Overview
The emergency and disaster management industries have highlighted the importance of contemporary practice being grounded in current research and evidence. You will be encouraged to question why and how research can inform best practice, analyse research critically, and identify how to transform information into applicable policies and procedures. You will focus on using research and evidence to guide best practice, and this approach will inform content delivery and assessment. As a student in this unit, you will learn how to make quick and effective decisions using available research and evidence, which in turn will inform decision making processes which are grounded in evidence-based practice.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Discussion with industry colleagues, reading industry reports and publications.
Emphasising key knowledge and skills
Increase the emphasis placed on the issue of research utilisation.
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and industry-based research and evidence relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Interpret contemporary research literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Critique current research literature, including why and how this knowledge informs best practice
- Apply contemporary research relevant to the different phases in an emergency or disaster management situation
- Communicate future directions and strategies to enhance the body of knowledge
NIL
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom capacity (web cam and microphone)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
h.keendyer@cqu.edu.au
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Online Classroom Drop-in Session (Wednesday 6:15pm to 7.00pm AEST)
Assessment Task One - Engaging with Research Due: Week 5 Friday (10 Apr 2020) 4:00 pm AEST
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1 Written Assessment
In assessment task one you will explore a series of concepts related to research broadly, its applicaton in the emergency service (ES) and disaster management (DM) contexts, and then narrow in on one topic area of interest (a burning interest). As such, this task consists of multiple parts. In parts 1) and 2) you will provide a short response to the concept of research and the process you used to inform your response. In part 3) you will identify an area of interest (burning interest), and using the knowledge and skills developed in the earlier parts of this task, locate relevant peer-reviewed literature and provide a short analysis of two pieces of literature which you select. Your response to this assessment task is based upon your engagement with the broader academic literature, unit content and the posts you make to the activity forums.
Your response will, therefore, include five (5) parts:
Part 1) Your forum post(s) from Week 1 (The word research), which you will refine into a paragraph response arguing your conceptualisation or definition of research. The refined post must include support from the literature. So that I can see the refinements you have made, please place the original forum post in an appendix and the refined paragraph in the body of your submission;
Part 2) The search strategy (or methodology) you used to locate the supporting literature for Part 1), including the initial steps of the search process, rationale for these steps and any refinements you made along the way;
Part 3) Your forum post(s) from Week 4 (Burning interest). You do not need to refine this post. Simply copy it into the body of your assessment submission;
Part 4) A brief 450-500 word overview of two peer-reviewed journal articles related to your burning interest. Each overview should include: a) a rationale for why the article was chosen; b) the significance of the article to your burning interest; c) its key findings; and d) a comment about which phase(s) in the Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery (PPRR) continuum this burning interest relates to and why you believe this; and
Part 5) The search strategy (or methodology) you used to locate the literature for Part 4), including the initial steps of the search process, rationale for these steps and any refinements you made along the way.
Your response may be up to 1750 words. The word count does not include either the copy of the original forum post for Part 1, which you will place in an appendix or the forum post for Part 3). The two forum posts are to go in an appendix. The copy of the forum posts is therefore in addition to the word count.
Week 5 Friday (10 Apr 2020) 4:00 pm AEST
Week 7 Friday (1 May 2020)
The assessment criteria for this course is in the form of a rubric, which is available from the Moodle unit site. Broadly, you will be assessed on:
- Knowledge of the research process;
- Application of knowledge and skills relative to accessing research and evidence;
- Interpretation of literature and understanding in relation to a particular emergency and disaster management issue; and
- Communication and presentation.
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and industry-based research and evidence relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Interpret contemporary research literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
2 Written Assessment
Through this task you will explore one aspect of emergency service (ES) or disaster management (DM), for example, an area of practice, a policy or doctrine from your chosen organisation and its link to ES or DM and the nexus of this aspect with research. You are encouraged to select something that aligns with the burning interest outlined in assessment task one, however, this is not a requirement.
Your response will, therefore, consist of three parts, including:
Part 1) Summary statement about your chosen organisation and the specific aspect (that is, area of practice, policy, doctrine) you have chosen (for example, the practice of recruiting volunteers in the chosen organisation, the policy or procedure related to business continuity in the chosen organisation and so forth);
Part 2) Annotated bibliography containing five (5) sources. A minimum of three (3) MUST be peer-reviewed sources; and
Part 3) Summary statement of how these five (5) sources currently inform the chosen aspect (that is, area of practice, policy, doctrine) you have chosen plus from your analysis of the five sources how your chosen aspect (that is, area of practice, policy, doctrine) could be further improved as a result of the research.
Assessment task two will be up to 1250 - 1500 words in total.
Week 8 Friday (8 May 2020) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Friday (22 May 2020)
The assessment criteria for this course is in the form of a rubric, which is available from the Moodle unit site. Broadly, you will be assessed on:
- Knowledge of the research process;
- Application of knowledge and skills relative to accessing research and evidence;
- Interpretation of literature and understanding in relation to a particular emergency and disaster management issue and to the different phases of emergency and disaster management; and
- Communication and presentation.
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and industry-based research and evidence relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Interpret contemporary research literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Critique current research literature, including why and how this knowledge informs best practice
- Apply contemporary research relevant to the different phases in an emergency or disaster management situation
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Research
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
3 Written Assessment
Assessment task three asks you to select and critically reflect on two different pieces of research communication that use two different genre’s (e.g. conference poster presentation, journal article, book chapter, conference presentation and so forth). Through this process you will analyse the two examples and the particular genre and importantly, propose strategies for the utilisation of what you have chosen within your own context/ organisation and possible future directions for this area of research. For each of the examples you have chosen you will incorporate discussion on the following:
· Broad topic area of the chosen example;
· The key elements of the research that are reported in the piece, including (but not limited to) background to the research, research question(s), methodology and key findings;
· In what ways each piece of research either currently or could inform an aspect of the emergency service (ES) or disaster management (DM) context;
· The particular genre (e.g. conference poster presentation, journal article, book chapter, conference presentation and so forth) and an analysis of the strengths and limitations of each communication approach and the particular audience(s) the approach is (could) target; and
· Statement about possible future directions that will further enhance the body of knowledge in the area of the chosen pieces of research.
The assessment tasks will be between 1500-2000 words in total.
Week 12 Friday (5 June 2020) 4:00 pm AEST
Exam Week Friday (19 June 2020)
The assessment criteria for this course is in the form of a rubric, which is available from the Moodle unit site. Broadly, you will be assessed on:
- Knowledge of the research process;
- Skills in interpreting and communicating research findings; and
- Communication and presentation.
- Interpret contemporary research literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Critique current research literature, including why and how this knowledge informs best practice
- Communicate future directions and strategies to enhance the body of knowledge
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
