Question:
Discuss the Business and Portfolio Management.
Answer:
This is your EAP 1Portfolio. Please save a copy on your computer and back it up regularly (e.g. by saving it on your computer / in the cloud (e.g. Google Drive) / emailing it to yourself. You will receive a printed copy which you should bring to all lectures and tutorials. However, at the end of the course, you need to submit a completed electronic copy. Please refer to suggested word counts for each task included within this portfolio.
| Assessed Learning Outcomes (LOs):
1. Produce cohesive and coherent elements of academic writing. 2. Read, compare and summarise written academic texts. |
Week
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Contents |
Page |
Learning Outcome
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Section 1: Portfolio Evidence (These tasks will often be drafted in class and are designed to inform the written task in section 2. Suggested word counts are included are in brackets.)
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1 |
Portfolio evidence I: Self-evaluation checklist
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3 |
LO 1 & 2 |
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4 |
Portfolio evidence II: Summarising
(recommended word count: 100) |
4 |
LO 1 & 2 |
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4-5 |
Portfolio evidence III: Outline
(recommended word count: 100) |
6 |
LO 2 |
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6 |
Portfolio evidence IV: Paragraph structure
(recommended word count: 250) |
7 |
LO 2 |
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9 |
Portfolio evidence V: Self-assessment
(recommended word count: at least 100) |
8 |
LO 1 & 2 |
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Section 2: Written Task (The written task should be developed throughout the semester but completed in weeks 7-10.)
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1 – 10 |
Academic writing [compare and contrast essay relevant to higher education]
(word count: 750 words)
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10 |
LO 1 & 2
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Total word count: Written Task (750 words) + Evidence (Approx. 850 words)
(+/- 10%)
| Section 1: Portfolio Evidence I |
| Self-evaluation checklist |
Below is a list of the skills you will need when working on extended pieces of writing during your university career. The work you do on the EAP 1 course will help you develop these skills.
Tick the appropriate box for each skill, according to how well you think you can do this at the beginning of this course. Look again at the checklist throughout the course in order to identify areas for independent study.
| Skills | Do not know about this | Find this difficult/ can’t do this | Can partially do this | Can do this well |
| Looking for information | ||||
| Identify which books/journals/websites to use | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Select relevant parts of a text | ☐ | ☐ | þ | ☐ |
| Using sources | ||||
| Acknowledge sources of information | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Avoid plagiarism | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Planning/ writing | ||||
| Brainstorm ideas | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Plan written work | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Link ideas effectively | ☐ | ☐ | þ | ☐ |
| Paraphrase & summarise ideas | ☐ | ☐ | þ | ☐ |
| Write an introduction | ☐ | ☐ | þ | ☐ |
| Write a conclusion | ☐ | þ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Personal study | ||||
| Work independently | ☐ | ☐ | þ | ☐ |
| Manage my time | ☐ | þ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Oral presentation | ||||
| Discuss written work in a tutorial | ☐ | ☐ | þ | ☐ |
| IT | ||||
| Access the internet | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Use search engines | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Create word documents | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | þ |
| Section 1: Portfolio Evidence II |
| Summarising (recommended word count: 100) |
- Find a text on university fees in the country of your choice (around 200 words) and paste it below, in part 1. Then, read the two texts and highlight the main points.
| PART 1: | |
| Text 1:
University fees in England |
Text 2 (paste your text below):
University fees in Germany |
| “University tuition fees in England will rise to £9,250 per year from 2017 and the increase could apply to students who have already started courses. The inflation-linked rise represents a 2.8% increase and if that continued would mean fees rising above £10,000 in the next few years. Universities face the dilemma that under consumer protection requirements they will need to announce the £9,250 fee before the beginning of the next application cycle in early September. However, until formally changed by Parliament, universities are not allowed to charge a fee higher than £9,000, which is the current limit.
The government says the increase can apply to students who have already begun courses – but this will depend on the terms of student contracts in individual universities. The fees will increase in subsequent years. Royal Holloway and the University of Kent have to still to decide on whether to charge higher fees for current students, but expect to apply them to new students starting in 2017, if the fee limit increase goes ahead. The University of Surrey will not increase fees for its current undergraduates, but fees will increase each year for students starting in 2017.
Universities minister Jo Johnson has published a statement setting out plans to link higher fees to better teaching. Liberal Democrat university spokeswoman Baroness Lorely Burt said: “Linking fees to teaching quality in this way is unacceptable. Enabling any university that scrapes a ‘meet expectations’ rating to increase fees by 2.8% shows that this isn’t about teaching quality at all. If universities need further support then let’s have a proper discussion about where that money comes from, rather than pretending that this is somehow a quid pro quo for providing the quality of teaching students should already be able to expect”. Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust education charity, said the fee increase will add to student debts that we have shown to be by far the highest in the English-speaking world. A real concern is that the removal of maintenance grants will almost certainly deter poorer students, who now face debts of over £50,000 on graduation”.
From: Coughlan, S. (2017). University tuition fees rise to £9,250 for current students –BBC News. [online] BBC News. Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36856026 [Accessed 19 Jan. 2017]. |
Germany has been highly famous for the free education in university and that’s why there is huge increase in people moving to Germany for study (Top Universities, 2017). But the South west of Baden-Wurttemberg declared the plan of reintroducing the tuition fee for overseas students who come from outside of EU. This rise would be there from autumn 2017. From the beginning of academic year 2017-18, the non-EUstudents will have to shell out €1,500 (~US$1,600) for each semester – which amounts to €3,000 (~US$3,200) for each year. Students who wish to gain a second degree will shell out a lesser fee of €650 (~US$700) for each semester. Even though education at German universities in Baden-Württemberg will not at all be free, it is to be considered that these tuition fees are still considerably lesser than in several other parts of the earth.
Until the anticipated alteration in tuition fee rule is upended by student disapprovals or other political changes, it seems realistic that other German states will reintroduce fees in the upcoming years too, once more in a proposition to lessen the higher education financial shortage. The reintroduction of tuition fees might be an issue for a few students, together with UK students impacted by the UK’s judgment to get separated from the European Union. Though, the UK is doubtful to finish whole of the procedure of leaving the EU by March 2019; UK students can still gain from free or lesser tuition fee in a lot of EU nations at this time. Still it is not clear if the UK will stay as an affiliate of the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or the Erasmus plan. Moreover, there is a likelihood of additional scholarship opportunities offered to assist non-EU students to study in Germany. From : Top Universities. (2017). Tuition Fees Reintroduced at Some German Universities. [online] Available at: https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/university-news/tuition-fees-reintroduced-some-german-universities [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017]. |
2.Make some notes of the most important points, using your own words, in part 2 below.
| PART 2: | |
| Notes (Text 1): | Notes (Text 2): |
| The two universities have to still decide upon increase in tuition fee charges.
The discussion is around charging higher rates from the existing students, but it has already been decided that the new ones need to pay more. |
Apart from the given state, South west of Baden-Wurttemberg, other universities still have to make a decision about increase in the tuition fee.
A few students will get impacted by the rise in fee, yet Germany continues to offer the education at low prices. |
- Answer the question in part 3 below, using your notes.
| PART 3: |
| What are the similarities and differences between universities in England and Germany in relation to tuition fees? Why are they important? |
| Similarities:
Both the nations are looking forward to increase the university fees. There have been certain universities described which have already taken the decision and others are planning to follow. Both are impacted by the change in status of UK as a part of EU nations. Differences: It is decided in the case of UK that universities can only change the fee structure the parliament approves it. There has been a limit decided for such increase. In Germany, such an increase can be stopped or amended If the students disapprove or there are any significant political developments. |
Section 1: Portfolio Evidence III |
| Outline (recommended word count: 200) |
Complete your essay outline below. An outline is a map of the main ideas included in your essay. You should not write full sentences, just notes of the main points that you are going to write in each paragraph of your essay, along with in-text referencing details (MB=Main Body).
| TITLE | Impact of tuition fee on the students opting for higher education |
| INTRODUCTION | Background Information: |
| There have been suggestions for changes in the university fee in various nations. The essay is about comparison among the two nations- England and Germany. | |
| Thesis Statement:
Does the tuition fee impact the working-class students opting for higher education |
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| MB Paragraph 1 | Paragraph Focus: Introduction to the scenario | |
| Country A: England | Country B: Germany | |
| Introduction to the prevailing approach in England. | Introduction to the prevailing approach in Germany. | |
| MB Paragraph 2 | Paragraph Focus: Key figures | |
| Country A: England | Country B: Germany | |
| The trends and expectations of England have been explained | The trends and expectations for Germany have been shown in comparison to the England. | |
| CONCLUSION | Summary of main points |
| Included in the essay | |
| Recommendations/suggestions/predictions | |
| The predictions show that both the nations face the issue of fee increase and this is affecting the enrollments’ figure to the Higher studies in the universities. | |
Section 1: Portfolio Evidence IV |
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| Paragraph structure (recommended word count: 300, including notes) | |
Write a MB paragraph for your essay below (funding OR quality).Then, highlight its parts using a different colour for each one of them. Use the following colour code:
| Topic sentence: | RED |
| Country A (England): | BLUE |
| Country B (Germany): | GREEN |
| Concluding sentence: | ORANGE |
| In-text reference: | PURPLE |
| Write your paragraph here. Then, colour the different parts. |
| Recent developments in the tuition fee policies have ignited a debate on the effects on student preferences for higher education. Anticipations range from a sharp drop of involvement in higher education to comparatively small alteration in student demand.
In spite of the elimination of fees, higher education in Germany is not really without charge as there are service charges. These charges are from £177 to £440 for each semester so, in a year, a student can end up paying around £885 ( €1,000) in those regions where free local voyage is incorporated. In a few state institutions, additional fees are charged from the students who take more time than the benchmark time to finish their course. The stress for shorter degrees halts partially from the Bologna procedure meant to ensure high-quality of higher education qualifications. This has been quite contentious in Germany than England as it led to the redesigning of curriculum. Looking at the figures of England, the higher fee has not decreased figure of students, although the student figures have improved persistently, in spite of funding changes, cost and economic ups transformations. It shows a huge targeted demand for higher education. In 1980, there were just 68,000 persons enrolling to university – In 2016 autumn there were over 500,000. Twofold as many persons are now achieving a degree as those who got the five O-levels in the beginning of 1980s. Yet the Applications have dipped only 3 times – on every time whenever the fees were initiated or raised. (BBC News, 2017) Summarising, for all the nations with the huge public systems of higher education, the costs of financing has turned to be a stress. As the governments are not able to raise enough funds through Taxation, both the nations and many other nations see the increase of tuition fee is the only feasible and perceptible way. In the nations such as US, Korea and Japan it has been applied that students shall out in tire or a major part of their cost for higher education. However in the European nations like Germany, UK and the students were not paying for tuition fee, It is expected that the rate of participation into higher education will reduce four people, especially for those who come from a poor family. |
| Section 1: Portfolio Evidence V |
| Essay self-assessment form (recommended word count: 100) |
Complete this form before you submit your portfolio.
| Type a few comments below in relation to how well you have addressed the following criteria in your essay. | |
| ESSAY STRUCTURE | |
| A. Has a clear structure including an introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion & bibliography. | Yes |
| B. Has a clear thesis statement that states the sub-topics and position. | Described |
| C. Has clear topic sentences in each main body paragraph. | Yes |
| D. Has features of an essay not a report, i.e. no headings, no bullet points etc. | It’s an essay with segregated paragraphs. |
| CONTENT | |
| E. Has compared directly between the two countries in each paragraph. | Yes, with in-depth about their scenarios |
| F. Has commented on what we learn from the comparisons. | Yes- in conclusion part |
| G. Has included suitable background information in the introduction. | Yes |
| H. Has included a suitable summary and position in the conclusion. | Yes |
| I. Has written 750 words (+/- 10%). | Yes |
| USE OF SOURCES AND REFERENCING | |
| J. Has a minimum of 2 sources per paragraph. | Yes |
| K. Has in-text citations which follow Harvard style. E.g. (Coughlan, 2014). | Yes |
| M. Has avoided plagiarism. | Yes |
| USE OF ENGLISH | |
| N. Writes accurate sentences. | Yes |
| O. Spells and punctuates accurately. | Yes, used spell check in MSWord |
| P. Uses a range of language. | Yes |
| Q. Writes in an appropriate academic style. | yes |
Things you feel competent at (approx. 50 words):
I have made use of simple language with clear format. The colour scheme helped me to distinguish well among the two countries. I have laid the essay in right structure and it’s not a report. I was able to collate graphs and related images from reliable sources, with proper referencing. |
Things you need to work on (approx. 50 words):
| I still have to accumulate more recent data and information which can be used for in-depth study of the topic. This topic is quite huge so more analysis can be done here. |
| Section 2: Written Task |
| Academic Writing (750 words) |
Please type your essay below (750 words).
Make sure that:
- Your essay has an appropriate title, an introduction, two main body paragraphs, a conclusion and a reference list.
- You have used at least 2 references (in-text citations) in each of your main body paragraphs (at least 4 references in total).
- You have discussed BOTH countries in EACH of your main body paragraphs (point-by-point approach).
| Title: | Compare and contrast the higher education system in England with that of Germany in terms of funding and quality. Which system is preferable? |
| As per Kentish (2017), The university tuition fee for the England is the biggest in the world. The average yearly cost of £9188 makes it quite higher than the education cost in other parts of the world. Looking at England, the average student at USP is around £7518 per year and also other European nations have lesser education free. In Germany, the annual flee is less than £1000 each year. But England has lots of world leading universities then other European countries, including Germany. In London, the Oxford university, Cambridge University and Imperial College London are the best ones on the earth. The tuition fee was introduced in London by the Labour government in 1998 and was founded on the basis of a student financial situation. But the cap Was increased to £3000 in 2004 and then it was around three times due to the Conservative, Liberal Democrat coalition government, which laid stress that only the best universities can have topmost fee structure.
£3000 in 2004 and then it was around three times due to the Conservative, Liberal Democrat coalition government, which laid stress that only the best universities can have topmost fee structure. As per such of the system in England, the higher education becomes unavailable to lots of people and people have to take huge loans for paying off their debts even if they study in great universities. Therefore Germany seems to be a better option because even though there has been a rise in the price, still it is very less than what has been charged in the England. Germany is taking a particularly dissimilar approach to most of the UK, and mainly England. Like, even as fees were being tripled in England, the universities in Germany were still trying to eliminate them. The whole figure of students in the England and Germany’s higher education universities is comparable at approximately 2.5 million. Though, Germany is a highly populated nation and degrees have traditionally taken more time there. This describes why, in spite of a comparable figure of students on the whole, first-year registrations are more in the England than in Germany: approximately 0.5 million scholars newly register in Germany per year, like the figure of fresh full-timed scholars in the England, however the England too has 175,000 new part-time scholars annually. Living costs meant for intercontinental scholars in Germany and the England Sources: http://www.codecomputerlove.com/, (2017) and Study-in.de, (2017)
(BBC News, 2017) Most parts of Europe still use the low fees structure or no fees – and Germany, which had been applying the fees, has scrapped them. To summarize, for every one of the countries with the immense public frameworks of advanced education, the expenses of financing has swung to be a pressure. As the administrations are not ready to raise enough finances through Taxation, both the countries and numerous different countries see the expansion of educational cost expense is the main attainable and noticeable way. In the countries, for example, US, Korea and Japan it has been connected that understudies should out in tire or a noteworthy piece of their cost for advanced education. However in the European countries like Germany, UK and the understudies were not paying for educational cost charge, It is normal that the rate of investment into advanced education will decrease four individuals, particularly for the individuals who originate from a poor family. Still when we look at the costs the Germany’s education is still preferred as there isn’t any compromise in the high quality. The England’s higher education is high in quality but it doesn’t suit the poor people. The people with poor backgrounds cannot get the same and they end up paying for debts for huge figure of years. This way, it is beneficial if one chooses Germany as a place to get higher education. |
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| Reference List:
BBC News. (2017). 10 charts that show the effect of tuition fees. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-40511184 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017]. codecomputerlove.com. (2017). NUS figures show new students face cost of living crisis: Press Releases: News: www.nus.org.uk. [online] Nus.org.uk. Available at: http://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/press-releases/nus-figures-show-new-students-face-cost-of-living-crisis/ [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017]. Kentish, B. (2017). University tuition fees in England ‘now the highest in the world’. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/university-tuition-fees-england-highest-world-compare-students-student-loan-calculator-a7654276.html [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017]. Study-in.de. (2017). Money & Costs – Study in Germany – Land of Ideas. [online] Available at: https://www.study-in.de/en/plan-your-stay/money-and-costs/ [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017]. Top Universities. (2017). Tuition Fees Reintroduced at Some German Universities. [online] Available at: https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/university-news/tuition-fees-reintroduced-some-german-universities [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017].
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