Deep Dives (12028.1)

Please note these are the 2024 details for this unit
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Deep Dives
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Arts And Design
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
School Of Arts And Communications Level 3 - Undergraduate Advanced Unit Band 2 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan Social Work_Exclude 0905)
The most important journalism often sits well outside the daily news cycle and represents an investment of many hours of painstaking work. In this unit, you will conduct in-depth research into complex topics, drawing on both publicly available and unique sources of information. You will use this material to produce a variety of journalistic content, from long-form feature writing to short-form explainers, for distribution to a range of audiences across multiple platforms. You will use multimedia elements alongside well-crafted text to encourage maximum engagement and to help make complicated ideas as accessible as possible.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Conduct in-depth research to gather, verify and synthesise information from a range of sources;
2. Evaluate the advantages and limitations of different sources and research methods;
3. Produce engaging short- and long-form multimedia content which explores and explains complex topics; and
4. Present multiple versions of stories in platform-appropriate forms to different audiences.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - evaluate and adopt new technology


Prerequisites

Must have passed 24 credit points.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

11087 In-Depth: Feature and Specialist Writing

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 28 July 2025 On-campus Dr Scott Bridges
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 10 August 2026 On-campus Dr David Nolan
Not available

Required texts

Weekly reading materials for this unit will be supplied via the Reading List in the UCLearn Teaching site.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Some assessment tasks in this unit will be completed using Cadmus, an online environment for written assessment. Full instructions for using Cadmus are available on Canvas.

The Multimedia story will be submitted via WordPress to the The Owl.  Full instructions for submission are provided on The Owl's Canvas site, which is linked to this unit's UCLearn teaching site.

Expectations

As a student journalist, you must assume that all content you generate in this unit is intended for publication. As such, you should aim to produce professional work to a high standard, observing all relevant laws and ethical standards.

You are to:

  • Observe the MEAA Code of Ethics (refer to The Owl Canvas site);
  • Refrain from interviewing anyone who presents a conflict of interest, such as family, friends or colleagues, without the express permission of your tutor;
  • Disclose all conflicts of interest or other relevant information in your stories;
  • Inform sources and interviewees that your stories are for publication via The Owl and/or UCFM;
  • In the first instance, produce your own original video, audio, images and text — if your tutor expressly permits the use of third party material, you must observe copyright law, licensing and ‘fair dealing’ provisions related to news reporting (refer to The Owl Canvas site) and give attribution if required;
  • Not plagiarise; and
  • Observe defamation, trespass and other relevant laws

Failure to follow these guidelines could result in a fail grade for an assessment task or for the unit.

If you have any questions about these guidelines or a specific assignment task, speak with your unit convener or tutor.

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.

Participation requirements

Students are expected to keep up with weekly lectures and the reading materials, which have been carefully chosen to inform and support student learning. They are also expected to attend classes, and ensure that they set aside the required amount of time for class participation each week.  Students are also expected to actively participate in class, engaging with discussion questions and activities assigned by their tutor as well as critically, productively and respectfully engaging with their peers' work, ideas and perspectives.

Required IT skills

Students will use a WordPress interface to prepare and submit their work, which requires that they develop basic skills in using the interface.

In-unit costs

N/A

Work placement, internships or practicums

N/A