Overview
Volunteering in cross-cultural communities is an experience many adults seek out to broaden their personal and professional perspectives. In this unit you will develop the skills and knowledge required to undertake a volunteer experience in a cross-cultural context. These experiences include being able to initiate and maintain cross-cultural relationships and to reflect deeply on your own actions, assumptions and worldviews that influence these relationships. You will explore the benefits and challenges of volunteering in cross-cultural communities and organisations and develop skills in the co-generation of knowledge through working closely with others. This unit requires you to undertake a minimum of 25 hours volunteering with a community organisation that will provide you with an opportunity to work with people from a cultural context different to your own.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
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 - 2024
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 Postgraduate 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 graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
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.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Classroom interactions
Placement opportunity in health and community sectors to gain practical experiences.
Explore possibilities for industry collaboration to initiate learning opportunities for students.
Feedback from Student evaluation
More contents in Moodle.
Provide additional learning materials related to the topic in the Moodle.
- Initiate and maintain effective cross-cultural relationships within the community
- Evaluate the benefits and challenges of volunteering in cross-cultural communities
- Evaluate the benefits and challenges of co-generation of knowledge within a cross-cultural context
- Critically reflect on own experiences of volunteering in cross-cultural communities.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Group Work - 40% | ||||
| 2 - Case Study - 30% | ||||
| 3 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 30% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||
| 4 - Research | ||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 9 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
Additional Textbook Information
Students will be asked to source various readings via databases.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Access to computer/laptop
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.
s.kaphle@cqu.edu.au
Module 1: Concept of Community
Begin Date: 08 Jul 2024Module/Topic
Concept of community
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 2: Community Engagement
Begin Date: 15 Jul 2024Module/Topic
Community engagement
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 3: Health Promotion Communications
Begin Date: 22 Jul 2024Module/Topic
Health promotion communications
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 4: Working with Community
Begin Date: 29 Jul 2024Module/Topic
Working with community
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 5: Community Empowerment and Capacity Building
Begin Date: 05 Aug 2024Module/Topic
Community empowerment and capacity building
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 12 Aug 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module 6: Approaches to Community Development
Begin Date: 19 Aug 2024Module/Topic
Approaches to community development
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Assessment 1 due
Case Study Due: Week 6 Friday (23 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module 7: Inter-cultural Communications
Begin Date: 26 Aug 2024Module/Topic
Inter-cultural communications
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 8:Working with Vulnerable Groups
Begin Date: 02 Sep 2024Module/Topic
Working with vulnerable groups
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 9: Culturally Competent Health Promotion Practice
Begin Date: 09 Sep 2024Module/Topic
Culturally competent health promotion practice
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Assessment 2 due
Presentation of Health Promotion Program Due: Week 9 Friday (13 Sept 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module 10: Research in Public Health
Begin Date: 16 Sep 2024Module/Topic
Research in public health
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Module 11: Team work in Public Health
Begin Date: 23 Sep 2024Module/Topic
Team work in public health
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Weekly reading
Weekly tutorial
Assessment 3 due
Reflective Discussion Due: Week 11 Friday (27 Sept 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Review and Reflections
Begin Date: 30 Sep 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit Evaluation
Begin Date: 07 Oct 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 14 Oct 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Case Study
The first assessment task for this unit is a case study [2000 words]. Each student will choose a population group to write a case study. Case study will explore and critically analyse
the role of health communication, particular in your discussion include misinformation, disinformation and the role of AI and social media, and cultural factors impacting health and wellbeing of the chosen population group from the following list. All students must discuss the population group chosen with their lecturer for approval.
1. Indigenous Australians
2. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Australians
3. Rural and Remote Australians
4. Homeless Populations in Australia
5. Refugees Populations in Australia
6. Women Experiencing Domestic Violence
7. Socially Disengaged Youth in Australia
8. Elderly Populations in Australia
Appropriate writing style is essential for this assignment. The case study must be written in formal academic language using evidence from literature with a complete referencing and must demonstrate culturally sensitive language that reflects the professional environment and conventions of the field.
Week 6 Friday (23 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Students must submit the assignment through Moodle.
Feedback files will be uploaded to Moodle.
The case study will be assessed on the following criteria.
1. Context and characteristics of population group described with supported data: 15%
2. Health status of the population group and relative inequities analysed and discussed critically with supported evidence: 15%
3. Communication and cultural factors impacting health outcomes of population group explored, analysed and discussed logically: 30%
4. Strategies to address the communication and cultural barriers identified, analysed and discussed critically: 20%
5. All work is the student's own, all information is appropriately referenced, and assessment is written following academic convention: 20%
- Initiate and maintain effective cross-cultural relationships within the community
2 Group Work
For this assessment, students will work on group of six members to analyse the intervention strategies of a health promotion program currently running in Australia or in their home country. Presentation needs to be prepared in power point slides and will be held during the class. The group will get maximum of 10 minutes for their presentation. Chosen program to undertake analysis for this assessment must be discussed with the lecturer for approval. You will choose a program during the class with the guidance of your lecturer which are listed in one of these websites.
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth): https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/
NSW Health: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/
Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care: https://www.health.gov.au/
Week 9 Friday (13 Sept 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Presentations will be assessed in class.
Feedback will be provided individually based on the assessment criteria for the task.
The presentation will be assessed on the following criteria.
1. The social context of health promotion program is explored and described logically: 20%
2. Intervention strategies used in the chosen health promotion program is explored, analysed and discussed critically: 20%
3. Critical analysis of health promotion program is demonstrated with the use of relevant evidence from literature: 20%
4. Presentation contents show understanding, reference to literature, and practical application: 20%
5. Clear presentation with appropriate language, standard slides and all information is appropriately referenced: 20%
- Evaluate the benefits and challenges of volunteering in cross-cultural communities
- Evaluate the benefits and challenges of co-generation of knowledge within a cross-cultural context
3 Reflective Practice Assignment
The third assessment task for this unit is a reflective discussion. Each student will write a reflective response [500 words] to the following questions based on your experience of engaging with a cross-cultural communities.
1. What challenges did you experience while collaborating with people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds? How did you respond and manage those experiences?
2. Based on your learning this semester, what changes would you make in your practice to ensure effective engagement with people from culturally diverse backgrounds?
3. How significant are the non-health factors that are part of engaging with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds?
Student can use example from their previous or current experience of working with a community group and reflect on communication and cultural challenges they experience. Students should then discuss learning they achieved from this experience and how they will apply that knowledge to improve their current and future public health practice.
Week 11 Friday (27 Sept 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Students must submit the assignment through Moodle.
Feedback files will be uploaded to Moodle.
The reflective discussion will be assessed on the following criteria.
1. Discussion shows evidence of understanding of engaging with cross-cultural community: 25%
2. Reflection demonstrates use of appropriate language, personal learning, reflexivity and change in practice: 25%
3. Reflexivity of linking personal experience, practice examples and evidence: 25%
4. All work is the student's own, all information is properly referenced, and essay is written according to academic convention: 25%
- Critically reflect on own experiences of volunteering in cross-cultural communities.
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?
