EDU5221 Professional Learning
| Semester 2, 2013 Online Toowoomba | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Education |
| School or Department : | Education |
| Version produced : | 11 April 2013 |
Staffing
Examiner: Joan Conway
Moderator: Marian Lewis
Rationale
Education throughout Australia is in a period of dramatic change. The patterns of organisation and decision making within individual educational setting, along with the resultant expanding role of individual educators, increases the importance of opportunities for professional development. Professional learning communities offer an emerging framework through which to consider issues of professional development in their context.
Synopsis
This course will examine professional learning perspectives and processes within the context of changes in Australian education. Participants will analyse the role of professional learning communities and action learning as they develop professionally and will develop skills which will enable them to develop appropriate mentoring practices within their workplace. For this course, access is required to an educational setting where professional learning processes may be explored and developed. This may include working with peers and mentoring. NOTE: Minimum enrolment numbers apply to this offering. Should enrolments not reach the minimum number required for on-campus study, students may be transferred to the ONLINE offering and advised of this change before semester commences.
Objectives
The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On successful completion of this course students will have acquired knowledge, understanding and skills of:
- understanding of the implications of the knowledge age for professional learning especially within schools or other educational organisations (Assignment 1 - Situational Analysis)
- understanding of lifelong learning and adult learning theories (Assignment 1 - Situational Analysis).
- understanding of the changing demands for professional learning and learners (Assignment 1 -Situational Analysis)
- understanding of the importance of ongoing collaborative professional learning for changes in personal practice and workplace professional relationships (Assignment 1 - Situational Analysis and Assignment 2 - Project)
- ability to assess a range of professional learning approaches and practices, and reflect on their applicability to own workplace context (Assignments 1 - Situational Analysis and Assignment 2 - Project)
- ability to apply theory into practice for enhanced quality professional practice (Assignment 2 -Project)
- ability to work with at least one other to enhance workplace learning processes and outcomes via a professional learning project (Assignment 2 - Project)
- demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing (All Assignments)
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Models of professional inquiry, supervision and mentoring | 20.00 |
| 2. | Lifelong learning and adult learning theories | 20.00 |
| 3. | Professional learning communities | 20.00 |
| 4. | Professional learning approaches and new technologies | 15.00 |
| 5. | Action learning for professional learning and changed professional practice | 25.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=02&subject1=EDU5221)
Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/contact/)
- There are no texts or materials required for this course.
Reference materials
Student workload requirements
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Directed Study | 80.00 |
| Independent Study | 80.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SITUATION ANALYSIS | 50 | 50 | 04 Sep 2013 | |
| PROJECT | 50 | 50 | 23 Oct 2013 |
Important assessment information
-
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. -
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. (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.) -
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted. -
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. -
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. -
Examination information:
There is no examination in this course. -
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
There will be no Deferred or Supplementary examinations in this course. -
University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au/portal/custom/search/category/usq_document_policy_type/Student.1.html.
Assessment notes
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APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments 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. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/apa
Other requirements
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Students will require access to e-mail and Internet access to UConnect for this course. Students will be required to engage in collegial learning through online discussion around a given topic.
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Students are to use APA referencing systems.