52677 Professional Placement
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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 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 32 credit points of completed study in spk(s): MAJ10049 Social and Political Sciences Major OR 36 credit points of completed study in spk(s): MAJ09476 48cp Social and Political Sciences Major
Anti-requisite(s): 54055 Professional Pathways Project
Description
As the capstone subject for the Social and Political Sciences major, this subject provides students with the opportunity to apply in a practical setting the knowledge and skills they have gained throughout their course. Students complete a major research project with an external organisation, such as a government department, local council, non-government organisation or corporation. Research projects are co-designed with these organisations and include tasks such as literature reviews, media analysis, community needs analysis and program evaluations. The placement enables students to consolidate their knowledge and gain skills in project management and workplace communication.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Design and manage an applied research project |
|---|---|
| b. | Develop professional skills, including workplace communications, negotiating with colleagues, and personal resilience |
| c. | Explain how their degree has prepared them for working life |
| d. | Critically reflect on their development of professional skills in an area of the social sciences and communication |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:
- Act in a professional manner appropriate to communication industries (1.1)
- Apply theoretically informed understandings of communication industries to independent and collaborative projects across a range of media (1.2)
- Employ appropriate research and inquiry skills to independently gather, organise and analyse information across diverse platforms (2.1)
- Act as reflexive critical thinkers and innovative creative practitioners who evaluate their own and others' work (2.2)
- Analyse and act ethically in the personal, political and professional contexts of civil society (5.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
This is a practice-based subject where teaching and learning occurs primarily in a workplace or field site. Students negotiate the completion of a specific project in consultation with their academic and workplace supervisors. They produce a project proposal, modeling the standard required for the specific real-world context. Progress reviews, project presentations, and submission of the final outcome follow a clear project cycle.
Students are normally required to spend 80-100 hours formally working on their project. They may need to spend additional time researching background material and doing other desktop research, or preparing to carry out empirical research work, including the development of information and consent forms, and negotiating other practical fieldwork issues.
Students also engage in a series of structured seminars and complete online activities. These are conducted through the session to help establish the project, discuss research ethics, review progress, receive formative feedback, resolve problems, report on project findings, and jointly reflect on the research process.
Content (topics)
The content of each student’s project will vary according to the needs of the organisation or research site the student is working for. Classes, individual meetings with the academic supervisor, and online activities cover proposal writing, project management, research ethics, critical reflection on the research process, professional codes of conduct, and career management training.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Project Proposal
| Objective(s): | a and b | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 30% | ||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 800 words | ||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Final Project
| Objective(s): | a, c and d | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 70% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 2,500 words or negotiated equivalent (references not included) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
All students are required to complete:
- the two Placement Forms in CareerHub (Placement Summary Form and Completion of Placement Summary Form)
- a Progress Diary summarising hours worked and tasks completed each week. This diary must be approved by your workplace supervisor before the end of semester.
All students must also meet with their tutor at least twice.
Required texts
There are no set texts or required readings for this subject but students should draw on literature they have used in other subjects as appropriate and identify and draw on relevant primary and secondary literature relevant to their project.
References
Aveyard, H. (2016). A post-graduate's guide to doing a literature review in health and social care, Berkshire, U.K.: Open University Press.
Baca, C. (2007). Project management for mere mortals, Boston: Addison-Wesley.
Bell, J. (2010). Doing your research project: a guide, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Berg, B. (2012). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences, Boston: Pearson.
Christensen, P. and Ridley, D. (2012). The literature review: a step-by-step guide for students, SAGE
Curran, S. and Perecman, E. (2006). A handbook for social science field research, London: Sage.
Devine, F. and Heath, S. (2009). Doing social science, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Gary, T. (2013). How to do your research project, London: Sage.
Gerring, J. (2007). Case study research, principles and practices, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Guthrie, G. (2010). Basic research methods, London: Sage.
Lewis-Beck, M. (2004). Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods, London: Sage.
Moore, N. (2006). How to do research, a practical guide to designing and managing research projects, Facet Publishing.
O'Leary, Z. (2005). Researching real-world problems, a guide to methods of inquiry, London: Sage.
Onwuegbuzie, A. (2016). 7 steps to a comprehensive literature review: a multimodal & cultural approach, Los Angeles, SAGE.
Robson, C. (2007). How to do a research project: a guide for undergraduate students, Blackwell, Malden, MA.
Teddie, C. (2009). Foundations of mixed-methods research, London: Sage.
Travers, M. (2001). Qualitative research through case studies, London: Sage.
Walliman, N. (2005). Your research project, a step-by-step guide for the first-time researcher, London, SAGE Publications.