Overview
The emergency and disaster management sector has highlighted the importance of contemporary practice being grounded in research. In this unit, you will be encouraged to explore the notion of research, plus the important questions of why and how research can and should inform the different phases of emergency and disaster management. In order to do so, you will build knowledge and skills in critically analysing research, understandings of the frameworks and practices guiding the ethical conduct of research and your role in utilising and implementing research in a professionally and ethically responsible manner. You will learn fundamental underpinning research literacies and how you can use these to inform decision-making processes grounded in evidence-based practice.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Co-Requisite for this unit is DSMG28001 Foundations of Emergency and Disaster Management. Students enrolled in the CM40 Bachelor of Paramedic Science/Graduate Certificate in Emergency and Disaster Management must also have a minimum of 156 credit points to enrol in 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 - 2023
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 Lecturer observations and reflection
Low student response rates and low levels of communication with students made it difficult to assess which parts of the unit material were most and least effective.
Students cannot be compelled to respond to surveys or communication, but it is possible that more involved periodic check-ins and virtual classes could have encouraged a higher level of voluntary response and communication. The nature of these should be considered when the class is offered in the future. Additionally, students can be encouraged to make use of informal discussion forums or other "looser" communication on Moodle, to allow the instructor/s to gauge student engagement from a different perspective.
Feedback from Unit survey response data
Unit requirements and feedback received lower scores from students that responded to the survey.
Although the response rate was very low, this is an important issue, so the assessment rubrics and unit requirements as presented in T1 2022 will be reviewed and revised.
- Identify different research approaches and their use in researching emergency and disaster management issues
- Examine ethical issues and the frameworks and practices underpinning the ethical conduct of research
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Analyse contemporary literature, and its relationship to the different phases of emergency and disaster management
- Formulate strategies for the implementation and utilisation of research in emergency and disaster management contexts and situations
- Communicate future directions and strategies for enhancing the body of knowledge in emergency and disaster management
NIL
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 45% | ||||||
| 3 - Presentation - 30% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 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 | ||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom (both microphone and webcam capability)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.delport@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Theme One: Research and how to find it.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Session – Introduction and Unit Overview (Thursday 12:00 pm to 12:50 pm AEST - QLD time).
Module/Topic
Theme One: Research and how to find it.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme One: Research and how to find it.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Assessment Drop-in Session (Thursday 12:00 pm to 12:50 pm AEST - QLD time).
Module/Topic
Theme Two: The doing of research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme Two: The doing of research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Unit Drop-in Session (Thursday 12:00 pm to 12:50 pm AEST - QLD time).
Module/Topic
Break Week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme Two: The doing of research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme Two: The doing of research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Assessment Drop-in Session (Thursday 12:00 pm to 12:50 pm AEST - QLD time).
Module/Topic
Theme Two: The doing of research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme Three: Me and research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme Three: Me and research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Assessment Drop-in Session (Thursday 12:00 pm to 12:50 pm AEST - QLD time).
Module/Topic
Theme Three: Me and research.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Theme Four: bringing it all together.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
“Disaster management is full of wicked problems – they’re urgent and tough to solve because of incomplete, contradictory or changing requirements that are often difficult to recognise or evaluate. Wicked problems by their nature do not allow for a simple response.”
The Disaster Challenge is coordinated by Natural Hazards Research Australia (NHRA). This national challenge was started to encourage new ideas, new thinking and new research. The 2023 Disaster Challenge will focus on a broad topic to allow for new and innovative ideas and will be aligned with the NHRA's ‘Operational response and innovation’ research theme. In this assessment, you are asked to choose a topic from the topic area list located on the NHRA webpage and use that topic to guide your studies of research in emergency and disaster management.
You are required to identify the relevant literature that supports your chosen topic and then, using the template provided in the Moodle site (see Assessment tile), write a brief analytic summary. You must start with CQUniversity’s recommended 7-step process, as described on the Moodle site and the library resources. Since each of these challenges is an evolving concern of emergency and disaster management, it is preferable to use recent articles as much as possible (the past 5-10 years, where applicable).
You will use this topic as the basis for assessment three, so pick your topic with that in mind (and after reading the assessment task three instructions). The summary must demonstrate your grasp of the topic, its importance in emergency and disaster management and which phase or phases (that is, Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery) of emergency and disaster management it relates to. The analytic summary must be supported by a minimum of three (3) different pieces of peer-reviewed literature plus one (1) piece of grey literature.
See the required word count on the template and marking rubric on your Moodle page. Upload your response to Moodle in Microsoft Word format by the end of Week 4.
This assessment is worth 25% of the overall grade for this unit.
- Referencing: All sources must be cited and referenced appropriately throughout this task in the correct APA 7th Edition style; ensure that you use the CQU Library guide for APA style.
- Word count: As per Moodle page and marking rubric +/-10%, excluding the cover page, in-text citations, the reference list and appendices. Calculate your word count minus exclusions before submission and include this on the cover page.
- File format: Submit your document in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
- Grading rubric: Please refer to the Moodle site for additional assessment information, such as the assignment marking rubric and template.
- Turnitin: All submissions are subject to Turnitin scans, and all Turnitin reports are scrutinised. All instances of plagiarism are reported to the Academic Misconduct Board for review.
Late submissions: Late submissions will be accepted, but penalties will accrue at 5% for every part or full calendar day past the due date.
Week 4 Friday (31 Mar 2023) 4:00 pm AEST
Submitted via Moodle
Week 6 Friday (21 Apr 2023)
The complete rubric for this assessment will be available on Moodle. You will be assessed on:
- Concise, accurate, and accessible summary of your chosen topic.
- Analysis of how the research enhances prevention, preparedness, response, and/or recovery.
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Analyse contemporary literature, and its relationship to the different phases of emergency and disaster management
2 Written Assessment
The state government is expecting a very rainy wet season. It has received warnings that the risk of floods in some regions will be very high and that flooding might even reach disastrous levels in a few of these. There is an urgent need for more information on which communities will be affected and on the specific needs and perspectives of these communities.
You have been assigned to assist in designing research methods that can be used to gather information from the public, such as their past experiences with floods, their perspectives on these events, and their expectations of government and other stakeholders. Some information of this type is potentially sensitive or difficult for members of the public to talk about and to entrust to others (particularly representatives of the government).
The government has identified certain remote communities which it considers a priority because of their highly assessed vulnerability to disastrous flooding. Another consultant has prepared a preliminary plan involving people from remote communities being brought to larger towns like Cairns and Rockhampton to be interviewed by field officers from Disaster Management Queensland.
Your task is to present an analysis of this plan; specifically, you need to respond to the following concerns:
- What are the ethical considerations or problems associated with this approach? In what ways could the methods be adjusted to avoid them?
- What are one or two alternative methods that could be used in this situation? Would any of those alternatives be preferable to the approach outlined above, and if so, why?
- What specific types of information will the government need to collect to enhance prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery?
To support your responses, you should consult and cite the published literature (including academic publications, commercial publications, and grey literature where applicable) on research methods and ethical issues related to data collection from interviews, as well as literature on the use of information as a resource in emergency and disaster management.
Note: your response must address the methods and the goals of the proposed research project. You are not consulting on how to prepare for floods or something similar.
Your response should be at most 2000 words. Upload your Moodle response in Microsoft Word by the end of Week 9.
This assessment is worth 45% of the overall grade for this unit. You must achieve a score of at least 50% (22.5 out of 45) on this assessment to pass the unit.
- Referencing: All sources must be cited and referenced appropriately throughout this task in the correct APA 7th Edition style; ensure that you use the CQU Library guide for APA style.
- Word count: 2000 words +/-10%, excluding the cover page, in-text citations, the reference list and appendices. Calculate your word count minus exclusions before submission and include this on the cover page.
- File format: Submit your document in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
- Grading rubric: Please refer to the Moodle site for additional assessment information, such as the assignment marking rubric and template.
- Turnitin: All submissions are subject to Turnitin scans, and all Turnitin reports are scrutinised. All instances of plagiarism are reported to the Academic Misconduct Board for review.
Late submissions: Late submissions will be accepted, but penalties will accrue at 5% for every part or full calendar day past the due date.
Week 9 Friday (12 May 2023) 4:00 pm AEST
Submit via Moodle
Week 11 Friday (26 May 2023)
The complete rubric for this assessment will be available on Moodle. You will be assessed on:
- Discussion of ethical issues and considerations related to the proposed methods
- Discussion of strengths and weaknesses of possible alternative methods
- Discussion of possible goals and information needed in a research project of this type
- Use of literature to support discussion.
- Identify different research approaches and their use in researching emergency and disaster management issues
- Examine ethical issues and the frameworks and practices underpinning the ethical conduct of research
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Analyse contemporary literature, and its relationship to the different phases of emergency and disaster management
3 Presentation
Note: this assessment revisits the "The Disaster Challenge" from Assessment 1. As such, you can use some of the same articles and content if you wish, but you will need to find at least some additional sources to extend your discussion.
You will bring it together in assessment three and deliver a presentation related to your chosen topic from assessment one. As such, this assessment has both a written and audio component.
Part 1) Written component.
This will be used as the basis of your audio component, so please keep this in mind.
PowerPoint Presentation
The presentation will have a maximum of 15 slides. The first slide should include the title of your presentation and your name. The last slide will be a reference list. The PowerPoint template has been provided (see Assessment tile in Moodle). The PowerPoint presentation will include multiple components, which are outlined in the PowerPoint template.
You must add a reference list to the final slide.
Part 2) Audio component.
The audio component is an MP3 file (or embedded audio in your PowerPoint) of your written component. The presentation itself is an extrapolation, that is, an expanded discussion of the topic and a verbal presentation of the option that you submitted in part 1). The audio presentation can be a maximum of 10 minutes.
Week 12 Friday (2 June 2023) 4:00 pm AEST
Submitted via Moodle
Exam Week Friday (16 June 2023)
The complete rubric for this assessment will be available on Moodle. You will be assessed on:
- Explanation of your challenge's relevance to the context specified
- Identification of area requiring future research
- Characterisation of identified area's potential for enhancing emergency management in the context specified
- Discussion of possible goals, aims, methods, etc. for future research in identified area
- Presentation clarity and use of literature to support arguments.
- Formulate strategies for the implementation and utilisation of research in emergency and disaster management contexts and situations
- Communicate future directions and strategies for enhancing the body of knowledge in emergency and disaster management
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?
