Unit Outline

This unit prepares you to undertake honours research by strengthening your skills in critical analysis and your understanding of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives in the Social Sciences. You will engage in discussions and debates focused on contemporary social and political issues such as power, inequality, social justice, violence, governance, social change, identity and globalisation. Such issues will be analysed by applying various disciplinary and interdisciplinary concepts and perspectives from the Social Sciences. You will work independently and together with fellow students and a panel of academics to build your capacity to make connections between contemporary social and political issues, disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge, and your own research.

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.	Analyse and evaluate concepts and perspectives from the Social Sciences that can be applied to contemporary social and political issues.
2.	Apply concepts and perspectives from the Social Sciences to contemporary social and political issues.
3.	Communicate orally and in writing about concepts, perspectives and social and political issues in the Social Sciences using appropriate style and referencing conventions.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This is a new unit for 2024. Your feedback will help inform future offerings.

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:	Major Essay Outline	Week 5	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Seminar Presentation	Week 12	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Major Essay	Week 13	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 4:	Seminar Participation	Refer to Assessment Description	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Major Essay Outline

Task Description:

Submit an outline for your proposed major essay on a contemporary social or political issue (see Assessment task 3, below). The precise essay focus should approved by the unit coordinator and your supervisor. An essay plan will help you to organize your ideas and may be modified when you write the major essay. Further information will be provided in MyLO.

Task Length:

1000 words

Due Date:

Week 5 (04/Apr/2024)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Explain key concepts and perspectives in the Social Sciences relevant to an analysis of a selected issue.	LO1
2	Plan your analysis of the selected contemporary issue through a critical review of scholarship and case studies or examples.	LO2
3	Communicate effectively in written form using: a logical and appropriate structure, clear verbal expression, accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling.	LO3
4	Use academic referencing that conforms to the style appropriate to your academic discipline	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Seminar Presentation

Task Description:

Select a social or political issue and prepare a 10-minute oral presentation. In your presentation you will review scholarship relevant to the issue and explain how relevant concepts and theoretical perspectives from the unit schedule can be applied to advance debates and understanding of the issue. You may develop up to 10 slides to support your presentation. The focus of the presentation should be distinct from the major essay.

Task Length:

10-minute presentation

Due Date:

Week 12 (23/May/2024)

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Explain key concepts and perspectives in Social Sciences relevant to an analysis of your selected issue	LO1
2	Critically analyse the selected contemporary issue using key concepts and/or theoretical perspectives	LO2
3	Communicate effectively in an oral presentation using a logical and appropriate structure and clear verbal expression	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Major Essay

Task Description:

Develop an essay question and write a research essay using relevant concepts and/or theoretical perspectives that critically analyses a contemporary social or political issue. The essay question should be approved by the unit coordinator and your supervisor

Task Length:

3000 words

Due Date:

Week 13 (31/May/2024)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Explain key concepts and perspectives in Social Sciences relevant to an analysis of your selected issue.	LO1
2	Analyse the selected contemporary issue using relevant key concepts and/or theoretical perspectives in the Social Sciences through a critical review of scholarship and case studies or examples.	LO2
3	Situate your work and evaluate the contribution of different disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to the analysis of the selected issue.	LO2
4	Communicate effectively in written form using: a logical and appropriate structure, clear verbal expression, accurate written grammar, punctuation and spelling.	LO3
5	Use academic referencing that conforms to the style appropriate to your academic discipline.	LO3

Assessment Task 4: Seminar Participation

Task Description:

This task consists of contributions to weekly seminar discussions based on engagement with set readings.

Task Length:

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description (30/May/2024)

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Explain, apply, and evaluate concepts and theories from the seminar resources in discussions of key issues and debates.	LO1, LO2
2	Communicate effectively in seminar discussions about the seminar resources by listening actively and contributing ideas.	LO3

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.