Unit Synopsis
This unit will introduce you to the principles of evidence-based practice (EBP) and develop your key skills for conducting EBP within clinical settings as an Allied Health Professional. You will be introduced to models of EBP that can be used to guide clinical decision making at an individual patient level and also at a service delivery level, and be required to identify the impacts of EBP on current practice across a variety of fields. During this unit you will gain experience in developing clinically answerable questions, performing information searches, undertaking critical appraisal and synthesising information.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisite: ALLH11009 Research Methods for Health Professionals 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026
Term 1 - 2027 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Presentation | 40% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 3. Online Quiz(zes) | 20% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web 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.
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT
Some students expressed that Week 3 was very content heavy.
It is recommended that the unit coordinator break down content heavy weeks (i.e., Week 3) across additional weeks to make it more manageable for students.
The content-heavy Week 3 material was spread across two weeks in 2026. The absence of student feedback regarding content volume or pacing suggests this change was well received.
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT
Students greatly appreciated the clear guidance provided for assessments, including the use of templates, detailed examples, and thorough explanations.
It is recommended that this unit continue to provide detailed assessment templates, examples and explanations relevant to each discipline.
Detailed assessment templates, exemplars, and discipline-relevant explanations continued to be provided across all assessments. Student feedback indicated that these resources were highly valued and supported understanding of assessment requirements and expectations.
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT
Qualitative feedback suggested that many paramedicine students questioned the relevance of the unit to their professional preparation.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator consult with Bachelor of Paramedicine academic staff to identify additional opportunities to integrate paramedicine-specific case studies, and evidence-based practice applications throughout the term. Further, move the paramedicine-focused interview and related discussion earlier in the unit to strengthen students' understanding of the relevance of evidence-based practice to contemporary paramedic practice and improve engagement from the commencement of the term.
In Progress
Source: SUTE UNIT COMMENTS REPORT
Some students reported that they would have liked more detailed feedback on Assessment 1 to better understand their performance and identify areas for improvement in future assessments.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator Review Assessment 1 feedback processes to ensure students receive more detailed, actionable feedback that supports improvement in subsequent assessments. Additional marker feedback guidance should be provided to promote consistency and depth of feedback across the marking team.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Formulate a clinical research question using the PICO (Population-Intervention-Comparison-Outcome) format
- Plan, carry out and evaluate information searches to address specific clinical questions
- Critically appraise and evaluate the quality of original research within health professions using established critical appraisal tools
- Present a synthesised evaluation of a clinical topic using information acquired from multiple sources
- Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental evidence-based practice concepts.
N/A
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Presentation | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | ||||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |