Unit Synopsis
This unit has been developed for you to begin your journey in the expansive field of research. This unit will introduce you to some fundamental principles of research practice and allow for a greater appreciation of research methodology, critical appraisal and basic statistical analysis. This unit will utilise the principle that ‘reading research’ should be the first goal of any research course. You will be given research articles to read in preparation for all weekly lectures and offered the opportunity to undertake formative assessment utilising the lecture material and the pre-lecture readings. You will also learn how to utilise various critical appraisal techniques to allow you to confidently use research findings to help you make evidence-based clinical decisions. By the end of this unit, you will be equipped to not only embark on more rigorous research related units and be prepared to undertake the foundations of an Honours or Masters level research project but also be able to understand how research can be used to make evidence-informed clinical decisions.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite: Completion of 96 credit points 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 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 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. Portfolio | 50% |
| 2. Online Test | 30% |
| 3. Online Quiz(zes) | 20% |
| 4. Online discussion forum | 0% |
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 .
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 12.50% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 18.6% response rate.
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 Teacher Evaluations
Students found attendance to tutorials difficult and reported clashes with their travel time.
It is recommended that the unit coordinator provide clearer communication on expectations of attendance to improve engagement. The coordinator will liaise with timetabling and other T2 Unit coordinators so there is appropriate travel time between campus and their homes when CHIR13012 is to be scheduled.
Tutorial scheduling was adjusted to improve accessibility and engagement, with the session now held at a time that better accommodates student commitments
Source: SUTE Teacher Evaluations
Students reported that the coordinator was organised however at times there were IT problems with analytical programs used online.
It is recommended that the unit coordinator continue to develop and source materials that best suit the online nature of teaching CHIR13012 -Research Literacy for Health Professionals.
The unit coordinator continued to refine and source online materials to enhance the delivery of CHIR13012 and support student learning.
Source: SUTE student feedback
Students felt that tutorial activities could be further developed to encourage student interaction.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator continue using strategies and resources that foster student interaction during online tutorials
In Progress
Source: SUTE student feedback
Students felt that pre-recorded lecture material could be better linked to real-world experiences.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator review and refine lecture and tutorial content to ensure alignment with supporting materials across both delivery modes.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Critique the advantages and disadvantages of various research designs used in primary and secondary research
- Evaluate research using standardised and non-standardised critical appraisal methods
- Analyse basic research data and provide appropriate summaries for further evaluation
- Compose a research question in order to develop a collaborative proposal to investigate a selected field of enquiry
- Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of published research within a contextualised and patient-centred framework.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Online Test | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | |||
| 4 - Online discussion forum | • | ||||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | ||
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
| 2 - Online Test | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
| 4 - Online discussion forum | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||