Overview
Legal professionals are required to solve complex legal problems by conducting research, critically analysing authorities through interdisciplinary knowledge and transmitting concepts to different audiences including clients, other professionals and public organisations. In this unit you will conduct research into a legal issue agreed with your supervisor, critically examine the problem and prepare a written analysis suitable for publication. Over the duration of the two terms of your honours course you will develop a specialised knowledge in this field of law and apply advanced legal research skills in critical analysis, design of research projects and transmission of results. You will work closely with an academic supervisor and with your peers to cultivate a research community and develop your capacity to provide and respond to feedback on progress. On completion of this unit you will have produced a body of research work that demonstrates professional expertise in a variety of career destinations and forms appropriate evidence of academic research skills attainment for admission into higher degrees.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Enrolment in CH75 Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
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 - 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 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 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 discussions
Further develop student research skills prior to commencement
We have introduced a core undergraduate research unit that will assist future honours students.
- Conduct legal research and attain advanced theoretical and technical knowledge of a specialised area of law
- Analyse critically, evaluate and transform knowledge of legal authorities and critical academic commentaries
- Scope, design and conduct a research project independently with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances
- Transmit knowledge and ideas in an academic research context
- Collaborate with academic supervisors and peers in a research community, providing and responding to feedback.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 20% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 80% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 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 - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 80% | ||||||||||
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: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 3rd ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.beattie@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
As a dissertation unit, students will conduct independent study and hold regular meetings with their supervisor and mentor.
Chapter
Ron Adams, Demystify your thesis (Victoria University 2013)
Kate Williams, Planning your dissertation (Palgrave Macmillan 2013)
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1 Portfolio
A legal research project requires careful planning and scoping before substantive research and writing can begin. Once you have established a research topic with your supervisor and course mentor, you will develop a portfolio of resources which map out your plan and establish the foundation of your dissertation. This portfolio will include:
- A statement of your research topic, expressed as a critical argument
- An analysis of jurisdictional issues and map of regulatory networks
- An overview of the current field of research, including key stakeholders and important research voices and significant publications
- A project plan stating key timelines such as meetings with your supervisor and deadlines for drafts being available for feedback
- Other material that your supervisor or course mentor may require.
This portfolio will be due in week four to allow your supervisor and course mentor to be able to provide timely feedback.
Week 4 Monday (26 Mar 2018) 8:00 am AEST
Week 6 Monday (16 Apr 2018)
- Design of research topic and problem solving skills
- Planning and time management
- Research methodology
- Critical analysis of legal and interdisciplinary issues
- Clear and professional expression of project outcomes and elements
Full rubric is available on the unit site.
- Conduct legal research and attain advanced theoretical and technical knowledge of a specialised area of law
- Analyse critically, evaluate and transform knowledge of legal authorities and critical academic commentaries
- Scope, design and conduct a research project independently with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances
- Transmit knowledge and ideas in an academic research context
- Collaborate with academic supervisors and peers in a research community, providing and responding to feedback.
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
2 Written Assessment
As an honours student you will attain specialised knowledge in a field of law that you will develop through two dissertation papers, each of an appropriate length for publication in an academic journal (6000-8000 words). These two papers should be connected in theme and will typically involve a more general overview of the field in Dissertation A followed by a more detailed investigation of a specific issue in Dissertation B.
It is crucial that your supervisor is aware of your progress and has the opportunity to view early drafts and to provided feedback on these. These timelines are negotiated in your portfolio assessment item and you are responsible for managing these.
Exam Week Monday (11 June 2018) 8:00 am AEST
Papers will be returned within two weeks and submitted for external review.
- Statement of an innovative research problem and argument design
- Legal and interdisciplinary research methodology
- Critical analysis of legal and interdisciplinary data and theories
- Investigation of the social and ethical context of the problem
- Professional presentation of final dissertation
Full rubric is available on the unit site.
- Conduct legal research and attain advanced theoretical and technical knowledge of a specialised area of law
- Analyse critically, evaluate and transform knowledge of legal authorities and critical academic commentaries
- Scope, design and conduct a research project independently with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances
- Transmit knowledge and ideas in an academic research context
- Collaborate with academic supervisors and peers in a research community, providing and responding to feedback.
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
- Communication
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?
