Useful Information for Undergraduate Students

This information is useful for all undergraduate students taking DIS modules.

We hope that you will enjoy studying with us.

Please contact the DIS Teaching and Learning team (dis-ug-enquiries@ucl.ac.uk) if you have any queries.

Contents

Who to contact

Your first point of contact for all queries relating to DIS modules is the DIS Teaching and Learning team (dis-ug-enquiries@ucl.ac.uk) - please do NOT email the module tutor.

Please use the Moodle discussion forums for any queries relating to course content and teaching (see Moodle section below).

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Keeping in Touch

UCL email is the normal means of communication between staff and students. You should familiarize yourself with its use and check your UCL mailbox regularly. Your email address is your-userid@ucl.ac.uk. You will also be allocated an alias (more like your real name). DIS will send all emails to your UCL address. If you wish, you can arrange to have email forwarded automatically to a different address, but Information Systems do not recommend this. It is your responsibility to ensure that you receive emails sent to your UCL address. 

Keeping in touch is a two-way process: we will endeavour to answer your emails as quickly as we can, but at certain times of the year (e.g. start of the academic year, exams period), the volume of emails we receive will be very high and it may take a little longer.

Occasionally, we will have to contact you - usually because there is an urgent query regarding coursework submission or some other emergency - and we would appreciate it if you could reply as soon as possible.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or are unsure about what you need to do - don’t leave it too late!

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Attendance

It is compulsory to attend all taught sessions (lectures, seminars, practical sessions). Attendance will be monitored.

It is very important that you attend lectures and computer practicals - all the DIS courses are technical ones and it is important that you practise in the practical sessions the new material covered in that week’s lecture.If you are unable to attend due to illness etc. - please email the DIS Teaching and Learning team (dis-ug-enquiries@ucl.ac.uk) as soon as possible - preferably before the lecture/practical to let them know that you are unable to attend and give the reason. 

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Plagiarism

Your attention is drawn to the UCL policy on plagiarism.

DIS applies the UCL policy very strictly and the consequences for students can be extremely serious.

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Moodle

Moodle is the UCL Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Each undergraduate DIS course has two Moodle pages: 

  • the module information page 
  • the coursework submission page

The module information page contains useful information about the module (e.g. place, dates and times of the taught sessions), learning resources (e.g. lectures notes and exercises) and a discussion forum through which students can interact with each other and with the module tutor. Please use the discussion forums to post any queries relating to course content and teaching. Students are expected to visit the course information page on a regular basis during the term that the module is taught.

The coursework submission page is used to upload your coursework and you will receive your provisional mark and feedback via that page.

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Coursework

Submission of coursework

You must submit by the specified deadline - there are penalties for late submission (see below). Please check the coursework instructions carefully and submit your coursework in the specified file format.

Coursework deadlines

Dates for submission of coursework are included with the coursework instructions themselves. These deadlines will be applied rigidly.

Requests for coursework extension

Please contact your Home Department for information on how to apply for a coursework extension.

Penalties for non-approved late submission

Please check the Academic manual for details of the penalties that will be applied if you submit your coursework late.

Overlength coursework submissions

Please check the coursework instructions carefully - if word length is specified then the relevant penalties will be applied if you exceed this. Full details in the Academic Manual.

DIS will not include bibliographies, references, tables, pictures or graphs as part of the upper word limit for coursework submissions, unless this has been explicitly stated in the coursework submission instructions.

Return of Coursework

Feedback and provisional marks are made available to students via Moodle. You will be sent an email when these are available to view.

It is DIS departmental policy for all coursework to include an explicit deadline by which it will be marked and feedback given to students. UCL aspires for the norm for return of coursework to be approximately four weeks after the submission deadline. But the length of period between particular submission and return deadlines may vary from this to a degree because of such factors as the complexity of the assignment, the depth of feedback required, the number of students taking the module, whether or not students have already received feedback for other assignments within the module, and the proximity to other known departmental, UCL and professional deadlines.

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The Meaning of Coursework Grades and Marks

Part of the feedback on a piece of assessed coursework will generally be a provisional mark. 40% or more is a pass in any piece of coursework, and below 40% is a fail. This page attempts to summarise in very general terms the “usual meaning” of each mark when the course concerned is taught by DIS. However, obviously not all the criteria mentioned are applicable to every piece of coursework. If you need further clarification on what you need to do to obtain a particular mark for a particular piece of coursework, or why you have been awarded a particular mark, you should seek advice from the particular lecturer concerned.

70% OR ABOVE - Work of this standard across a whole degree programme would result in the award of a 1st class degree. An excellent piece of work, showing a very high degree of mastery of the subject matter, with a highly developed and mature ability to analyse, synthesise and/or apply knowledge, concepts and/or techniques. All objectives of the set work are covered, and work is free of all but very minor errors with a high level of technical competence. Where appropriate, there is evidence of critical reflection, and of ability to tackle questions and issues not previously encountered. Ideas are expressed clearly.

60% - 69% - Work of this standard across a whole degree programme would result in the award of a 2-1 class degree. A good piece of work, showing a sound and thorough grasp of the subject matter, though possibly lacking in the breath and depth required for an A grade. Where appropriate, there is a good attempt at analysis, synthesis and application of knowledge and concepts, but this may be more limited in scope than that required for an A grade. Most objectives of the work set are covered. Work is generally technically competent, but there may be a few gaps leading to some errors. Where appropriate, there is some evidence of critical reflection, and the ability to make a reasonable attempt at tackling questions and issues not previously encountered. Ideas are expressed with clarity, with some minor exceptions.

50% - 59% - Work of this standard across a whole degree programme would result in the award of a 2-2 class degree. A fair piece of work, showing a grasp of major elements of the subject matter but possibly with some gaps or areas of confusion. Only the basic requirements of the work set are covered. The attempt at analysis, synthesis and application of knowledge is superficial, with a heavy reliance on course materials. Work may contain some errors, and technical competence is at a routine level only. Evidence of ability to tackle questions not previously encountered is limited. There is little critical reflection. Some confusion and immaturity in expression of ideas.

40% - 49% - Work of this standard across a whole degree programme would result in the award of a 3rd class degree. A poor piece of work, showing some familiarity with the subject matter, but with major gaps and serious misconceptions. Only some of the basic requirements of the work set are achieved. There is little or no attempt at appropriate analysis, synthesis or application of knowledge, and a low level of technical competence, with many errors. There is apparent difficulty in beginning to address questions and issues not previously encountered. There is no evidence of ability to reflect critically on an argument or viewpoint. Ideas are poorly expressed and structured.

39% OR BELOW - Work of this standard across a whole degree programme would not result in the award of a degree. The student has failed to engage seriously with the subject matter. The student has found it impossible to address questions not previously encountered. The level of understanding, expression and structure is very inadequate.

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