In assessment task one you will explore a series of concepts related to research broadly, its application in the emergency service (ES) and disaster management (DM) contexts, and then narrow in on one topic area of interest (a burning interest). Assessment task one is also concerned with establishing your research literacy skills and in particular, establishing your skills in locating research and literature sources. 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) and beyond 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 on your engagement with the unit content, broader academic literature and the posts you make to the activity forums.

Your response will, therefore, include five (5) parts:

Part 1) ‘The word research’ Forum Post.
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. Your response will be between 200 and 400 words. So that I can see the refinements you have made, please place the original forum post(s) underneath the refined post and label accordingly. The original forum post (from Week 1) is not included in the above word count.

Part 2) Library Search Strategy.
In part 2) you will provide the search strategy you used to locate the sources to support your conceptualisation or definition of research. Using the CQUniversity Australia seven (7) step process for searching databases as a framework, you will describe the particular actions taken in each step, for example, keywords used etc., the refinements you made along the way and the rationale for the particular actions you took. The seven (7) step process can be found in the ‘Assessment Resources and Help’ section of the DSMG20003 eReading List and in the Moodle site under Assessment. A table works well for this section; however, you are free to present the information in whatever format works best for you. There is no word limit for part 2.

Part 3) ‘Burning interest’ Forum Post.
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. There is no word limit on part 3.

Part 4) Burning interest and peer-reviewed literature.
A brief 250-400 word (each) 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) the key findings within the article; 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.

Each overview will be 250-400 words or a combined overview of 500-800 words.

Part 5) Library Search Strategy
In part 5) you will provide the search strategy you used to locate the sources for part 4) – the journal articles related to your burning interest. Using the CQUniversity Australia seven (7) step process for searching databases as a framework, you will describe the particular actions taken in each step, for example, keywords used etc., the refinements you made along the way and the rationale for the particular actions you took. The seven (7) step process can be found in the ‘Assessment Resources and Help’ section of the DSMG20003 eReading List and in the Moodle site under Assessment. A table works well for this section; however, you are free to present the information in whatever format works best for you. There is no word limit for part 5.

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 concept of research

· Application of knowledge and skills related to accessing research and literature sources;

· Interpretation of literature and understanding in relation to a particular emergency and disaster management issue;

· Communication and presentation

Through this task you will explore one aspect related to emergency service (ES) or disaster management (DM), for example, an area of practice, a policy or piece of doctrine from an organisation of your choice. In your exploration, you will examine the nexus of this aspect with research and how the research could inform recommendations for improvement. You are encouraged to select something that aligns with the burning interest outlined in assessment task one; however, this is not a requirement. Assessment task two is also concerned with building upon the research literacy skills you developed through assessment task one.

Your response will, therefore, consist of two parts, including:

Part 1) Analysis of the chosen organisation and aspect related to emergency service or disaster management.

To guide your discussion, you will incorporate information on the following:

a) Organisational information, for example, but not limited to, name of the organisation, organisational charter, demographics.

b) The chosen aspect (that is, area of practice, policy, doctrine or so forth) and the topic of that aspect, for example, but not limited to, the practice of recruiting volunteers, the policy or procedure related to business continuity, risk mitigation or so forth.

Your discussion must be supported by literature and can include grey literature.

Part 2) Annotated bibliography.

· In part 2), you will develop an annotated bibliography, which contains four (4) sources.

· A minimum of three (3) of the four (4) sources MUST be peer-reviewed. You must confirm in the title of the source which are peer-reviewed, and which are non-peer-reviewed sources. To do so, simply add (peer-reviewed) or (non-peer-reviewed) at the end of the heading citation.

· Each source must be related in some way to the aspect and topic of that aspect outlined in part 1.

  Assessment task two will be up to 1200-1500 words in total.

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;

· The ability to concisely communicate information;

Assessment task three asks you to critically reflect on two different pieces of research communication that use two different genres and the potential utilisation of the research contained within the two examples within your chosen organisation. One (1) of the two (2) pieces MUST be a peer-reviewed journal article. You are free to select a journal article from an earlier assessment piece or the DSMG20003 eReading List, so long as it meets the requirements outlined below. The second piece can be any other form of research communication, for example, a conference poster presentation, a book chapter, conference presentation, hazard note and so forth. You are free to select a piece from the DSMG20003 eReading List, so long as it meets the requirements outlined below.

Each piece you select MUST contain the following information:

a) Discernible research aim, research objective(s) or research question(s)

b) Discernible research methodology and data collection method.

For each of the examples you have chosen, you will incorporate discussion on the following:

· An analysis of the research communication genre, that is, the peer-reviewed journal article and that of your second example (a conference poster presentation, a book chapter, conference presentation, hazard note and so forth). Your discussion should include the strengths and limitations of each research communication approach and the particular audience(s) the approach is (could) target. Your analysis of the genre must be supported by literature.

· The broad topic area of the chosen example.

· The key elements of the research that are reported in the piece, including but not limited to, the background to the research, research question(s), aim or objective(s), methodology, data collection method and key findings.

· A minimum of one recommendation per communication example of how the research could enhance practice or policy in your chosen organisation.

· A minimum of one recommendation per example of possible future research within the topic area.

The assessment tasks will be up to approximately 2000 words.

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

· Skills in applying research

· Communication and presentation knowledge and skills