Stage 2 Unit Accreditation (QA)
The purpose of the quality assurance stage is to:
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Provide adequate information for the Learning and Teaching Committee and Academic Board to accredit course and units for the provision of high quality and
pedagogically sound learning experiences for students.
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Articulate clear links between assessment, learning outcomes, learning activities that students are required to undertake in order to develop the Course Outcomes,
CDU’s Graduate Attributes and meet the AQF Learning Outcome Descriptor for the specific qualification level.
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Record and approve unit administrative items for publication and national reporting.
Unit Code
Use current unit code – OR This will either be a current unit code for reaccreditation of a unit or a new unit code, typically applied for
during stage 1 R&P
Past unit codes are not reinstated in a manner that may affect past students, all unit codes must be
confirmed by the AR team prior to accreditation.
Unit Title
The Unit Title should be concise and descriptive. It should meaningfully and fairly represent the learning
outcomes of the Unit. It should be readily understandable, particularly for students choosing their
programme of study and employers reviewing transcripts.
Terms such as “Introduction to…”, “Foundations of…” or “Beginning…” will normally be restricted to 100
level Units: terms such as “Advanced…” will normally be restricted to 300 or 500 level Units.
The length should be 2-5 words. The maximum length shall be 70 characters (including spaces).
Unit Administration
Abbreviations, acronyms and the ampersand (&) will not normally be used, and punctuation will be kept to
the minimum necessary for grammatical correctness.
Owning School/Faculty
Credit Points
Level
Name of the school and faculty that this unit will be reported under – this is the school that will ultimately
responsible for accreditation and maintaining the quality of the unit.
Credit Points (CP) are a mechanism for determining the student HE study load estimated to meet
required learning outcomes. Unit study loads are measured by CP, as are total study loads for courses.
 80CP = 1 EFTSL or a maximum full time study load over two semesters.
 HE coursework Units are normally 10CP.
 WIL or research units may be 10, 20, 30 or 40 CP.
Level indicates whether it is a 100, 200, 300 etc unit.
Refer to the Unit and Course Policy
Field of Education (FOE)
Code and Description
Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) Field of Education (FOE) Code.
The Australian Bureau of Statistic publishes the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)
Field of Education (FOE) Code and defines it as:
as the subject matter of an educational activity. Fields of education are related to each other through the
similarity of subject matter, through the broad purpose for which the education is undertaken, and through
the theoretical content which underpins the subject matter.
Field of Education is measured operationally in terms of the following criteria:
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theoretical content;
purpose of learning;
objects of interest;
methods and techniques; and
tools and equipment.
The FOE should align with the unit description and unit learning outcome.
Note that the FOE for each unit sets the fees payable by students and the government funding received
by CDU.
Refer to the ASCED FOE table to find the Field of Education and description. To go to the ASCED
website.
Unit Accreditation Type
New units are any unit that is uniquely new.
Redeveloped units are current units that are being redeveloped in a manner that a new unit code is
required.
Currently accredited units being revitalised in a manner that does not require a new code
Language of Instruction
All CDU HE units must be delivered in English unless specifically accredited and reported otherwise.
Unit Offering
Unit offerings are published on the 1st of October for all semester and study periods for the following year.
Timetables are then published before enrolments open in early December.
The timing of unit accreditation (QA) approval is so that this information can be captured and entered in
time for the annual unit offering review managed through Area 52 eQUIP.
The study plan for each course that the unit forms part of needs to be considered.
Unit Offering Details
Teaching Period
CDU has 4 semesters and 4 study periods which can be utilised for higher education, each with a specific
start, end and census date.
These dates can be found on the CDU staff page under ‘Important Dates and Events’ – ‘Semester Dates’
Location
Indicate the unit offering location. It can be either EXT (external) or at a specified location or a
combination of both.
More rows can be added if there are multiple location offerings in the first year.
Learning Method
Online Reliant (OLR) – learning material is provided on-line through Learnline. Students must access this
material to complete the requirements of the unit. Students should log into Learnline on the first day of
the teaching period
Online Supported (OLS) - supplementary material is available on-line through Learnline. Students are
encouraged to access this material, however this is not essential to complete the requirements of the unit
Print based Materials (PB) - print-based study material is mailed to students from External Student
Support.
Intensive
Intensive (ITV) units are units where the unit is delivered fully or partially in an intensive mode. The
intensive can either be compulsory or optional.
If a unit is delivered by intensive mode information to students regarding the intensive should be included
in the unit description.
Examples
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Teaching Responsibility
Unit Coordinator
Field trip dates for 2014 are Thursday 19th June - Sunday 29th June. The field intensive begins at the
Alice Springs campus and ends in Darwin on the evening of the last day.
This unit includes the completion of the Healthy Under 5 kid's package and has a 1 week mandatory
skills intensive.
This unit is predominately delivered on-line, students are required to attend the 1 day intensive on
campus during the semester.
Students studying in external mode must attend residential activity at the Casuarina Campus during
the mid-semester break. More information about residentials can be found at
http://www.cdu.edu.au/engit/residentials.html
The Unit Coordinator is required to be a member of the relevant School as either a permanent staff
member or employed on a full-time, long-term contract.
Shared Teaching
Units are owned by one school, but teaching can be shared across schools or across faculties.
Note: Shared teaching responsibility is also included in VCAG reports to show teaching load performance
against schools.
If shared teaching occurs, advise on the percentages between schools.
Please ensure that the shared responsibilities add to 100%.
New Unit Relationship
Details
New units are any unit that is uniquely new, it may or may not have a relationship to a current unit.
Replaced unit
Is the introduction of this unit replacing a current?
Final Year
Indicate the year that the replaced unit will be last offered ; i.e. 2015 would indicate that unit would be
discontinued as at 31/12/2015 and would not exist in 2016. (If the replaced unit is not being discontinued
further information may be required to justify the existence of both units)
Equivalent Units
A unit is equivalent when the content, learning outcomes, volume of learning and learning and
assessment approaches are comparable;
This means that a student would be entitled to credit (in another course) for the new unit if they had
successfully completed the old unit. The student would not be permitted to enroll and complete the new
unit.
New / Redeveloped /
Precluded Units
Accredited Unit Details
A replaced unit will be deemed to preclude a new unit when:
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The new unit is not deemed equivalent, however, the old unit is being replaced by another within
the requirements for the course;
 A student enrolling in a new course would NOT be entitled to credit transfer of the new unit;
Under the course transitional arrangements a student can enroll in either unit but not both units to meet
course requirements, therefore a student would be prevented from enrolling in both units.
Redeveloped Unit
Relationship Details
Redeveloped units are current units that are being redeveloped in a manner that a new unit code is
required. Essentially these are new units however this section captures the relationship to the current
unit.
Replaced unit
Is the introduction of this unit replacing a current?
Final Year
Indicate the year that the replaced unit will be last offered ; i.e. 2015 would indicate that unit would be
discontinued as at 31/12/2015 and would not exist in 2016. (If the replaced unit is not being discontinued
further information may be required to justify the existence of both units)
Equivalent Units
A unit is equivalent when the content, learning outcomes, volume of learning and learning and
assessment approaches are comparable;
This means that a student would be entitled to credit (in another course) for the new unit if they had
successfully completed the old unit. The student would not be permitted to enroll and complete the new
unit.
Precluded Units
A replaced unit will be deemed to preclude a new unit when:
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The new unit is not deemed equivalent, however, the old unit is being replaced by another within
the requirements for the course;
 A student enrolling in a new course would NOT be entitled to credit transfer of the new unit;
Under the course transitional arrangements a student can enroll in either unit but not both units to meet
course requirements, therefore a student would be prevented from enrolling in both units.
Reaccredited Unit Details
This section refers to currently accredited units being revitalised in a manner that does not require a new
code, i.e. a student that completed the unit previously has the equivalent learning to a student who will
complete the unit in the future.
Indicate the year that the current version of the unit will be offered.
Cross institutional credit
transfer arrangements
List units from other HE providers where there is documented comparability and equivalence of learning outcomes, volume of learning,
content and learning and assessment approaches have been considered.
This indicates that where a student has successfully completed ABC and X university they are entitled to receive credit at CDU for the
unit being accredited.
Considerations - ensure that students will still meet course learning outcomes, graduate attributes, and if relevant meet professional
requirements based on the learning undertake at the other provider.
Academic Unit Details
Assumed knowledge
Students enrolling into certain units are assumed to have particular knowledge. This knowledge may
comprise of discrete or broad, formal or informal concepts and/or skills. Students who do not have the
assumed knowledge will not be prevented from enrolling in the unit, but may experience difficulties and
achieve suboptimal results.
Pre-requisite
Pre-requisite Unit means one or more accredited units of study that must be successfully completed
before enrolment into the specified unit is allowed.
Progression through the recommended study plan, unit offerings, assessment items and grade release
dates need to be considered when applying a pre-requisite to any unit.
Note: a pre-requisite is applied to a unit independently, not to a unit within a specific course, please
ensure that any pre-requisites applied are achievable by all students required to undertake this unit as
part of their qualification.
Repeatable
Students are not permitted to enroll in a unit that they have successfully completed (including Advanced
Standing) unless the unit is accredited as repeatable.
Indicate yes if the unit is either an Repeatable unit or an Extended unit
Repeatable Unit – a unit into which a student may enrol and successfully complete more than once and
have counted towards their Award Course. Repeatable units have broadly defined Learning Outcomes
providing for a range of learning activities.
Extended Unit – a coherent unit of study that has been accredited to be delivered over a defined
sequence of more than one unit offering. The credit points for each unit offering will count towards the
degree and, once all the unit offerings have been completed, towards the student’s GPA. Final grading
occurs at the end of the last semester, and the final grade is applied to each of the constituent unit
offerings, which in the interim utilise the NE grade.
Note: A student cannot enroll in more than one repeatable unit marked in any one teaching period (e.g.
semester).
Over-ride Unit Title
required
Work integrated learning,
experience, practicum or
placement
This facility is used for units that are offered with a generic title and allows the school to offer different
topics each semester.
The school should advise the Team Leader Accreditation and Registration of the proposed titles prior to
unit offering confirmation for the following year (eQUIP).
Information regarding work integrated learning and experience including placements and practicums may in some cases need to be
reported to the federal government and may affect student fees and funding.
The following questions are designed to determine to the unit is required to be reported as ‘Work Experience in Industry’ (WEI) in line
with the Higher Education Support Act (HESA). Whether a student can be charged for a WEI unit depends on the level of support
provided to the student.
HESA defines WEI units as those which comprise totally of work:
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that is done as a part of, or in connection with, a course of study undertaken with a provider; and
the purpose of which is to obtain work experience relevant to the course of study; and
in respect of which student learning and performance is not directed by the provider.
As this can have significant impact on CDU’s reporting staff who believe the unit could be defined as WEI should contact
arteam@cdu.edu.au to confirm.
Includes teaching
HESA defines WEI units as those which comprise totally of work:
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that is done as a part of, or in connection with, a course of study undertaken with a provider; and
the purpose of which is to obtain work experience relevant to the course of study; and
in respect of which student learning and performance is not directed by the provider.
If the unit also include other teaching activities it is not a WEI unit.
Directed by CDU staff
As defined by HESA - Learning and performance is not directed by the provider unless all of the
following are performed by staff of the provider or by persons engaged by the provider:
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ongoing and regular input and contact with students;
oversight and direction of work occurring during its performance, not just the progress of a
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Supported by CDU staff
AS defined by HESA - A provider may charge a student contribution amount or tuition fee for WEI units if
the student receives support for learning and performance from the provider or persons engaged by the
provider.
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Course Relationship
student’s work;
definition and management of the implementation of educational content and objectives of the
unit;
definition and management of assessment of student learning and performance during the
placement; and
definition and management of the standard of learning and performance to be achieved by the
student during the placement
A student is receiving support for learning and performance if all of the following are performed by
staff of the provider or persons engaged by the provider:
interaction between the supervisor and the student, which may include site visits;
organisation of student placements;
ongoing monitoring of student work and progress; and
assessment of student learning and performance during the placement
Course information is required so that any changes to existing accredited awards can be considered.
Indicate the main course that this unit has been developed for. Also indicate any other courses that the unit may form part of the course
structure as either a core or specialist elective. This is particularly important for new/redeveloped units that replace existing units.
Note: When developing a new unit or redeveloping an existing unit schools need to consider the impact on other qualifications.
IT Requirements
Identify if this unit requires any additional software requirements that would not normally be found on computers accessed by CDU
students. Please include any software that only runs on a specific operating system.
Unit Description
Unit descriptions are published to the web providing an overview of the unit for students.
Calibrated Unit
Indicate if this unit will is a capstone unit and will be validated as part of the Innovative Research University’s Calibrate project.
SECTION B – LEARNING AND TEACHING AND CURRICULUM
Unit Learning Outcomes
List the specific unit learning outcomes as they will appear in the unit outline and published on the web. Unit learning outcomes are a
clear set of around 4-6 statements (limited to maximum of eight) that inform the development of teaching strategies, learning
activities/tasks and assessment. They should convey to students the level of understanding, specific skills, knowledge and capabilities
they are expected to gain by successfully completing the unit. Please include the course learning outcomes that the unit outcomes
contribute to.
Unit level learning should also convey to students the level of understanding, specific skills, knowledge and capabilities they are
expected to gain by successfully completing the unit. These outcomes are more specific than course level learning outcomes and
breaks student learning into chunks, which when added together make up the more complex course learning outcomes.
Before writing learning outcomes consider the following questions:
1. What do you want your students to be able to do or know when they have finished this unit?
2. What new skills knowledge or attitudes would you like your students be able to show?
3. How will you know that students have achieved your learning outcomes?
4. What activities will you need to engage students in the learning process?
The first 2 questions focus on the learning outcomes, the last 2 on assessment and learning activities. Time spent thinking about these
questions will help you to more easily align learning outcomes, learning activities and assessment this document.
Approaches To Learning And
Teaching
Learning and Teaching Strategies
This should be a statement that provides a brief indication of how students will be expected to learn in the unit (e.g. through case-based
learning, collaborative group work etc. individual contracts, experiential learning) and the methods for receiving content (e.g. lectures,
audio, video, web-based or written materials, Learnline etc.).
Ensure the different approaches to be used for students studying in internal and external mode are included.
Participation
Provide a brief summary of participation requirements, including private study commitments
Example
one 4hr workshop per week plus 6hrs individual study over 12 weeks; access to online forums is required at least three times per week
and a broadband connection is required).
The minimum expected contact hours for internal course work units is 3 hours per week or 36 hours per semester. The maximum
should not exceed 6 hours per week. Contact Hours may, subject to a clear academic rationale, be structured in a number of ways,
including being evenly spread throughout the weeks of a teaching period or concentrated into intensive blocks.
Therefore include any compulsory attendance requirements such as intensive or residential blocks, weekend workshops, laboratory
classes etc. It is also helpful to include information that sets your expectations of student involvement in the unit and what the students
could expect from your interactions within the unit. Explain any differences in participation requirements for students studying in
external and internal mode.
Learnline
Indicate how Learnline will be used to facilitate learning and teaching in this unit.
Learning activities and
assessment; alignment with
learning outcomes
Indicate the major learning activities that the students will engage in to achieve the unit learning outcomes. The level of detail provided
should inform subsequent development of assessment and teaching to enable the successful delivery of the unit. For example role play,
lectures and tutorials, simulations, mock trials etc.
Note: Learning activities are not the assessment items.
Assessment Items
List the assessment items and indicate how each relates to the unit learning outcomes.
Assessment items will be published on the web so that students are able to make informed decisions when planning their study prior to
enrolment.
The number of assessment items should not exceed five to avoid over assessment particularly for full time students that may be
completing 3 other units concurrently.
The assessment items should be appropriate for the unit level and the value should also be relevant to the workload requirement.
Therefore the workload needs to be included in the task
Examples
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Discursive Essay (1500-2000 words)
Online Journal Entry (x4)
Group Project Presentation
Project Report (2000 words)
Laboratory Exercises (x3)
Mid-semester invigilated test
Tutorial exercises x 3 (250 word each)
Final Examination
Note: the term examination should be confined to units which have a final centrally timetable invigilated exam. Schools are responsible
for the coordination of other assessment items that such as mid-semester invigilated test.
For extended and repeatable units please indicate which part the assessment component belongs to.
Ensure that values equal 100%.