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	Week 7	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment Task 4: Reflective Exercise	Week 14	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment Task 3: Weekly Online Quizzes (Weeks 6-12)	Refer to Assessment Description	20 %	LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 4:	Assessment Task 2: Discussion Board Participation	Refer to Assessment Description	20 %

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 one hour to complete this test.

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

10 %

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 4: Reflective Exercise

Task Description:

This final assessment task is a reflective exercise, requiring you to write about your progress through the unit. We will give you a number of specific questions which you are required to respond to.
As flagged in connection with the AT2 Discussion Board participation, in order to be able to successfully complete this AT4 Reflective Task it is essential that students contribute regularly to these weekly discussion boards across the semester (see the AT4 instructions in MyLO for more details).

Task Length:

2500 words maximum

Due Date:

Week 14

Weight:

50 %

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

Assessment Task 3: Assessment Task 3: Weekly Online Quizzes (Weeks 6-12)

Task Description:

For Weeks 6-12 you will complete an online quiz that tests your comprehension of the week’s material. These will be in the form of short quizzes that assess your understanding of the content.
These weekly online quizzes should be completed by the week after the relevant coverage: The quiz on Week 6 material should be completed by 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.
Because of 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:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

20 %

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 4: Assessment Task 2: Discussion Board Participation

Task Description:

This unit has weekly discussion boards to draw out particular topics for each of the weeks' content. Being a fully online unit, these discussion boards are an important component of student participation and engagement which will be monitored and assessed across the semester for weeks 1-12 once the discussion board for the relevant week closes (two weeks after opening).

Students are expected to contribute regularly to these discussion boards, closely following the instructions that accompany each week. Usually this will involve both initiating a post as well as responding to the posts of others.

In order to be able to successfully complete the final assessment AT4 Reflective Task it is essential that students contribute regularly to these weekly discussion boards across the semester (see the AT4 instructions in MyLO for more details).

Task Length:

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

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.

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.