Class presentation (20%): Students in teams of two or more, will be given an article or case by the lecturer from which to prepare a class presentation and submit a written paper. The ‘presentation’ is to be sent in advance of the presentation to the lecturer’s email address: David.Thorpe@sydney.edu.au. The 'oral presentation' (Assessment Task 1) and the 'written submission' (Assessment Task 2) are based on the same article or case.

The presentation should not exceed 12 minutes (approximately 6 minutes each for a two-person team, though time may be modified according to class size and number) - marks may be deducted for rambling on. The presentation will be a truncated version of the formal written submission (Assessment Task 2) with, in addition, commentary and use of related ‘presentation’ materials. Students are free to disagree with the thrust of an article or finding of a case, provided that a sustainable argument or point of view can be made.

Any (relevant) form of presentation or communication is permitted. However, bear in mind, the task is to communicate information to the class – the use of media resources is a tool, not an end in itself. Emphasis is on getting the information across. It is very much about the art of communication. Although part of a team, students will be allocated individual marks for their presentation. While the preparation for the presentation is a matter of cooperation and collaboration, students must do approximately equal work and share the time of presentation roughly equally.

 

Written paper (20%): Students will prepare a 1200 word (excluding references) written submission based on their class presentation, that critically reviews the article or case assigned by the lecturer. The presentation and written submission will aim to critically review the particular article or case. There is scope for argument and disagreement by the student with the theme of the article or the views expressed within the judgment.

In fact, any related material may be utilised to inform the class. The idea is for the student to explore those areas they think are interesting and relevant to the article or case – in this sense the student is given a free hand and is only confined by the broad relevance of the information, provided they keep to the theme of the article or case. To reiterate, the theme or argument is to be explored; there is no warrant for exploring a different theme because the general subject matter is the same. It is envisaged that members of a team will work cooperatively and come to similar views on the article or case. However, where there is massive disagreement, each student is to indicate why their view is different to the other. The written paper (in hard copy) is due in class at 6pm on the day of the presentation. A soft copy is to be uploaded to Canvas and sent to the lecturer's email address: David.Thorpe@sydney.edu.au

Research project Outline (0%): By the end of Week 5 (Sunday 24 March 2024, 11:59pm Sydney, Australia Time) student should submit a 250-word Outline that indicates their proposed Research project topic/title, the ‘question’ that will be answered or examined and, should the student wish, a short draft abstract of their proposal, as well as the sources they plan to use in researching their topic. This preparatory submission gives students the opportunity to practise articulating the key topic and core argument they wish to address in their final written essay.

Should any difficulties be evident, the lecturer will discuss these with the student, although in almost all cases the decision to proceed will be that of the student. However, submission is not compulsory. A concern is to ensure the selected topic or question is ‘law based’ and is not, for example, a sociological treatise. Should you be confident in your selection of topic and approach, you need not submit an outline, but at your own risk. Submissions are to be made to the lecturer’s email address: David.Thorpe@sydney.edu.au
 

Research project (60%): Students are required to write a research project on a topic of their choice pertinent to sports law. The due date is 20 May 2024 at 6pm Sydney, Australia Time. The word limit is 3600 words and while footnotes are not included in the word count, the inclusion of text that should be within the body of work should not be placed in a footnote. This task requires students to present a written argument in a structured and analytical manner about an issue, policy or principle of sports law which currently is, or recently has been, the subject of public debate.
In the alternative, students may select a topic on a theoretical or historical aspect of sports law provided it is approved by the lecturer. In all cases this is submitted as the Research Paper Outline. Unless contingencies dictate otherwise, the assignment is to be submitted in Canvas by the due date and time, with a hard copy in the second last class of the session: 20 May 2024. The assignment will not be counted as completed until both the hard copy (to lecturer) and electronic copy (to Canvas) have been submitted.

Word limit penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will exclude all footnotes and any bibliography (if required).  

Use of editors or proof-readers: The use of assistance in preparing and editing assessment tasks in this unit of study is strictly prohibited. Assistance includes human and automated writing tools (not including spell checking). 

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate. 

Assessment requirements to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.