Provide a critical analysis of three emerging techniques and technologies for people with hearing loss and describe how they may impact on your clinical practice. Use evidence published in the last 10 years to support your writing.
Essay marking guide
To gain high marks (distinction 70+), the essay task must:
• Stick closely to the topic.
• Address all parts of the question.
• Discuss a range of evidence from a variety of primary sources*, including peer-reviewed journals. Most of these should be recent (<10 years old).
• Be clear about what type of evidence is being described (results of a single study, a review or an expert opinion, for example).
• Show an ability to critically evaluate evidence; e.g. by weighing up its strengths and weaknesses.
• Show an ability to use evidence to inform opinions expressed in the essay (i.e. it should be clear how you have come to any conclusion you have reached).
• Be well structured with an introduction, main body and conclusion, and links between paragraphs.
• Be correctly referenced in a consistent style.
• Be clearly written, such that an intelligent person with little knowledge of the topic could understand it
• Contain few mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Keep to the word count limit.
* secondary sources e.g. textbooks can also be used but they should not be your ONLY source.
** it’s important to show that YOU understand any specialist terms used, so it is best to disregard the knowledge of your marker.
In order to gain a mark of 60-70, an essay would normally either meet most but not all of the criteria above or meet all the criteria but only partially (e.g. rely on only a few sources of evidence).
Reasons for failure include lack of evidence and failure to answer the question (e.g. writing a very general essay about paediatric assessment).
