PROF 1000 - Professional Practices

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2019

This course examines the underlying assumptions, values, experiences and skills, forms of knowledge and broader contexts that impact on and inform students' professional practice approach. Using case studies as a starting point, students will explore some of the key issues of contemporary workplaces. Students will be required to draw on theoretical perspectives and ideas from contemporary research as well as insights generated through critical reflection, online discussions and collaborative problem-solving. This course introduces the various communication options available in a business context so that students can make appropriate choices in the workplace. Students will gain confidence in their ability to communicate by practising and receiving feedback on business communication skills. Through this critical enquiry process, it is expected that students will further develop their understandings of their own practices and change and develop aspects of these practices. It has a particular emphasis on building professional knowledge of working in a business environment and developing work ready skills in the areas of written and oral communication, intercultural communication, client service, problem solving and self-management. Students will develop strategies to communicate these abilities through career communication, including career documents and interviews. Opportunities for improving academic and workplace language proficiency are embedded in the course.

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Course Details

Course Code	PROF 1000
Course	Professional Practices
Coordinating Unit	Professions Office
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 Hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Incompatible	PROF 2000, PROF 2000UAC, PROF 2000BR
Restrictions	Preferable students do not undertake PROF 1000 Professional Practices and PROF 3883 Graduate Career Readiness in the same semester.
Assessment	Activities, presentation, group research paper and Individual report

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Sue Johnston

For a list of Tutors, please see MyUni

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1	apply business communication theory to solve workplace communication issues in order to establish and maintain professional relationships
2	display reasoned decision making processes and self-management strategies leading to professional outcomes
3	assess contemporary, professional career environment and, through self-reflection, generate relevant career plans and resources via a range of media
4	express complex ideas accurately in written and spoken formats suited to the workplace contexts
5	identify skills required to provide culturally and contextually appropriate customer service in a business environment

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1,4,5
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	2,3
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	1,4,5
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1,2,3
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	1,5
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	1,2,3

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Professional practices selected readings Cengage (2016)
Etext purchase link to be provided on course site

Recommended Resources

Communication Skills Guide
This booklet can be downloaded from The Faculty of the Professions
This is a free resource which advises on study skills and referencing.

Learning & Teaching Modes

Lectures are provided in both online and oncampus mode. Students will attend one hour oncampus lectures in weeks 1, 6 and 12 and will view interactive, online lectures for topics 1 to 5 and 7 to 12. It is particularly important that students attend lecture 1 which will outline course requirements.

Learning resources for each topic will be provided online. These include materials to prepare for tutorials.

Students attend weekly two hour oncampus tutorials. In order to pass the subject, students must attend 80% of (10 out of 12) tutorials or provide evidence supporting an approved absence. Tutorials relate to the previous week’s lecture. Tutorials are an important component of your learning in this course. The communication skills developed in tutorials by regularly and actively participating in discussions are considered to be most important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies.

Students will need to engage in six hours per week self directed study, group collaboration and assignment preparation (engaging with online activities).

The etext, lectures and tutorials are connected by topic. Students are expected to read assigned readings before the lecture and tutorial.

Tutors will negotiate replacement tutorials for students whose tutorials occur on public holidays.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course or 13 hours for a four-unit course, of private study outside of your regular classes.

Be aware that if there are certain skills that you need to improve significantly, you may need to spend more time doing private study than the guidelines suggest.

Learning Activities Summary

Learning Activity	Learning Activities Summary	Related Learning Outcomes
Lectures	Online and face to face lectures introduce the course topics.	1,2,3,4,5
Workshop discussion	Students come prepared to class, they read the assigned materials and are ready to actively participate in class. The lecturer discusses key issues for each topic, provides examples and opens the floor for discussion and interaction.	1,2,3,4,5
Case studies/PBL	Workshop tasks are case studies and applied activities	1,2,3,4,5

Learning Activities Schedule

	Topic	Readings	Learning Activities
Week 1	Contemporary trends in professional practice: Communicate in today’s workplace	Course etext pp. 1-30	‘Live lecture’ Workshop 1: Introduction
Week 2	Professional priorities: organisation, planning and development. Preparing your "Personal Professional Pitch".	Course etext pp. 31-68	Workshop 2: Communicate in today’s workplace
Week 3	Interpersonal communication 1 – self-awareness, EI, assertiveness and communication styles	Course etext pp.69-84 Course etext pp. 91-96 Course etext pp. 116-138 Course etext pp. 161-168	Workshop 3: Professional priorities
Week 4	Interpersonal communication 2 – nonverbal communication, listening and questioning	Course etext pp. 146-160 Course etext pp. 193-218 Course etext pp. 84-91	Workshop 4: Interpersonal communication 1: EI
Week 5	Interpersonal communication 3 –managing negotiation, conflict and difference in the workplace	Course etext pp.168-182 Course etext pp. 103-116	Workshop 5: Interpersonal communication 2: nvc and listening
Week 6	Organisational communication events: Effective team development, decision making and meetings	Course etext pp. 219-326	‘Live lecture’ Workshop 6: Interpersonal communication On-Line Learning Module - Indigenous Perspectives in the Professions
Week 7	Organisational communication events: Presentations	Course etext pp. 327-351	Workshop 7: Teams and decision making
Week 8	Writing and researching professionally: Research and problem solving (including mediated communication)	Course etext pp. 352-411	Workshop 8: Presentations
Week 9	Report writing, business correspondence and workplace documents	Course etext pp. 412-490	Workshop 9: Research and problem solving
Week 10	Client communication	Course etext pp. 491-542	Workshop 10: Report writing and correspondence Assessment: Statement paper - Meeting process documentation and reflective writing
Week 11	Career communications – planning and relevant documents, including social media	Course etext pp. 543-577	Workshop 11: Client communication
Week 12	Career communications – interviewing	Readings	‘Live lecture’ Workshop 12: Career communications Assessment: Report – Career communications

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Due	Weighting	Length	Learning Outcome
Academic and Professional Writing Overview (incl. Harvard Referencing) - Online learning and quiz	Week 3	Complete/In-complete	1.5 hours (approx)	4
Weekly activities - 1 activity to be submitted from a choice of 3 (individual)	Varies	20%	750 words	1,2,3,4,5
Workshop Presentation (Pairs)	Varies	20%	10 minutes	2,4
Research paper - Meeting process documentation and reflective writing (collaborative and Individual components)	Week 10	30%	1500 words	1,2,4
Participation and Personal Professional Pitch (PPP) - Participation in workshops, pre-workshop preparation and PPP. (Individual)	Ongoing at each workshop	5%	N/A	2,4
Indigenous Perspectives in the Professions -Online learning module and quiz	Week 8	Complete/In-complete	2 hours (approx.)	1,2,5
Formal report on graduate attributes sought by employers (individual)	Week 13	25%	1000 words plus appendices	2,3,4
Total		100%

Assessment Detail

Assessment detail is provided on the course site at the beginning of semester.

Submission

Retain a copy of all assessments.

Written assessments should be submitted electronically through TurnItIn on MyUni. Do not make multiple TurnItIn submissions. Lecturers can refuse to accept assignments which do not have signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator