Program Coordinator: Ms. Amy Kay Robinson
Office 6.06, Level 6, Nexus10 Building
amy.k.robinson@adelaide.edu.au
Ph: 08 8313 0168 

 
Course Coordinator and Lecturer / Tutor: Ms. Amy Kay Robinson
Office 6.06, Level 6,  Nexus10 Buidling
Email: amy.k.robinson@adelaide.edu.au
Ph: 08 8313 0168

You are advised to check the MyUni announcements weekly for any changes of venue. Also, ensure that you check your email at least three times a week for the same reason.

Through undertaking this course, students are expected to:

1. Develop skills in following the conventions of academic presentations in written and oral formats. 
2. Learn how to use the Internet to find academic materials, through the library and elsewhere.
3. Develop basic logical communication techniques necessary for academic communication and useful in the workplace.
4. Provide opportunities for students to work together, peer teach, receive and provide feedback, discuss work on the MyUni discussion board and interact with academic staff.
5. Develop students’ efficacy with information/communication technologies (including word processing, presentation and note-taking applications) and online learning applications.
6. Develop skills in self-directed- and lifelong learning with an emphasis on English language proficiency in all language macro skills (reading, writing, listening speaking).
7. Develop a variety of English communication skills and tools with a wide application extending beyond university life.
8. Become aware of multicultural perspectives through facilitated discussion on a variety of ethical and social issues.

Dictionary: Oxford is preferred for general English; Macquarie is preferred for Australian English. If English is your second language them you may find it useful to have access to a specialised Learners Dictionary such as the Macquarie Learner's Dictionary, as it provide much more information about words and their forms and function.

Harvard referencing guide (University of Adelaide Writing Centre) www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/referencing_guides/ 

Faigley, L 2011, The Little Penguin Handbook, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

The University of Adelaide’s Learning Guides are excellent resources for all aspects of learning and study: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/ 

MyUni will be used for essential communication including via email, so please check your University email regularly (at least three times a week). If you have a smartphone it is strongly recommended that you set up your email on it for easy and regular access to your University email. For guidance on how to do this, visit:

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/its/networks/mobile/support/config/#mobile  

Remember, the most useful portal for all University online activities is Unified:

https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/web/mycampus/home 

Lectures and problem-solving tutorials based on material covered in lectures.

1 x 1 hour lecture per week (x 12) = 12 hours
1 x 2 hour workshop per week (x 12) = 24 hours  
Independent study = 120 hours spread evenly across the semester
Total: 156 hours

Week 1: Overview; Introductions; Assessment
Week 2: Comprehension and note taking skills, overview of Comprehension Assessment. 
Week 3: Locating and Citing Sources: Academic Sources and where to find them (possible library lesson/activities). 
Week 4: Portfolio Workshop / Comprehension Assignment Workshop
             Comprehension Assignment due Week 4. 
Week 5: Important grammar and punctuation points for effective expression
Week 6: Writing Scaffolds, Rubrics and Checklists: Planning with TEEL and academic expression. 
Week 7: Portfolio Workshop
             Portfolio Assignment due week 7
Week 8: Using PowerPoint and Public Speaking Skills

MID-SEMESTER BREAK

Week 9:   Oral Presentations (To take place during the lecture and tutorial this week)
Week 10: Critiquing English Literacy / Oral Presentations (Oral Presentations to be completed during tutorial for student who were absent in week 9) 
Week 11: Purpose, Expression and Editing : A guide to proofreading. 
Week 12: Reflection Essay Workshop, Catchup and Course Summary
               Reflective Essay Assignment due Week 12

Order and duration of topics may change depending on class requirement, but every effort will be made to ensure that content coverage is consistent across lectures and workshops. 

To pass this course, students must attend at least 75% of lectures and tutorials; in cases of absence for medical or compassionate reasons, documentation must be provided and students must still attend at least 50% of classes. If a student attends less than this, they will be deemed to have not submitted one piece of assessment as below, and the ’45 rule’ will apply. If a student fails to attend a class in which in-class assessment is undertaken, alternative arrangements will be made by the lecturer and formative in-class assessments may be counted towards the final result.

The University of Adelaide has committed to a pedagogical approach termed the “Small Group Discovery Experience”, indicating that the SHDE will be a core component in a credit-bearing course of every undergraduate program, and that it will be part of every first-year level from 2014. Since the UPP is not an award-based program, it is not strictly required to include an SGDE in the UPP.

However, since the UPP is designed to prepare students for first-year study, and the SGDE will be a core component of all first-year study, it is important for the UPP to provide some preparation in Small Group Discovery. These should be of a scaffolded, preparatory nature as befits each course within the program, and the philosophy and program objectives of the UPP. The Program has been designed to include preparation for small group work and research activity in many of its courses.

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Comprehension Essay		Week 4	20%	1,2,3,5,6,7
Portfolio		Week 7	40%	1,2,5,6
Individual Oral Presentation		Week 10-11	30%	1,3,4,5,6,7
Reflection Essay		Week 12	10%	1,4,5,6,7

Students must sufficiently attempt all assessment tasks to pass this course. Since the University Preparatory Program is designed to prepare students for success at University, completing and submitting all assignments is central to the intended learning outcomes of the program and each course within it. Often, at least attempting and submitting assignments in the face of difficulty or adversity is enough for success at University and the UPP encourages this resilience by employing this policy in select courses.

Please note that the absolute last date for the submission of assignments in Semester 2 is the last day of the examination period. Any assignment handed in late without an authorised extension will be penalised at a rate of 10% of the assigned mark per 24-hour period late, to a maximum of 7 periods. Assignments handed in more than seven periods late without an authorised extension will not be marked and an automatic fail grade for that piece of assessment will be recorded.

If a student fails to submit all assessment tasks and would otherwise have received a grade greater than 45, they will be given a nominal grade of 45 (Fail) for that course in that semester. This will permit them to undertake additional assessment (formerly called academic supplementary assessment) at the Course Coordinator’s discretion, as per policy at 9.1.3 at http://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/students/assessment/#supp  

It is not necessary to apply for additional assessment; this assessment will usually consist of the missed pieces of assessment, but the course coordinator may require more. As per policy 9.1.3.3, if the student passes the additional assessment to the Course Coordinator’s satisfaction, the maximum grade they can get for the course is 50 (Pass). If a student’s raw grade is below 45, regardless of whether all tasks have been attempted, this score will stand unless exceptional, documented circumstances apply as per the University’s Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/mod_arrange.html 

Assessment 1: Comprehension Essay

Weight 20%    Word Count: 700 words     Submit: MyUni        Due Date: Week 4

You are to choose from one of the videos or articles below.

Video Choices:

1. TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson "How to escape education's death valley"

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc

2. Ted Talk by Denielle Feinberg "The magic ingredient that brings Pixar movies to life"

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7OCmmkrwqk

*If the above links do not work, you can access these videos straight through the Ted website at https://www.ted.com/

Article Choices:

1. Geake. J (2008) 'Neuromythologies in education' in Educational Research, 50 [2], 123-133, Routledge.

2. Mufti. E, Kassam. D and Murphy. L (2008) Educational Studies: An Introduction Open University Press

3. Chapter 8: Social Factors in Education (p102-111) only. 

*The above readings will be provided for students on MyUni.

Once you have read or viewed the chosen source more than once, you
need to compose a 700 word essay about that source and topic. As this is a
comprehension essay, extra research is not required. You are to use the chosen
video or article as the source and refer to it through correct use of in-text
citations and a reference list. It is expected that your essay have expected
structure of an introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.

You are to address the following questions in the form of a paragraphed essay in
third person:


a. Identification and description of both sourceand its content.
b. How relatable or accessible is this source? It is made by academics for
academics or is made for a general audience? Who is the intended audience?
Provide examples from the source to demonstrate this point. 
c. Identification and description of theory, framework or perspective the
source is working with.
d. Critique of source and its perspective of topic. The critique can be
positive and/or negative aspects of the source.
e. How effective is this as an academic source? 

Assessment 2: Language Portfolio
 
Weight: 40%     Due Date: Week 7    Total Word Count: 1,300     Submit:MyUni

Students are to choose one or two language features they identify as struggling
with. This can be use of particular conjunctions, a punctuation point or even a
set of academic words they have been wrestling with. Your portfolio needs to be
formatted and organised in a logical manner. Using the component subheadings
below in your portfolio would be prudent.

 Components of the Portfolio:

Identification of Language Point: Identify and describe a language
point
you have significant trouble with. If needed, you can choose two language
points. Write a small justification paragraph explaining why you have chosen
this particular language point to improve upon and how you think mastering it
will improve your communication. (200 words)

Action Plan: What do you plan to do to improve your skills at using
this
language point correctly? Do you plan to read more articles that feature this
language point? If so, what type of readings? Perhaps you wish to try to use it
more in either speech or writing? If so, how will you do this? (400-500 words)

Readings Annotated Bibliography: Collect as many articles you can to
create an annotated bibliography about your particular language point. There
should be four articles minimum. You may find articles or
textbooks that
feature a discussion about your language point, detailing how to correctly
utilise it or you may find written works that merely feature your needed
language point and your annotation can make comment or conversations about how
it has been used in that publication. (400 words  = 100 words per source
annotation).


Resources: Research any resources that might be used to help you
improve your language point. This
could include examples of worksheets found online or in English Language
textbooks,
it could be worksheets or activities that you create yourself. Resources may
include specific instructions or directions found on how to use your language
point correctly. Three resources minimum.
If using resources that are already in existence from an educational textbook
or an educational resources website, proper referencing to acknowledging where
this source came from is essential.
Each resource needs to be accompanied by a one paragraph justification
demonstrating why you think this resource is best suited for your language
point and for your style of learning. (300 words = 100 words per justification).


MID SEMESTER BREAK

Assessment 3: Individual Oral Presentation

Weight 30%        Length: 5-10minutes          Due: Week 10-11    

Oral presentation is to share and reflect on their Language Portfolio.
Assessed on oral presentation speaking skills, the logical order and flow of
both the slides and the speech (i.e engagement with audience).
Presentation should go for 5 minutes minimum and 10 minutes maximum.


To be completed in the last two weeks or week of first half of semester
(depending on number if students). This means students should be making their
oral presentation as they go, that is, at the same time as the Portfolio.
If not, they have one week to make it between submitting portfolio and
presenting.

Assessment 4: Reflection Essay

Weight: 10%       Word Count: 500 words          Due: Week 12     Submit: Via MyUni

Students are required to write a 500 word reflective essay. This is a very informal task where the first person pronoun can be used.

Address the questions below:

You are to reflect of your learning through this course.

What modules or topics were most relevant to you and why? (100 words)

What would you add or change about the topics/modules learnt in this course?(100 words)

How have the assessments help develop your Academic and English literacy? (100 words)

What specific skills have you developed during this course? (100 words)

Evaluate your own learning style and approach to learning? How would you change your study habits for next semester? (100 words).

Although this is an informal assessment using the first person, you are still required to have paragraph structure and clear, formal language. No referencing or intext citation is needed for this reflective, person assessment.

 

All assignments will be electronically submitted via MyUni, although tests will be administered in class and the Portfolio will be submitted via Turnitin on MyUni (including the Interim assessment). A rubric for the Portfolio will be available via Turnitin - you are strongly advised to check this rubric and complete your assignment with the criteria in mind.

Students may be granted extensions to assignments on medical or compassionate grounds; documentation to support these ground will be required. Requests for extension must be made before the due date; requests for extension submitted after the due date will not be considered. All extension requests must be submitted to the Course Coordinator (Chad Habel: chad.habel@adelaide.edu.au); any extensions granted by the lecturer or tutor will not be considered valid.

All extension requests will be administered according to the
Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/3303/  

For a concise information sheet on this policy, please visit
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/pdfs/maca_medical_compassionate_info.pdf  

Penalties for Late Submission

Unless the Course Profile states otherwise when an assessment is submitted after the due date, and without an extension, 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day on a weekend. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc. Hard copy submissions made after 5.00pm on a Friday will be assumed to have been submitted on the next business day and will be penalised 5% per day for every day including weekend days and public holidays. This penalty may be increased where the assignment is to be completed in a period of less than a week.

This course aims to return assessed work within 2 weeks of its submission, although this cannot be guaranteed. The resubmission of assignments is not possible for this course, except in exceptional circumstances as approved by the Course Coordinator.