Unit Outline

Do you know how you learn best? Do you know what skills you will need to be successful in your university studies? Academic literacies are the skills that you need to engage successfully with higher education, and this is a foundational unit which assists you to develop these literacies. In this unit you will consider your preferred learning styles and strategies, and make a concrete plan for your studies during semester. You will reflect on the effectiveness of this plan during your learning and adjust as necessary to help you be a successful learner. You will complete quizzes to help you to consolidate your learning, and be supported in an essay writing and portfolio task. During the unit you will learn about academic integrity, referencing and writing conventions, communication and presentation, and the use of technologies. This content is delivered through the lens of the teaching profession, and links to the professional application of these literacies as a pre-service/education support teacher.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Identify and apply academic literacy strategies, processes and requirements, and reflect on how these support you to achieve academic success.
2.	Demonstrate knowledge of and correctly apply policies and practices relating to academic integrity.
3.	Apply strategies to find and critically assess credible, accurate and reliable scholarly material.
4.	Select and use appropriate writing conventions and technology tools to clearly communicate ideas.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Content has been optimised for learning experiences.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Personal Learning Plan	Week 3	10 %	LO1, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Online Quizzes	Week 4	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Academic Argument	Week 6	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Learning Portfolio	Week 13	30 %	LO1, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Personal Learning Plan

Task Description:

You will create a personal learning plan for your university studies for this semester.

You will craft a personal timetable, considering how you will use it effectively in your circumstances, and audit your current academic literacies in terms of strengths and weaknesses. This plan will identify how you will be a successful learner.

This personal learning plan will be used as the basis for your reflection for AT4, and during the semester you will be prompted to consider the suitability of your plan, and adjust as necessary to improve it.

An assessment brief for this task is provided in MyLO (Week 1) and the dedicated AT1 MyLO page.

Note: If you have previously submitted AT1 in a previous delivery of this unit, you must contact the Unit Coordinator to discuss your completion of this task. You cannot submit the same assignment again, which is self-plagiarism and can result in a fail grade for this task.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.5, 7.1

Task Length:

400 words

Due Date:

Week 3

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses	LO1
2	Communication of experiences and ideas	LO4
3	Consideration of personal study timetable	LO1

Assessment Task 2: Online Quizzes

Task Description:

You will be required to complete five (5) online quizzes that will be embedded in your Learning Modules in MyLO. Each quiz consists of multiple choice, true or false, or ordering questions. There are no written responses. These quizzes are based on the learning content and are ‘open book’, meaning you can look at the content while completing the quizzes.

DUE DATES:
2a: March 22
2b: April 12
2c: May 3
2d: May 17
2e: June 7

Each quiz needs to be accessed from the weekly MyLO content (not the Quizzes tab).

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 4.5, 6.2, 7.1

Task Length:

5 quizzes, 1000 words equivalent

Due Date:

Week 4

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Knowledge of academic integrity and referencing (25%)	LO2
2	Understanding of ethical online practices (25%)	LO2
3	Strategies for finding scholarly material (12.5%)	LO3
4	Application of search strategies (12.5%)	LO3
5	Strategies for academic literacy (12.5%)	LO1, LO4
6	Application of literacy strategies (12.5%)	LO1, LO4

Assessment Task 3: Academic Argument

Task Description:

For your essay topic, you will choose one contemporary issue from a selection provided in the AT3 discussion forum in MyLO. Each issue has a collection of relevant resources and a discussion thread. You will need to familiarise yourself with the issue by reading the material and discussing the topic with your peers in the forum. You will then develop an academic argument based on the issue. You will be provided with a workbook in PebblePad that will support you to research and develop your academic argument. Your ultimate task will be to write a 1,000 word argumentative mini-essay on the issue.

This task consists of two parts, 1) an essay plan (DUE APRIL 10), and 2) the full essay (DUE MAY 8).

Part 1. (15%)
You will submit a complete argument statement, a logic pathway (which consists of complete topic sentences which indicate the main idea of the paragraph), and a relevant reference (in APA7 style) for each logic point.
You are also required to provide one draft paragraph of your choosing from the logic pathway (not your introduction or conclusion), which should include the relevant reference.
You will share your workbook to PebblePad for Part 1 of assessment (‘AT3 Part 1’ workspace).

Part 2. (25%)
You will submit your completed essay (1,000 words) which consists of the introduction, referenced paragraphs, and conclusion. You will use the feedback from your plan to inform your final response writing.
You will submit your final essay to the ‘AT3 Part 2’ workspace in PebblePad for assessment.
An assessment brief for this task is provided in the MyLO content (Week 4) and dedicated AT3 MyLO page.

Note: If you have previously submitted AT3 in a previous delivery of this unit, you must contact the Unit Coordinator to discuss your completion of this task. You cannot submit the same assignment again, which is self-plagiarism and can result in a fail grade for this task.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.5, 2.6, 6.2, 7.1

Task Length:

1000 words (for the final essay)

Due Date:

Week 6

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Development of argument	LO1, LO3, LO4
2	Use of scholarly literature	LO3
3	Communication of ideas	LO1, LO3, LO4
4	Flow and structure	LO1, LO4
5	Academic integrity practices including references and citations	LO2

Assessment Task 4: Learning Portfolio

Task Description:

You need to create a 3-5 minute face-to-camera video where you present your reflection on the implementation of your AT1 Personal Learning Plan during semester.

You will then create a portfolio in PebblePad where you will embed this video, and write a ‘cognitive commentary’ to justify how the evidence of the video demonstrates achievement of the unit's ILOs.

An assessment brief for this task is provided in the MyLO content (Week 10) and dedicated AT4 page.

Note: If you have previously submitted AT4 in a previous delivery of this unit, you must contact the Unit Coordinator to discuss your completion of this task. You cannot submit the same assignment again, which is self-plagiarism and can result in a fail grade for this task.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.5, 2.6, 4.5

Task Length:

Equivalent to 1000 words

Due Date:

Week 13

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evaluation of learning plan	LO1
2	Reflective communication	LO1
3	Presentation skills	LO4
4	Use of technologies	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.