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Staffing

Examiner:

Other Requisites

Pre-requisite: Successful completion of EAPI or English Proficiency equivalent to IELTS Band 5.5 plus completion overseas or in Australia of Senior High School or Post-secondary diploma or first year degree or equivalent work experience.

Students must have access to a personal computer, e-mail,and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

Rationale

To begin a degree at USQ, students who speak English as a second or additional language need an IELTS score of at least 6.0. A score of IELTS 6.0 means the ability to understand and use moderately complex English, at the upper intermediate level, for familiar topics. This course will develop students’ academic English reading skills from IELTS 5.5 to 6.0. Students will learn to use a range of reading skills in order to understand and respond to a variety of written texts. The course will also develop students’ vocabulary in English. Reading texts and activities will familiarise students with academic vocabulary at the upper intermediate level.

Synopsis

This course focuses on academic reading at the IELTS 5.5 to 6.0 level. Students will read a range of academic texts at this upper intermediate level. The course is organised into weekly themes such as globalisation, education, health and wellbeing, the environment, medicine, art and design, architecture, technology and society, and the brain. These subject areas will provide a practical and engaging medium for students to improve their academic reading skills. Students will learn to identify main ideas and supporting details in a reading text, and to evaluate a text's register (academic, informal, journalistic), purpose, audience, and use of evidence. Students will also learn to summarise and paraphrase effectively, in order to avoid plagiarism and communicate main ideas and key points of texts. Learning and teaching are student-centred, interactive, hands-on, and culturally responsive.
Teachers will guide and support students as they develop independent learning skills that they can use in their future degrees. Students will engage in group work and individual activities, at the same time enhancing their skills in intercultural communication, group work, and digital literacy. Students will take an active role in discussing and analysing texts, and reading texts will be supported by a range of video materials, quizzes, interactive online games, and learning forums.

Objectives

Topics

Text and Materials

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 (such as lectures and tutorials) 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 obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the test by achieving at least 50% of the marks available for that assessment item.
   
   Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.
   
   To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure (point 4.4.2).
   
   
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:
   
   CLOSED: Candidates are allowed to bring only writing and drawing instruments into a closed examination.
   
   
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   
   Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period. A supplementary exam may be awarded, at the discretion of the Examiner, to students who do not pass the final exam. It is expected that such students have gained at least 45% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
   
   
8. 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 .
   
   

Evaluation and Benchmarking

In meeting the University's aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least three 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 English for Academic Purposes Program 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.
3. is accredited by the National English Language Teaching Accreditation Scheme (NEAS) and is therefore subject to external quality assurance auditing.

Other Requirements

1. Computer, e-mail and Internet access:
   Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .
   
   
2. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.