Subjects

Subject descriptions include the subject number, name, credit-point value and study mode. Also shown are the academic prerequisites and corequisites, if any, followed by a brief subject outline and, in some cases, details of assessment.

Credit points

Credit points are the unit of measure of workload for individual subjects. Credit points (cp) are gained by students enrolled in award courses when subjects are passed and, when accumulated, credit points form one measure of the total requirements of a course. Most subjects are 6cp or 8cp. As a standard measure at UTS, a normal full-time study load is equivalent to 48 credit points a year.

Requisites and anti-requisites

If a subject has an academic prerequisite or corequisite it will be displayed under the 'Requisite(s)' heading in the subject description.

All requisites displayed under the 'Requisite(s)' heading are prerequisites unless a lower case 'c' appears after the subject code (e.g. 78100c) which indicates that the subject is a corequisite.

If a subject has an academic anti-requisite it will be displayed under the 'Anti-requisite(s)' heading in the subject description.

There are also admission requisites and other requisites which may impact on a student's enrolment in a subject; these are available in 'Access conditions', accessible from every online subject description.

Definitions

A prerequisite is a subject that must be completed before enrolment in another specified subject.

A corequisite is a subject that must be completed either before or concurrently with another specified subject.

An anti-requisite is a subject/study package with substantially overlapping content as another subject/study package and which therefore cannot be undertaken by a student, for credit-point value, who has already undertaken the subject/study package for which it is an anti-requisite.

Recommended studies

Some subjects also include an indication of recommended studies, subjects or experience which students would benefit from having completed before commencing the subject. Recommended studies are not mandatory and are not enforced by the university. Students should discuss any recommended studies with their faculty.

Core subjects

Core subjects are subjects that are compulsory within a specified course or sub-structure. Whether a subject is a core subject is dependent on the course or sub-structure in which it resides, so that a subject which is core in one course may be available as an option or elective in another.

Options lists

Many course structures provide the opportunity to select subjects from a specified list. Options lists present a set of subjects from which students must make choices to a specified total credit-point value. Options lists may either be associated directly with a course or sit within sub-structures such as majors, sub-majors, choice blocks and streams.

Electives

Some courses provide the opportunity to select electives where the subjects chosen are not constrained to a specified list. Although it is necessary to select elective subjects to the nominated credit-point value, students are able to choose which subjects to complete in order to satisfy the criteria in the course requirements. Students are able to select from a wide range of subjects offered across the University, within the constraints of the particular access conditions applying to each subject.

Subjects offered by other faculties or institutions

Students wishing to take subjects offered by other faculties or by another institution should discuss their choice of subjects with their faculty adviser.

Note: Once approved by a faculty, it is the student's responsibility to ensure all required application procedures are followed for acceptance at other institutions.

Concurrent study

Students who wish to study one or more subjects at another institution and have those subjects credited to their UTS course must complete an application for concurrent study. Subjects successfully completed are added to the student's record at UTS as a subject exemption. No mark is recorded and the subjects do not contribute to the calculation of level of award or grade point average.

Assessment

Assessment varies from subject to subject. Assessment items can include class presentations; reflective reviews and journals; research papers; case studies; simulations and role-plays; in-class tests; discussion papers; assignments, reports and essays; and final, faculty-based and take-home examinations. Assessment often involves both individual and group work. Detailed assessment requirements, including weighting of assessment items, due dates and arrangements for collection and return of assessment items, are set out, where available, in subject outlines, which are distributed by subject coordinators by the Monday prior to week one of the relevant teaching session. Students should check with their faculty for any other specific assessment guidelines and the UTS Coursework Assessments Policy and Procedures.

Postgraduate research assessment

The majority of research degrees are undertaken wholly by thesis. A master's (research) is normally a work of around 40,000 words and is examined by two appropriate examiners, at least one of whom is external to UTS. A doctoral degree is normally a work of between 80,000 and 100,000 words, and is examined by three appropriate examiners, at least two of whom are external to UTS. Further information is available from the UTS Graduate Research School.