Overview
This unit is a survey of contemporary topics in emergency services. You will investigate a contemporary services issue of interest in detail through a literature review methodology. You will then be required to prepare a conference presentation suitable for your peers which will deliver the contemporary knowledge and insight you have gained on this research journey. You will also be expected to make recommendations for improvement in relation to the issue you have researched from an evidence informed practice lens.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite is PMSC13008 Evaluating Emergency Services Risks.
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 Have your say unit evaluation.
The students appreciated the self directed learning and discovery aspects of this unit.
Continue with this unit learning design.
Feedback from Have your say unit evaluation.
The students appreciated the timely and concise feedback that provided clear directions for their learning.
Continue to provide timely and useful feedback.
- Write a literature review related to contemporary emergency services issues.
- Conduct a peer evaluation of a literature review.
- Prepare a conference presentation about a contemporary emergency services issue.
- Based on a literature review identify a contemporary emergency services issue and make recommendations for improvement.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 15% | ||||
| 3 - Presentation - 25% | ||||
| 4 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||
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 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 15% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Presentation - 25% | ||||||||||
| 4 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom capacity (web cam and microphone)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
h.keendyer@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Selecting a topic (burning interest)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Drop-in Session – Introduction and Unit Overview (Wednesday 7.30 to 8.00pm AEST)
Module/Topic
Preparing a topic overview
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Drop-in Session and talking assessment task one (Thursday 7.30 to 8.00pm AEST)
Module/Topic
Preparing a topic overview
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Reviewing the literature for the topic (burning interest)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Reviewing the literature for the topic (burning interest)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Drop-in Session and talking assessment task two (Thursday 7.30 to 8.00pm AEST)
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Reviewing the literature for the topic (burning interest)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Refining and presenting your topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Drop-in Session and talking assessment task three (Thursday 7.30 to 8.00pm AEST)
Module/Topic
Refining and presenting your topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Refining and presenting your topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Bring the pieces together, refining the pieces and making recommendations
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Drop-in Session and talking assessment task four (Thursday 7.30 to 8.00pm AEST)
Module/Topic
Bring the pieces together, refining the pieces and making recommendations
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Bring the pieces together, refining the pieces and making recommendations
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Classroom Drop-in Session and talking assessment task four (Thursday 7.30 to 8.00pm AEST)
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
PMSC13007 Contemporary Emergency Services Issues is an independent studies unit, which means that you have the opportunity to select a topic (burning interest) from your context and explore that in detail. As such, the unit is structured somewhat differently to others in the course. Using the guidance provided in the Moodle site, you will work through a series of stages including a) selecting a topic, b) conducting a review of the literature relevant to the topic, c) present your topic, and d) making recommendations for enhancing the identified issue.
1 Written Assessment
In assessment task one, you will select a topic (a burning interest) and write a short overview.
The topic you select will be the one you will use for all four assessment tasks, so please carefully consider your choice. You can pick any emergency services related topic, which you consider is both important to the context you work in and that can be improved upon.
In this overview, you will a) describe the topic, b) identify how the preliminary literature you sourced informed your topic selection, and c) argue why the chosen topic (burning interest) is important to you and your context.
Assessment task one is limited to approximately 600 words and must be supported by appropriate literature.
Week 3 Friday (27 July 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 5 Friday (10 Aug 2018)
The assessment criteria for this unit are in the form of a detailed rubric, which is available from the Moodle site.
Broadly, you will be assessed on:
· Knowledge of contemporary emergency services issues, with depth in a selected topic
· Application of knowledge and skills in relation to the selected topic
· Communication and presentation
- Write a literature review related to contemporary emergency services issues.
- Prepare a conference presentation about a contemporary emergency services issue.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
2 Written Assessment
In this task, you will expand your preliminary overview and produce a short review of the literature relevant to the topic (burning interest) that you selected in assessment task one. The literature review is your description and analyses of the available literature and should help reinforce why your topic is important and present the key elements.
Your paper should have at least 10 references (maximum is 15). Most of them should be peer-reviewed articles but some may be books/chapters, government documents, news articles, non-peer-reviewed articles and web pages.
Assessment task two is limited to approximately 1000 words.
Week 6 Friday (24 Aug 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 8 Friday (7 Sept 2018)
The assessment criteria for this unit are in the form of a detailed rubric, which is available from the Moodle site.
Broadly, you will be assessed on:
· Knowledge of the literature related to contemporary emergency services issues, with depth in a selected topic
· Knowledge of the elements that relate to a selected topic
· Application of the literature relevant to a selected topic
· Communication and presentation
- Conduct a peer evaluation of a literature review.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
3 Presentation
In assessment task three you will present your topic (burning interest). As such, this assessment has both a written and an audio component.
Part 1) Written component – the written component takes the form of an abstract (like those in the journal articles you sourced for the literature review) and a copy of your PowerPoint slides.
Your abstract will include four components (approximately 250 words), including:
- Your topic and why it is important
- Description of relevant literature
- Broad recommendation for enhancement
- How you might demonstrate that the enhancement was successful (if it was to be implemented)
Your PowerPoint presentation can have a maximum of 15 slides. The first slide should include your name and the title of the presentation. The last slide should list the references.
Part 2) Audio component – the audio component is an MP3 file of your presentation (please state your name for the recording).
The audio presentation can be a maximum of 10 minutes.
Week 9 Friday (14 Sept 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 11 Friday (28 Sept 2018)
The assessment criteria for this unit are in the form of a detailed rubric, which is available from the Moodle site. Broadly, you will be assessed on:
· Knowledge of the literature related to contemporary emergency services issues, with depth in a selected topic
· Ability to analyse a selected topic and relevant literature in order to make a recommendation for enhancement
· Ability to communicate (present) the topic and literature relevant to a selected topic
· Communication and presentation
- Write a literature review related to contemporary emergency services issues.
- Prepare a conference presentation about a contemporary emergency services issue.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
4 Written Assessment
In assessment task four, you will bring all of the pieces together. As such, assessment task four includes three sections:
Section 1) Revised version of your topic overview (Assessment 1). Now that you have further explored the chosen topic, go back to your original overview and update it. Please use track changes to highlight your revisions. The word limits remain the same as for the original submission (approximately 600 words).
Section 2) Revised version of the Literature Review (Assessment 2). Update the literature review with any additional elements related to your topic, additional references or insights you now have. Please use track changes to highlight your revisions. The word limits remain the same as for the original submission (approximately 1000 words).
Section 3) Make recommendations for intervention(s) / improvement(s) that will enhance the contemporary emergency services topic (burning issue) you selected. To do this, take your broad recommendation (from assessment task three) and make specific recommendations for intervention(s) / improvement(s). Identify the recommendation(s), the reason(s) you selected the recommendation(s), the reason(s) you think the recommendation(s) will be successful, and how you will know if the recommendation(s) are successful (how will you know that the enhancements have achieved the desired results). The word limit for Section 3 is approximately 1,000 words.
You must use literature to support your recommendation(s). For example, you can say that "Smith found that ‘x’ was successful for managing ‘y’ and so I believe that it will be successful in the context of this topic.”
Review/Exam Week Monday (8 Oct 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Exam Week Friday (19 Oct 2018)
The assessment criteria for this unit are in the form of a detailed rubric, which is available from the Moodle site. Broadly, you will be assessed on:
· Knowledge of the literature related to contemporary emergency services issues, with depth in a selected topic
· Ability to analyse a selected topic and relevant literature in order to make recommendations for enhancement
· Ability to communicate (present) the topic and literature relevant to a selected topic
· Communication and presentation
- Based on a literature review identify a contemporary emergency services issue and make recommendations for improvement.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology 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?
