Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Maria Herke maria.herke@mq.edu.au Margaret Wood margaret.wood@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit is designed to support students in their transition to university by enabling them to understand and achieve standards of performance required in an academic environment. The unit provides a three-level focus which is initiated by supporting the development of academic practices, behaviours and values. Secondly, it fosters a level of familiarity with the disciplinary language, texts and conventions used when studying in programs offered by the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences. Finally, it raises an awareness of the diverse perspectives offered by disciplines and the different contributions they can make to solving problems and addressing issues of concern in contemporary society. Learning and assessment activities are designed to build the capacity for independent and collaborative approaches to learning. Students are guided to develop their capacity for reading, thinking and expressing ideas effectively and critically.

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: Demonstrate acceptable academic practices, behaviours and values (academic integrity) in the completion of assessment tasks and other learning activities
ULO2: Critically gather, read, interpret, evaluate and synthesise information and ideas from appropriate sources
ULO3: Produce written and multimodal texts appropriate to the purpose and audience in accordance with academic, disciplinary and professional communication conventions
ULO4: Understand the basic grammatical foundations of clear academic and professional communication
ULO5: Reflect on learning experience to inform future academic, disciplinary and professional practice

General Assessment Information

1. Late Assessment Procedure

Late submissions without an extension will receive a penalty of 3% of the total mark available for the assessment task per day including weekend days (i.e. this is 3% of the total marks possible for the task – NOT 3% of the marks the student received. For example, if the assessment task is worth 100 marks and the student is two days late their mark for the task is reduced by 6 marks.)
Late submission of an assessment task without an extension will not be accepted at all after the date on which marked assessment tasks have been released to the rest of the class. Any student with unsubmitted work at this date will receive a mark of 0 for the assessment task.
Extensions will only be given in special circumstances, and can be requested by completing the Special Consideration request at ask.mq.edu.au and providing the requisite supporting documentation.
Extensions that will result in submissions after the assessment task has been returned to the class will require a separate assessment task to be completed at the unit convenor's discretion.
For more information on Special Consideration, see the university website https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration\
If a student fails the unit due to non-submission of an assignment or non-attendance at an exam, an FA grade will be applied in accordance with the University's Assessment Policy.
Unit convenors have the discretion to determine whether or not students should fail a unit on the basis of lateness penalties alone if other learning outcomes of the unit have been met.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
E-portfolio and Online Tasks	30%	No	Week 1- Week 13
Research News Page (Part B)	15%	No	Week 13
Integrative Summary	20%	No	Week 6
Persuasive Essay (Part A)	20%	No	Week 11
Grammar Quiz	15%	No	Week 8

E-portfolio and Online Tasks

Assessment Type ¹: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task ²: 20 hours
Due: Week 1- Week 13
Weighting: 30%

The E-portfolio and online tasks consist of three components which students will complete online. These include practice quizzes, a set of blogs and one final reflection. The assessment aims to test students’ understanding of and engagement with the concepts of the unit. It will run over the entire semester, culminating in each student publishing an e-portfolio.