LAWS12062 - Alternative Dispute Resolution

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Alternative Dispute Resolution examines the theory and application of procedures for the resolution of disputes as an alternative to a judicial process. Alternative Dispute Resolution examines ADR methods such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation and arbitration and theoretical developments such as Collaborative law. The unit seeks to develop basic skills in listening, negotiation and mediation. Students will also explore how to design ADR approaches suitable to help resolve client disputes, quickly, at minimal cost and consistent with the principles of access to justice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
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 No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

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 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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 40%
2. Written Assessment 60%

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

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2020 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 88.37% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 59.72% 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: John Milburn
Feedback
Continue with the assessment regime.
Recommendation
I recommend continuation of the assessment requirement for students to complete an audiovisual presentation of a mock mediation or conciliation session. I supplemented that with a take-home paper that required students to consider material from the entire unit.
Action Taken
I felt that students would show greater interest in writing a research essay on a topic of their choice rather than on doing an audiovisual presentation. This assessment approach appears to have paid off given the high level of satisfaction shown in the student evaluations. As previously recommended, the take-home paper required students to consider material from the entire unit.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
Tutorials were interactive, interactive and interesting.
Recommendation
Weekly tutorials should be an important part of the students' learning experience. They should continue to be designed to get students to think about and apply the law to case-based scenarios. This approach provides strong opportunities for experiential learning which assists students in learning about the relevance of the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Problem-based scenarios and conceptual questions enhanced student learning.
Recommendation
New learning material in the form of problem-based scenarios and conceptual questions were developed for the unit in T2 2020. These have proven helpful in increasing student engagement and participation at tutorials which always had over 20% of the cohort in attendance.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
Assessment feedback was timely and excellent.
Recommendation
Timely and detailed feedback is greatly valued by students as it helps them with their learning and do better in future assessments.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student evauation
Feedback
The essay assignment was an enjoyable task.
Recommendation
The research essay should be kept as an assessment. It allows students to learn more deeply about an area of interest and can help them prepare for final assessments.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
Some lecture videos were recycled and lecture videos did not map to the weekly objectives.
Recommendation
Dr. Oyson was asked to teach the unit just a few weeks prior to the start of the term after university policy discouraged the use of casual lecturers as part of financial responses to Covid-19 and the overall decline in university student enrolments. As a result, he had limited time to create new lecture videos. When the unit is taught again in Term 2 2021 as a 1st year unit, new lecture videos developed by Dr. Oyson (who will be teaching it again) that are mapped to the weekly objectives would be available to the students.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Discuss the range and operation of ADR methods and their relationship with litigation.
  2. Develop and demonstrate skills in listening, negotiation, and mediation together with the ability to design ADR processes and drafting appropriate documents to support an ethical dispute resolution design.
  3. Research, critique and evaluate the ADR literature to assist with determining appropriate ADR processes in a given fact situation.
  4. Outline the basic theoretical principles of dispute resolution systems and how to apply them to manage conflicts.
  5. Gain an appreciation of the ADR processes of International Commercial Arbitration or Australian Indigenous peoples.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
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 • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • •