is sooner. You must check the deadline dates for enrolment and submission, as these will vary from exam session to exam session. The deadline dates are printed in the latest Information for candidates brochure and on the website As a guide, submission deadlines are usually mid September for the October exam session and mid March for the April exam session. Assignments must not all be submitted together and no more than one assignment can be submitted in a three day period or they may not be marked until after the continuous assessment deadline date for that session. Ideally you should submit your assignments one at a time in order to benefit fully from your tutor s feedback. You should complete the assignments in sequence as they follow the learning outcomes and study text sequentially. The assignment question must not be copied into your assignment answer. Late submission of assignments Assignments received by tutors after the specified deadline will be marked and returned, however the marks will not count towards the continuous assessment course. Non-completion of the course Students who fail to complete and pass ALL the assignments with at least a B grade will not gain the 10% adjustment to their examination mark. Marking and feedback Tutors aim to mark assignments within seven working days; however please note that in the run up to the exams and during holiday periods for tutors, this may extend to a maximum of 14 working days. Feedback will be given to you for each assignment. You should study your marked assignment with care and see how your answer could have been improved. All of our tutors are issued with a marking guide to ensure that marking is consistent and fair to all students. A grade (A D) will be given for your assignment. The grades correspond to the marks obtained: A B C D 75 marks or above marks marks 49 marks or fewer Tutors will provide a grade for each of the assignments.

4 rules of the scheme Rules of the scheme The continuous assessment scheme operates under the following conditions: Enrolment Your continuous assessment enrolment will last for a period of one year only. If you have a current enrolment for a CII course on a study text and update basis, you can, for a fee, upgrade to continuous assessment. If you have previously enrolled on and completed a continuous assessment course, you will not be permitted to re-enrol on a continuous assessment course for the same subject. Assignments All of the assignments must be completed in full and submitted for marking. Your assignment must be completed using the answer templates provided. The assignments must be your own work (see Rules for ensuring the originality of submitted work ). Assignments must not all be submitted together and no more than one assignment can be submitted in a three day period or they may not be marked until after the continuous assessment deadline date for that session. Ideally you should submit your assignments one at a time in order to benefit fully from your tutor s feedback. You should complete the assignments in sequence as they follow the learning outcomes and study text sequentially. The assignment question must not be copied into your assignment answer. Assignments will be graded on the scale as stated. You must achieve grade B or above for all assignments. If you fail the continuous assessment course, you are not penalised at any exam sitting. The CII reserves the right to use plagiarism detection software. Adjustment If you satisfy all of the continuous assessment requirements, a fixed adjustment of 10% of the overall marks available for that exam, will be added to your exam result. The adjustment will be used at the two consecutive exam sessions after you complete the continuous assessment course. If you do not enter for the exam during your year of enrolment but do meet the requirements within that year, the adjustment will be used at the first session after your course expires, whether you enter for that session or not. If you fail an exam despite the adjustment being added to your paper for the first time, the 10% adjustment will automatically be awarded to the next available exam session. If gained, the 10% adjustment is added after the examination papers are marked. Deferral If you decide to defer your entry from the session you initially indicated (and this was the first session where the adjustment was to be used) and do so before the normal fee closing date, you may complete any outstanding assignments by the deadline date for submission of assignments for the new session or the date on which your course expires, whichever is sooner and still qualify for the adjustment, providing you meet the requirements. The adjustment can only be used at two consecutive sessions, therefore if you have already been awarded the adjustment once and are entered for the next available session, and decide to defer, the adjustment will not be added to the new exam nor any future exam sessions, unless the deferral is for medical reasons. Rules for ensuring the originality of submitted work CII continuous assessment is undertaken outside of an examination environment in open book conditions. This means that, as you prepare your answer, you can draw upon available learning and use reference material. However, the work you submit must be your own. You must not copy or amend work from other sources and, where you draw on other work, you must fully reference this. Where plagiarism is suspected this will be fully investigated. Plagiarism what is it? It is important to understand what plagiarism is and how it can be avoided. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) defines plagiarism as: Unacknowledged copying from published sources (including the internet) or incomplete referencing. The following also constitute plagiarism: Copying or amending sections of work from another person such as a friend or colleague. Having another person such as a friend or colleague dictate something to you. Copying and pasting from the internet without citing the source. Copying or using material from a study text or other reference material without citing the source. Paraphrasing without including reference to the source of the paraphrase. Working with another person, or using another person s work to write your assignment. How to prevent plagiarism Within the text of your assignments you should use the following formats to attribute work to its author(s). Quotations When using quotations from books, websites or journal articles you should cite the author and the year of publication then use the quote in quotation marks, as below: As Crystal (2006) points out: Learning vocabulary is always a matter of building up fields of words. If, however, you would like to use a longer example than your sentence allows, use the author(s) name, year of publication, indent the quotation and place the page number of the quotation, at the end. As Crystal (2006) points out: Learning vocabulary is always a matter of building up fields of words. And we do that by comparing words with other words. That is how parents teach children. (Crystal, 2006, p29) Quotations must be obtained through your own studies and research. Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is where you encapsulate another person s original idea, argument or conclusion in your own words. It is still necessary to attribute those ideas to the author, and you can do this by using the formatting outlined above for direct quotations, taking care to include the author s surname and the year of publication.

5 rules of the scheme Referencing How to reference your material in your assignment. When writing your assignment, you must acknowledge other people s ideas and work. You can do this in the following ways: 1. Incorporate a reference within the assignment itself, for example: Foss, B & Stone, M (2002) said that increasing sophistication in telephone and Web management allows providers to differentiate the service provided to customers, such as shorter waiting times for higher-value customers. 2. Quote from a book or paper by putting the comment in... and cite the page as well as the author and date, for example: As banks become more sophisticated in telephone and web management of customers, they will be able to deliver a more varied segment management to the market, starting with the issuing of different numbers to different customer groups and delivery of different point-of-contact service. A simple example might be a longer waiting time for mass-market customers who call very rarely. (Foss et al, 2002, p209) Whatever references you use, ensure that you include a full and complete list of them at the end of your assignment as a reference list. If you have used information from the internet, list the web page and the date it was accessed. The references should be in alphabetical order and written as follows: Books: Foss, B & Stone, M (2002) CRM in financial services Kogan Page Ltd. Edited books: Flynn, R (2006) Counter-terrorism Risk Management. In D.Hillson (Ed) The Risk Management Universe A Guided Tour BSI Business Information. Journals and Reports: Porter, M. E. (1996) What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, November December, pp Internet sites: Chartered Insurance Institute, Code of Ethics Source: [accessed 31 October 2012] Please note all assignments will be subject to plagiarism software checks.

6 breach of assessment rules Breach of assessment rules Breach of the assessment rules penalties and sanctions for malpractice In submitting your assignment you are acknowledging that you have read the rules in these student guidelines and that this is your own work. All assignments are run through plagiarism software which checks against other students work and also other published sources. If a match is found then this will be fully investigated and the appropriate action taken depending on the severity of the case. Sections of text must not be copied from the study text. Anyone found to be copying from the study text or other sources will have their assignment returned unmarked or receive a lower mark for the assignment, depending on the extent of copying. Persistent offenders will be disqualified from the continuous assessment course. In the past, it has been CII policy to provide model solutions to our workbook assignment questions. The use of CII model answers to complete assignments is not permitted. Anyone found to be copying or amending work from CII model answers will be disqualified from the continuous assessment course. We acknowledge that you may undertake joint study with colleagues or as part of a formal training programme. However, your answers must be your own work and in your own words. Working with another person to write assignments, allowing another person access to any of your assignment answers or copying or amending another person s assignment answers is not permitted under any circumstances and will result in sanctions being applied. Sanctions include being excluded from the exam unit in question through to being excluded from all CII examinations. The exact sanction to be applied will depend upon the exact nature of the transgression. Disciplinary action may be taken against any candidate found guilty of dishonourable or unprofessional conduct, or committing a breach of the assessment rules. Details of the CII s disciplinary procedures and rules as well as sanctions guidance can be found at Where the CII has grounds to suspect plagiarism or other misconduct, your identity and relevant evidence relating to you may be shared with other candidates and/or your employer to ensure a fair and thorough investigation. The names of candidates, along with their employers, found to be in breach of the rules are also published on the CII website. Additional advice Medical If you are absent on account of illness from an examination in which the adjustment was to be used, upon receipt of medical evidence within two months of the examination, your adjustment will be awarded at the next available session. If the original entry was your first in which you were to use the adjustment, you will still have the next two consecutive sessions in which the adjustment can be used. However, your continuous assessment course will not be extended. The exam The continuous assessment course is designed to help you prepare for the exam and it is important that you read your feedback carefully to ensure that you maximise your learning opportunity and are better prepared for the exam. However, it is important to remember that continuous assessment assignments are completed under different conditions to examinations. The key differences are open book vs. closed book, time allocation, typed vs. hand-written and word count. Even if you score exceptionally well in your assignments, you should continue to study hard as the exam conditions are different and more demanding. Using the online system The course material and submission facility is accessed online through RevisionMate, the CII s easy-to-use online study support tool. Read the guidelines and rules Grades awarded and tutor feedback are viewed on RevisionMate. Read feedback carefully as this can be invaluable preparation for the exam In the event you do not achieve a B grade or above on your first submission, you may revise your answers and resubmit using the Submission 2 option Log in to You will receive an notification when your assignment has been marked Repeat for all assignments. All assignments, including any re-submissions, must be submitted before the published deadline, or your course expiry date, whichever is sooner Complete Assignment 1, using the answer template provided in the assignment centre Upload your assignment to Assignment 1 Submission 1 in the assignment centre. Be sure to click Send for marking once uploaded Course complete If you achieve a grade B or above in all assignments you will be awarded your 10% adjustment. Please note, you will not receive a letter of confirmation but you will be able to view your grades on RevisionMate.

7 additional advice RevisionMate Follow this four-step process to login: 1. Go to 2. Use your CII PIN* as your login name 3. Use your surname as your password (all in lower case and omit any hyphens or apostrophes) 4. Click Login *You can find your CII PIN on any membership or order related communication sent from the CII. Your continuous assessment course is listed on the homepage in the My subjects list (e.g. P92 Continuous assessment), and when selected has two sections: Course information In this section you will find: How the course works A diagram of the process from enrolment to completion of the course Guidelines and rules Course chat Questions? Useful links An online copy of the information contained in this document An online chat area for continuous assessment course students studying towards the same unit A list of frequently asked questions about continuous assessment and the online system A collection of links to CII and non-cii websites focused on study techniques and distance learning topics. Assignment centre In this section you will find: Assignments The assignments that comprise the course Answer templates The template documents that you must use to type your answers in Submissions These links provide you with the ability to upload your completed answer templates and confirm you wish to submit them for marking by your tutor. Additional features When viewing the Course information or Assignment centre sections, these additional continuous assessment course features are available from the left-hand column of the webpage: My grades Calendar A summary of the submissions you have made, grades awarded, and tutor feedback A calendar that you can add your own entries to, pre-populated with important dates and deadlines for your continuous assessment course and exam. Help using the online system Each of the features listed above is accompanied by further instructions online. However, if you have any difficulty gaining access to the site, or questions relating to site functions, please contact revisionmateadmin@cii.co.uk or use the contact us button on site (general continuous assessment course queries should be directed to CII Customer Service at customer.serv@cii.co.uk).

8 The Chartered Insurance Institute High Road, South Woodford, London E18 2JP tel: +44 (0) fax: +44 (0) website: Chartered Insurance Institute The Chartered Insurance Institute High Road, South Woodford, London E18 2JP tel: +44 (0) website: The Chartered Insurance Institute 2014 Ref: CAD13 (08/14) C14J_8694