Description: Read the scenario below and answer the question that follows:
Scenario: Martha is the owner of a flower shop in a busy u
an area in Sydney. Last Valentine's Day, her workload drastically increased. During this time, Martha noticed that she was coming home feeling much more stressed than usual. Over this busy period, Martha scratched her upper arm on one of the rose thorns which created a small wound. She noticed that the wound took a little longer than usual to heal and blamed her work stress.
Essay Question: Using relevant empirical evidence, critically evaluate the relationship between stress and wound healing. Use the evidence to explain one way in which Martha could improve her wound healing times after rose scratches next Valentine's Day.
Starter References:
You do not need to cite all of the starter references, but it is highly recommended to at least read them all.
1. Robinson, H., Norton, S., Ja
ett, P., and Broadbent, E XXXXXXXXXXThe effects of psychological interventions on wound healing: A systematic review of randomized trials. Health Psychology, 22(4), XXXXXXXXXXdoi: XXXXXXXXXX
jhp.12257.
2. Walburn, J., Vedhara, K., Hankins, M., Rixon, L., Weinman, J XXXXXXXXXXPsychological stress and would healing in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychosomatic Research, 67(3), XXXXXXXXXXdoi: XXXXXXXXXX/j.jpsychores XXXXXXXXXX
Format:
· Title page including: essay title, full name, student number, tutor name, and word count
· 1500 words maximum (not including title page and reference list)
· 12pt Times New Roman font
· Double-spaced
· 2.54cm margins
· APA 6th Edition referencing and formatting style
Guidelines:
· Submit an electronic copy via the iLearn Turnitin page
· The marking ru
ic used by your markers can be found in PDF format below, and on the Turnitin page
· Reports must be all your own work and fully references. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
Penalties:
· A departmental uniform policy of 5% penalty per 100 words over the word limit (i.e., there is no penalty for 0-99 words over the limit, a 5% penalty applies to XXXXXXXXXXwords over the limit, a 10% penalty applies to XXXXXXXXXXwords over the limit, etc).
· A departmental uniform policy of 5% penalty per each day late (including weekends)
· Penalties are deductions based off of the assessments total marks (i.e., a 40% assessment is worth 40 marks, if you are 100 words over and incur a 5% penalty, then 2 marks will be deducted from your final grade; 40 x .05 = 2.
Feedback:
· Feedback on the PROGRESS of your essay can be provided at any time by your tutor or unit chai
· Feedback on the OUTCOME of your essay is due to be released by the end of week 12
· Feedback will be in the form of comments throughout your assignment in Turnitin
· A letter grade will be provided in Turnitin. There will be no number grade.
Weighting: 40% of final grade
Due Date: Week 6, Friday 4th April, 5PM
NOTES BY TUTOR ABOUT THE ESSAY:
Assessment Essay:
· Need to talk about stress and wound healing, how & why?
· How she can improve her wound healing next Valentine’s Day
· Should flow properly use articles to relate and explain the problem and solution
· 1500-word essay
· Try and work within 10 yrs of relevant articles
· Psycinfo, scopus and all can be used to find articles
· Some discussion of limitation
· Don’t use a paragraph for each and every article, one or 2 is fine but instead try and combine them all and articulate the research and findings.
Name: ______________________________________________________
PSY224 Essay Writing Guidelines
This document outlines the general criteria that will be used when assessing essays (see table below). There
are also some general tips about essay writing that may be useful.
Skills Superior Standard Satisfactory Standard Below expected Standard
Research Skills
Locating relevant, peer-reviewed
literature from reputable academic journals
and relevant books; selecting the most
pertinent material in order to address the
essay question
Evidence of wide reading, provides a balanced report
of research from relevant studies. Key theories and
study findings directly relevant to the topic are clearly
identified. Recent research is included and reviews and
meta-analyses if appropriate.
Limited source material, but finds
several relevant studies. May fail to
eport recent research or report
esearch that is not directly relevant.
Limited research and reading
around the topic.
May use inappropriate source
material eg., opinions, non-peer
eviewed material.
Identifying relevant theoretical issues
Are pertinent theoretical/conceptual issues
in the question clearly defined and
addressed?
Discusses relevant theories/proposed explanations, for
particular health-related phenomena and behaviours.
Where there are differing explanations for a particular
phenomenon these are clearly articulated.
Refers to theories/proposed
explanations, but does not explain
them or demonstrate an
understanding of the issues.
Theories/explanatory processes are
not adequately discussed.
Critical Evaluation of Empirical
Research
Are theories/explanations supported by
empirical research? Are methodological
strengths and limitations of the studies
discussed?
Does the student approach the topic in a
fresh and interesting way?
Comprehensive evaluation of studies using criteria
elevant to the issues in the essay topic. Balanced
discussion of strengths & limitations of studies, and
identification of unanswered questions which still need
to be resolved. Critical engagement is analytical and
incisive. May identify ways studies could be improved
and argue for a possible alternate outcome if a new
methodology is used.
Evaluates studies using basic criteria.
Identifies strengths and limitations,
ut may not fully apply these in
interpreting study results and
supporting the arguments being put
forward in the essay.
Does not show critical
discrimination in evaluating
esearch evidence or may make
sweeping criticisms that are not
supported or explained adequately.
Level of Analysis, Synthesis
Integration of research findings a) across
studies, b) with theory and c) with the
specific question
Comprehensive integration/synthesis of different
theories and different research studies with respect to
how they relate to each other and to the topic.
Some attempt to synthesize/integrate
information from different sources to
address the question. In some
sections, there is lack of integration,
eg., a tendency to list study findings.
Does not integrate information from
different sources. Does not make
clear the relevance of the source
material reported to the topic/essay
question.
Writing Style and Structuring
Are the issues to be addressed in the
essay clearly stated?
Are points/arguments a) clearly stated and
) supported by examples?
Are arguments logically structured and
developed?
Is grammar, punctuation and paragraph
structure co
ect?
Is language appropriate to academic work?
Writing style is economical and clear; usually chooses
words aptly; observes conventions of written English
and academic writing in Psychology; Review is well
structured. Paragraphs logically support the developing
argument with specific details and examples provided;
there are smooth transitions between paragraphs, with
linking sentences.
Paragraphs consist of distinct units of
thought which develop the argument.
Occasional wordiness, unclear,
awkward sentences, repetition;
some grammatical e
ors, some
a
upt transitions.
Major problems with clarity of
writing, spelling, grammar and
academic conventions of
presentation. Simplistic structure,
wanders from one topic to the next.
Ideas not a
anged logically. Use of
colloquial language, slang or
jargon.
References
Complete? Co
ectly formatted?
Judicious choice of references and accurate and
complete citations in text and reference list according to
APA guidelines.
Generally conforms to APA
guidelines. Some inaccuracies,
incompleteness with referencing
Major inaccuracies, omissions with
eferencing, failure to conform to
APA guidelines
Pass: XXXXXXXXXXSatisfactory performance across all standards. Demonstrates understanding of key issues raised in the question, reads some relevant literature
and reports on that literature in an accurate way.
Credit: XXXXXXXXXXSuperior performance across some standards, satisfactory for all. Draws reasonable conclusions from different sources, but lack of integration, synthesis, analysis
XXXXXXXXXXStudents must show some evidence of critical analysis and integration to achieve this grade.
Distinction: Superior performance across all standards. Must show superior skills in analysis and synthesis of main ideas/findings from literature and clearly link
XXXXXXXXXXthese to the question to achieve this grade.
High Dist: Outstanding performance across all above standards. Characterized by exceptionally cogent, sophisticated critical analysis, synthesis, and eloquent expression.
Essay Writing for Psychology
The point of essay writing: the main point of essay writing is for you to develop your own position/line of argument based on evaluating the evidence and
easoning of others. Typically, essay topics centre on an area of dispute (a range of viewpoints), and the essay topic is asking for your perspective, based on
your evaluation of the literature. This can be considered your contribution to the topic (potentially publishable, even), so the essay should be primarily the
development of your argument, and not just a description of views already published (i.e., an essay is more than a literature review). This does not mean
that you need to come up with a totally original position (but that is possible). Rather, what is easiest is to support one of the existing positions based on
what you think is the strongest evidence. That is, after surveying the existing arguments and evidence, you can support one side of the dispute rather than
the other, by pointing out relevant evidence and arguments. Alternatively, your argument may try to synthesise the competing positions or find some other
answer to the dispute.
When given a topic, it is good to first consider what position you