Overview
Effective and ethical communication is an essential skill for professionals such as psychologists, whose work involves engaging with diverse groups and potentially vulnerable communities. In this unit, you will explore and practise culturally responsive communication skills. You will develop practical capabilities in interviewing, active listening, and adapting communication styles to suit different audiences, including professional, academic, peer, community, and general‑population contexts. You will examine the importance of ethical conduct and communication across research, social, and clinical settings, including the use of technology, as well as the role of self‑care in maintaining ethical and effective practice. You will also reflect on your ongoing development as a communicator and consider how these skills apply to future work or study.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Students must be enrolled in CC42 Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)
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).
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 SUTE
A safe platform to present and receive feedback was appreciated.
Continue to use the tutorials to encourage students to practice the skills that are being taught. This could possibly be expanded to include scenario-based challenges for weeks covering communication with diverse communities.
Feedback from SUTE
Feedback on assignments were some of the most useful that had been received.
Continue to ensure feedback is clear, personalised, and actionable.
Feedback from SUTE
Tutorials were engaging although not necessarily enjoyed by all.
Continue the current level of engaging interaction within the tutorials. To address the reported variability in student enjoyment, consider investing in a greater range of practical, structured scenarios to broaden the appeal and application of the learning content.
Feedback from SUTE
It was not always clear what the relevance of this unit is to students (especially those who are aiming to become registered psychologists).
In tutorials, specifically draw students' attention to how the skills taught and assessed in this unit are relevant to both professional and research roles.