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Unit Synopsis
The unit will provide you with the foundational knowledge needed for interpretation of radiographic image appearances and safe and effective use of digital radiographic imaging systems. You will learn the theoretical concepts of radiation production and control, radiation interactions in matter, image acquisition and digital image processing. You will apply these core concepts in relating acquisition and processing parameters to patient dose and image quality. You will learn how and why to limit radiation exposure through the study of radiation bioeffects and best practice 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 |
Prerequisite: MEDI11002 Physics for Health Sciences Antirequisite: MEDI12002 Science & Instrumentation 1 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 2 - 2019
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Term 2 - 2024 Profile
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Term 2 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. On-campus Activity | 0% |
| 2. Report | 30% |
| 3. In-class Test(s) | 20% |
| 4. Examination | 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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
No previous feedback available
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
None of the students attended the bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions throughout the term.
Cease offering the bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions in subsequent iterations of the unit.
Bi-weekly clarification drop-in sessions were no longer offered this term based as per recommendation.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Students will benefit from lecture content containing real-world and/or clinical scenarios that are relevant and applicable to the Chiropractic professional context.
Review lecture content and incorporate real-world and/or clinical scenarios that are relevant and applicable to the Chiropractic professional context.
Videos explaining and linking physics concepts to the medical imaging and/or chiropractic context were added as complementary resources for the existing lecture videos for the unit.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection Informal student 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.
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.
The Radiation Production and Imaging report was reviewed and alternate assessment methods were considered. Based on the information, the Radiation Production and Imaging Report was maintained as the assessment tool as it was identified as an effective tool in supporting students to make logical connections between the key physics concepts and their applications in a clinical context. The assessment questions were refined to better align with the learning and assessment outcomes.
Source: PASS team PASS student leaders Unit Coordinator reflection
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).
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.
The Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) team were unable to successfully recruit a PASS leader for the unit due to a lack of interest from prospective candidates. This has resulted in PASS no longer being offered in the current and future iterations of the unit.
Source: PASS student leaders Unit Coordinator reflection Informal student feedback
Some students preferred the weekly tutorials to focus on content covered during that week instead of a retrospective coverage in the subsequent week.
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.
Instead of retrospective coverage, the weekly tutorials were offered in the same week as content coverage in the current delivery of the unit.
Source: PASS student leaders Unit Coordinator reflection Informal student 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.
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.
The content for study skills were moved to the Introduction section of the unit and Week 1 solely focused on the core concepts covered in that week.
Source: Informal student feedback Unit coordinator reflection
Students found the use of illustrations in tutorial discussions valuable in understanding complex concepts.
Maintain current use of illustrations and investigate expanding the use of illustrations in tutorials when covering complex concepts.
In Progress
Source: Unit coordinator reflection
Students will be able to better connect theoretical concepts with clinical applications if the virtual labs include more images and less numerical data.
Investigate the utility of increasing the number of images and reducing the amount of numerical data in the virtual labs to support student learning.
In Progress
Source: Unit coordinator reflection
The Radiation Production and Imaging Report marks are skewed toward higher grades, likely due to the current rubric not clearly distinguishing between performance levels.
Review and modify the rubric to provide clearer criteria for each grade level, enabling better differentiation of student performance.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Outline the construction, operation and clinical use of digital radiographic image acquisition and processing systems.
- Discuss the underlying physical principles and the controls involved in x-ray beam production, emission, interactions in matter and capture at the image receptor.
- Apply the concepts of beam control, differential attenuation, image geometry and scatter control to the production of a projection radiograph.
- Relate parameters of image acquisition and digital processing to visibility of information on digital radiographic images.
- Present reasoned adjustments to image acquisition parameters to modify patient dose and image quality.
- Outline core concepts of bioeffects of low-level ionising radiation and current scientific theories of radiation risk.
- Discuss safe practices and radiation protection standards applicable to clinical diagnostic 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
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - On-campus Activity | • | ||||||
| 2 - Report | • | • | • | ||||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | ||||
| 4 - Examination | • | • | • | • | |||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| 2 - Report | • | • | |||||||||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | |||||||||
| 4 - Examination | • | • | • | ||||||||
| 1 - On-campus Activity | • | • | |||||||||