Unit Synopsis
This unit equips you with the foundation knowledge, skills and techniques for planning and designing a postgraduate research project on a chosen topic relating to your discipline. You will learn how to identify and review credible and relevant literature. You will develop the necessary competencies to identify a research gap and articulate research questions. You will consider qualitative and quantitative approaches, and choose appropriate data collection methods for your project with the final outcome of the unit being the development of a research proposal. The unit is designed to help you develop essential problem-solving and research skills for evaluating or conducting independent research projects including the ethical issues involved.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| 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
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 Postgraduate 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 | 40% |
| 2. Online Quiz(zes) | 20% |
| 3. Research Proposal | 40% |
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: Direct meeting with the students during the term
The due dates for assessments caused unnecessary stress to the students. They needed to be rescheduled.
The due dates should be revised to distribute the load evenly over the weeks. Also, the number of assessments should be revised by merging them together and minimising the effort required to achieve the learning outcomes.
The assessment due dates were revised and rescheduled to distribute the workload more evenly across the term. In addition, the assessments were merged to reduce their overall number, lowering the effort required from students while maintaining alignment with the learning outcomes.
Source: SUTE and Direct meetings with the students during the term
Requirements of the assessments were not fully clear.
More emphasis should be given to elucidating the assessment requirements at the early stages of the term.
Walked through the assessment requirements in detail early in the term during tutorial sessions. Also, detailed rubrics, exemplars, or written guides were provided.
Source: Direct feedback from students
Students develop rich knowledge of research terminology and enhance their research skills through the practical activities embedded in Assessment 1.
It is recommended to retain and develop the practical activities embedded in Assessment 1, as they provide students with opportunities to develop a strong understanding of research terminology and enhance their practical research skills. It is also recommended to encourage the responsible use of AI in research, as per the recent developments in the field.
In Progress
Source: Direct Discussion with Tutors
Guided-selection of the topic for research proposal enhances engagement and performance of the students
It is recommended to continue the practice of giving students greater freedom to select their own topics, thereby supporting greater diversity in the disciplines, contexts, and themes explored. At the same time, tutors should be directed to pay closer attention to the authenticity and genuineness of students’ work during presentations and discussions, ensuring that students can demonstrate a genuine understanding of their chosen topic and the research undertaken.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Identify and review credible literature to inform the articulation of a research question within your discipline
- Select appropriate research approaches, methods and skills for testing the research question
- Employ relevant ethical practices that consider the social, cultural and legal responsibilities of researchers
- Apply relevant project management principles to effectively plan your research project
- Develop a rigorous research proposal with all necessary components.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | |||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Research Proposal | • | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | |||
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | ||||
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • | |
| 5 - Self-management | • | ||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | ||||
| 7 - Leadership | • | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |