Academic Honesty

The nature of scholarly endeavour, dependent as it is on the work of others, binds all members of the University community to abide by the principles of academic honesty.

Plagiarism is a matter of particular importance. Plagiarism is defined as using the work or ideas of another person and presenting this as your own without clear acknowledgement of the source of the work or ideas. This includes, but is not limited to, any of the following acts:

• copying out part(s) of any document or audio-visual material or computer code or website content without indicating their origins;
• using or extracting another person's concepts, experimental results, or conclusions;
• summarising another person's work;
• submitting substantially the same final version of any material as another student in an assignment where there was collaborative preparatory work;
• use of others (paid or otherwise) to conceive, research or write material submitted for assessment; and
• submitting the same or substantially the same piece of work for two different tasks (self-plagiarism).

The University’s Academic Honesty Policy can be found on the Policy Central website: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/index.html

University Policy on Grading

The University recognises the importance of producing grades and reports of student learning achievements that are valid, reliable and accurate representations of each student’s capabilities in relation to clearly articulated learning outcomes. Your final result for this unit will include a grade plus a standardised numerical grade (SNG).

For an explanation of the policy go to Policy Central: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/index.html

Criteria for awarding grades for assessment tasks

Assignments will be awarded grades ranging from HD to F according to guidelines set out in the University's Grading Policy. The following descriptive criteria are included for your information.

NOTE: Except where specified, numerical marks will NOT be awarded for individual assessment tasks. They will only be awarded with your final grade.

APPEALS AGAINST GRADES

University regulations allow for students to appeal a unit grade if they feel they have been disadvantaged.

Grading appeals can be lodged on the following grounds:

• a clerical error occurred in the determination of a final grade

• the Unit Guide was not in accordance with the Unit Guide Policy
• due regard was not paid to an illness or misadventure that had been found to be eligible for special consideration
• the student had been disadvantaged in some way due to the conduct of an assessment task
• the student had been disadvantaged by variation of the assessment requirements or feedback provisions laid out in the Unit Guide
• the assessor’s judgement was not objectively applied.

Further information regarding the relevant policy and procedures can be found on the University's Policy Central website:

http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/index.html

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 5.00 - 7.00 pm

5 March

19 March

2 April

30 April

14 May

28 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.

Information about 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:  unit learning outcomes were peer reviewed at the program level, modules and readings were updated, all new assessment and feedback rubrics were developed for the assessment tasks, on-campus sessions maintained and the use of camtasia videos maintained.

Other material

Core readings are available:

1. online through the Macquarie Library electronic journal access, or 

2. online with links given in the Reading List for each Module.

This unit guide was last updated in February 2015. In response to feedback and reflection:  unit learning outcomes were peer reviewed at the program level, modules and readings were updated, all new assessment and feedback rubrics were developed for the assessment tasks, on-campus sessions maintained and the use of camtasia videos maintained.