¾«¶«´«Ã½app

Staffing

Examiner:

Other requisites

Students enrolling in courses which do not follow the recommended enrolment pattern cannot be assured of a developmental learning experience or program completion within their preferred timeframe.

Rationale

Communication and collaboration is the essence of effective teaching and learning in all educational contexts, and foundation to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. It is essential that pre-service teachers understand the nature of both communication and collaboration processes in various learning contexts, as well as develop their own communication and collaboration skills to the highest possible level. Communication for educators is not restricted to the classroom, but involves a range of interactions and collaborations with learners, parents/carers, colleagues, other professionals and paraprofessionals, administrators and the wider school community. Pre-service teachers need to understand their ethical responsibilities in all interactions and must ensure they conduct themselves at all times with professionalism and sensitivity. This course aims to develop communication in and outside of the classroom, with theory underpinning the practical to prepare pre-service teachers to apply their communication and collaboration knowledge and skills in a wide range of educational contexts.

Synopsis

Pre-service teachers will analyse the nature of communication and learn the elements of effective interpersonal communication, with consideration of the range of verbal and non-verbal communication processes and strategies. A major focus will be on the role of effective communication in education, and more specifically when teaching learners with additional needs including giving and receiving feedback, supporting learner engagement, and collaborating with others to ensure effective teaching and learning. The importance of effective and active listening will be emphasised, together with the interaction between verbal and non-verbal communication, and how these when used successfully can encourage and support effective collaborations. Pre-service teachers will also learn how to facilitate collaborative group decision-making and discussions, communicate effectively with learners, parents/carers, education colleagues and relevant professionals, and respond appropriately to conflict situations that may arise within an educational context.

Objectives

Topics

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Reference materials

Student workload expectations

Assessment details

Important assessment information

1. Attendance requirements:
   
   It is the students’ responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and 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 assessment items in 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 APA referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ library's referencing guide. This guide can be found at .
   
   
2. Students are required to demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of academic language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, and referencing in all assessment responses. Marks allocated to the aforementioned criteria will be specified in the criteria for assessment of all assessment items.
   
   
3. Students are required to submit ALL assignments to evidence meeting or exceeding the mandatory requirements of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APSTs).
   
   

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 Bachelor of Education and is benchmarked against the:

1. 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.
2. Queensland College of Teachers
3. Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL).

Other requirements

1. Participation: Students can expect it will be necessary to participate in and contribute to a range of learning opportunities in this course including online study activities, lectures, tutorials, seminar presentations, group discussions and self-directed study activities in order to apply the coursework that will enable quality assessment tasks to be submitted as evidence of professional development.