Weighting: This assessment item accounts for 30% of your final grade for this unit and must be completed by students individually.

Length: The review must be 1500 words in length excluding the list of references.

Cover page: The essay must include a cover page that contains your name, student number, resident campus, assessment title, lecturer and word count.

A critical review of the decision-making process of two organisations.

Two case studies will be posted in the Assessment Tile on Moodle (one on the aviation industry and the other on retail).

Task: Students are to examine two cases and to analyse critically a key decision or series of decisions made by the organisations. The specific questions will be determined by the unit coordinator. Using appropriate critical thinking and decision-making models, students are required to analyse the decisions made by the organisations and explain whether the decisions were sound and justified.

Both on-campus students and distance students must write a review article and submit it online via Moodle by the due date.

Format: Text should be word-processed, Times New Roman, 12 size font and line spacing (1.5). Please save/upload your file in a Word format (.doc or .docx).

Task Description: The purpose of this task is for you to demonstrate your ability to critically analyze, synthesize and evaluate information and present that information in a written format. You are expected to analyse the arguments using information from the cases.

Two articles on cases will be available for you to on the unit’s Moodle site for you. Questions relating to critical thinking and decision-making are listed on Moodle (Assessment title) 

• A clear and structured report including introduction, main body and conclusion.
• Use of key critical thinking, problem-solving, and argumentation as the basis for analysing the nominated cases.
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the article on cases against the critical thinking concepts.
• Providing a clear perspective of the practical value of the articles to management practice.
• Using a minimum of 12-quality references made up of recommended texts and academic journal articles so as to demonstrate breadth and quality of research, including citation of the recommended texts.
• The use of the APA in-text referencing system to correctly cite academic sources.
• Ensuring a list of references used in the written report.

This is the minimum standard expected for this assignment. Students who only meet the minimum should expect to receive the minimum pass grade.

As Masters students, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered.

Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in the discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.

Each topic in your unit has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF.

In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as Masters students, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research.

A detailed rubric and audio file is available in the Assessment folder on the Moodle site that provides further information regarding this assessment.

Weighing: This assessment item accounts for 30% of your final grade for this unit and must be completed by students as a group. This assessment consists of two parts:

(1). A summary group report (15%)

(2). An individual presentation (15%).

Each team member must make an in-person presentation at the scheduled workshop along with other team members.

 Length:  The written group report must be 1200 words in length excluding the list of references. 

Cover page: The report must include a cover page that contains your name, student number, resident campus, assessment title, lecturer and word count.

The presentation (individual) is about 10 minutes long depending on the size of the group.

There is a minimum of 10-15 peer-reviewed journal articles in APA style

Submission of group report: Only ONE (1) member of the group must submit. If more than one member of the group submits, then a high overlap score will be generated. Please save and upload your written report in a Word format (.doc or .docx) via the assessment link on Moodle. Please also submit ONE (1) PPT slide per group on Moodle. This is the minimum standard expected for this assessment. Students who only meet the minimum should expect to receive the minimum pass grade.

As Masters's Students, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered.

Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in the discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.

Each topic in your unit has several required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF.

To demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals and publications, and as Masters Students, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research.

A detailed rubric and audio file are available in the Assessment folder on the Moodle site that provides further information regarding this assessment.

Students are to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter, and effective presentation skills by:

• Providing a concise and structured presentation with an introduction, main body, and conclusion.
• Effectively using audiovisuals and verbal communication delivered within the time allocation (15 mins per group)
• Use of key critical thinking, problem-solving models, concepts, and theories as an analytical frame.
• Identifying company strengths and weaknesses against these analytical frames.
• Providing a clear set of recommendations supported by literature (if and when appropriate)
• Demonstrating a commitment to professional business presentation standards, paralleling those of professional consulting firms.
• Ensuring all group members make a balanced contribution to the presentation.
• Providing a copy of the presentation slides to the unit coordinator prior to the presentation session.

Students are to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter and effective written skills by:

• Providing a concise overview of the content of the presentation of approximately 1200 words
• Providing a clear set of recommendations supported by literature (if and when appropriate).
  
• Using a minimum of 12-16 quality references made up of recommended texts and academic journal articles so as to demonstrate breadth and quality of research, including citation of the recommended texts.
• The use of the APA in-text referencing system to correctly cite academic sources.
• Ensuring a list of references used in the presentation is attached to the summary report.

Weighting: This assessment item accounts for 40% of your final grade for this unit and must be completed by students individually.

Length: The essay must be 2000 words in length excluding the list of references.

Cover page: The essay must include a cover page that contains your name, student number, resident campus, assessment title, lecturer and word count

Referencing: A minimum of 12-15 academic references are required.

Submission: Please save and upload your file in a Word format (.doc or .docx) via the assessment link on Moodle. There will be a late penalty of 2 marks (5% of 40) for each day late.

Task Description: The objectives of this reflective essay are for students to:

(1) summarize, critically review and reinforce key concepts and theories learned from week 1 to week 11 of this unit.

2) reflect on these concepts/theories' potential impact on your decision making, and how this learning is being applied and could be applied in your current jobs, development of future career and/or your life generally. You will also complete at least two diagnostic tools related to learning styles and critical thinking and reflect on the results.

(3) reflect on new insights gained about oneself as a result of learning the unit, and propose a plan for self-development.

You are expected to reflect on four topics covered from week 1-11 and evaluate the topics that inspired your thinking and influenced your decision making.   Each topic needs to contain a CONVINCING and PERSONAL justification of why these topics are chosen and how the mentioned topics have changed/might change your thinking or the students’ decisions.

Are the following questions well addressed? What have you learned about yourself through the course activities? What skills do you possess and what skills are you lacking? How are you going to improve your decision-making in the future? (Self-knowledge and self-development) You should tie all your arguments/insights together at the end of your paper, highlighting how you think you will be able to use your learnings in your future

For example, you could identify the topic of “automatic versus critical thinking” as a theme for one week’s reflection, and illustrate with personal examples how having learned about the differences has enabled you to be more effective in making a certain decision at work. Close to the end, the essay needs to reflect on self-knowledge and highlight implications for future self-development.

To successfully complete this assessment task, you should answer the following reflective essay questions:

• Which concepts/theories from which week’s learning activities are significant or important to you?

• Why are these concepts/theories you have identified important or significant to you? (Theoretical review)

• How are the concepts/theories you have learned influencing/impacting your decision-making in relation to your current interpersonal relationships, professional workplaces and/or personal life? (Practical Application)

• What have you learned about yourself through the unit activities? What skills do you possess and what skills are you lacking? How are you going to improve your decision-making in the future? (Self-knowledge and self-development)

You should tie all your arguments/insights together at the end of your reflective essay, highlighting how you think you will be able to use your learning in your future career and in life generally.

• A well-structured reflective essay that demonstrates key aspects of critical and rational thinking.
• Utilise and reflect on the results of a minimum of two diagnostic tools to assess personal learning styles and approaches to decision making
• Discuss the four selected topics and provide clear reflection linking personal preferences in the light of the diagnostic results.
• Utilise key critical thinking concepts and models to describe and analyse their own positions or beliefs.
• The use of between 12 quality references that includes key readings and recommended texts, using
• Use of APA referencing and include a reference list.

These are the minimum requirements. You should note that satisfactorily meeting the minimum requirements will typically result in the minimum pass grade being awarded

A detailed rubric and audio file are available on the Moodle site that provides further details for this assessment task.

Refer to the unit Moodle site for further details.