Overview
In this unit you will reflect on the accumulated experience of both law coursework and your practical experience to curate a portfolio of digital artefacts which provides evidence of your learning and sets strategies for achieving your career goals. Your Professional Portfolio draws on your academic achievements as well as your participation in the CQUniversity learning community and broader engagement in society through work and volunteering. As a new lawyer, you will need to carefully develop your professional identity and represent yourself in a variety of different contexts and media. Through the curation of your portfolio you will be articulate this identity and present it through your digital evidence and through simulated learning experiences such as a job interview or project funding proposal.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
48 CP of previous study in law units pre-requisite
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 - 2018
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 Survey, personal consultations
Students with strong extra-curricular experiences were able to curate these into portfolios and represent their initiative within the curriculum
Continue to promote this unit to the self-motivated students and provide encouragement to others through development of extra-curricular programs
Feedback from Assessment, personal consultations, email
Some students struggled to curate sufficient extra-curricular experiences to build their portfolio and resume.
If the CQU Law program is to remain competitive we must develop our extra-curricular offerings including mooting, careers services, awards, internships and digital badging. Badging would give us an edge over other schools that do not offer it yet. This development depends on workforce expansion so that we may generate the capacity to support extra-curriculars.
Feedback from Survey
Students found scheduling the interview assessment task challenging where peers were disengaged from the planning process
Consider scheduling mandatory dates for the activity with penalties for students who do not attend.
- Critically reflect on academic and practical learning experiences in order to curate evidence of learning in a digital portfolio of achievement
- Articulate and present your professional identity through digital artefacts and in simulated professional contexts
- Plan for work-readiness and ongoing strategies of professional development and engagement
- Demonstrate evidence of professional responsibility and leadership through engagement activities in the learning community and in the broader social context.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 70% | ||||
| 2 - Practical Assessment - 30% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 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 | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 70% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Practical Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Google Suite for Education
- Zoom
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 3rd ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
w.jones@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Create the first draft of a new portfolio or organise an existing one for use in your legal career. You will change and update this draft as required up to the end of term and beyond.
Chapter
Course Materials.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Sessions with coordinator and colleagues.
Due: Submit the first draft of your Portfolio online.
Module/Topic
Research and draft a job description for a position you will interview for in a mock interview with your colleagues in stage three.
Chapter
Course Materials
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Sessions with course coordinator and colleagues.
Due: Submit your draft advertisement with a full job description including responsibilities and selection criteria.
Module/Topic
Attend job interviews as an applicant then on two panels as an interviewer.
Chapter
Course Materials.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Participate in job interviews.
Submit your written reflections on the experiences with a link to the video recording of your interview.
Update your Portfolio based on experiences.
Interview exercise Due: Week 10 Friday (21 Sept 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Use the last fortnight to make final changes and additions to your Portfolio ready for assessment.
Chapter
Course Materials.
Events and Submissions/Topic
The final version of your Portfolio is due for assessment at the end of week 12.
Professional Portfolio Due: Week 12 Friday (5 Oct 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
1 Portfolio
You will present a digital portfolio, developed in accordance with the principles established in this study guide. You will also be required to create a .doc version of the text of your portfolio (without the artefacts) for the purposes of auditing, so that it can be submitted via Turnitin and checked for originality. This document must contain the URL of your online portfolio.
Before submitting your portfolio for assessment you will receive feedback on a draft from your unit coordinator. You are also encouraged to seek feedback from your peers and to use the interview exercise (below) as a diagnostic tool to better understand your portfolio.
Your first draft must be ready by the end of week 4 to continue to participate in this Unit.
Your final draft which will be marked must be submitted by the end of week 12.
Week 12 Friday (5 Oct 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Your first draft must be ready by the end of week 4 to continue to participate in this Unit. Your final draft which will be marked must be available by the end of week 12.
Marks available at certification date.
Criteria:
- professional presentation including clarity of navigation, visual design and appropriate organisation
- choice of appropriate artefacts as evidence of capabilities
- curation of artefacts, creating a narrative that guides the reader through the portfolio
- reflective thinking in professional statements and in curation text
- use of appropriate technologies including multimedia material
A full rubric is available at https://goo.gl/9JXQbC
- Critically reflect on academic and practical learning experiences in order to curate evidence of learning in a digital portfolio of achievement
- Articulate and present your professional identity through digital artefacts and in simulated professional contexts
- Plan for work-readiness and ongoing strategies of professional development and engagement
- Demonstrate evidence of professional responsibility and leadership through engagement activities in the learning community and in the broader social context.
- Communication
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Practical Assessment
During this term, or before, you will participate in a series of hypothetical job interview exercises; once as an interviewee and twice as a member of the interviewing panel. These interviews will be conducted over zoom at a time organized by the unit coordinator.
In preparation for this exercise you will create a hypothetical position description that you are to respond to and share this with the members of the interview panel (peers and unit coordinator) not later than one week before the scheduled interview. This position description may be copied from a real advertised position or can be an amalgam from various sources. It must contain selection criteria that you will respond to in a letter of application that will also be distributed to the panel at the same time. You will use your portfolio to address the selection criteria and respond to the questions asked by the panel.
When you are a panel member, you will meet with the rest of the panel prior to the interview exercise in order to clarify the process, agree on an approach to the interview and to decide on key questions based on the selection criteria. The group will agree who is to be the chair of the panel.
After the interview is completed, the chair of the panel will provide feedback to the interviewee who will then submit a short reflective piece (no greater than 500 words) on what they have learned from the process. The interviewee should also watch the recording of the interview.
Note that this exercise is identical to the CQU Law Clinical Badge ‘Career Pathfinder – Level 2’ and may be completed by students any time prior to enrolling in this unit. In that situation the reflective piece should be submitted via Turnitin for grading.
Week 10 Friday (21 Sept 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
All aspects of this part of the task including the position description document, the written reflection with the link to your You Tube recording must be submitted no later than this date.
Week 12 Friday (5 Oct 2018)
Criteria:
- ability to be organized and work with a team in the exercise process
- reflect on the interview process and demonstrate what has been learned
- use of portfolio to address the selection criteria
- presentation during the interview process and ability to ‘think on your feet’
- provision of valuable feedback to peers.
A full rubric is available at https://goo.gl/S3eOjN .
- Articulate and present your professional identity through digital artefacts and in simulated professional contexts
- Plan for work-readiness and ongoing strategies of professional development and engagement
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
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?
