Overview
Effective and ethical communication is an essential skill for professionals such as psychologists, whose work involves engaging with diverse groups and potentially vulnerable communities. In this unit, you will explore and practise culturally responsive communication skills. You will develop practical capabilities in interviewing, active listening, and adapting communication styles to suit different audiences, including professional, academic, peer, community, and general‑population contexts. You will examine the importance of ethical conduct and communication across research, social, and clinical settings, including the use of technology, as well as the role of self‑care in maintaining ethical and effective practice. You will also reflect on your ongoing development as a communicator and consider how these skills apply to future work or study.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Students must be enrolled in CC42 Bachelor of Psychological Science (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 3 - 2026
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).
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 SUTE
Provide more resources in addition to the existing recorded presentations.
Provide more resources such as articles and links to relevant websites.
Feedback from SUTE
The first and third linked assessments felt repetitive.
Review these two assessments. Make the differences between them in identifying short-term (Assessment 1) and then long-term (Assessment 3) skill development clearer.
Feedback from SUTE
In Assessment 2 (demonstrating interview skills), consider also measuring the skills of the Interviewee, not just the Interviewer.
Broaden Assessment 2 so that the Interviewee's communication skills are also assessed.
Feedback from SUTE
There was confusion as to how many peer feedback sheets were required to be submitted as it varied depending on group size.
Clarify the number of peer feedback sheets required to be submitted.