Unit Synopsis
This unit provides an insight into medical ultrasound by exploring the role and global scope of practice of the medical sonographer and the use of ultrasound in medical imaging, the types of examinations available and the provision of safe patient care as an allied health professional. The aim of this unit is to provide introductory knowledge and skills that will support your learning throughout the Medical Sonography course. Simulation exercises will enable you to apply theory to practice.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| 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 |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 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. Online Quiz(zes) | 30% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 3. Practical Assessment | 0% |
| 4. Online Test | 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 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 90.91% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 16.79% 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: UC reflections
Tutorials were well attended, however there were limited levels of participation at times and mostly through the use of the 'chat' function on Zoom.
Investigate strategies to promote better student participation and interactive discussion during online tutorials.
Several strategies were investigated and introduced to promote better participation and engagement in tutorials, including the use of the Zoom poll function to encourage input from all attendees and the use of more scenario based questions during tutorials to encourage discussion.
Source: SUTE data and UC reflections
Some students were unfamiliar with the standard required for a university level written assessment.
Review assessment resources, assessment format and schedule to allow for increased clarity of assessment task requirements.
The assessment schedule was revised to include online quizzes, with a reduced weighting for the written task. Additional tutorials were held before each assessment to clarify expectations, and a structured template was provided to guide students on content and structure for the written assessment. The ALC also delivered sessions on referencing, academic integrity (including ethical AI use), and quiz strategies to further support student success.
Source: SUTE data and UC reflection
Some students expressed they would like content in tutorials to coincide with the same week as the related lecture content in the unit.
Consider scheduling tutorial topics to coincide with the same week of corresponding unit topic material to allow students to apply and understand what they've learned simultaneously rather than reviewing the content for the tutorial from the previous week.
Tutorial topics were scheduled to align with the same week's lecture content, in response to student feedback from the previous offering. However, upon reflection, a one-week delay may be more effective, allowing students time to digest and comprehend content and come to tutorials prepared with specific questions.
Source: Student discussions and SUTE data
Students continued to enjoy the residential school in its current two-day format, finding it valuable for hands-on learning and peer interaction.
Where appropriate, maintain the structure of the two-day residential school to support practical skill development and foster student engagement.
In Progress
Source: Student discussions and SUTE data
Students appreciated the additional focused tutorials dedicated to each assessment, which helped guide study and provided timely support.
Where feasible, continue offering focused assessment tutorials to provide structured support and clarify expectations in the lead-up to submission dates.
In Progress
Source: SUTE data
Students requested the inclusion of a broader range of third-year students from diverse backgrounds to share their experiences managing the demands of full-time study at a question and answer session held during the residential school.
Where possible, invite a diverse panel of third-year students to participate in future residential schools to share their experiences and strategies for managing full-time study alongside personal commitments.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Discuss the role and scope of practice of the medical sonographer, including professional and legal frameworks
- Apply knowledge of ultrasound equipment, transducer / patient positioning and sonographic image appearance using appropriate medical and sonographic terminology
- Discuss the role of diagnostic medical ultrasound and how it relates to other diagnostic imaging modalities and picture archiving communication systems
- Demonstrate sonographic manual skill development in a simulated environment.
The learning outcomes for this unit relate to the requirements of general sonography courses under the Australasian Sonography Accreditation Registry (ASAR), Standards for the Accreditation of Sonographer Courses (SASC):
Foundation Units of Competence 1-5
Critical Practice Units of Competence 6-7, 9-10, 12-13
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| 3 - Practical Assessment | • | • | ||
| 4 - Online Test | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • |
| 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 | |