Unit Overview
COGS399 is a Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) and capstone unit for Cognitive and Brain Sciences which is undertaken during the third year of an undergraduate degree in preparation for either leaving to find employment or continuing on to further study. This unit provides students with:
- An opportunity to reflect on their undergraduate learning to date and on how they might use it;
- It encourages students to integrate and synthesise the information from the various sub-disciplines in cognitive science;
- It encourages students to think about how real-world issues may be approached with this knowledge;
- It focuses on the generic skills students will take into the workplace or further study; and
- It provides information on what jobs are available in cognitive science, how to apply for and prepare for those jobs, and on the codes of conduct and ethical behaviour guidelines that will inform your professional conduct in the workplace or in further research.
In addition to the traditional lectures and tutorials, it is important to note that this unit involves a different type of learning (i.e., learning by experience), and requires different student skills than typical in other cognitive science units. This is because COGS399 contains a practical placement component of 32-hours. Students will need to demonstrate learning from their placement experience, and will be expected to demonstrate initiative, professionalism and a high level of self-regulation in this unit.
Students are strongly encouraged to fully participate in the unit, so that they can gain the maximum benefit from it, especially as a preparation for activities beyond the third year in cognitive science. The students who do best in this unit are those who attend or listen to lectures on time. Students should also be aware that some new processes for this unit are being trialled for this Session, and may have some teething issues. Please be gracious and patient with the staff, who want students to gain the maximum benefit from this unit and will help with any relevant student issues.
Delivery
The timetable for lectures & tutorials can be found on the University web site at: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au/
Lectures are held weekly (1 hour), starting in Week 1. These will be held from 9:00 to 10:00 am in Tutorial Room 207, 25a Wallys Walk (https://timetables.mq.edu.au/scientia/web/25aWW207.html). Lecture recordings are available via Echo360 in iLearn.
The lectures will introduce material relevant to the transition from undergraduate student to cognitive science graduate, or to further study. As the majority of students in this unit will be moving to the workforce, a major focus of lectures will be on preparation for a profession that has at its core a cognitive science degree. Thus, lectures will cover areas relevant to integrating a knowledge of cognitive science, preparing for and applying for a cognitive science-based job, professional practice and ethical conduct. Readings extend rather than duplicate the lecture material, and students should be self-directed in reading and integrating readings with the lecture material.
Lecture outlines (and, when applicable, tutorial handouts) will be uploaded to iLearn each week. Sometimes there will be unavoidable delays. Please DO NOT contact the Unit Convenor to request that the lecture notes be uploaded.
- Please check the Unit iLearn page and the Unit Outline carefully BEFORE emailing or telephoning tutors or unit administrators with queries.
- Important messages will be posted as announcements on the iLearn site and announced during (recorded) lectures. Please check the iLearn webpage, your web page email account, and your general student email account regularly (i.e., at least weekly).
- Use the Discussion Page to communicate with other students during the semester. This is a student-to-student page: staff will NOT monitor the Discussion Page for enquiries.
Tutorials are held weekly (1 hour), starting in Week 1. These will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 am in Tutorial Room 134, 29 Wallys Walk (https://timetables.mq.edu.au/scientia/web/29WW134.html).
Students will participate in a weekly tutorial series, reinforcing the development of skills, and guiding students towards the assessment presentations/submissions. A core component of these tutorials will be checking-in with peer mentoring group, which will be monitored by tutors. Tutorials are not necessarily linked with the concurrent lecture material. They are primarily concerned with (1) guiding students through the process of producing their major projects, (2) providing ongoing assistance with the process of arranging and completing the practical placement, (3) providing guidance on practical skills such as knowledge integration and reflection, and (4) debriefing about placement experiences and learning more generally.
Due to restrictions on the availability of resources in the laboratory and to health and safety regulations you should attend the tutorial to which you have been assigned. Although students might be able to occasionally attend a different tutorial, most classes are likely to be full, in which case those not attending their assigned tutorial will be asked to leave. Under these circumstances, no special provisions will be made for attendance at an alternative tutorial class.
Requests for tutorial changes: Changes to tutorials need to be done online via eStudent only. After week 2, no further changes will be made unless supporting documentation about the reason for changing is provided and there is space in the tutorial you wish to enrol in. Please note that changes to tutorials cannot be made by the unit convenor or tutor.
Placements: Students will need to develop their ability to learn from practical experience during the placement component of the unit and will be expected to show initiative and be quite self- regulated before and during placement, and throughout the unit. Practical learning during placement will be partly assessed in the Aspirational Portfolio and Short-Answer Exam.
Placement Attendance: This is compulsory. Students will be expected to facilitate and attend their placement, to keep a log book for that placement, and to perform satisfactorily as volunteers. Students who do not get a grade of satisfactory for the placement component of this unit will FAIL the unit.
Readings
There is no textbook for this unit. Readings may be assigned in preparation for each lecture or tutorial and will be listed on the unit iLearn page. These readings are listed as optional but typically supports areas of lectures that are either not covered in the textbook or provide additional insights into the material.
iLearn
You will need access to a computer that can reliably connect to the internet to access the unit's iLearn page. Through iLearn you will be able to access lecture recordings (Echo360), readings, and feedback and marks for the assessment tasks. You are also required to submit assessment tasks via iLearn, using the Turnitin submission tool (Science Communication Part 1 and Aspirational Portfolio Part 3). Please allow time to familiarise yourself with how to access iLearn and how to submit a Turnitin assignment.
PLEASE NOTE: It is University policy that the University issued email account (i.e., your.name@students.mq.edu.au) will be used for all official University communication. All students are required to access their University email account frequently. In COGS399 you should check this account at least weekly. Emails from within the unit will also be sent via the iLearn internal email system, which should be checked often.