OLTEB / Teaching / Unit of Study Outline Guidelines

2.2 Learning and teaching activities

Identify the main learning and teaching activities (and related resources including textbooks) to assist students achieve the learning outcomes.  Briefly explain to students the purpose for each learning resource. See an exemplar of integrating a range of L&T activities with different types of assessment in GOVT2552.

Use some of the resource links below as well as the three modes of delivery (Face-to-face, print and online) to help students achieve the learning outcomes of this unit of study. First year students will require more detail than senior years.

 

Face-to-face

Lectures are used to set the scene and show how each topic fits into the overall unit of study aims.  At the beginning of each lecture any administrative announcements are made (and these are duplicated online as well).  Up to 5 minutes will be allocated for Q&A on any aspect of the unit at the beginning/end of the lecture.  Opportunities to apply concepts will be provided a number of times during each lecture. You are strongly advised to actively participate.  Quick quizzes may be conducted at the beginning/end of each lecture to check understanding of concepts.

Occasional guest lecturers will be invited to provide insights into industry practices. These have been popular with students in the past so make sure you are there. Incomplete lecture notes will be placed on Blackboard 3 days prior to the lecture; treat these as an outline to read before the lecture and fill in the gaps during or afterwards.

Tutorials are essential for helping you clarify any misunderstandings and apply concepts to more difficult problems.  Participation is strongly encouraged for you to check your understanding of concepts. Assigned work will be randomly collected four times over the semester by your tutor to gauge your level of understanding.  Feedback on the collected work will be returned the following week.  Assessed case studies will be returned in tutorials and common errors discussed.  Speak to your tutor/coordinator if you have concerns about your personal performance during consultation hours or by making a special appointment.

Staff consultation hours may be ultilised for all other queries (or post them online). 

 

Print

Chapters from the textbook (or reader or specified library articles) should be read prior to attending the scheduled lecture on that topic.  This background reading is essential to setting the scene in each topic. If you choose not to buy your own, a copy of the text/reader is available in the library reserve.

Assigned tutorial questions relate to the textbook and should be completed prior to arriving at the tutorial.

Hard copies of important handouts are provided at lectures but can also be obtained from the Accounting Administrative Assistant (or downloaded from the unit’s Blackboard site and printed yourself).

A hard copy of assessments should be kept, even after submitting them into the assignment box.

 

Online

Blackboard (http://blackboard.econ.usyd.edu.au) provides the main online learning support. It is essential that you log in at least twice per week to keep abreast of unit-wide announcements and use the resources to supplement your learning.

Outline/presentation/notes for each lecture are available 3 days before each lecture for you to download from Blackboard (http://blackboard.econ.usyd.edu.au).  Copies of extra handouts from the lecture are also made available online one day after the lecture.

There are 12 optional self-paced quizzes online on the Blackboard site (http://blackboard.econ.usyd.edu.au) to help you gauge your own understanding of key concepts.  It is recommended that you attempt these after attending lectures and doing assigned work but prior to attending tutorials.  They can be used multiple times for revision as well since the quizzes draw from a large database of questions.

Three online discussion forums will be available over the semester to all students on the Blackboard site (http://blackboard.econ.usyd.edu.au).  These can be used to clarify questions relating to the case study and essay assessments and another will be used for other queries.  Please check the FAQ list prior to posting a new question as duplicate questions will simply be ignored or removed. Appropriate online behaviour in such discussions is expected at all times.

The case study and essay assessments should be submitted online by the due date (in addition to the hard copy submission for tutors to mark). You should check your work with Safe Assignment for matched phrases before submitting.

Results on each assessment (except the final exam) are posted into the gradebook online when all marks have been finalised. The average for each assessment and a brief summary of common errors and suggested improvement options will be posted online at the same time.  A copy of the past exam with annotated answers is available online for revision.

The CD-ROM that is available with the textbook is a useful revision resource.

Resources