Unfair advantage
| by Stewart Dickinson 19 Aug 2004 Diploma in Financial Management Relevant to All papers |
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As a professional body, ACCA is responsible for ensuring that all holders of its qualifications have gained them fairly. Stewart Dickinson explains the meaning of assessment offences.
The award of the Diploma in Financial Management is made on the basis of assessed work to test how well the individual student has achieved the outcomes expected for the award.
There are three main stakeholders with an interest in the value and security of awards. The DipFM holder who sees the award as a reflection of their own achievement; ACCA who sees graduates as the product of its academic activities and therefore reputation; and employers, who rely on the integrity of awards when making decisions on employment of individuals. To ensure that candidates have achieved their awards honestly, and the awards reflect their own personal achievement, ACCA has established a set of procedures to check that its assessment processes are fair.
The Diploma in Financial Management is designed for managers who are not financial specialists, but need to have a good understanding of the underlying principles of accounting and financial management. The curriculum covers subject material that experience and feedback from students and employers confirms is appropriate for managers and each syllabus is based on the knowledge required to understand practical situations.
Assessment uses three broad approaches. The first is a set of tasks to test knowledge of principles. This is done through the multiple-choice questions (MCQs), which are part of the time-constrained examinations in each module. The second approach is to test application of principles to a specific problem under a time constraint and this is the basis of the second part of each examination. The third approach recognises that the subject material at this level of study is complex and is often not used in a constrained environment such as that imposed by an examination question. Projects, completed in the student's own time, provide the opportunity to test out analysis and synthesis of material set in a realistic management context.
Public examinations such as those used by ACCA are rigorous and fair. Papers are carefully prepared and vetted by a panel, kept secure and sat at the same time by all candidates with an invigilator present. Offences in this situation are usually related to cheating - that is using unauthorised material such as notes, programmable calculators that store text or copying from another candidate. The invigilator will report any behaviour that could be seen as cheating.
When work is completed in the candidate's own time - as is the case with the projects - a new range of potential offences need consideration. The common term to describe these offences is plagiarism, which can be defined as follows:
'Plagiarism can be defined as an attempt to gain advantage for yourself - academic advantage, financial advantage, professional advantage, advantage of publicity - by trying to fool someone such as a teacher, an editor, an employer, or a reader, into thinking that you wrote something, thought something, constructed something, or discovered something which, in actual fact someone else wrote, thought, constructed or discovered.'
(McNaughton, W. (1995) Student Handbook on Writing Research Papers (Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, City University of Hong Kong), cited on www.cityu.edu.hk/pdqs/rft/98-002.html).
The reader will see that this quotation contains a reference that clearly shows that the words are not mine, but written by W McNaughton and that I have quoted (cited) the original source so that the reader can find it easily. The most common convention for citing references is called the Harvard System of Referencing. Visit http://link.bubl.ac.uk/bibliography for details of how to use this convention and links to other sites that provide guidance on referencing including electronic sources.
Typical plagiarism offences
Using outside help
The work you submit must be your own. Because the projects are in the public domain, it is obvious that students and their teachers will discuss the content and ways of answering the questions. However, they are always written in such a way that there is no single 'right' answer. Markers will therefore look as much at the way you have arrived at the answer as the answer itself.
Similarities in student work, that might occur if two candidates copied each other, are easily spotted. ACCA uses a small number of markers and a system of second marking to both ensure consistency of marking and identify offenders. Scripts from each centre are initially allocated to one marker and a sample is then checked by a second marker. Where offences of this type are noted, all scripts are checked, both manually and scanned electronically. Checks may also be made on individual candidates' work, for example by comparing all work submitted by the candidate.
Using unacknowledged material
Some projects are based on publicly available material such as published accounts. This is deliberate because it allows candidates to relate their knowledge to real world situations. Examiners are looking for how well you use the published material to answer the questions set. For example there are no marks for calculating ratios because we assume that you are able to do this in your own time. The marks are for the way that you justified your choice and used the results to answer the question. Sometimes it may be useful to use published material from other sources such as newspapers, journal articles, websites or books to illustrate your answers. If you do this make sure that you acknowledge your source using the Harvard convention.
It may be tempting, particularly if English is not your first language, to use passages verbatim from textbooks, journals or websites rather than writing in your own words. This is gaining an unfair advantage and is easily spotted, usually through variability in the level and style of language. If it is suspected, work will be submitted to an electronic database that both identifies inconsistencies in language and compares passages with published sources.
What happens if an offence is discovered
ACCA has a very strict policy. If an offence is suspected, a detailed investigation is undertaken including the use of screening computer programs as described earlier. Where the offence is proven, the candidate will be subjected to disciplinary proceedings, which can ultimately result in being removed from the student register.
How to produce good work
Projects are designed to allow candidates to communicate their knowledge and understanding to the examiners through the written word. Doing this successfully is also a demonstration of the transferable skill of communicating in a managerial setting. Some projects may specifically ask you to use a particular reporting format or a script for a presentation.
When writing your answer, avoid repeating descriptive material from the case study or the published report where one is used. Keep description to a minimum, and only to set the context. For example, there may be a statement in the report that describes a growth in sales over the years; this in itself is of little interest, but may be relevant in analysing profits - for example 'although sales have grown by X%, net profit margins have declined steadily'.
You may also want to use specific quotations such as: 'The company has a comprehensive environmental policy', but your analysis shows that it has been fined for pollution. The quotation should be acknowledged and your own comments should be substantiated by hard evidence.
The word limit for the project encourages concise presentation of your answer. The split of marks gives you guidance about how much content is required for each sub-question. Clearly, some of the calculations and information gathering can be time consuming compared with writing brief comments on your findings, but it is often the latter that differentiates the quality of an answer. The marker is looking for coherence and consistency between the different parts of your answer. Before you submit your project for assessment, check it over for readability, consistency and presentation. Remember if the examiner finds it clear and easy to follow, this makes his or her life easier. Look carefully at the suggested answers to previous projects so that you get a feel for the level required. Above all make sure that what you submit is your own work.
Following the guidelines in this article will ensure that your work meets ACCA's requirements and that your marks reflect the content of your answers to the questions set.
Stewart Dickinson is co-ordinator for the Diploma in Financial Management