Unit Synopsis
The focus of Beginning Creative Writing is the development of basic writing techniques necessary for the creative reproduction of personal and imaginative experiences. In this unit, you will investigate and practise techniques such as narrative viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue and description of setting via drafting and editing a piece of creative writing. The unit is suitable for students with no prior learning in creative writing and will benefit students of all disciplines as they discover new ways to express themselves and experiment with their writing skills.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| 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 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. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 35% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 45% |
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: UC Reflection / Student Performance Data / SUTE Feedback
Clarity of assessment expectations and scaffolding
Continue refining the scaffolding of assessments and ensure expectations are clearly communicated. This will support consistency in marking and help maintain strong student outcomes.
Formatting guides and assessment workshops were provided for assessment guidance and tutorials were adjusted to focus on clarifying expectations.
Source: SUTE Feedback / Student Comments / UC Reflection
Platform accessibility and student engagement
Discontinue use of Microsoft Teams and return to Moodle-integrated platforms (Zoom via Echo360) to improve accessibility and student engagement.
Teams channels were discontinued to return to Moodle forums. Tutorials moved from Teams to Zoom, recordings were automatically uploaded to Moodle.
Source: UC Reflection / Tutorial Attendance / Verbal Student Feedback
On-campus delivery and regional engagement
Maintain on-campus offerings where feasible, as this mode appears to positively influence enrolments and engagement, particularly among students seeking in-person learning experiences.
On-campus tutorials were retained through a hybrid delivery model. This allows low numbers of on-campus students to continue in-person learning while ensuring teaching resources were used efficiently.
Source: Student qualitative feedback / UC Reflection
Timing of assessment feedback and coordination with external marker.
Ensure markers are provided early, clear guidance on marking processes and set clear expectations for turnaround times.
In Progress
Source: Tutorial Attendance Data / UC Reflection
Access to on-campus tutorials via hybrid delivery model.
Continue the hybrid-tutorial model to preserve in-person tutorials in the face of low on-campus enrolments.
In Progress
Source: Student qualitative feedback / UC Reflection
Feedback on story draft (assessment 2) not returned with enough time to revise before finalising the short story.
Review assessment 2 due date to ensure story drafts are returned with enough time to revise before submitting the final short story (assessment 3).
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Develop technical competencies in literary craft
- Analyse and solve problems when crafting ‘imaginative’ literature
- Generate and realise ‘imaginative’ themes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |