Introduction

The purpose of this document is to set out the policy on the form and structure of undergraduate courses that has developed in the context of the new academic program for the University. The document will provide guidance to Faculties and Schools, Course Consultative Committees, students and other members of the community in the development or appraisal of the courses of the University.

1. Purposes

Undergraduate degree courses are normally designed for the admission of students with no prior experience of higher education, but there are some courses designed for graduates in some other areas (graduate entry courses). Most courses at the University of Canberra are designed to prepare graduates for professional careers. Other courses will allow broad choices for students. All courses consist of components which have been designed as coherent learning experiences with strong vocational aims.

As part of modern professional preparation, courses at the University of Canberra make explicit provision for general education and generic skills. The general education policy aims to provide graduates with a broad set of perspectives on the society in which they will practise as professionals. Courses also aim to give graduates broad, transferable, generic professional skills which will enable continued professional development and adaptation as well as flexibility in the application of professional knowledge and skills. See also Generic Skills and Attributes of Graduates from the University of Canberra.

Most courses allow students some degree of choice but, in general, these choices will be directed and subject to the approval of the course convenor. The courses and components have been designed as a set of learning experiences which will provide a basic and general preparation for the corresponding profession, rather than an unduly specialised or individualised program.

In addition to providing a preparation for a profession, University of Canberra courses are intended to provide graduates with some breadth. General education is seen as distinct from ‘professional education’, and is concerned with the student’s sense of knowledge, of the world and of self. In principle, the better a professional’s general education, the better professional he or she is likely to be. In addition the University distinguishes three kinds of education which are not strictly the intellectual material of a professional core program.

(i)

Generic Skills

All graduates of from the University of Canberra are expected to have developed generic skills and attributes which would facilitate graduates’ contribution to their profession and the society they live in. The key skills and attributes are in the areas of: communication, information literacy, problem solving, team work, professional attributes and life-long learning. A professional should be able to speak and write well to a wide range of people, including those outside the profession. A professional should have a clear sense of the place of the profession within society, its history, its ethical dilemmas and so on. These are generic skills. They are the responsibility of the School offering each course and will be provided and assessed in a variety of ways according to the design of each of the professional core programs. See also the separate policy Generic Skills and Attributes of Graduates from the University of Canberra.

(ii)

Majors and Minors

Majors and minors outside the professional area provide an opportunity for a student to come to terms with a second distinct body of knowledge, and learn its perspectives, issues and vocabulary. If such majors and minors are very closely connected to the professional field, then they amount simply to an extension of that field rather than to a new body of language.

(iii)

General Education Units

The University is capable of providing for its students a short and stimulating insight into a body of knowledge quite distinct from a student’s professional program or the major or minor that the student is also undertaking. General education units, at their best, involve both a knowledgeable and highly skilled presenter and interested audience. Such units are invitations to learn more, and thereby acquire an introduction to a field of knowledge or the links between separate fields of knowledge. At the same time, such units are self-contained, and do not lead to a further unit within the University. They are intended to give students a taste of what can be pursued later in life through reading, further education courses or subsequent degrees.

Further, at the minimum, no student should have to undertake a program that does not allow either a major or minor in a field well separated from the professional core or a general education unit.

2. Forms of Courses

(i)

Type A:

Courses with this form will contain a Core Program of studies which characterise the course. The size and composition of a Core Program will be designed so that the balance of a student’s course can comprise appropriate generally available components such as Approved Majors, Approved Minors, General Education Units or first-year elective units.

(ii)

Type B:

Courses with this form will normally comprise only generally available components (Approved Majors, Approved Minors, General Education Units or first-year elective units). Such courses must contain at least two Approved Majors and one Approved Minor. Particular courses of this form may impose additional requirements restricting the choice of Majors/Minors and specifying alternatives for the balance of the course.

3. Forms of Awards

(i)

General Awards:
Discipline based courses in the generic areas of Arts, Science or Commerce will lead to the corresponding awards, viz

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Commerce

(ii)

Professional Awards (generic form):
Courses which provide education in an established professional field may lead to explicit professional degrees such as:

Bachelor of Applied Science

Bachelor of Education

Bachelor of Engineering

Bachelor of Nursing

(iii)

Professional Awards (specific form):
Courses which provide education in a specific professional field may lead to an award with a composite title involving those generic areas identified in (i) and (ii) above and the specific field separated by the word "in", viz

Bachelor of Commerce in Banking and Finance

Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering

4. General Course Requirements

5. Course Components

Courses are designed and specified in terms of approved components. Each component is planned to be taken by a cohort of students. Components will normally contain a definite and specific set of material without student choice. Approval may be given for the inclusion of Professional Options within Core Programs and for limited choice in other components. Components other than Core Programs will normally be the standard size for the component which facilitates their inclusion in any course. As far as possible, Cores, Majors and Minors are self-contained and require no prerequisites other than course entry requirements.

5.1 Core Programs

These components contain the characteristic material in courses designed in the Type A form. This core may contain:

• A Common Core: a set of units common to the cores of more than one course in related professional fields.
• A Specific Core: a set of units specific to this course.
• Professional Options: alternative groupings of units containing material appropriate to a recognised and explicitly identified professional speciality.

Choices in the Core Program will normally be limited to a small number of Professional Options but some internal choices may be approved where appropriate.

Core Programs can have a variety of sizes and compositions, depending on the professional requirements of the course. The minimum size is a Major (22 cp) and the actual size must allow the balance of the course to include any necessary Major, Minor or General Education units.

Core Programs and any sub-components (including Professional Options) are normally only available to students enrolled in the corresponding course. Access to any units in these components by a student in another course requires the agreement of both Course Convenors, except where such units are being taken as part of an Approved component.

5.2 Majors

These components provide a coherent and rigorous treatment of a single discipline or area of study. They will normally consist of 22 cp - 6 cp in first-year, 8 cp in each of second and third year. Special approval may be given for variations of 1 cp above and below this limit. Where a 23 cp Major is approved, students must be alerted to the implications for their total course size. Where a 21 cp Major is approved for a particular course, special arrangements must be made to cater for students who will, as a result, accumulate fewer credit points than their course requires.

5.3 Minors