Honours: Thesis (Part A) (11619.1)

Required texts

Suggested readings may be provided by the research supervisors based on individual projects and student requirements.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Extensions to assignments, placements, deferred intra-semester tests and examinations:

Students can apply for an extension to the due date for submission/completion of an assessment item on the grounds of illness or other unavoidable and verifiable personal circumstances (specific details are found through the Assessment Policy and Procedures Section 9.12). Extensions must be applied before the due date as outlined above. For illness on the assessment day, the Assignment Extension form with relevant documentation must be lodged to the Unit Convener within three days of the scheduled exam, test, assignment, placement or assessment submission.

It should be noted that such documentation will be considered but will not guarantee that the application will be successful. The Unit Convenor will decide whether to grant an extension and the length of the extension.

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 as per UC policies) unless otherwise approved. Students must make themselves available for deferred exams and tests, scheduled by the unit convenor no later than the Friday of Week 11. Please refer to the unit's Canvas site for further details and requirements for placements. Students are NOT PERMITTED to defer a deferred intra-semester exam, test or placement. Any student unable to undertake the deferred intra-semester exam, test, assignment or placement will receive a mark of zero or fail grade for the assessment task.

Students should note that this policy does not apply to deferred exams which the examinations office centrally administers.

Special assessment requirements

To pass this unit, you must meet ALL of the following requirements:

• Student must submit all the assessment items.
• Student must pass the Research Progress Report

Supplementary assessment

Student who fail the Reseach Progress Report will be given a chance to resubmit the report prior to the commencement of the subsequent unit (Honours Thesis - Part B)

Supplementary Academic Integrity Information

Contract cheating

Contract cheating (academic outsourcing / ghost-writing) is a form of academic misconduct in which students submit written, or creative work drafted or produced by someone else and claims 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

Students should note that sharing their assignments (current or previously submitted assignments) may result in referral to the Associate Dean of Education for investigation.

UC considers contract cheating severe misconduct, which may attract suspension or exclusion from the university. Furthermore, as your education provider, we have mandatory reporting responsibilities under National Law. We must 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 - a compulsory module that provides information about various issues, including plagiarism and contracts cheating. UC offers a range of services to support student learning - further details regarding Study Skills, Studiosity and Medical & Counselling services are available on your unit's Canvas site.

GenAI

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT can aid but should not replace independent thinking. If using genAI tools for the major project (topic development, book chapter, multimedia presentation), acknowledge their use or provide an appropriate citation. Acknowledgement is not required for low-level tasks such as improving spelling, grammar, and quality of written expression.

You are responsible for the content you submit. Be aware of limitations of GenAI tools such as inaccuracies, biases, and incomplete content. GenAI tools work best for topics you already understand, with carefully crafted prompting based on peer-reviewed research. Refine prompts for better results and fact-check generated content. Despite the risks, GenAI tools can aid brainstorming, concept explanation, synthesis of ideas, and improve the readability and quality of written expression. For further information please refer to UC library GenAI guide (https://canberra.libguides.com/genai) and the Academic Integrity Module.

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.

Learner engagement

Students are expected to commit approximately 150 hours to this unit. Still, the logistics of individual projects may require the student to work outside of the 'official working hours during the semester (e.g. during the class free period and semester breaks). Students should negotiate with their supervisors if such an arrangement is required and let the unit convenor know about it.

Participation requirements

This Unit contains participatory elements vital to the Australian Pharmacy Council professional learning outcomes for this Unit. Except in the case of extenuating circumstances, 100% attendance is expected at all unit's activities. Students unable to fulfil these participation requirements will likely inform the Unit Convener by email as soon as possible.

Students undertaking this unit may utilise space and equipment at the University of Canberra or partner organisation(s), which may require additional safety and skill training. Each student should check with their supervisor(s) and relevant staff if this applies to them and follow the appropriate process as required. If applicable, students should complete the following training and provide it to the unit convenor:

• Safety Declaration Form for Practical Class Work
• Documents indicating completion of essential training and equipment use approvals
• Relevant risk assessment or occupation health & safety (OH&S) declarations

Required IT skills

Students should be conversant with searching for relevant articles via electronic means, using Canvas, word processing, spreadsheet, online literature databases, library services and presentation software. Specialist IT skills may be required for some projects, and students should negotiate training opportunities with their supervisor(s).

In-unit costs

The following costs are expected for this unit:

• Self-printing of the electronically provided material
• Transport or other costs associated with research activities
• Computer, electronic accessories and internet access required for remote learning

As part of the Discipline of Pharmacy initiative to support BPharm Honours projects, a small amount of funding is available for research-related expenses. Please get in touch with the unit convenor or supervisor if there is a need to access these funds; funding is not available without prior approval.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Additional information

Privacy and Confidentiality

As part of its partnership arrangements with Health Agencies, the Faculty of Health at the University of Canberra is aware of the confidentiality of information gained from clinical placements and externships. Students are expected to analyse their experiences from these as part of their academic study. To support learning while protecting the confidentiality of information, the following guidelines have been developed:

1. Pseudonyms should be used for the names of patients and organisations in all academic work
2. Identifying information, including demographic information, should be modified in academic work, using terminology such as ‘similar to'.
3. Students should mark all academic work with sensitive information as ‘in-confidence' in the footer.
4. Students should develop ‘composite' patients/clients based upon their experiences with several patients or clients in one clinical expertise, if possible. Students should note that this is a ‘composite' and not intended to identify a single person.
5. Students should use the password-protect function on their word processing programs to further guard sensitive information.
6. Students should avoid naming other students in academic work, such as reflective pieces or portfolios.
7. Students should attend workshops for health science students on how to change information about patients in line with these recommendations

For further information, students may visit https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-for-health-service-providers/.

Pharmacy Style Guide for report formatting

Unless otherwise approved (in writing), all written assessment pieces (formative and summative) must conform to the following requirements:

• Headings in bold, maximum font size 16 pt.
• Font size: 11 pt – Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri.
• Margins no less than 1.5cm on all sides.
• Page number at the bottom right-hand corner of the footer.
• Student identification number (number only) at the top right-hand corner of the header.
• References given in NLM/Vancouver style (chronological numeric) ONLY. Information on these referencing styles can be found on the library website at https://canberra.libguides.com/c.php?g=599301&p=4149536
• Privacy statements if required (see Section 6g of the Unit Outline).
• Assignment requirements (first page) as per Section 5c above.
• Any word limits specified in assignments (in this Unit Outline or task descriptions on Moodle) will INCLUDE all tables, figures and appendices but EXCLUDE references.
• Submissions that exceed the specified word (or page) length will be truncated at the word (or page) limit and only assessed to this point.

Mandatory Notifications to the Pharmacy Board of Australia

According to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009, pharmacy practitioners (registered pharmacists) and education providers are obliged to report ‘notifiable conduct' to the Pharmacy Board of Australia to prevent the public from being at risk of harm.

Education providers are also required, under s.143 of the National Law, to make mandatory notifications about 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 about a student if the practitioner reasonably believes that a student has an impairment that may place the public at substantial risk of harm in the course of the student undertaking clinical training.

Before any reporting action is taken, all concerns raised within the Discipline of Pharmacy or by clinical preceptors will be reviewed by the Head of Discipline and the Course Convener.

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

Please refer to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Pharmacy Guidelines for Mandatory Notifications available at: https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Notifications/mandatorynotifications/Mandatory-notifications.aspx.

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