Students

PROF2000 – PACE: Professional Practice Placement 1

2025 – Session 3, In person-scheduled-infrequent, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Julia Lessing
julia.lessing@mq.edu.au
Contact via 0414 995 031
Consultation by appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(Admission to BProfPrac or BActStudProfPrac(Hons)) or permission by special approval
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit offers an academic foundation for a professional experience in a workplace. Students will further develop their professional communication skills, understanding of professional ethics and application of reflective practice. Students will explore and develop project management skills based on their experience in the workplace, including the use of technology to support project planning and management. While students admitted to a Co-op course have enrolment priority for this unit, a limited number of spaces are open to students enrolled in other degrees.

This unit is a designated PACE unit and all enquiries regarding enrolment should be made to coopandinternships@mq.edu.au no later than 4 weeks before commencement of the study period. For background on PACE, making the most of placement experiences and support for non-Co-op students to find placements, visit PACEWISE on iLearn.

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: Apply reflection skills to learn from workplace practice.
  • ULO2: Identify strategies for addressing ethical issues that may arise in the workplace.
  • ULO3: Adapt content and mode of communication in the workplace based on the audience for the information.

General Assessment Information

Late Assessments / Special Consideration

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 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. 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Professional Practice: Placement Learning Goals 25% No 22/12/2025
Professional Practice: Performance and Learning Evaluation 40% No 16/01/2026
Professional Practice: ePortfolio 35% No 26/01/2026

Professional Practice: Placement Learning Goals

Assessment Type 1: Learning plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 3 hours
Due: 22/12/2025
Weighting: 25%

 

The purpose of this assessment is for you to demonstrate your ability to plan and take ownership of your professional development during your placement.    You will develop learning goals for your placement. Learning goals should build on self-awareness and be relevant to the tasks, responsibilities and expected outcomes of the placement.   Skills in focus:  

  • Work Readiness
  • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
  • Discipline Knowledge

  Deliverable: Placement learning plan. [max. 1,000 words] Individual assessment. 

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply reflection skills to learn from workplace practice.
  • Adapt content and mode of communication in the workplace based on the audience for the information.

Professional Practice: Performance and Learning Evaluation

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: 16/01/2026
Weighting: 40%

 

The purpose of this assessment is for you to demonstrate your ability to engage with professional feedback and reflect critically on your workplace performance.   You will collect feedback from your workplace supervisors, who will evaluate your performance on placement using a rubric. You will also reflect on your learning, the evaluation and the feedback process.   Skills in focus:  

  • Work Readiness
  • Communication and Collaboration

  Deliverable: Performance evaluation and reflection [max. 1,500 words] Individual assessment. 

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply reflection skills to learn from workplace practice.
  • Identify strategies for addressing ethical issues that may arise in the workplace.
  • Adapt content and mode of communication in the workplace based on the audience for the information.

Professional Practice: ePortfolio

Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: 26/01/2026
Weighting: 35%

 

The purpose of this assessment is for you to demonstrate your ability to communicate your professional growth by curating an online portfolio showcasing the skills and attributes developed during your placement experience.   You will identify three areas (skills, attributes, etc.) you have developed while on placement and include artefacts, descriptions and reflections of your development in an ePortfolio.   Skills in focus:   

  • Work Readiness
  • Communication and Collaboration
  • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
  • Discipline Knowledge

  Deliverable: Individual professional ePortfolio including artefacts and written reflection [max. 1,500 words] Individual assessment. 

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply reflection skills to learn from workplace practice.
  • Identify strategies for addressing ethical issues that may arise in the workplace.
  • Adapt content and mode of communication in the workplace based on the audience for the information.

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

Textbook: There is no prescribed textbook for this unit.

Other Recommended Reading: Students need to be familiar with accessing academic sources from the library. Useful reading includes both recommended journals in the relevant discipline area and research on experiential learning in the workplace.

Technology Used and Required: Microsoft Office suite (or equivalent), including in particular word processing and presentation software. Email (student email address) and iLearn (https://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/) are both required for the unit. Students should be able to access research databases through the library. They may find referencing software helpful.

Unit Schedule

Date Time Location Topic
Monday, 15 December 4pm - 7pm City Campus Orientation
Tuesday, 6 January 4pm - 7pm City Campus Check-in seminar
Tuesday, 20, January 4pm - 7pm City Campus Becoming a professional

 

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/

Academic Success

Academic Success 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.

Unit information based on version 2025.03 of the Handbook