Overview
This unit explores the historical, political and normative dimensions of social policy and policy-making in Australia and the international context. You will explore concepts such as the welfare state and neo-liberalism and you will examine and critically analyse social policy that is relevant to the human service context.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Successful completion of 48 credit points in any course.
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 1 - 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 Student evaluation and verbal feedback from students
Students reported that they enjoyed the eFIl assessment
Retain eFIL assessment
Feedback from Student evaluation
Some students expressed dissatisfaction with the assessment requirements.
Review conditions of assessments
- Compare and contrast the inherent value-judgements associated with social policy making
- Describe the nature of social policy making in Australia
- Apply a theoretical understanding of the policy process to selected social policy context
- Analyse the strategies and processes of policy development, analysis, negotiation and advocacy in a range of policy context in the Australian context
- Analyse their performance from feedback drawn from their involvement in professional learning contexts
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Electronic Focused Interactive Learning (eFIL) - 40% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 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 - 30% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Social Policy in Australia: Understanding for Action
Third Edition (2014)
Authors: Edited by Alison McLelland and Paul Smyth
Oxford University Press
Melbourne Melbourne , Victoria , Australia
ISBN: 9780195526868
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
g.nichol@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Chapter
Chapter 1. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 1 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Refer to the Moodle Site for eFIL quiz and group discussion submission dates for week 2,4,6,8,10
Module/Topic
The welfare state and social policy
Chapter
Chapter 2 and 6. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 2 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 3 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Chapter 3. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 4 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Chapter 4 and 5, p. 83-84 . Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 5 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Chapter 16. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 6 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 7 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Chapter 9 and 10. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 8 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Health and community services
Chapter
Chapter 12 and 14. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 9 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Chapter 13. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 10 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 11 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Changes and challenges
Chapter
Chapter 7. Visit the study week schedule on Moodle for week 12 set readings and activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Electronic Focused Interactive Learning (eFIL)
Electronic Focused Interactive Learning (eFIL) is an innovative method of assessment that encourages active learning and communication among students, irrespective of location. The eFIL technique will be used in assessable online exercises in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Each eFIL exercise will comprise a weighted 8% of the course grade. In total there are five fortnightly quizzes and online discussions to be completed
What’s Involved?
In weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 students will complete a multiple choice quiz containing 4 policy questions. The questions will be based on the fortnight’s course content, with 2 questions for each study week (i.e. quiz 1 will include a question from week 1 and week 2’s course content). Students will then re-sit the quiz after discussing their answers with peers in a small group online discussion forum. A detailed schedule of dates, times and quiz content will be posted on Moodle.
How is the eFIL different from a normal quiz?
eFIL assessment provides students with the opportunity to present and discuss their answers with a small group of students online, just as if they were in a classroom tutorial session. From the Saturday to Monday evening following the completion of the fortnightly quiz, students will be able to enter a small group discussion forum, where they will have the opportunity to discuss and compare their answers with their peers. Students will then have until the Monday evening deadline to take the quiz a second time, with the benefit of knowing the views of other students. Please note: Only the second attempt is graded, although both attempts must be recorded to accrue points towards your overall grade. There is NO opportunity to make up eFIL exercises due to their interactive nature. However in extenuating circumstances students can apply for an extension submitted through the AES (Assessment Extension System) located on the course Moodle site. In situations where an extension is approved, the student will not be required to partake in the small group discussion forum for that fortnight’s quiz but will be graded on their first attempt of the quiz
Number of Quizzes
5
Frequency of Quizzes
Fortnightly
Please Note: Students must complete all 3 activities (ie Quiz 1, 2 discussion forum posts and Quiz 2) to be awarded marks for this assessment.
eFIL activities are due fortnightly for weeks 2,4,6,8 and 10 of term
eFIL grades are normally available Tuesday following the second attempt
In order to receive marks for the second attempt of the quiz, students must meet the minimum requirements for the group discussion (2 online posts) which include:
Discussion Post 1 (Post after completion of quiz 1):
Post an explanation about WHY you chose the answers you selected for the quiz . An example of this, "I selected that the sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun. This was substantiated by Jone and Jones 1992" .
Discussion Post 2 (Response to another student):
Respond to another student about their answer selection and discuss the content so that it provides insight and learning for your student peer. An example of this, "Thank you for your post. I was unaware that this was why the sky was blue and further research indicates that this is because we see red and orange colours because blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight".
- Compare and contrast the inherent value-judgements associated with social policy making
- Describe the nature of social policy making in Australia
- Apply a theoretical understanding of the policy process to selected social policy context
- Analyse the strategies and processes of policy development, analysis, negotiation and advocacy in a range of policy context in the Australian context
2 Written Assessment
In preparation for this assignment you are required to examine the:
Stronger Futures Policy.
Using the unit material and independent reading, research the context which shaped the making of the Stronger Futures Policy. Your paper should include:
Research of the historical, social and economic, ideological, theoretical, and institutional context of the policy.
A focus on the broader values and political contexts which have influenced the policy making process. For example, what were the significant triggers for this policy change (these may be key inquiries and reports, major economic changes, shift in societal perceptions on particular issues, and so on)
The principles underpinning the welfare state and/or the neo-liberal state as the overall context shaping social policy.
The paper should be written in academic style, with an introduction, a body, a conclusion and a list of references.
Word Limit
1500 words (excluding references and appendices). You must remain within 10% of the word limit
Week 8 Monday (30 Apr 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Friday (18 May 2018)
Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the historical, political and normative contexts of social policy.
Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the principles underpinning the welfare state as the overall context shaping social policy.
Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of principles underpinning neoliberalism as the overall context shaping social policy.
Ability to produce a well written and presented essay using scholary conventions.
- Compare and contrast the inherent value-judgements associated with social policy making
- Describe the nature of social policy making in Australia
- Apply a theoretical understanding of the policy process to selected social policy context
- Analyse the strategies and processes of policy development, analysis, negotiation and advocacy in a range of policy context in the Australian context
- Analyse their performance from feedback drawn from their involvement in professional learning contexts
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Online Quiz(zes)
Assessment Type
Online Quiz(zes)
The online multiple choice quiz will be made available at the appropriate time through the course website. It can be completed using any computer that has internet access. This quiz is set to test your understanding of fundamental concepts, perspectives and facts covered by the course content. It covers the 12 weeks of the course. This is a timed online multiple choice quiz that must be completed on the due date between the hours of 4am and 11pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time). It will be delivered through the ‘Assessment’ block of the course website, and will only become available (and visible to students) on the due date. Students will need to have access to a computer with Internet connection in order to complete the quiz. It is your responsibility to make time to complete the quiz on the due date, and to arrange for a reliable Internet connection. Before you take the quiz, make sure that you are ready (i.e. a proper revision has been done) and choose a time and computer/place with minimum distraction to sit for the quiz (i.e. do not have external disturbances from people, pets, etc). Be conscious of the time limit while taking the quiz. Plan to have started the quiz by 11:00pm (AEST) at the latest to ensure full completion before the quiz closes at 11:45pm (AEST). There will be 30 multiple choice questions to be answered in 40 minutes. There is only one correct or best answer to each question, and you need to select the option corresponding to this answer. There are no penalties for incorrect answers. While you are able to refer to the textbook or other resources while you are taking the quiz, you cannot afford to do this for every question because of the time limit. You need to have a good understanding of the course content before taking the quiz. Therefore there is an expectation that you have done all of the course core readings from Week 1 - 12. Each student will receive a customised quiz, where questions are drawn from a large testbank and chosen in random fashion, so that collusion will not be possible
1
Other
Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Provided on the quiz day after closure of the quiz
No Assessment Criteria
- 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?
