Term Dates & College Calendar

Details of key dates during the term can be found on the Important Dates calendar.

Enrolment and Timetables

General timetable information is available via Macquarie University's Timetable page. 

Students will be able to enrol in units and register for classes via eStudent and also view their personal timetable. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that classes they have registered for do not clash.

Students are only permitted to attend classes in which they have registered via eStudent, unless they have written approval from the Student Services Manager. To seek approval, students must email muic-elc.admin@mq.edu.au or speak to a member of the Student Administration and Services Team at The College Student Desk (Ground floor, 8 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Avenue). Approval will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

The last day to enrol, add or change units is Tuesday of Week 1. Changing groups is not possible after the enrolment period has concluded.

Guest Lecturer Presentations and Workshops

One or two Guest Lecturer presentations and/or workshops may be scheduled during the term. These sessions will take place outside of regular class time, usually in a lecture theatre on campus. In the session, a speaker (an expert or well-known academic in the field) will give a presentation on a particular topic related to the unit or field.

While attendance at guest lectures is not compulsory, and content covered is not examinable unless covered in regular classes, students are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions as they will:

• help them to engage with and broaden their understanding of the discipline;
• contextualise content covered in class by providing insights into recent research and workplace developments in the field;
• provide opportunities for networking; and
• provide experience of what lectures are like.

Specific details including time and venue for Guest Lecturer presentations and workshops will be posted in iLearn announcements and provided in class.

Recordings of these sessions may also be made available to students via iLearn.

Attendance Requirements – All Students

All students are expected to attend 100% of scheduled class time.

Attendance will be monitored in each lesson & students will be able to see their current attendance percentage to date and potential attendance percentage for each unit they have enrolled in via iLearn.

• Current Attendance Percentage will reflect the percentage of classes a student has attended so far (based only on the lessons held to date).
• Potential Attendance Percentage will reflect the percentage of classes a student can potentially attend by the end of the term, taking into consideration lessons attended and assuming the student also attends all future lessons scheduled (based only on the total number of lessons in the Term).

When a student is present for a part of a lesson (for example arrives late, leaves early, leaves the class frequently, particularly for lengthy periods), the teacher reserves the right to mark a student absent for that part of the lesson.

Attendance Requirements for International Standard Foundation Program Students

International students in the Standard Foundation Program are required to maintain at least 80% attendance across all their enrolled units in a Term of study to satisfy the conditions of their visa. Students who do not meet this requirement may be reported to the Department of Home Affairs and excluded from the University. 

Where a student is at risk of not meeting the at least 80% attendance requirement across their enrolled units in a Term, they will be counselled by the teaching and/or student services staff. Once an international student fails to meet the 80% attendance requirement, they may be reported to the Government for non-attendance and their visa may be cancelled. 

Because of the intensive nature of this program, students should be aware that their attendance may fall quite quickly and should carefully monitor their attendance on a regular basis. They may do so by checking their attendance in iLearn and ensuring they attend at least 80% of classes in each of the units they are enrolled in. Students should refer to the Potential Attendance Percentage.

For further information on attendance, please refer to the Attendance and Study Load Policy. 

Public Holidays and Make-up Lessons

If any scheduled class falls on a public holiday, a make-up lesson will be scheduled, either online or face to face. Please check the iLearn announcements and your emails for details of the make-up lessons.

In Term 1, there will be no public holidays.

Technology Used and Required

• Access to internet (available on Campus using Macquarie OneNet and in designated 8SCO Self-Access Computer Laboratories);
• iLab - iLab is Macquarie University's personal computer laboratory on the Internet. It enables students to use the Microsoft Windows applications they require to do their university work from anywhere, anytime, on any device;
• Access to Macquarie University Library catalogue (MultiSearch); and
• Access to Microsoft Office Suite (available in 8SCO Self-Access Computer Laboratories and via iLab) software downloads page for full instructions.

Bringing Your Own Device (BYOD)

Macquarie University is BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) friendly and encourages students to bring their Windows or Mac devices to use on campus and during classes.

In some classes in this unit, you will need to have access to a mobile device, Office applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and an Internet Browser of your choice. If you do not have your own device and computer access is required in a particular lesson, you may be able to borrow a laptop to use for the duration of the lesson.

As a Macquarie University student, you are entitled to free access to the Microsoft Office Suite, which you can access through iLab. If you have problems with this, please contact OneHelp.

If you do bring your own device, you will need to ensure that it is sufficiently charged as access to power points may not be available in the classrooms.

iLearn

iLearn is Macquarie's online learning management system and a principal teaching and learning resource which will be used throughout the term. Students must log in to iLearn at least 3 times per week to access important information including: 

• Announcements and News Forums - Teaching staff will communicate to the class using iLearn announcements. Announcements may also be emailed to students’ Macquarie University email address, but students should also check the News Forum regularly;
• Attendance – current and potential attendance percentage for the Term;
• Unit Guide and staff contact details;
• Set unit readings available through MultiSearch (library);
• Lesson materials and recordings where available;
• Learning and teaching activities and resources, questions and solutions;
• Assessment instructions, questions, marking criteria and sample tasks;
• Assessment submission links such as Turnitin;
• Links to support materials and services available at the University; and
• Evaluation Surveys for the unit.

For any resource related iLearn questions contact your teacher. For any technical or support issues using iLearn, please contact the IT helpdesk (Ph. 02 9850 4357) or lodge a ticket using OneHelp. 

Useful Study Resources

StudyWise is an iLearn resource created by the Learning Skills Unit. This resource is specifically designed to help you to manage your studies, strengthen your study techniques, write effective assignments and improve your English language proficiency. Once you enrol in StudyWise, you can access it from your iLearn course list under the category "Student Support".

InfoWise will help you improve your research skills by teaching you how to use MultiSearch, decode citations, identify key search terms and use advanced search techniques.

Lib Guides provide students with links to electronic sources and websites that are good starting points for research in different fields or disciplines.

MultiSearch will connect you to Macquarie University Library and allow you to search library resources, databases, unit readings and past exam papers.

Macquarie University Library has released a mobile device app called libMQ. The app allows students to easily access MyLibrary (be notified about loans, renewals, holds and fees owing), book a computer, Library floor maps, see new books lists and search MultiSearch.

It can be downloaded from either Google Play or the App store.

Academic Language and Learning Workshops are designed to help you with Study Skills, Assignment Writing, Referencing and Academic Language.

Research resources provide information about:

• Researching for your assignments
• How to manage your references
• Referencing style guides
• Subject and research guides

Numeracy Support is provided by the Numeracy Centre. Students can attend these support classes on a drop-in basis as required.

Studiosity is a one-to-one personal study support service which may be made available via your iLearn unit. If available, you may use this service to get online study help and/or feedback on your assignment usually within 24 hours. If you are unsure whether this service is available in your unit or how to use this service, please check with your teacher. Please note that this is an external service and feedback provided is generic in nature (for example comments on grammar and cohesion) and may not be specific to the requirements of the task. If you require specific feedback on how your work aligns with the expectations of the unit or marking criteria, you should consult your teacher.

 

Week	Topic	Assessment Task (If applicable)
1	Introduction to Academic Culture Academic writing conventions Formal vs informal writing (academic style and register) Database researching- introduction to different types of sources Understanding academic integrity and what constitutes plagiarism  Critical Thinking and independent learning skills Allocation of research topics
2	Summarising/Presentation of an article from The Conversation.com Reliability testing of sources using the 5 reliability tests Identifying sources of academic knowledge Primary and secondary sources of information Locating important stages and specific information in journal articles  Researching for academic sources for specific topics Paraphrasing techniques Assessment 1 - Part 1: Conversation Article	Assessment 2 - Part 1: Research Task
3	Summarising and presentation of the answers of the 5 Questions from the journal article  Understanding what constitutes plagiarism in academic writing Using a referencing guide Voices used in academic texts In-text and end of text referencing Expressing your voice- using reporting verbs and reporting structures Researching for sources for the research essay Identifying and paraphrasing specific information from academic sources	Assessment 1 - Part 2: Journal Article Assessment 2 - Part 2: Source Analysis
4	Annotated Bibliography: structure and language features Hedging and evaluative language Reporting verbs and reporting structures reviewed. End of text referencing revision: writing bibliographic citations Understanding the research essay structure   Creating a relevant thesis and outline statement Writing the introduction and the body paragraphs for the research essay Synthesising information from sources Creating a synthesis grid for the essay draft and research essay Analysing, interpreting and understanding research questions	Assessment 3: Annotated Bibliography  Assessment 4: Referencing Task
5	Creating the synthesis grid for the essay draft and research essay Reviewing paragraph structure  Synthesising information from sources Incorporating voice and reporting verbs in the research essay Writing academic arguments Using evidence in academic texts and using data to support arguments Research essay language analysis Feedback on the draft research essay	Assessment 5 - Part 1: Essay Draft
6	Writing the conclusion for the research essay Compiling and writing a reference list for the research essay Using the research essay comprehensive checklist effectively Peer evaluation of the research essay Editing and proofreading of the research essay Reviewing sentence structure and grammar (online exercises) In text and end of text referencing (revision) Reliability of Internet information	Assessment 5 - Part 2: Research Essay

Standard Foundation and Intensive Programs:

Weekly face-to-face contact for this unit will be 10 hours (60 hours per term). There will be five 2-hour lessons per week, from Monday to Friday.

In addition, students in both the Standard Foundation Program and the Intensive Program are required to complete 5 hours of activities each week outside of class time.

Lessons

Lessons will include a mixture of activities. New content and topics will be presented during lessons, and students will be given problems, practice questions and other interactive activities to apply the knowledge and the skills gained in the lesson. Students will be required to take notes, complete set tasks and engage in discussions and individual and group activities.

In class, specific time may be dedicated to work on assessment tasks and students will be given guidance and feedback to complete these. Certain lessons may be dedicated to independent research and reading related to the unit whether in the classroom or a computer lab.

Active Participation

Students will be required to not only attend but also actively participate in lessons.

Active participation entails:

• active engagement in class activities;
• contribution to class discussions by asking and answering questions;
• coming to class prepared and having completed required pre-readings and activities;
• completion of set class and homework activities;
• collaboration with other students; and
• adhering to Macquarie University’s Student Code of Conduct.

There are no prescribed text books for this unit. All materials and resources will be provided via iLearn or in class.