Overview
In this unit, you will expand on your knowledge of humanitarian engineering by assessing and evaluating how using appropriate technologies can influence the success of humanitarian projects. You will work as an individual to research the real-world application of technologies and determine their effectiveness in a variety of cultural settings by creating an evaluation framework. In subsequent work as a team, you will further assess and review a complex humanitarian project regarding the adequacy of the adopted technologies. Following this analysis, you shall make recommendations for possible improvements. In addition to enhancing your technical knowledge related to the appropriate adoption of technologies, you should further develop skills in teamwork, creativity, cultural awareness, communication, problem-solving and critical thinking.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: SOCL11059 Introducing Social Change OR MGMT11167 Foundations of Social Innovation
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 2 - 2024
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 Undergraduate 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 Student Feedback
Improve clarity of unit requirements
Ensure time is taken in the first lecture to outline unit requirements.
Feedback from Student Feedback
Appreciation of project based work
Continue with assessments based on research into appropriate technology.
- Identify applications of technologies in humanitarian projects through independent research
- Evaluate technologies for appropriate applications in humanitarian contexts
- Critique a humanitarian engineering project on the effective use of technology for the cultural context
- Generate solutions with appropriate technology for a humanitarian project using the human-centred design philosophy
- Demonstrate technical knowledge in at least one engineering discipline area
- Apply effective communication, creativity, cultural awareness, time management and collaborative skills to work and learn individually and in a team.
The Learning Outcomes for this unit are linked with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standards for Professional Engineers in the areas of 1. Knowledge and Skill Base, 2. Engineering Application Ability and 3. Professional and Personal Attributes at the following levels:
Intermediate
Advanced
Refer to the Engineering Undergraduate Course Moodle site for further information on the Engineers Australia's Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineers and course level mapping information
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
k.jinadasa@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Humanitarian Engineering
- Introducing Humanitarian Engineering and how it is applied as an engineering discipline.
- Humanitarian Engineering as an outlet for creativity and societal betterment.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Commence Assessment 1
Module/Topic
What is appropriate technology
- What does appropriate technology mean, what is it, how is it defined.
- Introducing the concepts of designing for purpose, which will be covered in more detail in subsequent weeks.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Appropriate technology in a humanitarian context
- Developing the understanding of Humanitarian Engineering and how appropriate technology is utilised as part of a specific humanitarian response.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Examples of appropriate technology used for Humanitarian Engineering projects
- Case studies to demonstrate the use of appropriate technology.
- Consideration that there is a need for appropriate technology in developed and developing nations.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Commence Assessment 2
Identifying appropriate technologies Due: Week 4 Tuesday (30 July 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Human Centered Design (HCD) Process – Empathise
- Introduction to the HCD process.
- Why empathising is critical to the success of appropriate technology.
- The importance of stakeholder engagement.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Take this time to evaluate the information so far and catch up on any learning and assignments.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Human Centered Design (HCD) Process – Define
- How to interpret data from the empathizing stage.
- How to effectively define your problem.
- How to define the parameters of a successful design.
- Utilising frameworks to assist in evaluation.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Human Centered Design (HCD) Process – Developing Ideas
- How to successfully research and appraise new and existing technologies suitable for your chosen application.
- The potential to implement and/or modify existing technologies to suit your chosen application.
- Applying a circular process of refining your problem statement to align with your expanding knowledge and experience.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Commence Assessment 3
Application of appropriate technologies Due: Week 7 Tuesday (27 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Human Centered Design (HCD) Process – Evaluating Ideas
- Practical processes for evaluation e.g. prototyping.
- Implementing frameworks as a means of quantitively evaluating ideas.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Implementing Appropriate Technology
- Working with stakeholders to enable the successful uptake of the technology.
- Understanding the importance of continuous improvement.
- How might your solution be scaled up to be available in volume.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Organisations promoting appropriate technology
- How can you get involved.
- An introduction to Engineers without Borders, the Centre of Appropriate Technology and more.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Social Innovation @ CQU
- Opportunities to get involved within the university.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
A recap and where to from here.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Please see the updated information on the Moodle website
Unit Co-ordinator: Shameen Jinadasa
Contact Information:
Phone: 07 4150 7192
Email: k.jinadasa@cqu.edu.au
1 Written Assessment
Demonstrate an understanding of humanitarian engineering and appropriate technologies. Identify various existing, new and emerging technologies. Critique their suitability to be used in an appropriate manner.
Week 4 Tuesday (30 July 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 6 Tuesday (20 Aug 2024)
A Marking Rubric is provided on Moodle that includes indicators of attainment at the ‘Sound’, ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’ level for each component of the assignment.
- Identify applications of technologies in humanitarian projects through independent research
- Demonstrate technical knowledge in at least one engineering discipline area
2 Written Assessment
Demonstrate an understanding of human centred design and various frameworks such as triple bottom line (TBL) and strengths weaknesses opportunities & threats (SWOT). Individually integrate TBL and SWOT ideologies to create a comprehensive evaluation framework to assess the application of appropriate technologies.
Week 7 Tuesday (27 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 9 Tuesday (10 Sept 2024)
A Marking Rubric is provided on Moodle that includes indicators of attainment at the ‘Sound’, ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’ level for each component of the assignment.
- Evaluate technologies for appropriate applications in humanitarian contexts
- Apply effective communication, creativity, cultural awareness, time management and collaborative skills to work and learn individually and in a team.
3 Written Assessment
Working as a team, identify a humanitarian project and research how appropriate technologies were utilized.
Develop a framework using knowledge acquired in previous assessments and apply this evaluation framework to the technlogies adopted in the context of your chosen humanitarian project.
Review/Exam Week Tuesday (8 Oct 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Exam Week Tuesday (15 Oct 2024)
A Marking Rubric is provided on Moodle that includes indicators of attainment at the ‘Sound’, ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’ level for each component of the assignment.
- Critique a humanitarian engineering project on the effective use of technology for the cultural context
- Generate solutions with appropriate technology for a humanitarian project using the human-centred design philosophy
- Demonstrate technical knowledge in at least one engineering discipline area
- Apply effective communication, creativity, cultural awareness, time management and collaborative skills to work and learn individually and in a team.
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?
