Course coordinator
Dr Alastair Stark
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 2, 2024 (22/07/2024 - 18/11/2024)
- 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 here.
The Applied Field Experience (AFE) provides students with an opportunity to work in a host ﾠorganisation 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 log book and 4,000-word written report, and to supply written confirmation from the host organisation that they have successfully completed their AFE.
Applications for POLS7521 must be submitted via the Placement Management system available at my.UQ - https://placements.uq.edu.au/.
Applications for Semester 1 close on 25 January. Applications for Semester 2 close on 25 June.
Please note that ethical clearance and fieldwork safety forms must be completed before the Course Coordinator can approve an AFE (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 link https://my-research.research.uq.edu.au/
Further information can be found here https://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
Lecturer
Dr Alastair Stark
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placement | Confirmation of successful completion | Pass/Fail |
25/10/2024 5:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Log Book (2000 words) | Pass/Fail |
25/10/2024 5:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Report (4000 words) | Pass/Fail |
25/10/2024 5:00 pm |
Assessment details
Confirmation of successful completion
- Mode
- Activity/ Performance
- Category
- Placement
- Weight
- Pass/Fail
- Due date
25/10/2024 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04
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. Ideally this letter should be written on official letterhead, but an email written directly to the Course Coordinator is acceptable where that is not possible.
Submission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Log Book (2000 words)
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- Pass/Fail
- Due date
25/10/2024 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04
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 applied field experience, elaborating on the tasks that were given to you, how you carried them out, and any difficulties you encountered. You can set out the Log book in a variety of ways, incorporating text, narrative prose, and tables, to help present the activities undertaken, times and summary issues.
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.
Report (4000 words)
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- Pass/Fail
- Due date
25/10/2024 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04
Task description
Write a 4,000 word report on your fieldwork experience. The report should be an essay reflecting on your field experience in terms of your role in an organisation that has an overarching purpose but confronts challenges and limitations that may be organisational, political, financial, or of another relevant type. 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 your course work. This involves drawing upon some of the theoretical and practical approaches that you have studied and applying them to your field experience. A minimum of five (5) academic or policy-related texts should be used in the essay. This could include scholarly articles of an academic nature that provide a framework for thinking about organisational constraints, for example, or legislation or your organisation's publications that act as evidence for the constraints or purpose that you adduce in your report.
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.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Pass/Fails | Description |
|---|---|
| P |
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 |
Course grade description: Student fails to pass one or more pieces of assessment. |
Additional course grading information
Grades will be awarded on the following basis:
1.ﾠFailﾠ 1 - 19%
2. Failﾠ 20 - 44%
3. Failﾠ 45 ﾖ 49%
4. Passﾠ 50 - 64 %
5. Creditﾠ 65 - 74 %
6. Distinctionﾠ 75 - 84 %
7. High Distinctionﾠ 85 - 100 %
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is not available for some items in 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.
Marking Criteria/Rubric
Marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the ‘Assessment’ folder in Blackboard for this course.
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.
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.