SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
Subject Code
LFSC006A
Title
“Academic and Communication Skills A”
Teaching Period
October 2013 – January 2014 (TP3)
1.
Year
2013
Group
Foundation
Contact Details Name
Telephone
Imelda Carthy
9214-4664
icarthy@swin.edu.au
Teachers
Imelda Carthy
9214-4664
icarthy@swin.edu.au
General Administration Contact
Isobel Wroe
9214-4740
iwroe@swin.edu.au
Program Office
Room TD 190 Swinburne College
Key Contact
Kathleen Drew (Foundation) TD194 kdrew@swin.edu.au
Subject Convenor Director of Studies
2.
Learning and Teaching Structure
Delivery: This unit is taught via 7 hours of classes each week, divided into one 3-hour + two 2-hour classes. These classes will be delivered by attending face-to-face tutorials. Blackboard will be used to supplement the tutorials with helpful tutorial notes and worksheets. In a semester, you would normally expect to spend, on average, twelve and a half hours of total time (formal contact time plus independent study time) a week on a 12.5 credit point unit of study. In developing the English language competencies of international students all classes will be guided by the 10 Good Practices Principles as set down by the Australian Government. (Ref: http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Publications/Pages/GoodPracticePrinciples.aspx)
3. Email communication For privacy and reliability reasons Swinburne College will only communicate with you via your official Swinburne College email account. It is your responsibility to check this account regularly for important official communication. Your email account is: <your-student-number>@swin.edu.au
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
4. Special Needs If you have special needs you should advise your Academic Manager by the end of the second week of the teaching period. In addition, you are recommended to notify the Equity Office if you have not already done so. http://www.swinburne.edu.au/stuserv/equity/
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
5.
Module Outline
Contact Hours
100
Module Type
Core
Pre/Co Requisites
Nil
Description / Aims
This unit is the first of two compulsory language units for students in the Foundation Studies program. This initial unit of study is intended as an introduction to using Australian English to meet the demands of further academic study. The unit aims to extend student language skills through thinking, reading, writing, speaking and listening. Students will be assessed on their ability to communicate ideas, feelings, observations and information, effectively, both orally and in writing.
Learning Outcomes: 1 Identify ideas and themes in a range of texts. 2 Deliver an oral presentation based upon a specific text. 3 Understand structures and features of persuasive texts from the Australian media. 4 Write an essay that presents a point of view. 5 Understand what an annotated bibliography is and how to prepare one. 6 Demonstrate the ability to write clearly and concisely in a range of registers.
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
6
Weekly Schedule SWINBURNE COLLEGE - PATHWAYS PROGRAMS TIMELINE – TEACHING PERIOD 1 (2013)
Week
Commencing
Topic and Learning Outcomes
Assessment/Exercises
(Monday)
1
14 October
2
21 October
3
28 October
Diagnostic Testing. English Basics. Writing Styles & Text Types: eg. narrative, descriptive, letters. “The Writing Process”. Editing skills. Magazine: text review / editing.
Writing: (for example) - Personal profiles, - Film reviews, - Short stories, - Travel stories, - Letter writing.
College Closed 4 – 5 November Melbourne Cup
4
6 November
5
11 November
6
18 November
25 November 7 8
2 December
9
9 December
10
16 December
Magazine Production: Final text editing. Page Layout & Design. Magazine Production: Final layout editing. Submission to the Printers
11
6 January
Individual Presentation (5%) Effective reading skills. Paraphrasing skills Presentation Skills
Plagiarism & Referencing. Harvard System basics. Preparation for Class Test: Paragraph Writing.
Class Magazine (20%) (inc. 4 pieces of writing, using different writing styles and text types.)
Class Test (5%)
Reading for detail Bibliography & ‘in-text’ refs Summarising and paraphrasing Researching Argumentative Essay: purpose, Annotated Bibliography (10%) structure, and analysis. Outlining (planning). Forming opinions. Writing opinion ‘paragraphs’. Writing in the third-person. Monday 23 December – Friday 3 January 2014 Christmas Break Writing ‘body’ paragraphs. Evidencing your arguments.
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
12
13 January
13
20 January
Revision.
14
23 September
Refuting counter arguments. Introductions & conclusions.
Exam Week (23 Sept to 27 Sept 2013)
Argumentative Essay (10%)
Exam (50%)
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
7.
Assessment Details
Assessment Outline Assessment Task
Weighting Learning Outcomes
Class Magazine
20%
1, 2, 6
Class Test
5%
4, 5
Writing Project i)
Presentation
5%
2
ii)
Annotated Bibliography
10%
5
iii)
Argumentative Essay
10%
2, 3, 4
50%
1, 5, 6
Exam
8.
Minimum requirements to pass this subject Comment [KD1]: Written twice
In order to pass this subject you must achieve, an aggregate mark of 50%.
9. Books
Learning Resources (Recommended)
Oshima, A & Hogue, A 2007, Introduction to academic writing 3rd edn, Pearson Longman, New York.
Housden, E 2010, Senior text types, Farr Books, Queensland.
Library Resources
10.
Harvard style guide 2012, Swinburne University of Technology, www.swin.edu.au/lib.
Blackboard site for this subject
Important information concerning this subject is placed on Blackboard, the Swinburne College course management system. It is your responsibility to access Blackboard on a regular basis. The address is; http://ilearn.swin.edu.au
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
11.
Assignment Details and Marking Criteria The considerations to be used in marking assignments and the standards needs to be achieved are shown below.
Comment [KD2]: Extra page removed
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
Assessment Task 1: “MAGAZINE PROJECT” You are expected to collaborate in the writing, editing and layout of a class magazine. Your mark will be based on your individual contributions to the magazine, (ie. your writing, artwork, etc), as well as your overall participation and teamwork.
WHAT TO WRITE: Every student should write at least four original articles; each article should be a different ‘text type’. For example, a short story, a movie review, a travel story, and a letter. Other text types may include: recipes or personal writing, (such as: your first impressions of Australia, advice for visitors to your country, comparing different customs, or a personal profile.) *** NOTE: Your teacher will guide you in this. *** You will have a fair degree of freedom about ‘what’ you write - so long as your articles are original, interesting and not offensive to other students. The articles don’t all have to be serious, either – as long as they are well written and either informative or entertaining.
THE WRITING PROCESS: One very important aspect of this assessment is to improve ‘how’ you write. To this end, you will be expected to ‘plan’ before you write, as well as writing ‘draft’ versions. As you write, you should collect together all your ‘planning’ notes and ‘draft’ versions into a neat “work folder”. *** NOTE: You are expected to submit your “work folder” along with your final articles. ***
PRESENTATION: Remember, magazine articles need illustrations and an attractive layout to attract attention – in order to make people want to read them! Therefore, this will be an aspect of your work that you will also need to consider.
FINALLY: Creating a quality magazine requires some hard work. However, this is also a chance to have some fun, and make a great class souvenir!
(This assessment is worth 20% of your total subject-mark)
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
‘Class Magazine’ Marking Guide:
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
Assessment Task 2: Writing Project
Presentation
(5%)
Due date: Week 6
Task: You will research a newspaper article on a given topic and you will be expected to give an individual five minute presentation about the article and its contents. You may or may not use visual aids in your presentation. The most important requirement is that you can understand and clearly explain the content of the article. This may require doing further research about the information in the article. You will be expected to answer questions on the article.
(This assessment is worth 5% of your total subject-mark)
Assessment Task 4: Writing Project
Annotated Bibliography (10%) Due date: Week 10 Task:
The Annotated Bibliography consists of 5 reviews of texts related to an specific topic. The information gathered for the Annotated Bibliography will form the basis for your argumentative essay. The sources used should be current and may include books, journals and newspapers. Each text should be reviewed separately and the reviews should be 150 – 200 words in length. The reviews should not exceed the word limit. Each review will consist of two paragraphs. In the first you will be expected to briefly summarise that author’s main point or arguments in your own words. In the second you will explain how the summarised information relates to your essay topic. (This assessment is worth 10% of your total subject-mark) Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
Assessment Task 5: Writing Project ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY (10%) Due date: Week 12
Task:
You are expected to write an ‘argumentative essay’, (of approximately 750 words), on a topic given to you by your teacher.
Your arguments should be supported with facts, examples, and appropriate quotations.
You should also refute possible counter arguments.
In preparing your essay, you are expected to research current materials, (such as newspapers), to support your arguments, and to inform your essay.
NOTE: You must reference at least five different sources. You must use the ‘Harvard System’ for all your referencing, (inc. in-text and bibliography references).It is expected that these references will be taken from your Annotated Bibliography.
(This assessment is worth 10% of your total subject-mark)
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
12. Submission of assignments NOTE: In addition to the points below, you should also follow any specific instructions by your teacher about ‘how’ to submit assignments.
Assignments need to follow the Harvard standard/style of presentation. A style brochure is available in the library. http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/researchhelp/harvard_style.html Assignments are to be submitted according to the class teacher’s requirements before the specified time and date. Students need to ensure they keep a hard copy of any assignments they submit. This copy needs to be DATED. Keeping an electronic copy on file is not adequate. Students should note that Saturday and Sunday are deemed to be working days in the case of late submission of assignments. Plagiarism will not be permitted. Students need to attach an assignment declaration form available from the admin office / reception. Any assignment submitted after the designated due date and time will be penalised by deduction of 10% of the marks for each working day that the assignment is late. Late assignments will only be accepted without penalty if a student has a valid medical reason or an extension has been applied for and granted, in writing. A medical certificate must accompany any valid medical reason for a late assignment or test being missed and must be provided within 72 hours of the assignment or test due date. Any assignment that is more than five working days late will not be accepted for marking. Extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and any request for an extension should be made, in writing, at least a week before the assignment is due. If a teacher designates that an assignment is to be handed in to the office, students must ensure that the assignment is date stamped by the Administration staff.
Resubmission of Assignments Students may resubmit an assignment or assessment piece that has not received a pass at the discretion of the subject convener. Re-submitted work can only achieve a pass grade.
13. Plagiarism Swinburne College defines Plagiarism as the action or practice of taking and submitting or presenting thoughts, writings or other work of someone else as though it is our own work. Plagiarism includes any of the following, without full and appropriate acknowledgment of the original source(s): i) The use of whole or part of a computer program written by another person; ii)
The use, in essays or other assessable work, of the whole or part of a written work from any source including but not limited to a book, journal, newspaper article, set of lecture notes, current or past student’s work, or any other person’s work, a website or database;
iii) iv)
The paraphrasing of another’s work; The use of musical composition, audio, visual, graphic and photographic models’
v)
The use of realia; that is objects, artefacts, costumes, models and the like.
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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SWINBURNE COLLEGE PATHWAYS PROGRAMS COURSE CODE L0046FB – Foundation Business, L0046FD – Foundation Design, L0046FE – Foundation Science Engineering
Plagiarism also includes the preparation and production and submission or presentation of assignments or other work in conjunction with another person or other people when that work should be your own independent work. This remains plagiarism whether or not it is with the knowledge or consent of the other person or people. It should be noted that Swinburne College encourages its students to talk to staff, fellow students and other people who may be able to contribute to a student’s academic work but that where independent assignment is required, submitted or presented work must be the student’s own. Allowing or otherwise assisting another student to copy or otherwise plagiarise work by, for example, allowing access to a draft or completed assignment or other work, is also considered plagiarism. Students will be penalised for work that has been plagiarised.
14. Student Feedback Swinburne College seeks student feedback in a number of ways, including through periodic surveys as part of the College’s approach to quality assurance and improvement. The address is: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/feedback/
Swinburne College : Pathways Prepared by :
Imelda Carthy
Valid for Teaching Period 3 – 2013 ( October 2013 – January 2014)
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