Professional Practice 1 (Science) (11719.1)

Required texts

There are no required textbooks for this unit.

Recommended readings will be provided on the unit's UCLearn (Canvas) site via the Reading List feature and linked within Canvas pages. Students are encouraged to refer, as needed, to resources used in Professional Orientation (Science) or equivalent units. Students are also encouraged to refer to online material accessible on databases relevant to their course (e.g. Pubmed for students studying Medical Science).

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Note regarding de-identified marking

Because of the personal and in-person nature of the ePortfolio tasks, and collaborative components of the Collaborative Project, full anonymity is not possible for these submissions. Students can therefore use their names (instead of ID numbers) within ePortfolio and Collaborative Project submissions, but are encouraged to blank out any personal contact details they do not wish to disclose. For example, on the CV, a phone number might be included in the form "04XX XXX XXX" or addresses could be redacted. 

Special assessment requirements

The unit convenor reserves the right to question students on any of their submitted work for moderation and academic integrity purposes. 

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

The contact hours for each student in this unit consist of 36 hours of workshops (11 x 3 hrs + 3 hrs spent viewing and undertaking activities associated with the Canvas learning materials in Week 6, due to the public holiday). The remaining hours of expected workload should be distributed across the various assessment tasks and independent or group study. Please note that Collaborative Project will require defined groups to work together, either in person or online, outside of the timetabled workshop hours.

The estimated times on assessment tasks are 82 hours in order to navigate the expectations of assessments that are built on in this unit. 

This leaves a further 32 hours of independent study time (2.5 hours each week). To make the most of this unit, this time is expected to be spent on tasks such as: 

• Preparing for workshops
• Seeking assistance from library services or attending consultation sessions
• Liaising with Teaching Team when needed (e.g. to ask questions, advise on how teams are progressing)
• Reflecting on workshops and taking notes to personalise learning experience and preserve PP1 learning materials for future units
• Researching internships and research project options for PP2
• Consulting with UC Careers on improving employability skills and documents
• Chatting to colleagues in the unit to help one another make the most of the experience of learning together

Inclusion and engagement

We are very happy to discuss specific RAP conditions and how they can be applied to support you in this unit. For example, if you require additional support when working in groups, alternative methods of engaging in workshops, or additional time during invigilated assessment, these can be discussed with the convener and arrangements made for learning activities and/or assessments. 

Participation requirements

Workshop attendance is required to be allocated into a group for the Collaborative Project (Week 7) and to take part in the ePortfolio Part 2 assessment (Week 13). If extenuating circumstances prevent you from attending, email PP1.Science@canberra.edu.au before or up to 3 business days after the workshop with documentation that support your circumstances so that arrangements can be made for a deferred or alternative activity, if deemed appropriate.

It is expected that all students will attend all their allocated weekly workshops. Workshops are delivered in an interactive style, and contain important information regarding assessments. Announcements made in timetabled workshops are deemed to be made to the whole group. 

As a face-to-face unit, it is unlikely that assessments can be understood or completed to a high standard without attending workshops. Materials on Canvas are supplementary only, and are not designed to be primary learning materials. 

If unable to attend a workshop due to extenuating circumstances, students are encouraged to supply supporting documentation (similar to an extension request) to PP1.Science@canberra.edu.au to arrange a consultation time or link to a recording to catch up on what was covered. 

Required IT skills

Upon entering PP1, students should be familiar with:

• searching for relevant peer-reviewed articles via electronic means (databases, search engines, library catalogues); 
• the use of UCLearn (Canvas) for viewing learning materials and submitting assessments;
• the use of word processing software (preferably Microsoft Word); 
• introductory data analysis and visualisations using Excel or R (such as those obtained in Data Analysis Skills for Science (11723));
• referencing using UC Harvard 2021 referencing style, in-text and in full citation lists. 

In-unit costs

None.

Work placement, internships or practicums

This unit involves work integrated learning through simulation of workplace practices. Relevant modules/assessments include the Collaborative Project (simulating project planning, working with colleagues and using tools typical of a scientific workplace to achieve collaborative goals) and the ePortfolio (simulating recruitment processes of submitting job applications and participating in Assessment Centres/job interviews). 

Additional information

Unforeseen circumstances  beyond the unit convenor's control could result in changes in the mode of delivery of workshops and/or assessments. Students will be advised if this occurs and appropriate alternatives will be arranged.

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