Overview
This unit will provide students with the opportunity to develop authentic learning by undertaking an industry-based experience related to their development as a professional pilot. You will be able to select from a variety of activities designed to provide you with a deeper understanding of various sub-sectors of the aviation industry. This will provide you with the opportunity to use your skills and knowledge gained throughout the course in a practical setting. Students who take this unit should expect to achieve greater practical competency related to flight operations, as well as collaborate with industry practitioners to develop best practices in teamwork and communication.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Students need to have successfully completed 72 credits in CL09.
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).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2026
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.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
- Demonstrate knowledge of a specific subset of professional flight operations
- Attain competency in training related to specific pilot licensing, endorsement, or practical experience
- Collaborate with industry practitioners in aviation to develop best practices in teamwork and communication.
N/A
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 0% | |||
| 2 - Presentation - 0% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - First Nations Knowledges | |||
| 11 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom or Microsoft Teams (webcam and microphone required for online sessions and the presentation)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
g.carimjunior@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 13 Jul 2026Module/Topic
Orientation workshop: how this unit works — the experience is the content; the available industry experiences (ATPL theory preparation, Multi-Crew Cooperation training, drone build-and-fly unit); how to nominate your experience and the enrolment/credit process; how to stay engaged with the teaching team during your experience.
Chapter
Neugebauer, J., & Evans-Brain, J. (2009). Introduction (Chapter 1). In Making the most of your placement. SAGE. Free preview chapter: https://sk.sagepub.com/book/mono/preview/making-the-most-of-your-placement.pdf. Sets out why an industry placement is among the most valuable parts of a degree and what separates students who get the most from it. It shows how to approach the experience deliberately — as something you drive — rather than letting it simply happen to you.
Video (3 min): Why Work Experience Matters — University of Manchester, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSZeE-jYvFs. Students, employers, and careers advisers explain why work experience is a vital part of a degree and what it adds to your employability. A quick scene-setter that frames the industry experience as a career investment rather than a box to tick.
Video (15 min): Aviation Career Pathways: Real Pilot Advice on Hiring, Networking, and Staying Ready — The Pilot Network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEaJ27JT38. Working pilots discuss how careers actually build — networking, staying professionally ready, and pathways beyond the airlines. Gives the week an authentic aviation flavour, framing the experience as the start of a professional network.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Orientation workshop — Thursday 16 July, 1:00–3:00 pm (see your timetable). The session is recorded and posted on Moodle for students unable to attend. Nominate your intended experience following the workshop.
Week 2
Begin Date: 20 Jul 2026Module/Topic
Getting started on your experience: enrolment and credit steps for your chosen pathway; planning your experience — what to pay attention to, how to document what you see and do as you go (guidance and prompts on Moodle); introduction to reflective practice for professional pilots using Gibbs' reflective cycle, the framework used throughout this unit.
Chapter
Monash University. (2023). Reflection: Writing a reflection. Student Academic Success. https://www.monash.edu/student-academic-success/excel-at-writing/how-to-write/reflection. A free, practical guide to what reflective writing is and how it differs from simply describing events. It walks through the language, structure, and tone of academic reflection, with annotated examples to model your own writing on.
Video (9 min): Gibbs' Reflective Cycle Explained — EPM (Expert Program Management). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gbczr0lRf4. A clear walkthrough of all six stages of Gibbs' cycle with a worked example applied to a real workplace scenario. Models exactly how to structure a reflection using the unit's framework.
Video (6 min): Reflective Writing — University of Hull Skills Team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoI67VeE3ds. The widely used academic-skills video on how to write reflectively rather than descriptively — what to include, what to avoid, and why reflection matters for professional learning. Targets the most common failure mode in reflective assessments: describing events instead of examining them.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Confirm your experience selection and begin the enrolment/credit steps for your pathway. Guidance for Assessment 1 released on Moodle.
Week 3
Begin Date: 27 Jul 2026Module/Topic
Experience underway — individual support sessions available with the Unit Coordinator (bookable online).
Chapter
Buchanan, S., Eady, M. J., & Dean, B. A. (2022). Exploring the importance of intentional learning goals on work-integrated learning placement. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 23(1), 113–127. Free full text: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1346538.pdf. An Australian study of how students set and use intentional learning goals during work-integrated learning placements. It shows that specific, deliberate goals — not vague hopes — are what make an experience produce learning, a direct template for your experience plan.
Video (14 min): Airbus Threat and Error Management (TEM) Briefing — flysafe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhQOnSmXidg. An airline-pilot channel shows how departure and arrival briefings are structured around the Airbus TEM philosophy — identify the threats first, then brief the countermeasures. Especially relevant for the MCC/B737 stream: TEM applied in a real multi-crew airline context.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 03 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Checking in on your experience: how is it starting out — enrolment/credit steps completed, plan settling, questions before census; support for finalising your Experience Plan and Expectations. Reach out via Moodle or book a time with the Unit Coordinator.
Chapter
Mruk, C. J., & Moor, J. C. (Eds.). (2020). Getting started at the site (Chapter 3). In Succeeding at your internship: A handbook written for and with students (pp. 22–36). Bowling Green State University Libraries. Free full text: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/oer/1/. Practical guidance for the first days at a new site: scheduling, dress and behaviour, learning the policies and politics, fitting in as part of the team, asking for help, and professionalism. Helps you move from outsider to contributor quickly as your experience gets underway.
Video (10 min): Cockpit Discipline Explained — How Professional Habits Keep Pilots Safe — Epic Flight Academy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8dpdJuqv08. An established flight academy on the deliberate professional habits — SOPs, sterile cockpit, consistency under workload — that separate a professional aviator from someone who merely has flying skills. A concrete picture of the professional identity your experience is meant to build.
Video (10 min): New Job Nerves? Learn How to Make a Good First Impression! — Indeed Career Tips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvq1BhvUubg. Four concrete do's and don'ts for the first days in a new workplace: preparing beforehand, managing nerves, presenting yourself, and the behaviours that undermine a first impression. Generic but immediately actionable as your experience starts.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 1 (Experience Plan and Expectations) due Friday 7 August 2026, 11:59 pm AEST — submit via Moodle. Note: census date is Tuesday 4 August.
Reflective Practice Assignment — Experience Plan and Expectations Due: Week 4 Friday (7 Aug 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
Week 5
Begin Date: 10 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Experience underway.
Chapter
Mruk, C. J., & Moor, J. C. (Eds.). (2020). Using supervision effectively (Chapter 4). In Succeeding at your internship: A handbook written for and with students (pp. 37–50). Bowling Green State University Libraries. Free full text: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/oer/1/. How to get the most from the person supervising your training: communicating clearly, agreeing goals, understanding supervisor styles, and handling the discomfort of negative feedback. Feedback-handling is the skill that most accelerates training — in the sim, the drone lab, or ATPL study.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 17 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Experience underway — individual support sessions available with the Unit Coordinator (bookable online).
Chapter
Nielsen, D., Ballantyne, E., Murad, F., & Fournier, M. (2022). Time management (Chapter 7). In Getting ready for work-integrated learning. BCcampus. Free full text: https://opentextbc.ca/workintegratedlearning/. How to audit where your time actually goes, make time under pressure, and beat procrastination — written for students juggling a placement alongside study. Directly useful for balancing pathway training with the rest of the term.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 24 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 31 Aug 2026Module/Topic
Experience underway — keep capturing observations for your reflection.
Chapter
Video (4 min): The Power of Debriefing — Christian "Boo" Boucousis (former RAAF fighter pilot). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFLWRkmlmmk. A four-minute primer on why high performers debrief every sortie and how the habit compounds performance over time. A sharp hook for the week: reflecting on your experience so far is your debrief.
Video (20 min): How Fighter Pilots Debrief — C.W. Lemoine (former USAF F-16 / USN F/A-18 pilot). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fHHZNqGGrE. Walks through how a professional military flight debrief is actually structured: objective reconstruction of what happened, root-causing errors without ego, and extracting lessons for the next flight. Lift the same sequence and turn it inward on your own experience.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 07 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Mid-experience check-in: take stock of your progress — compare how the experience is tracking against your expectations and capture your reflections so far (prompts on Moodle).
Chapter
Tuhkala, A., Heilala, V., Lämsä, J., Helovuo, A., Tynkkynen, I., Lampi, E., Sipiläinen, K., Hämäläinen, R., & Kärkkäinen, T. (2024). The interconnection between evaluated and self-assessed performance in full flight simulator training. Vocations and Learning, 17(2), 253–276. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-023-09339-6. An open-access study comparing pilots' self-assessments with instructor evaluations in full-flight-simulator training, finding systematic gaps — often overconfidence. A prompt to calibrate your reflection against evidence and feedback rather than impressions.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No submission due this week — continue capturing observations for your Week 12 presentation.
Week 9
Begin Date: 14 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Experience underway.
Chapter
Mruk, C. J., & Moor, J. C. (Eds.). (2020). Completing the internship (Chapter 8). In Succeeding at your internship: A handbook written for and with students (pp. 89–96). Bowling Green State University Libraries. Free full text: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/oer/1/. Covers ending an industry experience well: foreseeing the end, assessment and evaluation, saying goodbye professionally, and moving forward. Frames the sense-making your final presentation delivers.
Video (5 min): Why incompetent people think they're amazing — David Dunning — TED-Ed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOLmD_WVY-E. Scripted by David Dunning himself, this animated lesson explains why novices systematically overestimate their skill and experts underestimate theirs. Ends with the two calibration strategies your reflection needs: seek honest feedback and keep learning.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 21 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Experience underway — preparing your presentation (guidance on Moodle).
Chapter
Video (18 min): Nancy Duarte uncovers common structure of greatest communicators — TEDxEast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nYFpuc2Umk. Duarte reverse-engineers great talks into one reusable shape: alternate between "what is" and "what could be", then end on the new normal. Maps directly onto your presentation's arc — what you expected, what actually happened, and who you are now because of it.
Video (6 min): Class Takeaways — Essentials of Strategic Communication — Stanford Graduate School of Business (Matt Abrahams). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfqPp37KGBQ. Five takeaways for communicating under pressure: start from what the audience needs, and use ready-made structures — including What? / So What? / Now What? — to organise a talk. A fast, practical scaffold for structuring your presentation and handling the Q&A.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Confirm your presentation slot for the Week 12 final catch-up session (details on Moodle).
Week 11
Begin Date: 28 Sep 2026Module/Topic
Preparing your presentation: building the story of your experience — your original plan and expectations, how the experience actually unfolded, and what you took from it (guidance on Moodle).
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 12
Begin Date: 05 Oct 2026Module/Topic
Final catch-up (live group session, in person or online): Assessment 2 presentations — each student presents their experience to the group; unit wrap-up.
Chapter
Dismukes, R. K., McDonnell, L. K., & Jobe, K. K. (2000). Facilitating LOFT debriefings: Instructor techniques and crew participation. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 10(1), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327108IJAP1001_3 (CQU Library). An empirical study of real flight-training debriefs showing the difference between shallow, descriptive self-analysis and deep, evaluative self-analysis. A benchmark for the standard of analysis your final presentation should reach.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Final catch-up session — Assessment 2 (Presentation) delivered live during the session (details on Moodle; session recorded). Students unable to attend submit a recorded presentation via Moodle one week before the session (by Friday 2 October 2026). All presentations completed by Friday 9 October 2026.
Presentation — Experience Synthesis Due: Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
Exam Week
Begin Date: 12 Oct 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation/Exam Week
Begin Date: 19 Oct 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
This unit is different from a conventional weekly-lecture unit: there are no weekly lectures delivered within the unit. Beyond the orientation workshop and guidance on reflective practice, the learning content is the industry experience you undertake — the unit provides the structure, support, and assessment around it.
In Term 2 2026, up to three industry experience pathways are expected to be offered: (1) ATPL theory preparation, (2) Multi-Crew Cooperation (MCC) training, and (3) a drone unit. The confirmed pathways, delivery arrangements, and partners will be presented at the orientation workshop on Thursday 16 July (9:00 am –12:00 pm) and published on the Moodle site; a summary will be posted for students who cannot attend. Important: depending on the experience you choose, it may be recognised towards your course through credit or unit substitution instead of through this unit. If that applies to you, the enrolment steps (which must be completed before the census date, Tuesday 4 August) will be explained at the orientation workshop and on Moodle. If you remain enrolled in this unit after census, you must complete and pass both assessment tasks to pass the unit.
The unit is anchored by one live session: a guided orientation workshop in Week 1 (Thursday 16 July, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm), which explains how the unit works, opens the conversation about your experience, and prepares you for the assessment tasks. The session is recorded, and the recording is made available on the unit Moodle site for students unable to attend. Throughout the term, individual support times can be booked with the Unit Coordinator, and questions are welcome at any time via the unit Moodle site and the course-level Aviation Moodle page. Presentations for Assessment 2 are delivered in Week 12 (in person or online — details on Moodle).
1 Reflective Practice Assignment
In this unit you undertake an industry-based experience as part of your development as an aviation professional. This assignment builds the foundations of your experience by requesting you to think and write about your expectations and plan for your experience. Documentation prompts on the unit Moodle site will help you capture observations as you go, ready for your final presentation.
Experience Plan and Expectations (500–750 words), due end of Week 4.
Before or as your experience begins, set out your plan and expectations. Describe the experience you have chosen and what it involves; your plan for completing it; what you anticipate the experience will be like and what you expect to find challenging; what you intend to pay attention to; and what you hope it will show you about this area of aviation operations and your future career options.
The same requirements apply to all experience options. Ground your submission in your own intentions and circumstances — specific goals, an honest appraisal of what you expect to find challenging, and your own developing professional judgement.
Week 4 Friday (7 Aug 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
Experience Plan and Expectations due Friday of Week 4 (7 August 2026), 11:59 pm AEST. Submit via Moodle.
Week 6 Friday (21 Aug 2026)
Feedback will be provided on the unit Moodle site within two weeks of submission.
Your submission is marked using the standard grading system; to pass the unit you must pass both assessment tasks. This assignment is marked against four criteria (the full marking rubric is available on the unit Moodle site):
- Specific, concrete plan — a clear account of the chosen experience, what it involves, and a realistic plan for completing it, not generic statements.
- Clear expectations and intentional learning goals — specific, deliberate goals for the experience, not vague hopes; these are the expectations your final presentation will be tested against.
- Honest engagement with feelings — a candid, first-person account of what you expect to feel and find challenging (the feelings stage of Gibbs' reflective cycle, applied in prospect).
- Professional written communication — clear structure, within word limits, an authentic personal voice, and academic integrity.
- Demonstrate knowledge of a specific subset of professional flight operations
2 Presentation
On completion of your experience you will deliver a live presentation (15 minutes plus up to 10 minutes of questions and professional conversation), in person or online, during the final catch-up session in Week 12. If you are unable to attend the session, you must instead submit a recorded video of your presentation via Moodle one week before the session. The presentation showcases what you learned and brings your reflective work to life in a live format, completing the arc you began in Assessment 1: original plan → what actually happened. This is where the analysis happens — your Experience Plan captured your expectations; here you make sense of what the experience actually delivered. Your presentation should:
- Introduce your chosen experience — the area of aviation operations, the organisation or partner, and what the experience involved.
- Tell the story of the arc: what you planned and expected (your Experience Plan), and how it actually turned out — what changed and why.
- Present your key learning: the skills and understanding you developed, what makes this area of operations unique, and how the experience connected to (or challenged) your prior course knowledge.
- Reflect on the professional dimension: how the experience broadened your understanding of career opportunities, what it taught you about working with industry practitioners, and how it will shape the next stage of your development as an aviation professional.
- Respond to questions in a professional conversation.
Treat the presentation as you would a debrief with a training organisation or an airline interview panel — it is your opportunity to demonstrate, in your own voice, the insight you developed.
Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2026) 11:59 pm AEST
Presentations are delivered live during the final catch-up session in Week 12 (group session, in person or online — details on Moodle). If you cannot attend the session, you must submit a recorded video of your presentation via Moodle one week before the session — by Friday of Week 11 (2 October 2026), 11:59 pm AEST. All live presentations are completed by Friday of Week 12 (9 October 2026).
Exam Week Friday (16 Oct 2026)
Your result and feedback will be provided on the unit Moodle site within two weeks of your presentation.
Your presentation is marked using the standard grading system; to pass the unit you must pass both assessment tasks. This presentation is marked against four criteria (the full marking rubric is available on the unit Moodle site):
- The complete arc, told with evidence — original plan and actual outcome explicitly compared, using specific material from your Experience Plan and concrete moments from the experience itself.
- Analysis and conclusions — explains why reality matched or diverged from your expectations, and what this reveals about the uniqueness of this area of operations (the analysis and conclusions stages of Gibbs' reflective cycle).
- Career action plan — concrete, personal next steps showing how the experience broadened your understanding of career opportunities (the action-plan stage of Gibbs' reflective cycle).
- Professional delivery — clear structure within the time limit, and credible, considered responses to questions. Slides or other visual support are optional but encouraged.
- Demonstrate knowledge of a specific subset of professional flight operations
- Attain competency in training related to specific pilot licensing, endorsement, or practical experience
- Collaborate with industry practitioners in aviation to develop best practices in teamwork and communication.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
