Students

ACOM1001 – Academic Communication in the Social Sciences and Humanities

2023 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Luke Thompson
luke.thompson@mq.edu.au
Maria Herke
maria.herke@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

General assessment Information

Grade descriptors and other information concerning grading are contained in the Macquarie University Assessment Policy.

All final grades are determined by a grading committee, in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Policy, and are not the sole responsibility of the Unit Convenor.

Students will be awarded a final grade and a mark which must correspond to the grade descriptors specified in the Assessment Procedure (clause 128).

To pass this unit, you must demonstrate sufficient evidence of achievement of the learning outcomes, meet any ungraded requirements, and achieve a final mark of 50 or better.

Further details for each assessment task will be available on iLearn.

Late Submissions

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE MARK) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

 For example:

Number of days (hours) late

Total Possible Marks

Deduction

Raw mark

Final mark

1 day (1-24 hours)

100

5

75

70

2 days (24-48 hours)

100

10

75

65

3 days (48-72 hours)

100

15

75

60

7 days (144-168 hours)

100

35

75

40

>7 days (>168 hours)

100

-

75

0

 

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Use of Generative AI Please refer to instructions from your lecturer on the use and the acknowledgement of use of Generative AI in your submitted assignments.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
E-portfolio and Online Tasks 30% No Week 2 - 13
Integrative Summary 20% No 03/09/2023
Grammar Quiz 15% No Week 8
Persuasive Essay (Part A) 20% No 22/10/2023
Research News Page (Part B) 15% No 05/11/2023

E-portfolio and Online Tasks

Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 2 - 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.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate acceptable academic practices, behaviours and values (academic integrity) in the completion of assessment tasks and other learning activities
  • Critically gather, read, interpret, evaluate and synthesise information and ideas from appropriate sources
  • Understand the basic grammatical foundations of clear academic and professional communication
  • Reflect on learning experience to inform future academic, disciplinary and professional practice

Integrative Summary

Assessment Type 1: Summary
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: 03/09/2023
Weighting: 20%

 

The Integrative Summary builds on the information from an annotation completed in an earlier tutorial class. The Integrative Summary will describe and discuss two sources relevant to the assigned social inclusion issue. It will summarise and integrate the salient arguments and supporting evidence to present the key knowledge relevant to the issue. Such knowledge may include descriptions, statistics, perspectives (e.g. opposing theories for approaching the issue), related programs (and their impact) and general discussion of the core issue. Students are required to reference at the two (2) sources and demonstrate the ability to synthesise information and varying perspectives on a certain aspect of the social inclusion issue. (800 words) This assessment will also require students to write a reflective blog once feedback for the integrative summary has been received.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate acceptable academic practices, behaviours and values (academic integrity) in the completion of assessment tasks and other learning activities
  • Critically gather, read, interpret, evaluate and synthesise information and ideas from appropriate sources
  • Produce written and multimodal texts appropriate to the purpose and audience in accordance with academic, disciplinary and professional communication conventions
  • Reflect on learning experience to inform future academic, disciplinary and professional practice

Grammar Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Week 8
Weighting: 15%

 

The grammar quiz is an online randomised grammar quiz that tests knowledge of basic grammatical constituency. The quiz will be open for 1 week and will take 1 hour to complete once it has been begun. To prepare for this quiz, students should participate in the online practice quizzes provided on the learn site. These practice quizzes can be attempted as many times as the student feels is necessary with no marks penalty.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Produce written and multimodal texts appropriate to the purpose and audience in accordance with academic, disciplinary and professional communication conventions
  • Understand the basic grammatical foundations of clear academic and professional communication

Persuasive Essay (Part A)

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 22/10/2023
Weighting: 20%

 

The Persuasive essay will require students to develop a thesis and argue a response to a given quote related to their social inclusion topic. Students need to correctly reference relevant evidence to support each argument before reiterating and reinforcing the thesis through a summary of salient arguments. Students are required to reference at least five (5) sources and demonstrate the ability to synthesise information and views from a variety of perspectives to produce a coherent, well-supported recommendation. (1200 words)

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate acceptable academic practices, behaviours and values (academic integrity) in the completion of assessment tasks and other learning activities
  • Critically gather, read, interpret, evaluate and synthesise information and ideas from appropriate sources
  • Produce written and multimodal texts appropriate to the purpose and audience in accordance with academic, disciplinary and professional communication conventions

Research News Page (Part B)

Assessment Type 1: Non-academic writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: 05/11/2023
Weighting: 15%

 

Part B requires students to rewrite some aspects of the research that were written up in Integrative Summary into a News Page for a public audience. The News Page, while still formal and making reference to the literature will use more relaxed language than the Integrative Summary, which was written for an academic audience. Three (3) sources to be used. (500 words)

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate acceptable academic practices, behaviours and values (academic integrity) in the completion of assessment tasks and other learning activities
  • Critically gather, read, interpret, evaluate and synthesise information and ideas from appropriate sources
  • Produce written and multimodal texts appropriate to the purpose and audience in accordance with academic, disciplinary and professional communication conventions
  • Reflect on learning experience to inform future academic, disciplinary and professional practice

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

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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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.

PROFESSIONALISM

In the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, professionalism is a key capability embedded in all our courses.

As part of developing professionalism, students are expected to attend all small group interactive sessions including clinical, practical, laboratory, work-integrated learning (e.g., PACE placements), and team-based learning activities. Some learning activities are recorded (e.g., face-to-face lectures), however you are encouraged to avoid relying upon such material as they do not recreate the whole learning experience and technical issues can and do occur. As an adult learner, we respect your decision to choose how you engage with your learning, but we would remind you that the learning opportunities we create for you have been done so to enable your success, and that by not engaging you may impact your ability to successfully complete this unit. We equally expect that you show respect for the academic staff who have worked hard to develop meaningful activities and prioritise your learning by communicating with them in advance if you are unable to attend a small group interactive session.

Another dimension of professionalism is having respect for your peers. It is the right of every student to learn in an environment that is free of disruption and distraction. Please arrive to all learning activities on time, and if you are unavoidably detained, please join activity as quietly as possible to minimise disruption. Phones and other electronic devices that produce noise and other distractions must be turned off prior to entering class. Where your own device (e.g., laptop) is being used for class-related activities, you are asked to close down all other applications to avoid distraction to you and others. Please treat your fellow students with the utmost respect. If you are uncomfortable participating in any specific activity, please let the relevant academic know.

INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY

Social inclusion at Macquarie University is about giving everyone who has the potential to benefit from higher education the opportunity to study at university, participate in campus life and flourish in their chosen field. The University has made significant moves to promote an equitable, diverse and exciting campus community for the benefit of staff and students. It is your responsibility to contribute towards the development of an inclusive culture and practice in the areas of learning and teaching, research, and service orientation and delivery. As a member of the Macquarie University community, you must not discriminate against or harass others based on their sex, gender, race, marital status, carers' responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, age, political conviction or religious belief. All staff and students are expected to display appropriate behaviour that is conducive to a healthy learning environment for everyone.

Unit information based on version 2023.03 of the Handbook