AINV20009 - Accident Forensics and Engineering

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will develop an advanced understanding of the role forensic engineering methods and victim pathology play in informing accident investigation and causation. You will also appraise the contribution of engineers and the engineering profession, safety engineering concepts, safe design, and engineering failure analysis to accident investigation and prevention. The contribution of principles and methods of fire investigation and the role of meteorology are also analysed. You are required to attend a Residential School.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the 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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2020


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).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate 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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Group Discussion 20%
2. Written Assessment 40%
3. Written Assessment 40%

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

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4.20 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 100% response rate.

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.

Source: Have Your Say
Feedback:
 Lecturer was very knowledgeable and was committed to delivering the unit in an effective manner. They also made the unit interesting.

Recommendation:
 Continue to use lecturers who know the material well and have a passion for the subject matter.

Action Taken:
 Due to retirement of the previous lecturer, a specialist in the area was engaged to lecture to this cohort.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback:
 It would have assisted to be given examples of some of the literature reviews that related to the subject to help understand what is expected.

Recommendation:
 Explore the possibility to give examples of literature reviews to the students to guide them through the task.

Action Taken:
 Extra materials were provided to the students.
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Discuss the role and effect of safety engineering and prevention through design on the causation and prevention of accidents
  2. Analyse forensic investigation contexts and methods from the engineering disciplines including mechanical, electrical, civil and chemical engineering for establishing accident causation factors
  3. Examine the methods of engineering failure analysis and their contribution to accident forensics
  4. Examine the contribution of victim pathology in identification of the biomechanics of injury causality and the implication for future design and injury prevention
  5. Explore the nature of fires and the principles and techniques for fire investigation
  6. Examine the impact of meteorology on accident causation and associated methods of investigation.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Group Discussion • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Written Assessment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Knowledge • • • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • • •
4 - Research • • • • •
5 - Self-management • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • •
7 - Leadership •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8
1 - Group Discussion • • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • •