Assessment Guideline
Executive Summaries in Industry Expert Seminars

It is easy to recognise a good summary when one reads one, but it is difficult to specify the marking scheme precisely. I use the following guideline in my marking.

It is a very demanding job to summarize a lecture in 400 words. Difficulty in this task is reflected in the marking scheme below.

• 0-9% Something submitted, but it is incomprehensible; there is some effort
• 10-19% Report difficult to read, student confused, but good effort shown
• 20-29% Report difficult to read but readable, student slightly confused, but good effort shown
• 30-39% Poor presentation, student confused, but report make some sense; good effort shown
• 40-49% Presentation may be weak, student may be confused, but good effort; report capture some of the key points in the lecture

Note: 50% is pass mark for postgraduate modules. A summary would fail if it is poorly presented, or the report is incomprehensible

• 50-59% Weak report, but cover some of the key points, albeit plain and disorganised; weak English tolerated
• 60-69% Good effort, most key points summarised, report is organized; flaws tolerated

Note: 70% is distinction mark. A distinction summary must have something *special*
Essential quality: The presentation must look professional; it must be readable and spell checked. Something special must be present, e.g.: The author has:

• summarises all the key points in the lecture (which shows good understanding and the ability to drop irrelevant things),
• provided meaningful interpretation on the topic,
• intelligently selected material to prune and include, or
• organised the speaker's ideas to make it easy to read.

• 70-79% as specified above
• 80-89% Something more special, e.g. insightful interpretations are provided
• 90-100% Professional summary, easy to read, main points summarised, insightful interpretations