Students

SPED8908 – Sensory Communication Competency

2025 – Session 1, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Graduate Studies Coordinator
Tanya Kysa
student.enquiries@nextsense.org.au
Contact via 0484913641
NextSense Institute
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9.30am-3.00pm
Administration Coordinator, Professional Experience
Celise Hill/Morrison
prof.exp@nextsense.org.au
Contact via 0405120463
NextSense Institute
Monday, Tuesday, Friday 9.00am-5.00pm
Administration
Shyam Howlin
shyam.howlin@mq.edu.au
NextSense Institute
Susan Silveira
susan.silveira@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
0
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit is intended to assess Auslan and braille competency to ensure graduates are well equipped to meet the professional demands of working with people with sensory disability.

To satisfy requirements of this zero credit point unit of study, students must meet the required standard in Auslan and braille set by externally administered competency training and examinations, recognised by the Macquarie School of Education, and the NextSense Institute.

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: Understand Auslan as the language of the Australian deaf community and how Auslan grammatical structures differ from English.
  • ULO2: Conduct accurate Auslan simple communication including exchanges about daily routines, use of question forms including appropriate facial expressions, and negotiating basic discussions applying Auslan signs for dates, times and common events and celebrations.
  • ULO3: Demonstrates understanding of the six-dot braille cell that is used to form 64 distinct characters, including the alphabet, words, numerals, and a blank cell with zero dots.
  • ULO4: When translating print to braille and braille to print, demonstrates employment of the system of rules that allow precise interpretation of braille character sequences.
  • ULO5: Demonstrates graduate level skills in transcribing the letters of the alphabet and basic punctuation into uncontracted braille, and transcribing printed text into the approximately 200 UEB contractions used for frequently occurring words and letter combinations.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Auslan level 1 50% No Friday 6th June 2025 by 11.55pm
Unified English Braille Fundamentals 50% No Friday 6th June 2025 by 11.55pm

Auslan level 1

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Friday 6th June 2025 by 11.55pm
Weighting: 50%

 

Completion of an externally offered Auslan level 1 course.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand Auslan as the language of the Australian deaf community and how Auslan grammatical structures differ from English.
  • Conduct accurate Auslan simple communication including exchanges about daily routines, use of question forms including appropriate facial expressions, and negotiating basic discussions applying Auslan signs for dates, times and common events and celebrations.

Unified English Braille Fundamentals

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Friday 6th June 2025 by 11.55pm
Weighting: 50%

 

Students to complete one of the following introductory Unified English Braille modules:

* Literacy module 1

OR

* Foundations of Braille Literacy

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrates understanding of the six-dot braille cell that is used to form 64 distinct characters, including the alphabet, words, numerals, and a blank cell with zero dots.
  • When translating print to braille and braille to print, demonstrates employment of the system of rules that allow precise interpretation of braille character sequences.
  • Demonstrates graduate level skills in transcribing the letters of the alphabet and basic punctuation into uncontracted braille, and transcribing printed text into the approximately 200 UEB contractions used for frequently occurring words and letter combinations.

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

Students are expected to source their Auslan 1 course themselves that are approved by the NextSense Institute. Students are also required to register for their chosen Unified English Braille (UEB) Online module (literacy 1 module or Foundation of Braille Literacy video series).

Contact details for externally administered Auslan courses approved by the NextSense Institute are available on the iLearn site. To confirm the suitability of any other Auslan courses, students should contact student.enquiries@nextsense.org.au.

Information about the iLearn site

Students are expected to access the iLearn site and engage with unit content and discussion regularly during session 1.

Electronic Communication

It is the student’s responsibility to check all electronic communication on a regular weekly basis.  Communication may occur via:

  • Official MQ Student Email Address
  • The Dialogue function on iLearn
  • Other iLearn communication functions

Support resources

Macquarie University has a range of services for students. If you are struggling with any aspect of academic life or career trajectory and skills, please refer to the comprehensive list of support services here.

Access and technical assistance

Information for students about access to the online component of this unit is available at https://students.mq.edu.au/support/technology/systems/ilearn . You will need to enter your student username and password.

Please do NOT contact the Unit Convenor regarding iLearn technical help. Assistance is available from IT Helpdesk ph: 02 98504357 and 1800 67 4357 or log a request at onehelp@mq.edu.au. OneHelp is the online IT support service for both students and staff.

This unit requires students to use several ICT and software skills:

Internet access: The iLearn site contains  resources for this unit; it is also required for the online submission of Auslan 1 certificate; and UEB literacy module 1 OR Foundations of Braille Literacy completion certificate.

Unit Schedule

A hurdle requirement is a Macquarie University endorsed activity for which a minimum level of performance or participation is a condition of passing the unit in which it occurs.

For the Master of Disability Studies, hurdles are applied for each of the specialisations – please read more below. It is also mandatory for students to demonstrate that hurdles have been met prior to enrolling in their observational experience unit, SPED8909.

 

For the ‘Sensory Disability’ specialisation: SPED8908 Sensory Communication Competency - a hurdle that requires students to demonstrate basic competency in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) level 1 and Unified English Braille (UEB) – choice of ‘Foundations of Braille Literacy Training Program’ video series or UEB online literacy module 1. Students must complete this unit prior to enrolment in their placement unit, SPED8909. Students that commenced the Master of Disability Studies prior to 2025 should contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator for hurdle advice and information.

Please note there is a fee to purchase the completion certificate at the end of the UEB module. Students are not required to complete the UEB competency exams for this unit. Once all courses/modules have been completed, students must upload their completion certificates to the SPED8908 iLearn site by the end of week 13.

 

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 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.

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 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.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
05/02/2025 Additional of due dates for assessment tasks

Unit information based on version 2025.02 of the Handbook