Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Debra Ronan
Contact via debra.ronan@mq.edu.au
W3A 518
By appointment
Tutor
David Mullan
Contact via david.mullan@mq.edu.au
W3A 605
By appointment
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
48cp in LAW or LAWS units and permission of Executive Dean of Faculty
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit provides the opportunity for students to engage with the legal profession and community through participation in a variety of workplace experiences including, but not limited to, law firms, legal centres, community-based legal organisations and services, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations. The experience may be via clerkship, volunteer work, or internship, and may be undertaken on a weekly or block basis. Students source their own placement, and nominate it for approval by the convenor. Applications for the unit are advertised by the convenor via email.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Placement Participation | 0% | Ongoing |
On-Line Participation | 35% | Week 4 |
Goals and Reflection | 25% | Exam period |
Research Essay | 40% | Week 5 |
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 0%
This is a pass/fail component.
To indicate satisfactory attendance and participation, the placement supervisor will certify to the unit convenor that each student:
responded to directions and carried out required tasks
participated constructivley in discussions
acted ethically, i.e respectfully, with apparent honesty, and was aware of potential conflicts of interest
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 35%
Students complete set readings and exercises on ethics and regulation of the legal profession; and may be required to participate in on-line discussions, wikis and blogs on ethical issues.
Details of exercises and questions including due times, submission and assessment criteria will be discussed at the compulsory seminar on Monday 8 December, and full details will be provided on iLearn. The exercises will be submitted via links on iLearn
The exercises should be commenced during week 2.
Due: Exam period
Weighting: 25%
This exercise will involve three stages:
1. You will develop your aims and goals for your placement and consider the means by which you will achieve them. Guidelines for goal-setting will be discussed and the goal setting process will be commenced at the first compuslory seminar.
2. In week1 (Thursday/Friday) or week 2 (Monday) you will meet / speak with the convenor by appointment to discuss your goals (5 marks)
3. In the final week you will prepare a goal outcomes report and personal reflection; and think to the future (20 marks)
Full details of this exercise, including guidelines and assessment criteria will be discussed at the week 1 seminar, and on i-Learn. You must contact the convenor before or during week 1 to make an appointment for your meeting.
Reflective report submission
The due time and date for the final reflective report is 10pm on Friday 30 January 2015. It should be submitted via the link on iLearn
Due: Week 5
Weighting: 40%
You will be required to critique current practices and regulation of the legal profession. You will choose one out of a number of questions that will be provided on iLearn.
OR
You may nominate your own essay topic. You may identify an issue relating to an area of professional practice that in your opinion needs to be improved. You will prepare a critique of current practices and regulation in the area, suggestions for change, and what you as a practitioner would do in response to the issue. Students nominating their own topic must seek approval from the convenor for their topic before the end of week 3.
Further details of this assessment task will be provided at the first seminar, and the set questions will be posted on i-Learn.
Research essay submission
The due time and date for the essay is 10pm on Friday 23 January 2014. It should be submitted via the Turnitin link on iLearn
Online units can be accessed at: http://ilearn.mq.edu.au/.
PC and Internet access are required. Basic computer skills (e.g., internet browsing) and skills in word processing are also a requirement.
Assessment spacing changed from the previous offering of the unit
ATTENDANCE
Professional / community participation:
Students will engage in at least 60 hours of work experience at a law firm, legal centre, community based legal organisation or service, government agency, not-for-profit organisation or other relevant body.
Macquarie seminars
Attendance is compulsory. You will be excluded for non-attendance
Week 1 Monday 8 December 5-8.30pm:
Week 5 on-line debriefing 'Career Planning and Next Steps'
ASSESSMENT
i) Skills assessment, goal setting, meeting with convenor: weeks 1-2
ii) On-Line participation: weeks 1-3
See details under assessment tasks
ii) Research Essay: week 5
See details under assessment tasks
iii) Reflective report: Exam period
See details under assessment tasks
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.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Macquarie Law School Assessment Policy
Word limits in Macquarie Law School assessments are strictly applied. The word limit does not include footnotes or bibliographies where they are required. Unless explicitly indicated otherwise, referencing must comply with the current version of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation. In the absence of a successful application for special consideration, any assessment task submitted after its published deadline will not be graded and will receive a mark of zero.
All research essays (excluding online quizzes) will require submission through Turnitin
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
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.
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Date | Description |
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04/12/2014 | I've made further minor changes to the due weeks as they didn't correspond with the published dates. Eg for essay, due date is 23 Jan, but the unit guide said week 4 instead of week 5. |
03/12/2014 | Hi Approver, I have made a minor change under assessments 'Goals and Reflection' point 2. Previously it said to meet with convenor in week 2. I have expanded it to say weeks 1&2, and deleted the days. This is to give students greater flexibility |