Professional Practice in Optometry (10411.1)

Required texts

There is no official textbook

Readings will be supplied in electronic form and students can download and print via the computer labs prior to attending class.  Students may choose to bring a laptop and use the university internet access to read materials.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Late submission of assignments without an approved extension form and documentation uploaded into the Canvas dropbox will result in a penalty of 10% reduced marks from the total available, per calendar day (includes weekends, public holidays, even when the University if closed) late. For an example: an essay awarded 60% (60/100) submitted 2 days late will receive a mark adjustment of 10% per day; therefore, the adjusted maximum mark for that item will be 40% (40/100). An assignment submitted over 3 days late will not be accepted and will receive a mark of zero. For clarification, one (1) minute past the specified due date and time is considered a late submission. Penalties on late submissions will be strictly enforced.  More details can be found in the Assessment Procedures.

Deferred exams and assignments

In the event a student misses an assessment due to an extenuating and evidenced circumstance, the student must contact the Unit Convener and request a deferred assessment/quiz/placement within three (3) days of the scheduled exam, quiz or placement. The request must be made in writing (by email) with an ‘Assignment Extension' form. The student must provide correct documentary evidence (e.g. medical certificate – leave certificates will not be accepted) or other relevant documents as requested by the Unit Convener before sitting the deferred assessment. Failure to do so will result in a zero grade being awarded for that assessment item. Students are not permitted to defer a deferred assessment. Any student unable to undertake the deferred intra-semester exam will be failed for the assessment task.

In the event a student is unable to attend their scheduled examination and the reason meets the criteria for acceptable grounds for extenuating circumstances, the student should submit a ‘Request for Deferred Examination Application' form with original documentary evidence to the Timetabling and Examinations Office. This must be lodged within three days of the scheduled examination. Deferred Examination Applications lodged after the due submission date may be considered only if circumstances made it impossible for the application to be lodged before, or immediately after the original examination (e.g. ongoing serious illness exists). Students are not usually permitted to defer a deferred final exam. Any student who does not undertake their deferred exam will receive a mark of zero for the exam. Where students are able to provide evidence of exceptional circumstances that led to them being unable to sit their deferred final exam, they may apply for a late withdrawal from the unit using the ‘Enrolment Amendment' form. Full details are found in the Assessment Procedures.

Students are only permitted one extension per assignment and one deferral per examination/test/placement (on the grounds of illness or other unavoidable and verifiable personal circumstances, see Assessment Procedures) unless otherwise approved. Students must make themselves available for deferred intra-semester exams and tests which will be scheduled by the Unit Convener no later than the Friday of Week 13. Deferred final exams are centrally administered by the Timetabling and Examinations Office.

Special assessment requirements

Practical coursework and assessments

In order to pass Professional Practice in Optometry, students must:

• Attend all tutorial sessions as they are linked to AHPRHA mandatory optometric competencies;
• Submit all assessments;
• Achieve a mark of at least 50% in the final theory examination and;
• Achieve a final aggregate (overall) mark of 50% or higher

Contract cheating

Contract cheating (academic outsourcing / ghost-writing) is a form of academic misconduct in which students submit written or creative work that has been drafted or produced by someone else and claim authorship for it.  It includes (but is not limited to) using a third party, offering their services for commercial or other benefits, to complete (either partially or fully) an assignment or other assessment items on behalf of the student.  

You are at risk of contract cheating if you ask someone to:

• complete an assignment for you
• substantially edit your assignment
• do your university work for you, with or without compensation
• check test or quiz answers
• sit a test or quiz for you
• provide someone with your UC login details

You may also be at risk of contract cheating if you provide information to people or organisations outside UC, such as:

• assignment questions and briefs
• lecture notes
• marking rubrics and marking guides

UC considers contract cheating serious misconduct which may attract suspension or exclusion from the university.  Furthermore, we, as your education provider, have mandatory reporting responsibilities under National Law.  We are required to notify the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) if we believe that a registered health practitioner (including those with student registration) has behaved in a way that constitutes notifiable conduct including signature departure from accepted professional standards.  Contract cheating may also result in UC submitting a mandatory notification to AHPRA.

You can learn more about contract cheating in the Academic Integrity Module - which is a compulsory module that provides information about a range of issues including plagiarism and contract cheating.  UC provides a range of services to support student learning - further information regarding Study Skills, Studiosity and Medical & Counselling services are available in your unit's Canvas site.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Inclusion and engagement

If you possess a valid reasonable adjustment arrangement YOU must advise the unit convener and show evidence of the valid reasonable adjustment arrangement and confirm that the arrangements are in place at least 14 business days in advance for each assessment.

Participation requirements

This Unit contains participatory elements which are vital to the Optometry Board of Australia entry-level competencies for optometrists (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cxo.12216). Except in the case of extenuating circumstances, 100% attendance is expected at all lectures, and 100% participation is required in all tutorials. Please note, that not all learning material covered in lectures, e.g. worked examples of problems or discussion in small groups, will be captured by the lecture recording software. Students are required to attend for the entire time scheduled for tutorials, practicals, laboratories and presentations, or similar. Students who are late by more than 15 minutes without an adequate documented reason will be regarded as absent; students who leave before the end, unless all assigned work has been completed to the satisfaction of the lecturer or tutor will be regarded as absent from the tutorial. It is expected that students unable to fulfil these participation requirements will inform the Unit Convener as soon as practical, by telephone or email. If attendance requirements cannot be regularly satisfied (e.g. timetable clash) it may be recommended that you schedule this unit for a future semester. Failure to adhere to these requirements may result in failure of the associated assessment piece. For inability to attend a scheduled laboratory session, an ‘Absence from Laboratory' form (available on UCLearn Canvas) with supporting documentation must be submitted to the Unit Convener; students may be required to attend an additional laboratory session to complete the required tasks.  Consideration will be given for illness; however evidence such as a medical certificate will be required. The final decision will be at the discretion of the Unit Convener.

This course aims to develop your professional and communication skills in preparation for your journey towards being a health professional. During classes and placements, you will be required to demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict. Any action or omission that affects the safety of your patient or peers or is deemed disrespectful to your patients, fellow students or the teaching staff can result in failure of a patient assessment task regardless of the aggregate mark for the assessment. Virtual classes have additional requirements where you will further develop communication skills in the virtual environment. While in a virtual environment, students are required to present themselves and communicate with peers, staff and invited speakers in a professional way. Hence the default for all virtual classes is for all student web cameras to be turned on during virtual classes. Instructors may require students to interact either verbally, through polls or the shared chat function. Students who do not participate in this way will be marked as absent for the class, which may result in not meeting the requirements to pass the unit. Students who need guidance on expected behaviours and participation may consult with the unit convenor and/or Study Skills. Instructors may request that cameras are turned off under certain circumstances.

Contact details for the Unit Convenor and the Faculty of Health Administration Office are given in Section 1.

Required IT skills

The use of UCLearn Canvas, library searching skills, word and data processing (Microsoft Office Suite) and electronic presentation skills are necessary for this unit

In-unit costs

Students are expected to purchase their own non-programmable scientific calculator.  Students may wish to print electronically provided material for their own study. There are no additional in-unit costs.

Students are expected to bring their own computer to all tutorials.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None
 

Additional information

Pursuant to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009, optometry practitioners (registered optometrists) and education providers have an obligation to report ‘notifiable conduct', to the Optometry Board of Australia in order to prevent the public being placed at risk of harm.

Education providers are also required, under s.143 of the National Law, to make mandatory notifications in relation to students, if the provider reasonably believes:

1. a student enrolled with the provider has an impairment that, in the course of the student undertaking clinical training, may place the public at substantial risk of harm; or

2. a student for whom the provider has arranged clinical training has an impairment that, in the course of the student undertaking the clinical training, may place the public at substantial risk of harm.

Practitioners are required to make a mandatory notification in relation to a student if the practitioner reasonably believes that a student has an impairment that, in the course of the student undertaking clinical training, may place the public at substantial risk of harm.

All concerns raised within the Discipline of Optometry or by clinical preceptors will be reviewed by the Head of Discipline and the Course Convener before any reporting action is taken.

These professional obligations are taken seriously by staff and the University.  Students should be aware of their obligations under student registration.

For further information, please refer to: https://www.optometryboard.gov.au/policies-codes-guidelines/guidelines-for-mandatory-notifications.aspx

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