ASSESSMENT 3 OVERVIEW – Critical appraisal of evidence
For Assessment 3 students are required to demonstrate their ability to reflect on a health scenario and critically appraise the evidence (primary research paper) provided in relation to a health scenario. The scenario is available under the Assessment 3 tile.
Students are required to identify strengths and limitations of a research paper at a beginning level. The research paper can be located under the Assessment 3 tile. Finally, students are required to discuss the factors which influence the use of evidence in practice. The critical appraisal of evidence must be supported by a minimum of four (4) references which are valid and varied academic sources (e.g. Greenhalgh et al. 2018; Hoffman et al. 2017).
Instructions:
Critically appraise the research paper provided in LEO located under the Assessment 3 tile, and read the corresponding health scenario. The research paper should be accessed as a full text and critically appraised using the questions identified in Part A & B, which are based on Greenhalgh et al. (2018). The research paper being critically appraised should be written as a full reference at the beginning of the essay (and included in the reference list). The paper should be referenced in-text according to APA (i.e. author, year) required for direct quotes only.
Writing in an essay format (introduction, body, conclusion, reference list) answer the questions in Part A and Part B. Students should refer to the ACU Study Guide: Skills for Success (2017) – available online - to ensure they follow the university’s essay writing and referencing guidelines.
Small/short headings may be used. Do not repeat the questions or scenario. Part A
Consider the strengths and limitations (critically appraise) the research paper using the following questions. Each paragraph should be supported with a high quality, valid, varied academic reference. This reference is supporting your knowledge and understanding of critical appraisal related to the research paper.
Authorship
1. Discuss the strengths and limitations of the:
a. Authors’ expertise, based on their cited qualifications and affiliations;
b. Possible conflicts of interest or possible grounds for bias in the paper.
Research Questions, aim or hypothesis
2. Outline the research study’s question/s, aim or hypothesis and present the author’s justification/s as to why their study was needed.

Research Design
3. Discuss the research design and how the authors justified their choice of design for their stated research question.
Research Methods
4. Discuss the methods the researchers used for: selecting study participants and for collecting and analysing data?
What were the strengths and limitations of the methods used?
Results and limitation of the study
5. Discuss whether the results/conclusions of the study answer the research study’s question/s.
Describe how the limitations impact the application of the study findings?
Part B
Application of research evidence into clinical practice considering the given scenario and clinical question.
Adoption of research findings is often restricted due to a range of key enablers and barriers. Reflecting on your scenario describe some of the enablers and barriers to the uptake of your papers research findings.
Due date: Part A and B are to be submitted on Wednesday 22nd
May by 2359 Hours
Weighting: 50%
Length and/or format: Assessment 3 (Part a & b) should not exceed 1200
words +/-10% (including in-text citations)
Purpose: The written assignment is required to provide the
students with an opportunity to demonstrate fundamental skills required for sound appraisal of
research. These assessments are designed to engage students with content that will build knowledge which, by the conclusion of this programme, will allow the student to graduate as a health care professional who
can locate and critically appraise discipline specific literature.
Learning outcomes assessed: 3, 4, 5
How to submit: Submission is via the Turnitin Dropbox available in
LEO HLSC122 (Campus tile).

Return of assignment: Feedback (written, rubric and/or voice comments) will
be available in the Turnitin Dropbox in LEO when the final unit grades are released.
Assessment criteria: Critical appraisal, knowledge, critical thinking,
presentation
Please include the word count of your assignment on the front page of your assignment or in a header. Please note that in-text citations are included in the word count whilst the reference list is not included in the word count. Words that are more than 10% over the word count will not be considered.
Please see further information in the section below titled ‘Word Count’.
WORD COUNT
Writing requires skill and being able to write within a specified word limit is an essential component of professional and academic work. Reading and writing critically are fundamental skills which demonstrate an understanding and an ability to make judgements and solve problems, hence why only 10% of a word count should be direct quotes. That is, if the word count is 1500 words only 150 of those words should be direct quotes. Word counts provide students with an indication of the amount of detail and work required for each assessment item.
What is included in a word count?
Essentially, all text within an assessment item from the introduction through to the conclusion is counted in the word count. This includes all in-text citations, direct quotes and headings.
The word count does not include the following:
· Title page
· Reference list
· Appendices
· Tables
· Figures and legends
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
Please note that if you submit your assignment, notice that the similarity index is high but do not have time to revise your assessment task before the due date has passed, then you are advised to:
· contact the Lecturer in Charge and request that your assignment be removed.

· revise the assignment, submit it within three days of the due date and incur a late submission penalty.
· submit it into the regular Dropbox. Do not submit into the extension Dropbox.
· Please review the Academic Integrity and Misconduct policy if you choose not to do this.
REFERENCING
This unit requires you to use the APA referencing system.
See the ‘Academic referencing’ page of the Student Portal for more details.