Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor Marina Harvey marina.harvey@mq.edu.au Contact via marina.harvey@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 4
Prerequisites	Prerequisites Admission to MA in Education Studies or MEChild or PGDipEChild or PGCertEChild or MEd or MEdLead or PGDipEdLead or PGCertEdLead or PGDipEdS or PGCertEdS or MHEd or PGDipHEd or PGCertHEd or MSpedEd or PGDipSpecEd or PGCertSpecEd or MTeach(Birth to Five Years) or MIndigenousEd or PGCertIndigenousEd or MTransInterPed or PGDipTransInterPed or MIndigenousEd or PGDipIndigenousEd or PGCertIndigenousEd
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status S1 Day
Unit description	Unit description Throughout this unit participants explore the concept and role of critically reflective practice in education. This exploration is applied through an action research project which enables a focus on the investigation of specific issues related to students' educational practice and context. Successful completion of the project will lead to an increased understanding of the educational environment and the role of critically reflective practice in bringing about changes aimed at improving quality: of student learning; of teaching practice and of educational contexts.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

define the concept of reflective practice
investigate the literature to reviewed diverse models and modes of reflection in order to identify an approach that provides the best fit with individual practice
analyse how you could use multiple perspectives, or lenses, for reflective practice
engage in critically reflective practice, e.g., through journal writing and group reflection (face to face and/or online) on issues arising from course readings
judge the potential of reflective practice for your own discipline
apply methods of reflective practice to the scholarly research of an issue impacting upon your own education practice or context

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Due
Online and Group Discussions	15%	Continuous
AT1 - Part A	5%	27th March
AT2	10%	22nd May
AT3	50%	12th June
AT1 - Part B	20%	8th May

Online and Group Discussions

Due: Continuous
Weighting: 15%

This assessment is concerned with Outcomes 3 and 4.

Online discussions are an important aspect of the Learning Activities and Assessment Tasks. Your postings to the online discussions should reflect an understanding of your own context, and the course material. You should bring in related thoughts and material, readings or questions that occur to you throughout the discussion.

You are required to complete the course readings for each module, reflect upon the readings and to then share your reflections on the readings with course colleagues through on-line postings and during the on-campus sessions. These readings and reflections may also contribute to your journal writing.

Your postings should advance the group's negotiation of ideas and meanings about the material. Some ways you can further discussions include:

expressing opinions or observations - where possible support them by more than personal opinion
making a connection between the current discussion and previous discussion, personal experience or from the readings
commenting on or asking for clarification of another student's statement
posting a substantive question aimed at furthering the group's understanding.

Discussions in each Module will be assessed on the basis of:

Your participation in the discussion (35%)

2. The essence of your contributions (65%)

On successful completion you will be able to:

define the concept of reflective practice
analyse how you could use multiple perspectives, or lenses, for reflective practice
engage in critically reflective practice, e.g., through journal writing and group reflection (face to face and/or online) on issues arising from course readings
judge the potential of reflective practice for your own discipline
apply methods of reflective practice to the scholarly research of an issue impacting upon your own education practice or context

AT1 - Part A

Due: 27th March
Weighting: 5%

This writing concentrates attention upon Outcomes 1 and 2.

Select two of the journal articles you have sourced (to be used for Part B) that are additional to this unit's reading list. Write up an annotated bibliography for each publication. The bibliography should include:

the full bibliographic citation (APA format),
a brief summary of content, and
a short reflective critique.

On successful completion you will be able to:

define the concept of reflective practice
investigate the literature to reviewed diverse models and modes of reflection in order to identify an approach that provides the best fit with individual practice

AT2

Due: 22nd May
Weighting: 10%

This activity focuses upon Outcomes 4 and 5.

Preparation

You will maintain a reflective journal in which evidence of your critically reflective practice is documented. Course readings will provide you with possible diary/journal models. Your critical reflection will focus on your own educational environment and student learning, drawing upon course readings and discussions. One of the goals of the project reflective synthesis is to gain direction (from your engagement with: the literature, your colleagues, your own context and your autobiographic reflections) to identify salient methodologies, issues, and approaches for your individual project (and you write about this for AT1).

Submission

A 2-page scholarly synthesis of the key issues and learnings emerging from all your reflections throughout the semesteris to be submitted for assessment. The focus is on key learnings that have influenced the progress and development of your individual project (AT3). Include a brief, but critical, statement outlining your personal feedback on maintaining a reflective journal. You are not limited to text only and can experiment with other modes such as photos, art, poetry, digital storytelling.

Feedback guidelines and standards for AT2 are downloadable from your iLearn unit.

On successful completion you will be able to:

engage in critically reflective practice, e.g., through journal writing and group reflection (face to face and/or online) on issues arising from course readings
judge the potential of reflective practice for your own discipline

AT3

Due: 12th June
Weighting: 50%

Outcomes 3, 5 and 6 will be addressed by this assignment.

Your written assignment will focus on the investigation of reflective practice or a specific issues(s) that impacts upon your own educational practice or context. You will negotiate a project with the unit convenor. Projects need to incorporate reflective practice. It may be an action research project, a curriculum review and development project, the development of a teaching/curriculum resource suitable for your own learning and teaching and/or curriculum context or new contributions of knowledge to a public wiki. You are also encouraged to write up your project as an article suitable for publication in a refereed journal.

Feedback guidelines and standards for AT3 are downloadable from your iLearn unit.

On successful completion you will be able to:

define the concept of reflective practice
analyse how you could use multiple perspectives, or lenses, for reflective practice
judge the potential of reflective practice for your own discipline
apply methods of reflective practice to the scholarly research of an issue impacting upon your own education practice or context

AT1 - Part B

Due: 8th May
Weighting: 20%

This writing concentrates attention upon Outcomes 2, 3, 5 and 6.

After individual and group reflection on the role and diversity of critically reflective practice in higher education you are required to develop a rationale, or argument, for your individual project. As part of your rationale you need to justify

why you believe your topic/ issue/ project is important and needs to be researched
the conceptual approach or theory you will use for your project (AT3), and
the method you will follow.

To develop your rationale you will need to review the literature, supporting your writing with current references, including journal articles from the journal in which you may publish your final writing or which is relevant to your discipline. It is expected that at least 6 articles, that relate to your project, will be consulted.

You will be able to incorporate this project rationale as a foundational component for assessment task 3. Feedback guidelines and standards for AT1 are downloadable from your iLearn unit.

On successful completion you will be able to:

investigate the literature to reviewed diverse models and modes of reflection in order to identify an approach that provides the best fit with individual practice
analyse how you could use multiple perspectives, or lenses, for reflective practice
judge the potential of reflective practice for your own discipline

Delivery and Resources

Technologies used and required

The iLearn platform is used for this unit.Access to the internet is required to participate in this unit.

Lecture and Tutorial times

The on-campus sessions provide opportunities to explore concepts covered in the Modules through discussions, group activities and presentations. Note that students studying in Australia on international study visas are required to attend all on-campus sessions. For other students, attendance is strongly encouraged but not a course requirement.

All on-campus sessions are held on a Thursday evening, in room E6A 116 from 5.30 - 7.30 pm

13^th March

27^th March

10^th April

1^st May

15^th May

29^th May

Teaching and Learning Strategy

This unit is comprised of six modules of work which are compulsory. Each of the unit modules involves a combination of:

reading;
collaborative on-line learning and independent study; and
written assessment tasks, and face-to-face, on campus seminars.

The Unit has been designed as a 4 postgraduate credit point Unit, requiring the equivalent of 13 weeks of work over one semester. Being a four credit-points Unit you should expect to spend a minimum of 12 hours per week to meet the requirements of the Unit.

As postgraduate scholars, you and your colleagues bring to the Unit a vast and diverse range of previous knowledge and experience which becomes a major resource in the development of our individual and collective understanding of the concepts addressed in the Unit.

It is important, therefore, that you confidently:

share your current knowledge and experience with others in the group
allow your current thinking to be subject to constructive critical analysis and debate
contribute to constructive critical discussion and debate of the key concepts and ideas found in the literature and in the taken-for-granted notions held by yourself and others in the group
use these discussions as a way of further developing your individual and collective understanding of the key concepts and ideas in the Unit.

To reflect the importance of this aspect of your learning, the extent and quality of your involvement in, and contributions to, the Learning Activities associated with each Module will be assessed as part of the overall assessment strategy in this Unit.

Informationabout iLearn

The web page for this unit can be found by logging on to iLearn: http://ilearn.mq.edu.au

Changes since the last offering of this unit

This unit guide was last updated in February 2014. In response to feedback and reflection: content, learning activities and readings were updated and diversified, learning outcomes and assessments refined, on-campus sessions maintained, module release mainatained and camtasia videos trialled.

Other material

Core readings are available:

1. online with links given in the Reading List for each Module, or

2. online through the Macquarie Library electronic journal access.

Unit Schedule

Wk	Week beginning	Module	On campus	Alignment of Learning Activities & Assessment Tasks
1	3 Mar	1		*Learning Activity 1A (LA1A)*
2	10 Mar	1	13 March	*Learning Activity 1B (LA1B)(LO 1 & 4)*
3	17 Mar	2		Learning Activity 2A (LA2A) )(LO 3 & 4)
4	24 Mar	2	27 March	Assessment Task 1 (AT1-Part A) )(LO 1 & 2)
5	31 March	3		Census
6	7 Apr	3	10 April	Learning Activity 3A (LA3A) )(LO 2 & 4)
H	14 Apr	4
H	21 Apr	4
7	28 Apr	4	1 May	Learning Activity 4A (LA4A) )(LO 4 & 5)
8	5 May	5		Assessment Task 1 (AT1-Part B) )(LO 2,3,5 & 6)
9	12 May	5	15 May	Learning Activity 5A (LA5A) )(LO 4 & 5)
10	19 May	6		Assessment Task 2 (AT2) (LO 4 & 5)
11	26 May	6	29 May	Learning Activity 6A (LA6A) )(LO 4&6)
12	2 June	6
13	10 June	6		Assessment Task 3 (AT3) (LO 3, 5 & 6)

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

PG - Discipline Knowledge and Skills

Our postgraduates will be able to demonstrate a significantly enhanced depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content knowledge in their chosen fields.