Course coordinator
Dr Sarah Ball
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- External
- Attendance mode
- Online
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Politic Sc & Internat Studies
This is a restricted entry course and the consent of POLSIS must be obtained prior to enrolment. This course allows students to develop their research, analytical and communication skills while they acquire practical and professional knowledge in a workplace setting. The course is available to students in the Master of International Relations, Master of Peace and Conflict Studies, and Master of Development Practice programs. The AFE/Internship must be negotiated in advance and students should contact the course coordinator approximately twelve weeks prior to the beginning of semester in which they wish to undertake the AFE/Internship. All additional costs incurred by students undertaking this course remain the responsibility of the student. Further information, including how to apply, is available on the POLSIS website Internships - School of Political Science & International Studies - University of Queensland
The Applied Field Experience (AFE) provides students with an opportunity to work in a host organisation that operates in a field related to international studies and/or development. The AFE must be negotiated in advance with the Course Coordinator. Costs incurred by students undertaking the course remain the responsibility of the student. Students undertake a minimum of 120 hours for the applied field experience, working with a host organisation identified and selected by the student and approved by the Course Coordinator. Students are required to complete a 2,000-word logbook and 4,000-word written report, and to supply written confirmation from the host organisation that they have successfully completed their AFE.
Applications can be submitted via the Placement Management System:ﾠhttps://placements.uq.edu.au.ﾠFurther information, including the application process is available atﾠhttps://polsis.uq.edu.au/internshipfield-work.
Applications for Semester 1 close on 25 January. Applications for Semester 2 close on 25 June.
Please note that the Ethical Clearance Form (if required) must be completed before the Course Coordinator can approve an Internship (see below).
ETHICAL CLEARANCE
It is a University requirement that an Ethical Clearance is obtained for any independent study project involving human subjects. Working with their supervisor, students are expected to seek ethical approval for any interview, survey or other research involving people. If your independent study does not involve people in this way, then you do not need ethical clearance.
Applications should be submitted by using the MyResearch linkﾠhttps://my-research.research.uq.edu.au/
Further information can be found hereﾠhttps://www.uq.edu.au/research/research-support/ethics-integrity-and-compliance/human-ethics/ethics-application
It is not necessary to lodge an application for Ethical Clearance with your initial application. However, this must be done prior to commencing research.
TRAVEL PLAN
You must comply with the University's Safety Guidelines. The Travel Plan Form is available at http://www.fbs.uq.edu.au/travel-dev/ﾠ.
Course requirements
Prerequisites
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
8 units of postgraduate POLS-coded courses with a GPA greater than 5.0 OR 8 units of MDP program core courses with a GPA greater than 5.0
Course contact
Course staff
Timetable
Additional timetable information
There are no scheduled classes for this course.
Aims and outcomes
This course aims to allow students to develop their analytical and communication skills while they acquire practical and professional knowledge in a workplace setting.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Demonstrate practical and professional skills developed in the field.
LO2.
Understand the key working elements of a host organisation selected by the student.
LO3.
Communicate effectively the outcomes of the fieldwork experience.
LO4.
Demonstrate independent research skills through an applied research project.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Internship Report | Pass/Fail |
30/05/2025 5:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Host report - confirmation of successful completion | Pass/Fail |
30/05/2025 5:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Log Book | Pass/Fail |
30/05/2025 5:00 pm |
Assessment details
Internship Report
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- Pass/Fail
- Due date
30/05/2025 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04
Task description
Write a 4,000 word report on your fieldwork experience / internship. The report should be a reflective essay containing your thoughts and reflections about your applied field experience / internship. It should relate your role/position in the organisation to the organisation's overall purpose and it should contain reflections on the various challenges the organisation confronts -- whether organisational, political or something else. You are not expected to advance an argument, as you would for a research paper, but you should place your experience in the context of what you have learned during the previous two semesters of course work. This involves drawing upon some of the theoretical and practical approaches you have studied and applying them to your field experience / internship. You may also want to reflect on how the work you did and the objectives of the organisation fit in with broader objectives of peace and conflict resolution or with broader trends in international relations. In general, this report should be viewed as an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned during your Internship and how it relates to the study of international relations or peace and conflict resolution.
Assessment tasks are intended to evaluate a student’s abilities, skills, and knowledge. Unless explicitly stated otherwise in the assessment instructions, assessments are to be completed without the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT). Failure to comply with this direction may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin.
In uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.
When you successfully submit your assessment to Turnitin after previewing the uploaded document (to make sure that you have chosen the correct file), you should see the “Submission Complete!” message. After this, a downloadable Digital Receipt will display on your Assignment Dashboard. It is your responsibility to download the Digital Receipt as proof of submission. Turnitin will not send this receipt to you automatically.
If you don’t see the downloadable receipt on your assignment dashboard, you should regard your submission as unsuccessful.
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again, then email your course coordinator immediately.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
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.
Unless an extension is granted, penalties for late submission apply. Students are penalised 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item for every calendar day that an assessment item is late.
Marks will be deducted each day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point the submitted item will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is triggered from the time the submission is due.
Host report - confirmation of successful completion
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- Pass/Fail
- Due date
30/05/2025 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01
Task description
Each student must obtain and supply to the Course Coordinator written confirmation from their host organisation indicating that the student has successfully completed the applied fieldwork experience / internship. Ideally, this letter should be written on official letterhead, but an email written directly to the Course Coordinator is acceptable where the letterhead option is not possible.
Submission guidelines
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin.
In uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.
When you successfully submit your assessment to Turnitin after previewing the uploaded document (to make sure that you have chosen the correct file), you should see the “Submission Complete!” message. After this, a downloadable Digital Receipt will display on your Assignment Dashboard. It is your responsibility to download the Digital Receipt as proof of submission. Turnitin will not send this receipt to you automatically.
If you don’t see the downloadable receipt on your assignment dashboard, you should regard your submission as unsuccessful.
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again, then email your course coordinator immediately.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
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.
Unless an extension is granted, penalties for late submission apply. Students are penalised 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item for every calendar day that an assessment item is late.
Marks will be deducted each day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point the submitted item will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is triggered from the time the submission is due.
Log Book
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- Pass/Fail
- Due date
30/05/2025 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L03
Task description
Write a 2000 word log book that details your role/position in the organisation, the daily tasks you perform and the objectives set for you by the host organisation. It is primarily a descriptive account that narrates what you did during your internship, elaborating on the tasks that were given to you, how you carried them out, and the difficulties you encountered.
Assessment tasks are intended to evaluate a student’s abilities, skills, and knowledge. Unless explicitly stated otherwise in the assessment instructions, assessments are to be completed without the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT). Failure to comply with this direction may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin.
In uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.
When you successfully submit your assessment to Turnitin after previewing the uploaded document (to make sure that you have chosen the correct file), you should see the “Submission Complete!” message. After this, a downloadable Digital Receipt will display on your Assignment Dashboard. It is your responsibility to download the Digital Receipt as proof of submission. Turnitin will not send this receipt to you automatically.
If you don’t see the downloadable receipt on your assignment dashboard, you should regard your submission as unsuccessful.
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again, then email your course coordinator immediately.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
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.
Unless an extension is granted, penalties for late submission apply. Students are penalised 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item for every calendar day that an assessment item is late.
Marks will be deducted each day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point the submitted item will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is triggered from the time the submission is due.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Pass/Fails | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| P | 50 - 100 |
Course grade description: All written work in this course must demonstrate satisfactory writing skills (including attention to presentation, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) and must provide the course coordinator with a reasonable understanding of what was achieved during the AFE. Basic levels of academic and professional competence must be demonstrated in the written work. The log book must provide enough detail for the course coordinator to understand the role you undertook while on the AFE. The report is not expected to advance an argument, but it should present a satisfactory account of what you learned on your AFE and how it relates to and enriches your studies. |
| F | 0 - 49 |
Course grade description: Student fails to pass one or more pieces of assessment. |
Additional course grading information
Pass:
In order to pass the course a student must:
(1) Complete and submit to the School their internship report;
(2) Complete the 'log book' in which they record their work during the internship; and
(3) Source a report from the host organisation confirming completion of the internship.
Fail:
A student will fail the course if fail to complete any one of the three tasks listed above
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is not available for this course.
Additional assessment information
Word Length Penalty
Unless otherwise indicated, in the case of written submissions with a specified word count, you are given a +10% leeway on the upper word limit. If your written submission is over this leeway limit, it will attract a 10 percentage point penalty. For example, if your essay is 1,500 words, you may write up to 1,650 before attracting a word count penalty. If your essay exceeds the upper word limit, it will attract a 10% word count penalty. Therefore, if your essay is worth 40 marks, you will lose 4 marks from your allotted grade. Unless specified, penalties only apply to exceeding the word length, not for failure to write a sufficient amount.
Students should note:
• The Author-date in-text referencing system will count toward the word length;
• References in the Footnote referencing system will not count toward the word length. If you are using footnotes, any content included in footnotes beyond the specific text reference will count towards the word length.
Supplementary Assessment
Supplementary Assessment is not available on the following assessment item because it is not possible to re-assess some of the minimum learning requirements for this item:
-Plan (Pass/Fail)
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
Essay Guide
The School of Political Science and International Studies Essay Guide can be downloaded from the School’s Student Support webpage.
The Guide sets out guidelines you should follow in preparing written assignments.
Essay Writing Assistance
The School of Political Science and International Studies schedules regular “drop-in” sessions designed to provide one-on-one advice and assistance in essay planning and writing.
There is no need to make an appointment and you are encouraged to bring your essay with you.
The day and time of these sessions will be finalized at the beginning of each semester and published on the Student Support webpage.
Student Services
Student services offer a variety of short courses during the semester which will help you improve your study, research and writing skills and thus your academic performance in this course.
Library Resources
UQ Library offers training in software, assignment writing, research skills, and publishing and research management.
The University’s library holdings for Political Science and International Studies are primarily located in the Central Library.
There is a help desk in the Library. Students are also welcome to contact the BEL/HASS Librarians for assistance.
Email: librarians@library.uq.edu.au
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Fieldwork |
On location with a host organisation You must complete a minimum of 120 hours fieldwork between the start of semester and the end of semester. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
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:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.