Unit Outline

Become better prepared to understand concepts of ethics, social responsibility and the law and how these shape individual and collective behaviour in modern society. Sustainable inspirational leadership can only evolve from a legitimate, ethical and socially responsible base. Equally, reputations can be damaged as a result of conduct that is unethical or unlawful and which may have come about as a result of poor judgment and lack of insight and reflection. This unit will challenge your current thinking and ask you to explore different perspectives around ethics, social responsibility and the law and their interconnections. It will equip you to navigate complex professional ethical dilemmas and make positive choices that are individually affirming and socially responsible. Social responsibility is also explored at the collective level and how this is shaping the modern corporate world with growing expectations on companies to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. You will learn theoretical philosophical principles that encompass ethical decision-making and explore how ethical frameworks can assist a person to make appropriate, rationally defensible decisions within a range of settings: professional ethics, with a particular focus on how ethics influences the life of a legal professional; medical ethics and the contemporary research environment; business ethics and the ethical expectations underpinning corporate social responsibility; and the context of policy settings to minimise criminal behaviour. The unit will equip you to navigate complex professional ethical dilemmas and make positive choices that are individually affirming and socially responsible. Social responsibility is also explored at the collective level and how this is shaping the modern corporate world with growing expectations on companies to demonstrate corporate social responsibility.

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.	Describe and explain ethical issues in decision making and distinguish ethical norms from legal, prudential or religious considerations.
2.	Critically evaluate competing normative ethical theories and be able to weigh their relative advantages and disadvantages as guides for ethical decision making.
3.	Apply normative ethical theories and soft legal rules in a range of different professional contexts to arrive at rationally-defensible decisions
4.	Work independently and collaboratively, and embrace and respect a diversity of perspectives.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	XBR106

Alterations as a result of student feedback

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:	Assessment Task 1: Multiple choice test (online) on Moral Theories	See the MyLO site for the due date	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment Task 2: Weekly online quizzes weeks 6-12	See the MyLO site for the due date	40 %	LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment Task 3: Reflective Essay	See the MyLO site for the due date	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Assessment Task 1: Multiple choice test (online) on Moral Theories

Task Description:

In this task you will provide answers to 15 randomly selected questions from a larger question bank that will assess your comprehension of different normative ethical theories: their content, their implications, and their relative advantages and disadvantages.

Task Length:

Students will have two hours to complete this test.

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Responses to each question will be scored as either correct or incorrect	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Ability to assess the relative advantages and disadvantages of these normative ethical theories	LO2, LO3
3	Ability to recognise the logical implications of different theories in different real or hypothetical situations	LO2, LO3

Assessment Task 2: Assessment Task 2: Weekly online quizzes weeks 6-12

Task Description:

In Weeks 7-13 you will complete an online quiz that tests your comprehension of the previous week’s material. These will be in the form of short quizzes that assess your understanding of the content in Weeks 6-12.
These weekly online quizzes should be completed by the week after the relevant coverage: The quiz on Week 6 material should be completed in Week 7 etc. However, to allow flexibility for students the deadline is Monday of the following week (i.e. for Week 6 material, it is Monday of Week 8 at 11.55pm). Please refer to the Unit Schedule for details. For students wishing to work ahead, the weekly quizzes will open two weeks ahead of the due date.
Because your score on AT2 is determined by the best 6 of 7 possible quizzes and the flexible completion dates we will not arrange alternative due dates except under truly exceptional circumstances.

Task Length:

Each quiz will involve 8 randomly allocated multiple choice or true/false questions from a pool of questions. Questions will be a mixture of ‘reading comprehension’ or ‘analytical’ questions. Students will have 30 minutes from the time they begin the quiz.

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate capacity to analyse the specific context of applied ethics for the week with reference to the moral theories you learned about in Weeks 2–5 (analytical questions)	LO2, LO3
2	Demonstrated understanding of the content of both the readings and podcast lectures for the previous week (reading comprehension questions)	LO2, LO3

Assessment Task 3: Assessment Task 3: Reflective Essay

Task Description:

We will give you 3 specific questions to prompt your reflections of your progress through the unit. To ensure you have the required engagement with the weekly Discussion Boards to be able to answer the Reflective Task questions, you must add a post to at least six of the weekly Discussion Boards. You are expected to both initiate and respond to posts on the Discussion Boards. Students who do not meet this requirement will lose up to 20% of the total marks available for this assessment task. (MyLO allows us to track the number of posts that you have made and responded to.)

Task Length:

2000 words maximum (exclusive of footnotes)

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	For further details see the Assessment Rubric provided on the MyLO site for this unit.	LO1, LO2, LO3, 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.