Overview
This unit is the first of two in the Safety Science Thesis suite of units. During this unit you will learn about the process of research by exploring a safety science problem in depth by developing and refining an extensive literature review, formulating a research proposal, research questions and hypothesis, and the preparation of an ethics approval application. The assignments in Thesis 1 form the basis of the research conducted in Thesis 2 which is conducted over the following term.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
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 - 2019
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 Postgraduate 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 pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.
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 Informal student feedback
Students have indicated their appreciation for the supportive and flexible environment in which they work with their dedicated supervision teams to develop their research ideas.
Continue to build mentoring and supervision capacity within the Transport and Safety Sciences team so that students can continue to be supported by high quality supervision teams in their research journeys.
Feedback from Coordinator observations
Research projects and ethics requirements in particular can represent a new paradigm for many students, who may benefit from additional guidance earlier in the term.
Supervision teams should begin to discuss ethics requirements earlier in the unit so as to be prepared to begin the research project in the following term. The assessment item related to ethics may benefit from being due earlier in the term.
- Design a research study in the area of safety science.
- Prepare and present a Research Proposal in the area of safety science.
- Prepare an Ethics Application to support the proposed Research Proposal.
N/A
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Presentation and Written Assessment - 0% | |||
| 2 - Portfolio - 0% | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 0% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||
| 2 - Communication | |||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||
| 4 - Research | |||
| 5 - Self-management | |||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||
| 7 - Leadership | |||
| 8 - 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 | |
| 1 - Presentation and Written Assessment - 0% | ||||||||
| 2 - Portfolio - 0% | ||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 0% | ||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom account (Free)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.dell@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Introduction to Research Methodology
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Setting expectations for the term ahead and discussing supervision options
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Defining the Research Problem
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: First meeting with proposed supervision team
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Developing Aims & Objectives
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop project idea
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Research Design
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop project idea
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop research proposal
Module/Topic
Vacation Week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Research Proposal Presentations via Group Zoom Session
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Methods of Data Collection
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop research plan
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Data Analysis
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop research plan
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Ethics
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop research plan and ethics application
Module/Topic
Building Research Skills: Interpretation and Report Writing
Chapter
Building Research Skills readings will be provided in Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to develop research plan and ethics application
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to finalise research plan
Research Plan Due: Week 11 Friday (4 Oct 2019) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Milestone: Meeting with supervision team to finalise ethics application
Ethics Approval Documents Due: Week 12 Friday (11 Oct 2019) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Presentation and Written Assessment
Develop a research proposal to introduce your project idea, its theoretical and conceptual background, and its potential to fill an identified gap in the literature. In week 6 you will submit this as a written proposal and share your research topic and proposal via Zoom to an audience of peers, supervisors and other academic staff.
As a guide, proposal documents of approximately 2000-3000 words are more likely to be successful.
Presentations should be aided by a visual component (typically Powerpoint slides) and should be approximately 20 minutes in length. Upload your slides to Moodle when you have completed your presentation.
Please note, as part of the assessment process, CQU may record your presentation.
Presentation session date and time will be determined by consultation with all students and supervisors involved in this unit. Written proposals and presentation slides must be uploaded to Moodle by the end of week 6.
Feedback to be returned to students two weeks from presentation date
Proposals will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Clear statement of the overarching research aims and objectives
- Well-defined research questions flow logically from the aims and objectives
- Proposed project is contextualised within relevant contemporary knowledge/practices
- The need for the proposed project is established by the identification of a gap in the extant literature
- An explanation is provided for how the proposed project will address this gap, with appropriate justification
-
Presentation is well-structured and uses appropriate visual aids that are formatted professionally
- Appropriate use of supporting sources that are consistent with the current version of Harvard referencing style.
- Prepare and present a Research Proposal in the area of safety science.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
2 Portfolio
Incorporating the feedback provided for your proposal, develop a full research plan for your project that you will execute in Thesis 2. Where the proposal is focussed on why your proposed project should be undertaken, this research plan should explain how it will be carried out. Consider how your proposed methodology will achieve your research aims and objectives, providing justification from the literature and/or research philosophy. Discuss any potential limitations associated with your proposed methodology.
As a guide, project plans of approximately 2000-3000 words are more likely to be successful.
Week 11 Friday (4 Oct 2019) 11:59 pm AEST
Feedback will be given throughout the term by the supervision team and the unit coordinator.
Research Plans will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Evidence of further development of research aims, objectives and questions following the proposal presentation
- Each step of the research method is clearly outlined, including participant recruitment (where relevant), data collection and analysis
- Proposed method is suitably justified with reference to existing studies in the relevant discipline and/or research methodology frameworks/philosophies
- Potential limitations for the proposed project are identified and mitigation strategies discussed
- Any relevant survey measures, data collection tools or questionnaires are included as an appendix
- Submission is formatted appropriately for a research plan
- Submission demonstrates Masters-level academic writing skills
- All sources are referenced properly in line with the current version of Harvard Referencing Style.
- Design a research study in the area of safety science.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
3 Written Assessment
In this simple (but integral) task, you will complete the appropriate ethics approval documents such that they are ready for submission to the CQU Human Research Ethics Committee Secretary. Your project must meet the university's requirements as a Low Risk project.
Week 12 Friday (11 Oct 2019) 11:59 pm AEST
Feedback will be given throughout the term by the supervision team and the unit coordinator.
Satisfactory completion of the CQUniversity Human Research Ethics Committee Low Risk Ethics Application documents, such that they can be sent to the Ethics Committee Secretary for consideration. Note that successful completion of this assessment item does not necessarily imply that Ethical Approval will be granted by the Committee.
- Prepare an Ethics Application to support the proposed Research Proposal.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
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?
