43005 Professional Practice in Australian Context
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2024 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate and Postgraduate
Result type: Grade, no marksDescription
This subject provides students with opportunities to investigate some of the dimensions of professional engineering or IT practice in the Australian Context. Students will be encouraged to identify what capabilities they will need to develop in order to work in the Engineering or IT professions in Australia. Students will prepare a communication success plan to prepare themselves for professional environments. Students will observe workplace communication practices and simulate the professional communication they observe.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Communicate and collaborate effectively in professional contexts. (E.1) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Analyse aspects of a workplace culture to identify how they might contribute to that workplace. (B.1) |
| 3. | Identify and respond to their own professional development needs in relation to working within the Australian context. (F.1) |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
- Socially Responsible: FEIT graduates identify, engage, interpret and analyse stakeholder needs and cultural perspectives, establish priorities and goals, and identify constraints, uncertainties and risks (social, ethical, cultural, legislative, environmental, economics etc.) to define the system requirements. (B.1)
- Collaborative and Communicative: FEIT graduates work as an effective member or leader of diverse teams, communicating effectively and operating within cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural contexts in the workplace. (E.1)
- Reflective: FEIT graduates critically self-review their performance to improve themselves, their teams, and the broader community and society. (F.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
A weekly seminar (3 hours) provides students with opportunities to work in small groups to prepare for their workplace observation, focusing on skills and activities involved in being a participant-observer of workplace culture and communication. Students will attend seminars having read, viewed and reflected on skills such as observation, collaboration and interaction. During class these skills will be further developed and rehearsed.
Once students have commenced their workplace observation, the seminars will focus on sharing experiences and further developing professional communication.
The Workplace Communication Simulations assessment will be presented during the final seminars.
All students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of seminar sessions, and 12 hours of workplace observation.
Content (topics)
- Critical self-review and performance evaluation to identify personal development needs and achievements
- Professional communication appropriate to context, discipline, audience and purpose
- Reflection on workplace observations and professional experience to engage in independent development beyond formal education
- Effective time management of competing demands to achieve personal goals
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Professional Development Plan
| Intent: | Students analyse the communication needed to achieve their professional goals and implement plans to meet those goals. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 3 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): F.1 |
| Type: | Reflection |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | 600 words |
Assessment task 2: Workplace Culture Report
| Intent: | Students work collaboratively in a small group to observe professional interactions in a workplace. Based on their observations, students identify what capabilities and attributes they need to successfully participate as an employee in a similar workplace in the future. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1, 2 and 3 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1, E.1 and F.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Group, group and individually assessed |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | Group work 800 words; Individual 400 words |
Assessment task 3: Workplace Communication Simulation
| Intent: | Based on their Workplace Culture Report, students identify key communication practices observed in the workplace, and develop their capabilities to engage with these communication practices. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1 and 2 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1 and E.1 |
| Type: | Demonstration |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | 5-minute simulation followed by 5-10 minutes audience engagement |
Minimum requirements
In order to pass this subject a student must:
• Attend minimum 80% of seminar sessions,
• Complete 12 hours of workplace observations,
• Participate in Assessment task 3 Workplace Communication Simulation,
AND
• Achieve an overall mark of 50% or more.
Students who do not meet all of these requirements may be refused permission to be considered for assessment in this subject under Student Rule 3.8.2, and a Fail will be recorded for this subject.
Required texts
Required reading will be made available via the Digital Resources Register, UTS Library