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.

UPC5013 Creating Credible Content

Semester 3, 2020 Online
Short Description: Creating Credible Content
Units : 0.25
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

Requisites

Enrolment is not permitted if PCM5000 has been previously completed

Rationale

With the exponential increase in the amount of information available, creating content that is based on reliable and valid sources is critical to build trust and credibility in the market. Incorrect facts, misquoting someone, or utilising clearly biased information undermines your message. This minicourse aims to build awareness of the importance of sourcing high quality, credible content for your role as a communications professional. The coursework aims to engage you in the critical evaluation of a variety of sources to determine their credibility, and the development of skills in sourcing information from key sources, including interviewees, and approaching your role as a communicator ethically.

Synopsis

The intent of this minicourse is to build students awareness of the importance of sourcing high quality, credible content for their role as a communications professional. The coursework aims to engage students in the critical evaluation of a variety of sources to determine their credibility, and the development of skills in sourcing information from key sources, including interviewees, and approaching their role as a communicator ethically.

Please be advised that this minicourse is made up of four parts please see PCM5000 for the full course specification.

Objectives

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

  1. apply professional research and communication skills to evaluate the veracity of a range of sources to produce credible content;
  2. apply ethical and professional decision making skills to create and manage communication across various contexts.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Researching Credible Content 25.00
2. Using reliable resources 25.00
3. Ethical and professional decision making 25.00
4. Interviewing skills 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=03&subject1=UPC5013)

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

There are no texts or materials required for this course.

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.
Anderson, J. & Rainie, L 2017, The future of truth and misinformation online, Pew Research Center, Washington, DC.
(Retrieved from .)
Beder, S 2004, Moulding and manipulating the news. In Controversies in environmental sociology, Cambridge ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Press, Melbourne, VIC.
Kovach, B. & Rosenstiel, T 2014, The elements of journalism: What newspeople should know and the public should expect, Three Rivers Press, New York, NY.
Lamble, S 2016, News as it happens: An introduction to journalism, Oxford ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Press, Melbourne, VIC.
Machin, D., & Niblock, S 2006, News Production : Theory and Practice, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon.
Metzler, K 1997, Creative interviewing: The writer’s guide to gathering information by asking questions, 3rd edn, Allyn & Bacon, New York, NY.
Pearson, M. & Polden, M 2014, The journalist’s guide to media law, 5th edn, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, NSW.
Phillips, G. & Lindgren, M 2006, Australian broadcast journalism, Oxford ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Press, Melbourne, VIC.
Shu, K., Sliva, A., Wang, S., Tang, J. & Liu, H 2017, 'Fake news detection on social media: A data mining perspective', SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 22-36.
(.)
Surowiecki, J 2008, The wisdom of crowds, Anchor Books, Random House, New York, NY.
Vance, L 2017, 'The Internet and journalism', in , In Fake news and media bias, ProQuest Ebook Central: Greenhaven Publishing LLC, New York, NY.
(pp. 48-61.)

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 10.00
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 30.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
Assessment 1 50 100 11 Jan 2021 (see note 1)

Notes
  1. The assessment for this minicourse is due 4 weeks after teaching concludes. Students have access to the learning platform for a total of 11 weeks.

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. Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.

  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 grade for the full course will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each mapped minicourse, once all assessments have been successfully undertaken.

  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

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.

Other requirements

  1. There are 4 minicourses at 0.25 credit point that map to 1 full course. To receive credit for this minicourse into the full course, students must successfully pass the assessment. Once all 4 mapped minicourses have been successfully completed, a credit into the full course applies.

Date printed 12 February 2021