Tutorial Letter 101
Tutorial Letter 101
Tutorial Letter 101
Political Philosophy
PLS3705
Semesters 1 and 2
BARCODE
PLS3705/101/3/2024
CONTENTS
Page
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 4
2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Purpose .......................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Outcomes ....................................................................................................................................... 5
The following outcomes will be achieved upon your successful completion of this module in Political
Philosophy: ................................................................................................................................... 5
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION ............................................................................................ 5
4 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS .................................................................................... 6
4.1 Lecturer(s) ...................................................................................................................................... 6
4.2 Department ..................................................................................................................................... 6
4.3 University ........................................................................................................................................ 6
5 RESOURCES ................................................................................................................................. 7
5.1 Prescribed book(s) .......................................................................................................................... 7
5.2 Recommended book(s) .................................................................................................................. 7
5.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves) ................................................................................................... 7
6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES ................................................................................................. 8
6.1 The Unisa First-Year Experience Programme ................................................................................ 9
7 STUDY PLAN ............................................................................................................................... 10
8 PRACTICAL WORK ..................................................................................................................... 11
There is no practical work for this course. .......................................................................................... 11
9 ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................. 11
9.1 Assessment criteria ...................................................................................................................... 11
9.2 Assessment plan .......................................................................................................................... 11
9.3 Assessment due dates ................................................................................................................. 12
9.4 Submission of assessments ......................................................................................................... 12
9.4.1 Types of assignments and descriptions .......................................................................................... 13
9.5 The assessments .......................................................................................................................... 14
9.6 Other assessment methods .......................................................................................................... 14
9.7 The examination ........................................................................................................................... 14
9.7.1 Invigilation/proctoring .................................................................................................................... 14
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1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Student,
Welcome to Political Philosophy (PLS3705), which is an integral component of the Philosophy
major. This module will require a close study of various philosophical texts, the reading of which you
will, no doubt, find both very demanding and extremely rewarding.
Tutorial Letter 101 contains important information about the scheme of work, resources and
assignments for this module. We urge you to read it carefully and to keep it at hand when working
through the study material, preparing the assignment(s), preparing for the examination and
addressing questions to your lecturers. You will receive a number of follow-up tutorial letters during
the semester containing feedback on your assignments as well information that will assist you in
your preparations for the final examination.
In Tutorial Letter 101, you will find the assignments and assessment criteria as well as instructions
on the preparation and submission of the assignments. This tutorial letter also provides all the
information you need with regard to the prescribed study material and other resources and how to
obtain it. Please study this information carefully and make sure that you obtain the prescribed
material as soon as possible.
In addition to Tutorial Letter 101, you should have been supplied with Tutorial Letter 301 as well
as the module’s Study Guide. While some of this tutorial matter may not necessarily be available
when you register, it will be dispatched to you in due course. Please be aware that you may access
your tutorial matter through myUNISA. Read Tutorial Letter 301 (WYSALLB) in combination with
Tutorial Letter 101 as it gives you some extremely useful information regarding your studies. Of
particular importance are the referencing techniques which you should include in every written
assignment.
myUnisa is used in this module and we encourage you to frequently visit the module site. There you
will not only find the official study material (such as the study guide, tutorial letters, etc., in electronic
format) but will be able to access many additional resources relating to the content of the module.
Most importantly, however, myUnisa provides students with the occasion to engage and with other
students on the discussion forums.
Do bear in mind that you are also encouraged to submit assignments via myUnisa, which will then
be marked digitally and sent back to you in digital format. This will ensure that your assignments are
processed in a more efficient manner.
Note: Before you can make use of myUnisa, you are required to register. To register, please visit:
http://my.unisa.ac.za, and then click on “Join myUnisa” (which is to be found on the menu on the
left hand side of the webpage).
You are encouraged to log into the module site on myUnisa regularly (that is, at least twice per
week).
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• To reflect critically on the basic issues and challenges within contemporary philosophical-
political debates.
• To help you acquire a deeper and clearer understanding of some intellectually provocative
questions in political philosophy.
2.2 Outcomes
The following outcomes will be achieved upon your successful completion of this module in
Political Philosophy:
• Specific outcome 1: You will be able to engage reflectively, critically and conceptually in
contemporary political debates within both the Western and African philosophical contexts.
• Specific outcome 3: You will be able to place arguments and debates in specific contexts
and understand different responses to these arguments.
• Specific outcome 4: To place you in a position where you are able to explain and critique
some of the views and arguments of other philosophers with well-reasoned arguments.
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
Unisa has implemented a transformation charter, in terms of which the university has placed
curriculum transformation high on the teaching and learning agenda. Curriculum transformation
includes student-centred scholarship, the pedagogical renewal of teaching and assessment
practices, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the infusion of African epistemologies and
philosophies. All of these will be phased in at both programme and module levels, and as a result of
this you will notice a marked change in the teaching and learning strategy implemented by Unisa,
together with the way in which the content is conceptualised in your modules. We encourage you to
embrace these changes during your studies at Unisa in a responsive way within the framework of
transformation.
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Ms S Ndlovu
e-mail: ndlovsp@unisa.ac.za
Mr PT Delport
e-mail: delpopt@unisa.ac.za
4.2 Department
The Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology present this module.
philosophy@unisa.ac.za/sekhunp@unisa.ac.za
4.3 University
Please note that you will find general Unisa contact details in the study@Unisa brochure, and that
you should make use of your student number in all correspondence with the University. Contact
addresses of the various administrative departments are included in Study brochure @Unisa, which
you received with your study package.
Physical/ Postal address: University of South Africa Preller Street Muckleneuk Pretoria City of
Tshwane
Email: study-info@unisa.ac.za
Contact addresses of the various administrative departments appear on the Unisa website:
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Contact-us/Student-enquiries.
5 RESOURCES
5.1 Prescribed book(s)
At this stage of your study of Philosophy, your own opinions need to be tutored through the diverse
positions taken on various topics that are outlined in the guide and in the philosophical literature that
you encounter elsewhere. Therefore, we should like to draw your attention to Tutorial Letter
WYSALLB/301/4/2021. This is perhaps the most important of all the tutorial letters that you will
receive in the study of Philosophy. Should you wish to receive copies of your study guides, special
tutorial letters, or any other form of study material dispatched by the Department through ordinary
mail electronically, you may access this material through the myUNISA system.
Since the postal services are not as efficient as we should wish, you are strongly advised regularly
to check on myUNISA for the latest study material dispatched by us to you, especially for the tutorial
letter providing examination guidance. This tutorial letter sets out your programme. It is a valuable
document containing important information. You should read through this document BEFORE
READING ANYTHING ELSE.
The Department of Despatch should supply you with the following tutorial matter for this unit of study:
Note: Some of this tutorial matter may not necessarily be available when you register. Tutorial Matter
that is not available when you register will be posted to you as soon as possible.
Once more, please note that you may access such tutorial matter through myUNISA much earlier
than you might access it through postal means, because of our sadly less- than- efficient postal
service.
There are no prescribed book(s) for this module. All extra material needed for the completion of the
module will be made available on MyUNISA.
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Recommended guides:
This brochure contains important information and guidelines for successful studies through Unisa.
If you need assistance with regard to the myModules system, you are welcome to use the following
contact details:
You can access and view short videos on topics such as how to view your calendar, how to access
module content, how to view announcements for modules, how to submit assessment and how to
participate in forum activities via the following link: https://dtls-
qa.unisa.ac.za/course/view.php?id=32130
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Registered Unisa students get a free myLife e-mail account. Important information, notices and
updates are sent exclusively to this account. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for your
account to be activated after you have claimed it. Please do this immediately after registering
at Unisa, by following this link: myLifeHelp@unisa.ac.za
Your myLife account is the only e-mail account recognised by Unisa for official correspondence
with the university, and will remain the official primary e-mail address on record at Unisa. You
remain responsible for the management of this e-mail account.
Many students find the transition from school education to tertiary education stressful. This is also true in the
case of students enrolling at Unisa for the first time. Unisa is a dedicated open distance and e-learning
institution, and it is very different from face-to-face/contact institutions. It is a mega university, and all our
programmes are offered through either blended learning or fully online learning. It is for this reason that we
thought it necessary to offer first-time students additional/extended support to help them seamlessly navigate
the Unisa teaching and learning journey with little difficulty and few barriers. We therefore offer a specialised
student support programme to students enrolling at Unisa for the first time – this is Unisa’s First-Year
Experience (FYE) Programme, designed to provide you with prompt and helpful information about services
that the institution offers and how you can access information. The following FYE services are currently
offered:
www.unisa.ac.za/FYE fye@unisa.ac.za
FYE1500
Post
myUnisa; Study
Registration
Referrals to Skills; Academic &
Orientation Digital Literacies;
other support
services i.e. etc
Counselling;
Reading & Writing
workshops
To ensure that you do not miss out on important academic and support communication from the
SRU, please check your myLife inbox regularly.
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7 STUDY PLAN
Component Format
Study unit 1: Introduction to Political Philosophy Self-Study
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8 PRACTICAL WORK
There is no practical work for this course.
9 ASSESSMENT
9.1 Assessment criteria
Assessment is done through both formative and summative assessments. You will be assessed
formatively through two assignments. It is to your advantage to submit both assignments, as
both assignments contribute towards the final mark you will obtain for the examination. Moreover,
your assignment mark will determine examination entry.
By working through all the prescribed material, completing the activities, self-tests, as well as your
assignments, you will ensure that the syllabus is covered.
With written assignments, markers will comment constructively on your work. Additionally,
commentaries on compulsory assignments will be sent to all students in follow-up tutorial letters.
You will receive two follow-up tutorial letters, one after each assignment has been submitted.
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• You will receive examination information via the myModules sites. Please watch out for
announcements on how examinations for the modules for which you are registered will be
conducted.
• The examination will count 80% towards the final module mark.
• Assignment due dates will be made available to you on the myUnisa landing page for this
module. We envisage that the due dates will be available to you upon registration.
• Please start working on your assessments as soon as you register for the module.
• Log on to the myUnisa site for this module to obtain more information on the due dates for
the submission of the assessments.
• The myUnisa virtual campus will offer students access to the myModules site, where learning
material will be available online and where assessments should be completed. This is an
online system that is used to administer, document, and deliver educational material to
students and support engagement between academics and students.
• The myUnisa platform can be accessed via https://my.unisa.ac.za. Click on the myModules
2024 button to access the online sites for the modules that you are registered for.
• When you access your myModules site for the module/s you are registered for, you will see
a welcome message posted by your lecturer. Below the welcome message you will see the
assessment shells for the assessments that you need to complete. Some assessments may
be multiple choice, some tests, others written assessments, some forum discussions, and so
on. All assessments must be completed on the assessment shells available on the respective
module platforms.
• To complete quiz assessments, please log on to the module site where you need to complete
the assessment. Click on the relevant assessment shell (Assessment 1, Assessment 2, etc.).
There will be a date on which the assessment will open for you. When the assessment is
open, access the quiz online and complete it within the time available to you. Quiz
assessment questions are not included in this tutorial letter (Tutorial Letter 101) and are only
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made available online. You must therefore access the quiz online and complete it online
where the quiz has been created.
• It is not advisable to use a cell phone to complete the quiz. Please use a desktop computer,
tablet or laptop when completing the quiz. Students who use a cell phone find it difficult to
navigate the Online Assessment tool on the small screen and often struggle to navigate
between questions and successfully complete the quizzes. In addition, cell phones are more
vulnerable to dropped internet connections than other devices. If at all possible, please do
not use a cell phone for this assessment type.
• For written assessments, please note the due date by which the assessment must be
submitted. Ensure that you follow the guidelines given by your lecturer to complete the
assessment. Click on the submission button on the relevant assessment shell on
myModules. You will then be able to upload your written assessment on the myModules
site of the modules that you are registered for. Before you finalise the upload, double check
that you have selected the correct file for upload. Remember, no marks can be allocated for
incorrectly submitted assessments.
• Elective assignments
- If not submitted, the student gets no mark for this item.
- The best of the required submissions will count.
• Mandatory assignments
- If not submitted, the student gets no mark for this item.
• Compulsory assignments
- If not submitted, the result on the student’s academic record will be absent.
• Optional assignments – You are encouraged as a student to do optional assignment
so that it may benefit your learning.
I. Elective assignments
a. the student is given a choice of which assignments within an identified group to submit,
only the best result(-s), the number of which is specified in advance, will contribute
towards the year mark.
b. elective assignments must also be grouped into an elective group.
c. for the student to select which assignment to submit, the elective assignments must be
grouped together. For such an elective group, relevant information must be provided to
the student, such as how many of the assignments must be submitted and how many of
the assignment marks should be combined into the year mark.
d. The selection criteria define how marks received for assignments in an elective group are
to be combined into the year mark. Three different criteria may be used for calculating the
year mark:
• The best mark should be used, or
• If the student submits fewer than the required number of assignments per group or no
assignment in a group, a mark of 0% will be used.
• 0% is awarded to all non-submitted or unmarked assessments. A best mark is then
calculated from all items.
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IV. Optional assignments – You are encouraged as a student to do optional assignment so that
it may benefit your learning.
As indicated in section 9.2, you need to complete 2 assessments for this module. There are no
assignments included in this tutorial letter. All information about the actual assessments, when
and where to submit your assessments are made available to you via the myModules site for your
module.
Examination information and details on the format of the examination will be made available to you
online via the myUnisa site. Look out for information that will be shared with you by your lecturer and
e-tutors (where relevant) and for communication from the university.
9.7.1 Invigilation/proctoring
Since 2020 Unisa conducts all its assessments online. Given stringent requirements from
professional bodies and increased solicitations of Unisa’s students by third parties to unlawfully
assist them with the completion of assignments and examinations, the University is obliged to assure
its assessment integrity through the utilisation of various proctoring tools: Turnitin, Moodle
Proctoring, the Invigilator App and IRIS. These tools will authenticate the student’s identity and flag
suspicious behaviour to assure credibility of students’ responses during assessments. The
description below is for your benefit as you may encounter any or all of these in your registered
modules:
Turnitin is a plagiarism software that facilitates checks for originality in students’ submissions
against internal and external sources. Turnitin assists in identifying academic fraud and ghost
writing. Students are expected to submit typed responses for utilisation of the Turnitin software.
The Moodle Proctoring tool is a facial recognition software that authenticates students’ identity
during their Quiz assessments. This tool requires access to a student’s mobile or laptop camera.
Students must ensure their camera is activated in their browser settings prior to their assessments.
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IRIS Invigilation software verifies the identity of a student during assessment and provides for both
manual and automated facial verification. It has the ability to record and review a student’s
assessment session. It flags suspicious behaviour by the students for review by an academic
administrator. IRIS software requires installation on students’ laptop devices that are enabled with
a webcam.
Students who are identified and flagged for suspicious dishonest behaviour arising from the
invigilation and proctoring reports are referred to the disciplinary office for formal proceeding.
Please note:
Students must refer to their module assessment information on their myModule sites to determine
which proctoring or invigilation tool will be utilised for their formative and summative assessments.
10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
10.1 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas and thoughts of others and presenting them as your
own. It is a form of theft. Plagiarism includes the following forms of academic dishonesty:
• Copying and pasting from any source without acknowledging the source.
• Not including references or deliberately inserting incorrect bibliographic information.
• Paraphrasing without acknowledging the original source of the information.
10.2 Cheating
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following:
• Completing assessments on behalf of another student, copying the work of another student
during an assessment, or allowing another student to copy your work.
• Using social media (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram) or other platforms to disseminate
assessment information.
• Submitting corrupt or irrelevant files, this forms part of examination guidelines
• Buying completed answers from so-called “tutors” or internet sites (contract cheating).
10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below:
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/myunisa/default/Study-@-Unisa/Student-values-and-rules
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If you are a student with a disability and would like additional support or need additional time for
assessments, you are invited to contact (S Ndlovu., ndlovsp@unisa.ac.za) to discuss the assistance
that you need.
13 IN CLOSING
Do not struggle in silence. We will do our very best to assist you. It is our hope that you will
apply yourself patiently to the study of this module. We also hope that enjoy your journey in
Theoretical and Applied Ethics with us.
Except for the information in your official study material and online via MyUNISA, please do
not hesitate to contact any of your lecturers if you require any assistance in this module.
14 ADDENDUM
©
Unisa 2024
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