Course specification for PCM5100

¾«¶«´«Ã½app

USQ Logo
The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at .
Please consult the web for updates that may occur during the year.

PCM5100 Communication Demographics

Semester 1, 2020 Online
Short Description: Communication Demographics
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 100700 - Communication & Media Studies
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Rationale

Rapid development in communications technologies, the decentralisation of audiences, and changing audience expectations all present significant challenges to professionals who need to communicate their ideas with clarity and simplicity. This course helps students develop competency and skills in identifying and analysing audiences, and provides opportunity for students to improve their communications with current, new and emerging audiences across a range of different publication platforms.

Synopsis

Students in this course develop competency and skills in identifying and analysing audiences. They are provided with opportunities to improve their professional communications with technical and non-technical audiences, and to tailor their professional content to a range of different publication platforms. An important aspect of this course is students' development of knowledge related to audience demographics, size, and attitudes, and the ethical use of this information in specific professional contexts.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. identify and examine different modes of communication;
  2. produce high-quality content in different professional formats for various publication platforms;
  3. analyse a range of different audiences via different communication contexts;
  4. identify and incorporate communication practices to sustainably engage with current, new and emerging audiences.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Professional communication conventions 15.00
2. Audience data and analysis 35.00
3. Reading and understanding demographics 25.00
4. Engaging research and audience analysis 25.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=PCM5100)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Material needed by students will be available via journal articles and ebooks held by the Library, or via web materials.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Material needed by students will be available via journal articles and ebooks held by the Library, or via web materials.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 40.00
Independent ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 125.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
PROPOSAL AND ANALYSIS 100 20 19 Mar 2020
PROPOSAL AND ANALYSIS 100 30 16 Apr 2020
PROJECT 100 50 04 Jun 2020

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students’ responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.

  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination in this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) style to be used is defined by the USQ library’s referencing guide. This guide can be found at .

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:

  1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
  2. forms part of the Graduate Certificate of Professional Communication and is benchmarked against the internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.

Date printed 19 June 2020