Expressing Integrity Through Excellence in Academic and Professional Communication (CO1001Z)

Content

Undertaking a degree can be both exciting and daunting. To get you off to the best start possible, this unit will orientate you to a number of core academic and professional expectations. You will first learn how to identify quality material on which to base your scholarship, as opposed to 'fake news', 'junk science', or 'pop psychology'. Even so, you will still learn to read the academic and professional literature skeptically. Then you will learn how to write impactfully in a variety of formats for both academic and professional audiences. Key to this is being orderly, evidential and being able to justify your conclusions. Finally, how an audience (e.g., client, employer, legal professional) receives your communicated ideas often rests on how your reputation is perceived. You will therefore also engage: the important notion of maintaining your personal/professional reputation; what constitutes (im)proper academic/professional conduct; and how matters of misconduct should be handled.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Offering: This unit is to be taught in year 1, semester 1 (term 1). Prerequisites: NA Prohibited combinations: NA

Pedagogy

Andragogy In practice: Students will have the opportunity to engage issues which interest them, reflect on their own lives, engage in problem-based learning, and actively take part in the learning process. These aspects of Andragogy are reflected in online self-directed learning which includes both personal reflections and activities. Students will also participate in online seminars or attend an in-person intensive. The intention of seminars/intensives is to stimulate conversation to promote active learning. Activities undertaken during intensives are also designed to promote problem-based learning. Although dependent upon the year level at which a unit is offered, assessments provide students with the opportunity to consider problems in new ways and so enhance their ability to describe and/or apply knowledge, analyse information, as well as to synthesise/create new knowledge.

Indicative Bibliography

1. Freiermuth, M. (2023). Academic conference presentations: A step-by-step guide. Springer International Publishing AG.
2. Innes, J. (2012). The CV book: Your definitive guide to writing the perfect CV. Pearson Education Ltd.
3. Montoneri, B. (Ed.). (2020). Academic misconduct and plagiarism: Case studies from universities around the world. Lexington Books.
4. O’Shae, R., & McKenzie, W. (2021). Writing for psychology (7th edition). Cengage.
5. Robinson, O., & Wilson, A. (n.d.). Practicing and presenting social research. University of British Columbia.
6. Shon, P. (2015). How to read journal articles in the social sciences: A very practical guide for students (2nd edition). Sage Publications Ltd.

Assessment