Students

ENGL8075 – Professional Context Project

2021 – Session 2, Fully online/virtual

Session 2 Learning and Teaching Update

The decision has been made to conduct study online for the remainder of Session 2 for all units WITHOUT mandatory on-campus learning activities. Exams for Session 2 will also be online where possible to do so.

This is due to the extension of the lockdown orders and to provide certainty around arrangements for the remainder of Session 2. We hope to return to campus beyond Session 2 as soon as it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Some classes/teaching activities cannot be moved online and must be taught on campus. You should already know if you are in one of these classes/teaching activities and your unit convenor will provide you with more information via iLearn. If you want to confirm, see the list of units with mandatory on-campus classes/teaching activities.

Visit the MQ COVID-19 information page for more detail.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Catherine Fargher
Hsu-Ming Teo
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
40 credit points
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

In this unit each student conceptualises, designs and undertakes a project that engages with their individual vocational or education aims. Each project will extend upon the skills and knowledge developed during the student’s Masters study. Students engage in a Major Work from one of three modules: a Professional Context Project, such as an internship or other industry-focused project; the design of a school or community-based creative writing curriculum; or a research-based Journal Article suitable for a postgraduate level peer-reviewed journal. The unit is not intended for the production of a piece of creative writing. Students plan and undertake their project through independent work with the support of the convenor and student peers. Peer feedback and collaboration is encouraged. At the unit’s outcome students have engaged in a significant professionalising experience culminating in documentation and a digital portfolio showcase.

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:

  • ULO1: Plan and produce a major project within an approved area of activity and research.
  • ULO2: Apply refined technical skills and specialist knowledge within a sustained major work appropriate to specific readerships or community contexts.
  • ULO3: Initiate and collaborate with others in planning and executing an industry based or critically informed project.
  • ULO4: Curate a digital portfolio utilising creative writing producing during the course of study.

General Assessment Information

 

LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS

  • Please note that the University and the Faculty of Arts have launched a new assessment policy effective as of 1 July 2021. This new policy particularly affects LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS
    • The Faculty policy in relation to late assessment submissions is as follows: 

      Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests, etc. 

      To be very clear:

      Unless you have applied for special consideration and had your application approved, for each day your assignment is late, 10 marks will be deducted. For example, if you submit your assignment 7 days late, 70 marks will be deducted, which means you will fail that assignment.
    • If your assignment is more than 7 days late (including weekends), you will get 0 for your assignment.
  • These are serious penalties that will substantially alter your final grade and even determine whether you pass or fail this unit. Please make every effort to submit your assignment by the due date.

    If you find you cannot submit your assignment on time, please apply for Special Consideration through AskMQ. Make sure you read Macquarie University's policy regarding Special Consideration requests before you apply: 

    https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/special-consideration

 

Participation brief and instructions (10%)

All students must participate in the online discussions and activities for this unit. You are expected to participate in the form of discussion posts, critical reflections and very importantly, by providing constructive feedback to other student peers on their plans and project drafts.

Be prepared to question the opinions of others, to have your opinions challenged and to participate actively in discussion. You are required to give thoughtful high value commentary in a timely way.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

This assessment is marked according to Unit Learning Outcome 3.

Major Work Plan_brief and instructions (Weighting 10%.)

Devise and write a draft Plan of action based on your selected project’s activity and assessment guide.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

This assessment is marked according to Unit Learning Outcomes 1 and 3.

Major Project (50%)

Students engage in a Major Work from one of the unit modules:The FULL descriptions for the modules are available on ilearn:

Digital Porfolio and Poster brief/instructions (30%)

Creating a portfolio of work is an increasing requirement for jobs in creative, academic or education industries. An objective of this task is to develop curation skills, demonstrated through articulate and thoughtful rationales for each of selection.

Students create a Digital Portfolio in which they reflect on their learning and creativity, using selections of their critical or creative writing produced as part of the Masters course as a prompt for four individual reflections and one overall reflection.

The poster is a summary of your Major Work, and it is prepared after you have completed your Major Work.

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Portfolio 30% No Sunday, Week 12, Oct 31 11.55 pm
Participation 10% No Weeks 1-12, Informal feedback ongoing; end of session mark
Major Project 50% No Sunday, Week 10, October 17th, 11.55 pm
Proposal/Project Plan 10% No Sunday, Week 4, August 12, 11.55 pm

Portfolio

Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 28 hours
Due: Sunday, Week 12, Oct 31 11.55 pm
Weighting: 30%

Students create a digital portfolio that showcases selected critical or creative writing produced as part of the Masters program. The final portfolio includes reflective statements and a poster showcasing the student’s Major Work for the unit.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Curate a digital portfolio utilising creative writing producing during the course of study.

Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 4 hours
Due: Weeks 1-12, Informal feedback ongoing; end of session mark
Weighting: 10%

Online discussion with student peers and lecturer about major project planning and development.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Initiate and collaborate with others in planning and executing an industry based or critically informed project.

Major Project

Assessment Type 1: Project
Indicative Time on Task 2: 98 hours
Due: Sunday, Week 10, October 17th, 11.55 pm
Weighting: 50%

Students engage in a Major Work from one of three modules: a Professional Context Project; the design of a school or community-based creative writing Curriculum; or a research-based Journal Article draft.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Plan and produce a major project within an approved area of activity and research.
  • Apply refined technical skills and specialist knowledge within a sustained major work appropriate to specific readerships or community contexts.
  • Initiate and collaborate with others in planning and executing an industry based or critically informed project.

Proposal/Project Plan

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Sunday, Week 4, August 12, 11.55 pm
Weighting: 10%

Students draft a Major Work Plan, which outlines the aims, scope, and time line for your selected Major Work.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Plan and produce a major project within an approved area of activity and research.
  • Initiate and collaborate with others in planning and executing an industry based or critically informed project.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

This unit is worth 10 credit points; therefore, you should expect to commit an average of 12 hours of your time per week to this unit including all scheduled and unscheduled activities as well as preparing and executing the assessment tasks.

This unit requires close use of the ilearn page to undertake Participation and Workshoping of your own and your class cohorts Major Projects.

Several readings are available for the Professional Context Projects at the Unit's Leganto Reading List

You can communicate with the convenor and your fellow students via the ilearn discussions forum.

 

Unit Schedule

This unit is worth 10 credit points; therefore, you should expect to commit an average of 12 hours of your time per week to this unit including all scheduled and unscheduled activities as well as preparing and executing the assessment tasks.

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

  1. Plan and produce a major project within an approved area of activity and research.
  2. Apply refined technical skills and specialist knowledge within a sustained major work appropriate to specific readerships or community contexts.
  3. Initiate and collaborate with others in planning and executing an industry based or critically informed project.
  4. Curate a digital portfolio utilising creative writing producing during the course of study

The main undertakings for this unit involve Planning and Organising your own project, as well as Workshopping your Workshop Plan and Major Project, as well as your Digital Portfolio, with Fellow students on designated weeks of the course. You will need to maintain an active presense on ilearn and also the discussion and workshop forums to ensure that you are abreast of all detailed descriptions and announcements regarding these activities. Detailed instructions regarding all Professional Project categories are available on ilearn and can be discussed with your teacher/convenor during the planning stages. Your teacher will alert you to specific times of the week when they will be online to address your queries, so you know when you will get responses.

The Overall Order and Shape of the Professional Project development activities are outlined below:

Week 1 Prepare, Brainstorm, Research 

Say hello to your fellow students, introduce what you have been studying, and what your career or further study/writing aims are? Discuss your early ideas with other students and your teacher.

Weeks 2 - 3 Planning

Communicate with your convenor about possible projects that you'd like to undertake.

Weeks 6, 8 Progress forums

Keep your peers and teacher up-to-date with your progress and learning. We want to know that you are on track or to hear about challenges and obstacles. Respond to your peers’ posts and engage in a dialogue. If you have an urgent or important question for the unit convenor about your idea, make contact directly through the Contact Teaching Staff link. (The convenor won't be logging and reading these posts every day.)

In your posts you can also discuss some of the following:

  • Skills or knowledge you are missing for this activity.
  • Skills you are developing.
  • Ethical issues encountered.
  • Knowledge/s attained.
  • Challenges you are experiencing, and how you are resolving them.

Week 4 final Plan forum

Workshop your draft plan here before uploading it for final submission and grading. Provide feedback on other students' ideas, investigations, time-frames, resource needs and options. Be encouraging and alert.

Weeks 6, 8 Progress forums

Forum posts schedule Weeks 6, 8. Keep your peers and teacher up-to-date with your progress and learning. Your teacher will be reading and discussing your draft plans with you this week.

Week 10 Major Work forum

In this final week before submission, let others know how you're going, help each other with any last minute queries, and celebrate the achievement of completing the major work.

Week 11 Digital Porfolio forum

Discuss your digital portfolio development challenges and achievements with other students here. 

Week 12 Poster Showcase forum

Share your Major Work findings through your Poster Showcase.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

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 help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

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

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

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

Changes from Previous Offering

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there may be revisions to the Professional Context Offerings, which will reflect the University COVID-19 requirements.

Unit at a Glance

This unit is worth 10 credit points; therefore, you should expect to commit an average of 12 hours of your time per week to this unit including all scheduled and unscheduled activities as well as preparing and executing the assessment tasks.

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

  1. Plan and produce a major project within an approved area of activity and research.
  2. Apply refined technical skills and specialist knowledge within a sustained major work appropriate to specific readerships or community contexts.
  3. Initiate and collaborate with others in planning and executing an industry based or critically informed project.
  4. Curate a digital portfolio utilising creative writing producing during the course of study

Unit information based on version 2021.04 of the Handbook