ENG 7057 - Communication & Critical Thinking

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2024

The Communication and Critical Thinking course develops the critical thinking and logical argumentation skills necessary for post-graduate level communication. This course explores communication in a cross cultural and discipline specific setting, and provides strategies for effective academic and professional writing and seminar presentations, taking into account communicative purpose and audience. Workshops and assessment provide practice in locating, analysing and evaluating appropriate sources of information, and synthesising evidence to support a sound viewpoint. The course is particularly designed to enable students with English as an additional language to maximize their capacity to learn and interact effectively in an English speaking academic and professional environment.

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Course Details

Course Code	ENG 7057
Course	Communication & Critical Thinking
Coordinating Unit	Centre for STEM Education and Innovation
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Assessment	Assignments, Online Quizzes and Tasks

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Ms Catherine Irving

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. communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, in English in multi-cultural professional and academic contexts

2. locate, analyse, synthesise and critically evaluate information obtained from diverse sources
3. present a valid and sound argument in response to a brief
4. incorporate environmental, societal and ethical considerations into professional and academic tasks.

The above course learning outcomes are aligned with the Engineers Australia Entry to Practice Competency Standard for the Professional Engineer. The course develops the following EA Elements of Competency to levels of introductory (A), intermediate (B), advanced (C):

1.1	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.5	1.6	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.6
—	—	A	C	B	C	A	A	A	B	B	C	B	C	B	B

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)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1, 2, 3, 4
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	2, 3, 4
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	1
Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.	1, 2, 3, 4
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	1, 4
Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.	4
Attribute 7: Digital capabilities Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.	1, 2,3,4
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	1, 2, 3, 4

Learning Resources

Required Resources

REFERENCE BOOKS
Students are expected to own and use a dictionary and a grammar book suitable for their level. If you do not already have these, some options follow. Check for more recent editions.

Dictionaries
Macquarie dictionary, 4th edn, 2005, Macquarie Library, North Ryde, NSW.
Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary, 7th edn, 2005, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Grammar Books
Alexander, LG 1990, Longman English grammar practice, Longman, Harlow.
Hewings, M 2005, Advanced grammar in use, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Murphy, R 2007, Essential grammar in use, 3rd edn, Cambridge University Press Melbourne.
Murphy, R 2004, English grammar in use, 3rd edn, Cambridge University Press, Sydney.
Peters, P 1995, The Cambridge Australian English style guide, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Raimes, A 1990, Grammar troublespots: an editing guide for students, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Swan, M 2005, Practical English usage, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Recommended Resources

Beer, D & McMurrey, D 2005, A guide to writing as an engineer, 2nd edn, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken.
Cargill, M & O'Connor, P 2013, Writing scientific research articles: strategy and steps, 2nd edn, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
Copi, IM & Cohen, C 1998, Introduction to logic, 10th edn, Prentice-Hall International, London.
Eunson, B 2005 or 2006, Communicating in the 21st Century, John Wiley and Sons, Milton.
Girle, RA 2008, Introduction to logic, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Rosedale.
Hart, H 2005, Introduction to engineering communication, Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River.
Huckin, T & Olsen, LA 1991, Technical writing and professional communication for nonnative speakers of English, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York.
Ingre, D 2008, Engineering communication: a practical guide to workplace communications for engineers, Thompson, Toronto.
Last, S (ed.) 2019, Technical writing essentials, University of Victoria, pp. 184-186, viewed 10 August 2021, <https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/press/books/titles/technical-writing-essentials/>.
Mohan, T, McGregor, H, Saunders, S & Archee, R 2008, Communicating as professionals, Thomson, Southbank.
Munson, R and Black, A 2007, The elements of reasoning, 5th edn, Thomson, Belmont.
Penrose, AM & Katz, SB 2004, Writing in the sciences: exploring conventions of scientific discourse, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, New York.
Rudinow, J & Barry, VE 2007, Invitation to critical thinking, 6th edn, Thomson Wadsworth Publishing, Belmont, CA.
Swales, J & Feak, C 1994, Academic writing for graduate students: A course for nonnative speakers of English, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
Weissberg, R & Buker, S 1990, Writing up research, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.

Online Learning

An extensive range of resources is available through our MyUni course. Students are expected to check their email and MyUni daily for information, announcements, resources and learning tasks.
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

Lectures, workshops and seminars are the primary means of delivery in this task-based course.To learn successfully in this course students need to interact with each other in English in workshops, listen to and absorb material in lectures and supplement their learning in seminars. Thus, students are required to attend and actively participate in both workshops and lectures and strongly encouraged to attend seminars. Through discussion, negotiation and other formative tasks during workshops, students will have the opportunity to develop and hone their English language and critical thinking skills. Written and oral assessment tasks and assignments will provide opportunities for students to expand and refine their communication skills in English and their professional skills.

All lectures will be delivered online. To encourage participation, lectures will be timetabled, and watching and participating live is encouraged. Workshops and seminars will be held in person each week, with arrangements in place to make them as safe as possible. The course comprises:

o 1 hour lecture per week
o 2 hour workshop per week
o 1 hour seminar per week

Workload

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

Contact time per week:
o Lecture: 1 hour x 12 weeks (online)
o Workshop: 2 hours x 12 weeks (face to face and online)
o Seminar: 1 hour x 12 weeks

Students are expected to spend a minimum of four to six hours per week on independent learning:
- actively following up material and tasks presented in lectures, workshops and seminars
- completing set workshop preparation tasks
- completing online learning tasks in MyUni
- completing regular online assessment through MyUni.

Learning Activities Summary

This course consists of a series of lectures, workshops and seminars. The teaching topics will be drawn from the following:

o professional competencies of engineers and computer scientists and the role of communication
o argument and critical thinking
o research skills
o writing clearly, analytically and persuasively
o professional reflective discussion
o oral presentation skills - formal and informal
o team work skills
o ethics and professional practice
o sustainability.

Communication and critical thinking competencies are developed through the use of materials that focus on issues related to professional practice.

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	Task Type	Individual / Group	Due (week)*	Weighting	Hurdle	Learning Outcome
Argument Map	Formative & Summative	Individual	3	12%		1, 2, 3, 4
Group Oral Presentation	Formative & Summative	Group & Individual	8	22%		1, 2, 3, 4
Critical Thinking Task	Summative	Individual	10	20%	40%	1, 2, 3, 4
Formal Writing Task	Summative	Individual	13	20%	40%	1, 2, 3, 4
Online and in-class quizzes; Peer review; Pre-class Preparation; Course engagement	Formative & Summative	Individual	various	26%		1, 2, 3, 4

* The specific due date for each assessment task will be available on MyUni.

Assessment Related Requirements

Assignment 3 and 4 each have a hurdle requirement of 40%. If this mark is not obtained for these assignments, one of the following options will apply.

If the overall grade without the final paper is 49 or greater, a grade of 49F will be recorded and you will be eligible for an additional assessment. In this case, the maximum grade that can be obtained for the course is 50P.
If the overall grade without the final paper is greater than or equal to 45 and less than 49, your actual F grade will be recorded and you will be eligible for an additional assessment. In this case, the maximum grade that can be obtained for the course is 50P.
If the overall grade without the final paper is less than 45, your F grade will be recorded and you will not be eligible for an additional assessment.

Note that any student who has been reported for a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy in this course and who is found to have been in breach will not be eligible for an additional assessment, as per the Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy.

Assessment Detail

All assessment detail is provided in the MyUni course.

Submission

Written assignments are submitted electronically. Selected assignments may be submitted electronically to Turnitin or other plagiarism software. All assignments must have a signed student declaration. By submitting an assignment via MyUni students are agreeing to the following statement:

'I declare that all material in this assessment is my own work, except where there is clear acknowledgement and reference to the work of others. I have read the University of Adelaide's Academic Honesty Policy. I give permission for any assessed assignments to be reproduced and submitted to other academic staff for the purposes of assessment and to be copied, submitted and retained in a form suitable for electronic checking of plagiarism.'

Late submissions are penalised at the rate of 10% of full marks of the applicable assignment per day.

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 feedback indicated that some students considered more instruction and time were needed to develop presentation skills to enable them to present at Masters level. We addressed this issue by giving more time to presentation skill development, with the aim of achieving conference level proficiency and, for Engineering students, the Engineers Australia Stage 1 competency standard upon graduation from the Master of Engineering program.
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