Unit Synopsis
Service Learning challenges you to reflect on and understand the principles of equity and social justice that underpin contemporary social policy through active participation in a sustained period of service to communities characterised by diversity and disadvantage. The unit uses inquiry-based instruction methods and experiential learning to promote your understanding of the concept of "hidden curriculum" and the social, economic and environmental injustices and personal biases that affect your own teaching practice and implementation of the curriculum in diverse classroom settings. You will engage in action research to investigate, identify and collaborate in partnership with community organisations that have the potential for promoting understanding of the social realities of communities, families and students in primary school settings. You will actively participate in service appropriate to your level of skill development. and reflect on your experiences; your own previous understandings of teaching and learning; and your preconceived notions about students from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Through personal critique and evaluation of the service learning experience, pre-service teachers are equipped with strategies for involving parents and communities in the educative process and are positioned to acknowledge, appreciate and respond to the "funds of knowledge" and diverse characteristics that students bring to educational settings.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 3 - 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. Written Assessment | 50% |
| 2. Practical Assessment | 0% |
| 3. Practical and Written Assessment | 50% |
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 3 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 52.38% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 15.91% 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: Student survey
Timing of placement
Flexibility of placement has been considered
Students have the flexibility to choose the timing of their 20-hour service learning placement and can submit their Service Learning Plan to the Unit Coordinator early to start ahead of schedule if desired/needed.
Source: Student survey
Student support
Consider additional student support options for Term 3 study
Provided drop in sessions for students during Service Learning Placement times for wellbeing support and discussions. Also held drop in sessions for assessment purposes.
Source: Student Feedback
Assessment tasks
Review and clarify the assessment tasks.
In Progress
Source: Unit coordinator reflection
Moodle materials
Develop interactive Moodle materials to further scaffold the content
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Use relevant standards, codes of conduct and/or codes of ethics to reflect on professional roles and responsibilities in relation to principles of equity and social justice
- Conduct self-assessment to identify professional attributes, dispositions, skills and strategies for responding to communities and taking informed social action
- Propose a viable plan for community engagement with the aim of developing knowledge and understanding of the strengths and needs of social contexts experienced by diverse groups and families
- Critically reflect on a sustained period of organised service to draw implications for professional practice
- Evaluate the impact of service on personal and professional learning and the development of skills for successful participation in communities and contexts characterised by diversity and disadvantage.
Successful completion of this unit provides opportunities for students to engage with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) focus areas of:
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning
7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Practical Assessment | • | ||||
| 3 - Practical and Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | • | • |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |