Unit Outline

This unit is a part of your Investigator Program and has been designed to maximise your ability to obtain accounts from vulnerable witnesses in an uninterrupted narrative format, leading to fairer outcomes for victim survivors. You will practice using different question types, and coding of interviews. You will also consider child development, cross-cultural issues, and challenges for people with complex communication needs. The unit will also engage with approaches to interviewing about repeated abuse, the ‘Whole Story’ framework, protocols for questioning child witnesses, and making audio visual recordings.
Most of your learning and assessment for this unit will occur online in Centre for Investigative Interviewing's (CII) online environment.

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	Explain the requirements of legislation and relevant protocols for the interviewing of witnesses and suspects in Tasmania.
2	Apply appropriate questioning techniques to obtain relevant, accurate, and complete accounts from vulnerable and other witnesses and suspects in relation to complex crimes.
3	Apply protocols and frameworks to interviews that are reflective of the context and surrounding investigation.
4	Assess the quality of investigative interviews.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

N/A

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:	Quizzes	See the MyLO site for the due date	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Written assignments and discussions	See the MyLO site for the due date	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Witness Interview	See the MyLO site for the due date	0 %	LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Quizzes

Task Description:

Complete the quizzes in the Specialist Interviewing training program in Brightspace.

Task Length:

Incorporated into the learning activities within Brightspace, each task approx 5-30 mins.

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Quiz completion.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 2: Written assignments and discussions

Task Description:

Complete the discussions and written assignments in the Specialist Interviewing training program in Brightspace.

Task Length:

Incorporated into the learning activities within Brightspace, tasks vary in duration from 10 minutes to 1 hour each.

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Discussion participation and assignment completion.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 3: Witness Interview

Task Description:

You will demonstrate your interviewing skills by practicing a series of short mock interviews (one of which is a hurdle assessment you must pass before you can continue the training) and competing a (final assessed) full interview with an actor playing the role of a victim of a crime.
Full details and instructions available through the Specialist Interviewing training program in Brightspace.

Task Length:

Mock interviews vary in length from 10 minutes to 35 minutes. They are conducted over the phone.

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Select and use appropriate questions and questioning techniques to elicit an accurate account from a witness.	LO2
2	Appropriate application of ground rules and interview protocol.	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.

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.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There is no prescribed textbook for this unit.
There are several articles and other texts for you to read and engage with, and there are links or copies of these provided through Brightspace.

Recommended reading materials

Recommended Readings -There are several articles and other texts for you to read and engage with, and there are links or copies of these provided through Brightspace.

Other required resources

This course is delivered mostly online through two different learning systems - MyLO and Brightspace. MyLO is the online learning environment at the University of Tasmania. It is essential that you access the MyLO site at the beginning of semester and regularly thereafter as this is where all the critical information about the unit, including this unit outline, is located. The ‘Announcements’ tool, accessed via the ‘Communication’ tool on the MyLO home page, is the primary medium for communication between the unit coordinator, course directors, and students. Email will also be used (to Tasmania Police email addresses).
The Learning content is predominantly delivered through the Centre for Investigative Interviewing’s online learning environment - Brightspace. You will receive emails to your police email regarding access to Brightspace.
The online learning components in Brightspace have been set out to allow you to work through them at your own pace, and to enable you to practice in the field as you learn and develop new skills. The learning activities are organised sequentially, with progress through the course reliant upon successful completion of the preceding activities.
There are 7 ‘mock’ interviews you must conduct over the phone during the course and will receive feedback on each of these.
All interviews can be booked via this link: HERE.
Bookings for each of these ‘mock’ interviews (which are conducted over the phone) is your responsibility. See Assessment Task 3 description for more information. You will receive feedback also on a refresher mock interview after you complete this training, which provides a further a learning opportunity.

Getting help with MyLO
It is important that you can access and use MyLO as part of your study in this unit. To find out more about the features and functions of MyLO, and to practice using them, visit the Getting Started in MyLO unit.
For access to information about MyLO and a range of step-by-step guides in pdf, word and video format, visit the MyLO Student Support page on the University website. If something is not working as it should, contact the Service Desk (phone 6226 2600 or request ITS help online through the Service Portal).

Getting help with Brightspace
For technical assistance with Brightspace, please contact the CII team on cii.training@griffith.edu.au.