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Course profile

Practicum (ECON3380)

Study period
Sem 1 2025
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person

Course overview

Study period
Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
Study level
Undergraduate
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person
Units
2
Administrative campus
St Lucia
Coordinating unit
Economics School

This course aims to provide final year students with the opportunity to apply conceptual knowledge to the real world via a professional placement. As such, this course strongly links discipline learnings, personal employability skills and attributes developed by students across the duration of their studies with the challenges and expectations of working in industry. In doing so, students have the opportunity to gain valuable work and to connect this experience to the development of a workplace ready skill-set. Successful completion of the course will provide students with the employability skills required for transition to the world of work. Further information about how to apply for ECON3380 can be found on the Faculty's work-integrated learning website.

This is a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) course that provides students with the opportunity to apply their conceptual knowledge to the real world via a professionalᅠplacement. The placement allows you to integrate your theoretical and conceptual knowledge with the skills and problem-solving techniques required in the work place. The course is particularly focused on enabling students to develop their employability skills, gain knowledge, understand the attitudes of business professionals, grow their professional network, and engage with real world business issues.

PURPOSE OF PRACTICUM

The purpose of thisᅠplacement is to gain a greater insight into working within a professional environmentᅠand to develop anᅠemployability toolkit, which together actᅠas a springboard to your future career.ᅠThis course supports you in undertakingᅠan industry placement or internship of at least 100-120 hours in total, relevant to yourᅠstudies or career of interest.ᅠYou are required to source your own paid or unpaid opportunity, which must be approved by the BEL Employability team.ᅠStudents who require help in finding a suitable placement can accessᅠsupport from BEL Employability in the form of industry introductions.ᅠNOTE:ᅠYou may be required to participate in a competitive recruitment process to secure a placement.

The changing nature of work and the needs of employers necessitate a flexible approach to placements. Therefore, the placement may be completed in one block of full-time work during the semester break, or two to three days per week throughout semester.ᅠNOTE: One day per week is not recommended, as our experience shows that the likelihood of your being given realistic work tasks and being included in the work team is significantly reduced.ᅠ

During your placement, you will maintain an online reflective journal on the Blackboard site to assist you in demonstratingᅠlearnings, and towards the end of the course, you will submit a professional poster outlining your personal brand.ᅠ

Employability and career progression are important outcomes of any degree. The Professional Practicumᅠaims to develop awareness of yourᅠemployability strengths, your development needs and how to create an action plan to strengthen these needs. Thus, it isᅠstructured to promoteᅠa valuable industryᅠplacement, real work experiences and assists in bridgingᅠyourᅠtransformation from student to reflective practitioner.ᅠThe course's assessment tasks are designed to assist you with this aims. The workshops will provide guidence about combining reflection with evidence from academic readings to structure the writing of the assessments.ᅠ

Course requirements

Assumed background

Enrolment in this course is limitedᅠto students in the final year ofᅠthe Bachelor of Economics program. Before enrolling in this course, you must have approval by BEL Employabilityᅠand written confirmation of one of the following placement options:

  • Paid or unpaid internship or work experience placement of at least 100-120 hours in total during the summer break 2022
  • Paid or unpaid internship or work experience placement of at least 100-120 hours in total during semester 1, 2023

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

GPA of 4.0 or higher. Approval required from Head of School via BEL Student Administration Team.

Restrictions

Restricted to students in the final year of the BEcon program

Course contact

School enquiries

Student Enquiries, School of Economics

All enquiries regarding student and academic administration (i.e. non-course content information, e.g., class allocation, timetables, extension to assessment due date, etc.) should be directed toᅠenquiries@economics.uq.edu.au.ᅠ

Enquiries relating specifically to course content should be directed to the Course Coordinator/Lecturer.

Course staff

Lecturer

Associate Professor Jeffrey Kline

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

Workshops commence in Teaching Week 1.

Please see the Learning Activities section of this Course Profile for the timetabling implications of public holidays.

Important Dates:

·        Public Holidays: Fri 18 April (Good Friday), Mon 5ᅠMay (Labour Day).

·        Mid-Semester Break: 21ᅠApril - 25ᅠApril. Semester 1 classes recommence on Mon 28ᅠApril.

Students should refer to the timetable prior to the commencement of classes to ensure that they have the most up to date information, as from time to time late room changes may occur.

Aims and outcomes

This course aims to provideᅠ students with the opportunity to apply ᅠconceptual knowledge to the real world via a professionalᅠ placement. As such, this courseᅠ strongly linksᅠ discipline learnings, personal employability skills and attributes developed by students across the duration of their studies with the challenges and expectations of working in industry. In doing so, students have ᅠthe opportunity to gain valuable work experience in their chosen profession and, importantly, to connect ᅠthis experience to the development of an employability workplace-ready skill-set.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

LO1.

Articulate key workplace practices, processes and challenges within an organisation.

LO2.

Visually and verbally communicate your employability skill-set and personal brand using workplace appropriate language.

LO3.

Reflect on your own learnings and application of your personal employability attributes in the workplace.

LO4.

Demonstrate your ability to evaluate your own work performance.

LO5.

Apply the professional rigour expected in industry practice.

Assessment

Assessment summary

Category Assessment task Weight Due date
Presentation Video Pitch- Your Brand 20%

4/04/2025 1:15 pm

Reflection Reflections 40%

2/05/2025 1:15 pm

Paper/ Report/ Annotation Professional Development Plan 40%

30/05/2025 1:15 pm

Assessment details

Video Pitch- Your Brand

Mode
Oral
Category
Presentation
Weight
20%
Due date

4/04/2025 1:15 pm

Learning outcomes
L01, L02

Task description

3 minute video describing your education, skills, dream job and career path.

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Submission guidelines

Blackboard

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Reflections

Mode
Written
Category
Reflection
Weight
40%
Due date

2/05/2025 1:15 pm

Learning outcomes
L03, L04

Task description

This report consists of 3 reflexions based on your workplace experience: One is about a success you experienced. Another is about a failure you experienced and the last is about how the work experience has enhanced or changed your skills. All three are to be presented as one document and the SEAL Method is to be employed.

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Submission guidelines

Blackboard

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Professional Development Plan

Mode
Written
Category
Paper/ Report/ Annotation
Weight
40%
Due date

30/05/2025 1:15 pm

Learning outcomes
L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

This should be a current plan describing your current skills, motivations and job aspirations. It is to be based on your reflections in your work experience. It should also include your goals and career path. Finally, it should draw upon your self evaluation and that of your supervisor.

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Submission guidelines

Turn-it-in via blackboard

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Grade Cut off Percent Description
1 (Low Fail) 0% - 29%

Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

2 (Fail) 30% - 46%

Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

3 (Marginal Fail) 47% - 49%

Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes

4 (Pass) 50% - 64%

Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes.

5 (Credit) 65% - 74%

Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes.

6 (Distinction) 75% - 84%

Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes.

7 (High Distinction) 85% - 100%

Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes.

Additional course grading information

A student's final overall end of semester percentage mark will be rounded to determine their final grade. For example, 64.5% rounds to 65%, while 64.4% rounds to 64%.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

Plagiarism

The School of Economics is committed to reducing the incidence of plagiarism. Further information on plagiarism, and how to avoid an allegation of plagiarism, is available in this course profile under Section 6.1 - Assessment Related Policies & Guidelines. Please refer to 6.1 and the link to theᅠAcademic Integrity Module (AIM). It is strongly recommended that you complete the AIM if you have not already done so.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Please see Blackboard site for selected reading material.ᅠ

During the semester, students will be required to participate in Employability Intensives, comprising 2-3 hour sessions designed to develop your workplace self-awareness and personal brand management. In doing so, you will engage in career coaching, peer-to-peer mentoring, a community-based activity, and the MOOC, Unlocking your Employability.ᅠ

NOTE:ᅠRecognition of Prior Learning (RPL) may be provided for some of these activities, and upon approval by your Course Coordinator.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

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Learning period Activity type Topic
Week 1

(24 Feb - 02 Mar)

Lecture

Introduction

This session will include:
- Introductions
- Course Aims
- Achieving the Aims
-Assessment overview
- Reflective writing: why and how to do this
- Course structure

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 2

(03 Mar - 09 Mar)

Workshop

Employability Intensive 1

See Blackboard

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 3

(10 Mar - 16 Mar)

Workshop

Employability Intensive 2

See blackboard

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Week 4

(17 Mar - 23 Mar)

Workshop

Employability Intensive 3

In this workshop we will have a presentation by a BEL Careers and Employability on personal brand management

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Multiple weeks

From Week 5 To Week 13
(24 Mar - 01 Jun)

Workshop

Individual Feedback Sessions

Individual Assessment Feedback sessions as required will be scheduled from Week 5.

Friday 18 April (teaching week 8) is a public holiday so there will be no workshop during that week.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.