Students
FOHS3050 – Critical Communication
2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Chris Bilsland
Felicity Cox
|
|---|---|
| Credit points |
Credit points
10
|
| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
60cp at 2000 level or above
|
| Corequisites |
Corequisites
|
| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
|
| Unit description |
Unit description
This unit aims to develop effective communication skills for professional practice in diverse institutional, organisational and workplace contexts. The unit examines how communication functions in professional contexts to achieve individual and institutional outcomes that are ethical and socially responsible. Students will draw on existing knowledge of their discipline and relevant regulatory, ethical or social frameworks to identify the critical communication demands of their field, for example whilst interacting with clients and negotiating with stakeholders. At the same time, students will develop the communication skills, practices and strategies to respond to these demands. Key outcomes of the unit are the ability to create written, spoken and multi-modal texts for diverse audiences and purposes; an ePortfolio demonstrating professional communication skills, practices and strategies; and a personal learning and professional development plan for ongoing development of communication skills. As well as equipping students with communication skills for the workplace, the unit is suitable for students who plan to undertake further study and/or research in their discipline. |
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: Evaluate communication and its functions in your discipline and associated institutional, organisational, and workplace contexts.
- ULO2: Communicate the implications of regulatory, ethical, or social frameworks for professional practice in your discipline to diverse audiences using various modalities and technologies.
- ULO3: Develop skills, practices, and strategies to use communication to achieve ethical and socially responsible individual and institutional outcomes.
- ULO4: Critique your communication practices to inform future learning and professional development.
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multimodal presentation | 20% | No | Sunday Week 4 |
| Professional communication portfolio | 50% | No | Sunday Week 10 |
| Personal learning and professional development plan | 30% | No | Sunday Week 13 |
Multimodal presentation
Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Sunday Week 4
Weighting: 20%
Students will research and present (face-to-face or online) on a regulatory, ethical or social framework that is relevant to their future profession or educational pathway. (Typically 3 minute presentation with 1 slide plus 2 minutes QA.)
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Communicate the implications of regulatory, ethical, or social frameworks for professional practice in your discipline to diverse audiences using various modalities and technologies.
- Develop skills, practices, and strategies to use communication to achieve ethical and socially responsible individual and institutional outcomes.
Professional communication portfolio
Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: Sunday Week 10
Weighting: 50%
Portfolio of professional texts with contrastive audiences (eg specialist v non-specialist), purposes (eg inform v persuade) and modes (eg written, spoken, multimodal) with accompanying critical, reflection commentary on regulatory, ethical or social framework(s) and the communication skills, practices and strategies used to achieve ethical and socially responsible individual and institutional outcomes through the texts. (Typically two significant professional texts commensate with spending 20 hours on each text, with a 500 word commentary on each text.)
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Evaluate communication and its functions in your discipline and associated institutional, organisational, and workplace contexts.
- Communicate the implications of regulatory, ethical, or social frameworks for professional practice in your discipline to diverse audiences using various modalities and technologies.
- Develop skills, practices, and strategies to use communication to achieve ethical and socially responsible individual and institutional outcomes.
- Critique your communication practices to inform future learning and professional development.
Personal learning and professional development plan
Assessment Type 1: Learning plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Sunday Week 13
Weighting: 30%
Plan for ongoing development of communication skills in the workplace or future educational pathway. (Typically 2-4 pages.)
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Evaluate communication and its functions in your discipline and associated institutional, organisational, and workplace contexts.
- Critique your communication practices to inform future learning and professional development.
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
Please refer to the iLearn unit for delivery and unit resource details.
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:
- Academic Appeals Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progression Policy
- Assessment Policy
- Fitness to Practice Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Complaints Resolution Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
- Special Consideration Policy
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 connect.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.
- Workshops
- Chat with a WriteWISE peer writing leader
- Access StudyWISE
- Upload an assignment to Studiosity
- Complete the Academic Integrity Module
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:
- IT Support
- Accessibility and disability support with study
- Mental health support
- Safety support to respond to bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual assault
- Social support including information about finances, tenancy and legal issues
- Student Advocacy provides independent advice on MQ policies, procedures, and processes
Student Enquiries
Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, 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.
Unit information based on version 2024.01R of the Handbook