MEDI12008 - Foundations of Radiation Science

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will provide you with the foundational science knowledge needed for future study of the safe and effective use of x-ray imaging equipment and production of diagnostic radiography images. You will learn the theoretical concepts of radiation production and control, radiation interactions in matter, and basics of digital radiographic image recording and processing. This learning will be underpinned by a study of core physics concepts. You will learn how and why to limit radiation exposure through the study of radiation bioeffects and best practices in radiation protection.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Enrolment in CB77

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

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online

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. Report 30%
2. Online Test 20%
3. Online Test 50%

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 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 55.56% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 17.31% 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: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
There was very limited student attendance and participation in the weekly online tutorial due to timing of the tutorial session, resulting in missed and limited learning opportunities for students.
Recommendation
Review the timing of the weekly tutorial sessions to encourage better student attendance and engagement in future iterations of the unit.
Action Taken
The timing of the tutorial was unchanged due to timetabling restrictions. However, there were at least three participants in each weekly tutorial sessions throughout the term during the current delivery compared to zero participation in the previous delivery.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Attendance in the bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions for students to seek any clarification or ask questions regarding the previous weekly content and tutorial questions were poorly attended throughout the term.
Recommendation
Trial the bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions in the next delivery of the unit to gain more insight on its use by the students.
Action Taken
The bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions were offered in Term 2 2023 but none of the students in the cohort took part in it.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection SUTE
Feedback
Many students do not appreciate the unit or see the relevance of this unit to their degree despite the unit being a pre-requisite for the CB77 Year 3 unit MEDI13007: Fundamentals of Radiographic Technique, the scope and content being reviewed and validated by the Chiropractic Head of Course (HOC) and two senior academics in the program and a video (by one of the Senior Lecturers in the Chiropractic course) made available on the unit Moodle site this term to highlight the relevance of the content to their clinical practice and professional development within the Chiropractic profession.
Recommendation
Continue with the provision of the video by the Chiropractic academic and investigate further options to emphasis to the Chiropractic students about the relevance of the content to clinical practice and professional development within the Chiropractic profession.
Action Taken
To emphasis to the Chiropractic students about the relevance of the content to clinical practice and professional development within the Chiropractic profession, a video by a Chiropractic academic was provided as part of the welcome package for the unit and the Chiropractic Head of Course was also involved in sending out emails and having a chat with the students enrolled in the unit.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection Informal communication with students
Feedback
Provision of a model response to an explanation question for students to critique during most of the weekly tutorials supported students in unpacking the question requirements and understanding how marks are allocated to these question types.
Recommendation
Maintain the provision of a model response to an explanation question for students to critique during the weekly tutorials so that students can practice how to unpack question requirements and better understand the marking criteria for explanation questions.
Action Taken
The provision of a model response to an explanation question for students to critique during the weekly tutorials so that students can practice how to unpack question requirements and better understand the marking criteria for explanation questions was maintained in the Term 2, 2023 iteration of the unit.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Individialised feedback accompanied with a global feedback video outlining the target response, common errors and aspects that were done well for each assessment type encouraged quicker marking turnaround time and also led to less queries from the students.
Recommendation
Continue with the provision of individualised feedback accompanied with a global feedback video outlining the target response, common errors and aspects that were done well to support quicker marking turnaround time and timely student feedback.
Action Taken
A global feedback video was not provided in the current iteration. However, a more individualized feedback approach highlighting areas of error(s) and the specific unit and weekly learning outcomes that the questions were related to was adapted. The assessments were still marked and returned within the timeframe stipulated in the unit profile.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection Informal communication with students
Feedback
The scope of the Radiation Production and Imaging report impacted the time taken by most students to complete the task and the time spent by the unit coordinator to finish the marking in a timely manner.
Recommendation
Review the scope of the Radiation Production and Imaging report to ensure that the task requirements and marking can be accomplished within a reasonable time.
Action Taken
The scope of the Radiation production and Imaging report was reviewed and updated to ensure that the task requirements and marking were accomplished within a reasonable time.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
None of the students attended the bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions throughout the term.
Recommendation
Cease offering the bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions in subsequent iterations of the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Students will benefit from lecture content containing real-world and/or clinical scenarios that are relevant and applicable to the Chiropractic professional context.
Recommendation
Review lecture content and incorporate real-world and/or clinical scenarios that are relevant and applicable to the Chiropractic professional context.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection Informal student feedback
Feedback
Some students perceive the Radiation Production and Imaging Report as an ineffective assessment tool leading to diminished motivation for students to invest time and effort into the assessment.
Recommendation
Review the appropriateness of the existing Radiation Production and Imaging report as an assessment tool and consider alternative methods, such as online tests, to improve the overall efficiency of the assessment process.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: PASS team PASS student leaders Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
The Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS), typically available for Year 1 units at CQU, were introduced for the first time in this second-year unit. Despite consistent reminders, none of the students showed any interest or participated in the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS).
Recommendation
Reassess the option to offer Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) in future iterations of the unit given the lack of interest and participation by students.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: PASS student leaders Unit Coordinator reflection Informal student feedback
Feedback
Some students preferred the weekly tutorials to focus on content covered during that week instead of a retrospective coverage in the subsequent week.
Recommendation
Invest in the option to offer weekly tutorials in the same week of content coverage instead of retrospective coverage the following week to support and promote a more effective learning experience for the students.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: PASS student leaders Unit Coordinator reflection Informal student feedback
Feedback
Many students perceived the study skills content covered in the initial tutorial not particularly relevant or beneficial to their learning needs as second year students.
Recommendation
Remove the content on study skills from the initial tutorial content and focus this first tutorial on the week 1 unit content to provide a more meaningful learning experience for the students.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Discuss the underlying physical principles of and the controls involved in x-ray beam production, emission, interactions in matter and capture at the image receptor
  2. Outline the basic construction and operation of x-ray units and digital radiographic image acquisition systems
  3. Discuss fundamental attributes of radiographic image appearances such as visibility, brightness, contrast, unsharpness, and distortion
  4. Relate the concepts of beam control, differential attenuation, and scatter control to the production and appearances of a projection radiograph
  5. Relate core concepts of bioeffects of low-level ionising radiation and current scientific theories of radiation risk to radiation protection practices in radiography.

This unit supports students in the attainment of the following Competency Standards of the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia:

1.1 Complies with legal and ethical requirements

  • Adheres to relevant legislation, common law, codes, standards and other policy regulating chiropractic conduct and practice

1.4 Demonstrates professional integrity

  • Applies principles of risk management and quality improvement to practice

3.3 Obtains the results of clinical, laboratory and other diagnostic procedures necessary to inform care

  • Refers for or conducts imaging where clinically indicated

3.5 Critically analyses information available to generate a clinical impression

  • Demonstrates knowledge of diagnostic imaging techniques and procedures, including indications and limitations of available imaging modalities

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Report • • •
2 - Online Test •
3 - Online Test • • • •
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 •
6 - Information Technology 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 - Report • • •
2 - Online Test •
3 - Online Test • •