Unit Outline

This unit introduces students to essential skills in technical English communication in engineering contexts enabling them to develop vocabulary, speaking, writing and comprehension of technical terms and grammar structures used in engineering. Students will attend a weekly Engineering lecture where they will be exposed to technical engineering terms in a variety of topics relevant to their specialization, this will be followed by weekly tutorials where students will further develop their understanding and capability to use technical terms and their general academic English communication skills. By completing this unit students will have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary to engage with new technical engineering terms which will be introduced throughout their engineering units and to communicate professionally and effectively as an engineer.

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	Apply appropriate technical engineering terms and grammar structures in order to communicate as an accredited professional engineer.
2	Describe engineering concepts and problems using appropriate subject terminology to a professional engineering audience.
3	Critique a wide range of academic texts in order to evaluate their relevance to contemporary engineering practice.
4	Listen strategically and actively to comprehend information, ideas and arguments in a range of engineering contexts.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Removal of weekly assessment task and updated scaffolding for research report

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:	Workshop (Research Skills)	Week 3	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Workshop (Design Skills)	Week 4	10 %	LO1, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Workshop (Professional Conduct)	Week 10	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Presentation	Week 12	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 5:	Research Report	Week 14	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Workshop (Research Skills)

Task Description:

Research skills workshop.
Students will complete a 2 hour workshop centered around reading an academic paper and creating a summary of this with a particular focus on academic integrity and appropriate use of GenAI tools.

GenAI use is required in this activity, and must be used with acknowledgement.

Task Length:

2 hour workshop

Due Date:

Week 3

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evaluate academic sources and their relevance to the topic.	LO3
2	Write a comprehensive summary of an academic paper related to the field of specialization	LO1, LO2
3	Reference sources to a high standard	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Workshop (Design Skills)

Task Description:

Students will put their engineering design skills into practice by performing the early stages of the engineering design process in order to interpret, and refine their understanding of the needs of a client. During this in-class activity, students will be presented with a design brief and will need to interpret the needs of the client into a clear set of requirements for the design. Additionally, students will need to ask questions of the client in order to clarify their understanding of the design brief.

Assessment will include a peer feedback components and lecturer feedback.

GenAI use is permitted (with acknowledgement)

Task Length:

2 hour workshop

Due Date:

Week 4

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Present a clear and accurate set of requirements for the design	LO1
2	As a team, prepare and ask the client suitable questions to collect information	LO1, LO4
3	Professionally engage with the client	LO1, LO4

Assessment Task 3: Workshop (Professional Conduct)

Task Description:

In small groups of 2-3 students will be given a topic in the area of professional and ethical conduct in engineering and given 2 weeks to research information and develop their personal point of view on the topic.

During the tutorial in week 10 students will complete the in-class discussion activity on the topic. This in-class workshop will involve small group discussions regarding the topic and developed personal points of view from the preparation work completed. Each team will then collaborate to develop a short 2-3 minute presentation to the class on their topic.

Students will be assessed on their participation in their team discussion (both through peer ratings and tutor observations), their presentation to the class and participation through asking relevant questions of other presenting teams.

GenAI use is permitted (with acknowledgement)

Task Length:

2 hour workshop

Due Date:

Week 10

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Develop and Communicate a personal point of view on an ethical issue	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Present to the class an ethical issue with a focus on the delivery and structure of the presentation	LO1, LO2
3	Lead a discussion on ethical issues	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Presentation

Task Description:

Students will complete a 10 minute speaking task on an engineering topic relevant to their engineering specialisation.

Topics will be agreed with the unit coordinator prior to the presentation.

Students will be required to integrate technical English terms relevant to their topic and communicate effectively and professionally including through the use of appropriate visual aids.

Peer assessment will also form an important part of this task, with students being required to actively listen to their classmates presentations and provide evidence of this on a peer feedback proforma.

The presentation grade makes up 75% of the grade for this task. The remaining 25% comes from your feedback and active listening of peer presentations.

GenAI use is permitted (with acknowledgement).

Task Length:

10 minutes

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Speak using a range of pronunciation features to achieve clarity and fluency	LO1
2	Speak using appropriate body language and eye contact	LO1
3	Develop and analyse ideas and information	LO2
4	Apply knowledge of sentence structure and intermediate level grammar	LO1
5	Maintain academic integrity	LO3
6	Actively listen to classmates' presentations and provide peer feedback	LO4
7	Apply structural and stylistic conventions to tasks	LO1
8	Use a range of appropriate vocabulary, including integration of technical English terms relevant to the topic	LO2

Assessment Task 5: Research Report

Task Description:

Students will complete a professional report applying the conventions they have learned in the tutorials and specialisation terminology.

A minimum of 10 reliable sources must be referenced in the report, including at least 3 journal articles.

Sections of the report will be due on MyLO as milestone submissions as per the schedule below.

Generative AI can be used for brainstorming, planning and checking language and any GenAI use must be acknowledged in your submission.

Topic selection will occur in week 4, should be aligned to your specialisation and will need to be approved by the unit coordinator.

Milestone submissions:
Week 6 - Draft Table of Contents and Introduction (5%)

Week 8 - Draft Body of Report (5%)

Week 10 - Draft Conclusion, Recommendations, Reference List and Final Table of Contents (5%)

Week 12 - Submit Final report (15%)

Study week/exam period - Individual interview on the content of the report and process for developing the report (20%)

Task Length:

Maximum 20 pages (inclusive of figures, front matter, references, appendices etc.)

Due Date:

Week 14

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply appropriate grammar structures to communicate ideas and/or arguments.	LO1
2	Utilise appropriate subject terminology to describe engineering concepts and problems.	LO2
3	Integrate references to a high standard throughout the report and evaluate the relevance of the chosen references to the engineering field of practice.	LO3
4	Prepare a professional report which contains appropriate structural and stylistic conventions	LO1
5	Appropriately use technology to research and develop a written report	LO1

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.
Specifically, to demonstrate attainment of the ILOs, you must achieve

an average of 50% on criteria identified as relevant to ILO 1 on all assessment tasks, weighted according to their contributions to the final unit mark, to demonstrate attainment of ILO 1.

an average of 50% on criteria identified as relevant to ILO 2 on the presentation and research report, weighted according to their contributions to the final unit mark, to demonstrate attainment of ILO 2.

an average of 50% on criteria identified as relevant to ILO 3 on all related assessment tasks, weighted according to their contributions to the final unit mark, to demonstrate attainment of ILO 3.

an average of 50% on criteria identified as relevant to ILO 4 on the presentation and workshop assessment tasks, weighted according to their contributions to the final unit mark, to demonstrate attainment of ILO 4.

Any opportunities granted for supplementary assessment if you do not meet an ILO will be strictly in accordance with the UTAS Assessment and Results Procedure.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

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.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

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.