Working in a group, with a minimum of two members, you need to design and deliver a pitch about a social issue of concern to you. This assignment helps you to demonstrate your understanding of the characteristics of social problems. This will require you to engage with the specialist literature in the area of your challenge/problem, and the social innovation literature (both scholarly and applied).

You should include a brief overview of existing campaigns, policy approaches or other responses to the social problem in not more than 1500 words + references. 

You will also create either a 15-minute online video or a podcast. The Moodle site for the unit will provide resources that will guide production. If you are uploading the video or podcast to an external site please provide a link to it in the 1500 word essay document. 

Information on referencing and resources (including technical resources) for this assignment will be provided on the Moodle site.

To succeed in this unit you will need to interact with the discussion board, follow forums, communicate with your peers, read the recommended cases, and listen/watch/read the materials provided.

• To what degree have you explored the problem and its underlying causes?
• To what degree have you explored the campaign, policy approach or intervention that has been launched to overcome this problem?
• Have you identified the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence, and your solutions?
• Have you demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of your scholarly and applied sources?

• Is this insight linked to evidence drawn from quality sources?
• Has a minimum of ten such quality sources been properly used (that is understood, discussed, and referenced)?
• Have you demonstrated the ability to evaluate the quality of the evidence?

• Have you summed up the problem in a clear and compelling way?
• Does the video or podcast show good communication skills?
• Does it show appropriate and accurate (APA) referencing in the essay?

It is important that you begin this assignment at the beginning of the term even though the due date is at the end of the term. As you work through the readings in each week's modules, or do additional readings in areas of particular interest to you, keep a record of your notes on your reaction to these pieces.

This assignment is similar to an annotated bibliography, or a 'diary' of readings, with the focus on showing not just that you've understood the readings, but have thought about/reflected on the readings.

Focus on six readings chosen from across the unit that particularly sparked your interest or thinking, and discuss and reflect on this material. So select works that you found interesting, perplexing, confusing, illuminating or otherwise significant. Your work can include more than six readings/references, if they help illustrate your thoughts, and you can use the textbook as one of the six core readings or as one of your optional additional readings.

By reflecting, you are able to:

• Get to know your own strengths and weaknesses
• Discover your own underlying assumptions – and challenge them
• Make connections between your own experience and what you are learning
• Learn from your mistakes – and thus become a better practitioner.

Total word count for this assignment is 1500 words + references.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: To reduce end-of-semester stress, it is recommended that the student complete this task as they complete weekly readings, and then polish and submit close to the due date.

Insight and reflection (5 marks):

• To what degree have you reflected on the topic?
• Are your reflections/thoughts about the issue you’ve raised original and incisive?

Conceptual and theoretical understanding (5 marks):

• To what degree does the submission represent an understanding of key terms and theories?

Research (3 marks):

• Are you able to demonstrate some relevant further reading on the topic?
• Are your sources good quality/credible/relevant?
• Have you used a minimum of one additional resource per module to reinforce your reflections?

Presentation and communication (2 marks):

• Have you summed up the your responses to the topic in a clear, professional and concise way?
• Is your referencing accurate (using APA style)?

Note in relation to assessment for this unit in general: as postgraduate students you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered. 1. Students need to demonstrate "a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice, and 2. Students must demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.

Each module in the unit has a number of readings in terms of academic texts, journals and other 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. As postgraduate students you are expected to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals and studies to demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research. Your attention is drawn to the University's stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE (a full list of references must be submitted as part of the assessment).

This assessment item is designed to allow you to become more familiar with the nature of wicked problems and the difficulties that social innovators face in designing 'solutions' to those problems. This difficulty is illustrated by taking a stubborn individual/personal issue and visually map both the problem and solution. This assignment involves a three stage process:

• Thinking. For this stage of the assignment, you have to select a ‘problem’, understand its root causes, engineer a solution, see the shortcomings of that solution, and then address (where possible) those shortcomings.
• Mapping. Keep notes on the thinking stage, and then create a visual ‘mind map’ of how you think the problem and its solution (including its possible hurdles) would develop 'in real life'. How would you measure 'success'?
• Rethinking: Refining the original plan to ensure that you’ve dealt with as many of the possible hurdles as possible.

While this assignment is designed primarily around a visual presentation of a complex problem and solution, students are asked to supplement their visual presentation with written material (maximum 1000 words + references) to illustrate the thinking/research that went into producing the final map.

The Moodle site offers further tools and advice on how to create visual maps of problems, and advice on choosing a topic. Students should include a reference list (APA style) with their submission, although this can be submitted separately.

Insight (15 marks):

• To what degree have you explored the underlying causes of the problem? For example, is this really a problem? Or are you/others looking at it the wrong way?
• Are there any hidden 'advantages' of keeping this problem?

Critical thinking (10 marks):

• Have you come up with an innovative solution to the problem—something that cuts across normal ways of responding to a problem…that makes change inevitable, or offers positive side-effects while delivering the target change?
• Have you identified the weaknesses of your solutions?
• Have you thought through how these secondary problems could be overcome?

Realism (5 marks):

• Are you able to demonstrate your solutions are realistic?
• Clear indications of your sources should be given. Again remember, quality of your sources is important. So find some way to indicate on your infographic (perhaps in fine print in one corner) where you obtained your information/evidence.

Presentation and communication (5 marks):

• Is the way you’ve summed up the problem and the solution clear and compelling?
• Does the assignment show good communication skills?
• Have you used correct APA style in your reference list and taken care to check for grammar, spelling and other presentation issues in your final document submission?