alternative handbook 2010 semester two

The Alternative Handbook 2010

The Guild thought that students would like to hear other student opinions of units that they may be interested in doing and so the Alternative Handbook was developed for this purpose. The handbook is also designed to give the excellent teaching staff the recognition they deserve and put forward suggestions to improve the units if so required (and there’s always room for improvement!).

The Survey ProcessFor semester 2 of 2010, students had the opportunity to complete the survey online.This allowed a larger number of students to rate their units, providing a much bigger database of rankings and comments for this year’s Alternative Handbook.

The Survey QuestionsStudents were asked to provide five ratings for each unit on: organisation, teaching, workload, assessment and overall satisfaction. Students were prompted to consider the following aspects under each of the categories when making a rating:

OrganisationAvailability of course materials before semester : Organisation of course

materials : If the aims and objectives were clearly outlined : Organisation of lectures and tutorials

TeachingClarity of lectures : Level of enthusiasm and willingness to help : Availability of

teaching staff outside of class times

WorkloadWorkload comparison to unit credit value : If the workload was evenly spaced

through semester

AssessmentTested for knowledge and understanding : Marking time : Useful feedback

Overall SatisfactionSatisfaction with the materials and teaching in this unit : If you would

recommend this unit to others

Students were also asked for an estimate on the cost of books and photocopying, to provide tips for future students, comments and if there were any excellent teachers who inspired them.

The Unit Reviews

The unit ratings range from 0/5 (awful) to 5/5 (excellent). If a unit had three or more respondents, the ratings and approximate costs for books and photocopying were averaged. The number of respondents have been included in each unit review and this should to be taken into consideration when reading the review. It is obviously more likely that a review generated from 100 respondents is a more accurate reflection of the unit compared to a review generated from 3 respondents.

The text of each review reflects on the general comments from the respondents. If the majority of respondents thought a unit was terrible and only a few thought it was good, the text would reflect the majority view.

It is important to note that the unit reviews consist of student feedback and

does not represent the view or opinion of the Curtin Student Guild. The

information contained in the Alternative Handbook is highly subjective

and should be read in this context.

FaSeaculem

lty omeste

of Ber 2

Bus2, 2

sine201

ess 0

Accounting 100Organisation 3.87/5 I didn’t need to photocopy any re-

source materials or print any out as in the workbook the lecture slides were inside, this was really helpful. I ini-tially found the 3 hour seminar helpful when we were doing earlier topics, but when the topics got harder, the seminars didn’t really meet my needs.

Teaching 3.75/5

Workload 3.4/5

Assessment 3.5/5

Total Satisfaction 3.75/5

Costs $100-$150

Respondents 8

Accounting (Decision Analysis) 308Organisation 2.95/5 I found that no one ended up going

to my tutorials once they had finished their group assignment. I also felt that the unit wasn’t as organised as it could be, with the lecturer saying one thing and the next week changing his mind, and the assessment results going up on blackboard for everyone except my tutorial’s results.

Teaching 2.7/5

Workload 3.15/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $60-$120

Respondents 3

Accounting (Financial) 250Organisation 3.55/5 No comments submitted

Teaching 2.95/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.3/5


Costs $160

Respondents 8

Accounting (Information Systems) 531Organisation 4/5 Seems a bit pointless. Accounting

software used is not really used in real world. Not really sure how most of the theory relates to Accounting.

Teaching 3.75/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.25/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Accounting (Managerial Control) 301Organisation 4.5/5 Generally, this unit is well organised

and the assessment requirements are clear and follow the unit outline.

Teaching 4.5/5

Workload 4.5/5

Assessment 4.25/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Accounting Systems 204Organisation 4.6/5 Very good.

Teaching 4.25/5

Workload 4.41/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Applied Contract Law 200Organisation 3.4/5 There were no set text books for this

unit therefore you needed to photo-copy all the material, which was a bit of a pain at times as if you had other things to prepare for. You save money not buying overly priced text books, but it costs time to print and copy for each lecture and tutorial that you have.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Bank Lending 306Organisation 3.6/5 Mid-semester very hard, assignment

not clear enough - too much work-load. The 40% passing requirement in final exam unfair. Lecturer explana-tion good -lecturer understanding of students

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Business Capstone 301Organisation 3.9/5 I liked this unit, it was interesting and

working in groups was fun. However, I felt that the individual exam was too early and that some assessments were not made clear. I.e.. the individual exam was only marked on the practi-cal and the theory was not worth any-thing. Simulation didn’t really reflect the real world.

Teaching 3.75/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs $5

Respondents 11

Business Information Systems 100Organisation 4.5/5 Students purchase the textbook and

then have the option to by a $30 workbook with all the slides and worksheet information in there. That was a really helpful addition to the course. The teaching was always fun and interactive and the worksheets really helped test our knowledge on the material.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.16/5


Costs $80-$90

Respondents 6

Business Law 100Organisation 4.4/5 Great teachers and assistants. Fantastic

unit to learn that will be useful for everyday life

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.7/5


Costs $100-$150

Respondents 7

Business Statistics 201Organisation 3.2/5 Was a tough unit for me definitely

needs some maths skill in this. Need to ask for help as soon as you need it don’t wait it out. Diane is an excellent Lecturer and unit controller always very helpful with students as long as you show her your putting in some effort.

Teaching 2.8/5

Workload 3.4/5

Assessment 2.6/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Communication in Business 100Organisation 3.75/5 The workload was good for this unit.

This unit had a lot of theory that had already been covered in other units such as Management 100. No text book was a good cost saving, but I felt I didn’t gain the knowledge I needed from the weekly reading we were given. Tutorials were excellent - very interactive and had a fast pace. Lec-

Teaching 3.5/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.4/5


Costs $0

Respondents 22

Ecologic Sustainable Design 102/122Organisation 2.6/5 Very few people knew what was go-

ing on. This unit should be interesting and informative. Not many people learnt anything.

Teaching 1.6/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 1.6/5


Costs $20

Respondents 5

Economics 100Organisation 4/5 A very well organised unit with great

teaching staff who provided enough supportive material and help through-out the semester. The way the lecturer conducted the lectures was brilliant and kept everyone interested with the use of a variety of examples and real life business situations.

Teaching 4.46/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.69/5


Costs

Respondents 13

Economics for Managers 551Organisation 3.6/5 Although I found the content inter-

esting, I thought the delivery lacked organization and the importance of critical information came late while other topics of lesser importance seemed over emphasized. That said, I appreciate how difficult this unit must be to teach and overall I was pleased with my experience.

Teaching 4.5/5

Workload 3.8/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $200

Respondents 6

Finance (Corporate) 307Organisation 3.65/5 Much of the textbook was not useful

or relevant. Unit was a shambles in terms of organisation, and assessments were not related to a large extent to material taught in the unit. Commu-nication between the lecturer and the unit controller appeared to be poor

Teaching 3.65/5

Workload 2.65/5

Assessment 2.8/5


Costs $120

Respondents 4

Finance (International) 302Organisation 3.53/5 Hardly learn anything from tutorials

as there are presentations by students each week to account towards par-ticipation marks. Brilliant for grading students, but in expense of everyone else if students are unable to present well.

Teaching 2.6/5

Workload 2.76/5

Assessment 2.5/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Finance (Managerial) 212Organisation 4.6/5 Difficult unit that is helped with good

lecturing, but examination time was poorly scheduled.

Teaching 5/5

Workload 4.3/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Finance (Portfolio Management) 301Organisation 3.3/5 Personally, I think this unit will be use-

ful especially when entering workforce later. I really enjoyed studying this unit although I had some difficulties when dealing with the assignments, but all my work was worth it

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 3.6/5

Total Satisfaction 3/5

Costs

Respondents 3

Finance (Principles) 215Organisation 3.65/5 Very unusually high workload and

strange assessment policies compared to other units of this year level. Aver-age books/unit cost and medium print-ing/photocopying cost requirements.

Teaching 2.85/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Finance Analysis 206Organisation 4.5/5 Alexandra Klados is a very organised,

intelligent, pro-active educator who helps those who are hardworking and keen to learn, irrespective of their in-telligence level. The unit is invaluable for anyone going into the finance and business world who will have to work with Excel spread sheets and calcula-tions.

Teaching 4.5/5

Workload 5/5

Assessment 5/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Financial Management 550Organisation 4/5 It was very good, the assessments

were a bit too easy I thought.Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $120

Respondents 3

Human Resource Management (Learning and Development) 212

Organisation 3.8/5 Great unit. If you have a choice, go for Abigayle Carmody’s class and you wont go wrong. Only problem with this unit was they had two unit co-ordinators, with very different ideas about what was expected in assess-ments - there was some poor commu-nication at times which created some confusion for students.

Teaching 4.25/5

Workload 4.12/5

Assessment 3.25/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Law (Business Organisations) 222Organisation 4.3/5 There are too many materials to be

printed, so printing is expensive.Teaching 5/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Macroeconomics 300Organisation 3.6/5 No comments submitted

Teaching 2.3/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Management 100Organisation 2.6/5 They didn’t properly upload my exam

marks. Not enough information on blackboard, very hard to get updates.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 2.4/5

Assessment 2.1/5


Costs

Respondents 11

Managerial Effectiveness 550Organisation 4/5 Excellent course to find out who you

really are as a person and a leader/manager.

Teaching 3.75/5

Workload 3.75/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Managerial Effectiveness 571Organisation 4.5/5 The learning process of CVF and

peer coaching could be improved by putting more point of feedback from student, coach and coachee. The free flow approach may not always work well for all students. Pairing of peer coaches could be done better - a more considered pairing may help deliver better encounters.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 2.5/5

Assessment 4.75/5


Costs $220

Respondents 3

Managing Change 300Organisation 4.25/5 Work load was quite hard, as major

assessments were due within two weeks of each other. But the quality of teaching made up for these as you felt well prepared to complete the assess-ments on time and to a high standard.

Teaching 3.5/5

Workload 3.75/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $200

Respondents 4

Marketing 100Organisation 4.2/5 The lecturer for this unit is great and it

is an interesting unit. However some of the assessments are arduous and boring and having tutorials for the unit are pointless.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 3.8/5

Assessment 3.4/5


Costs $110

Respondents 17

Marketing Management 555Organisation 3.6/5 My only concern was that the specifics

of what was required from the assess-ments did not match what the lecturer (online, Jennifer) was expecting. Both outlines were fine and would have tested our knowledge in relevant ar-eas, but we wasted a few days clari-fying what we were supposed to be doing before being able to start.

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.33/5


Costs $100-$200

Respondents 3

Organisational Behaviour 550Organisation 3.5/5 I found it essential to have my own

copy of the text rather than relying on library copies. The unit required a lot of work outside class to keep up with all the OB theories and readings - very heavy on required readings. I think ev-eryone was marked too easy. Teaching was great at the start.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs $130

Respondents 9

Organisational Change and Development 573Organisation 4/5 No comments submitted

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.25/5


Costs $120

Respondents 4

Property Principles 200Organisation 4.6/5 A financial calculator is a must for this

unit, costing around $70 however no textbooks are needed. A lot of content is introduced (two topics per seminar) which can make studying for the final exam a nightmare.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $70

Respondents 3

Retail Marketing and Distribution 311Organisation 3.6/5 Way too much content! After study-

ing and thinking I was very well prepared I completed the exam and it felt like I had never even studied, the questions were so different from what we were told to study.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 2.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Strategic Games 201Organisation 3.3/5 There is only one lecturer and just one

tutor. If you don’t get along with them it is best to leave the unit. Its a good unit taught badly

Teaching 3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Taxation 301Organisation 4.6/5 Brilliantly delivered, and you can

receive a good mark if you have the desire. Can’t speak more highly of the unit coordinator who constantly monitored the discussion board and answered EVERY question with pa-tience and understanding. This is how a unit SHOULD be delivered either externally or internally.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $160

Respondents 3

Taxation 331Organisation 4/5 The two books required for this unit is

about $110 but its well worth it. The support given from the lecturers and unit controller is very useful. There is a fair bit of printing to do in the unit though.

Teaching 4.1/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.9/5


Costs $150

Respondents 10

F

Se

Facu

em

ultySci

meste

y of iencer 2

Heces 2, 2

ealth 201

h

0

Advanced Psychological Science 320Organisation 4.3/5 Liked the content and the teaching

very much but felt a lot of struggle trying to complete an assignment using a research technique only taught in one semester. Did not fully understand how to conduct qualitative research and this was reflected in my assign-ment marks.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 3.33/5

Assessment 2.3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Anatomy 131Organisation 4.3/5 Unit books not really needed.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $70

Respondents 3

Anatomy 151Organisation 5/5 Fantastic. Really enjoyed it. John Ow-

ens was a great tutor!Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 4.3/5

Assessment 5/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Anatomy 152Organisation 5/5 Teachers for this unit are generally

very good, as they often stimulate thinking during lectures and lab ses-sions. Lab sessions are designed to allow independent learning and are very flexible in terms of structure, i.e.. students may split into any group they wish, spend as much time as they like at any station.

Teaching 4.75/5

Workload 4.25/5

Assessment 4.13/5


Costs $200

Respondents 8

Antimicrobial Chemotherapies 220Organisation 3.5/5 This unit had a MASSIVE workload!

Teaching 3/5

Workload 2.75/5

Assessment 3.25/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Behavioural Perspectives of Mental Health 336Organisation 3.75/5 This subject was one where you didn’t

have to read a whole lot of remember a massive amount of difficult informa-tion. The lectures follow the lecture papers exactly. The lecture notes are EXCELLENT resources when studying for the exam.

Teaching 3.25/5

Workload 3.25/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs $594

Respondents 4

Behavioural Reponses to Illness 234Organisation 4.3/5 This unit is really challenging for

many students and there is no need to buy books as they may be accessed through the library. Make sure to keep up with the weekly workload by read-ing the articles and doing the weekly tasks. There isn’t a lot of photocopy-ing, but a lot of printing.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs $240

Respondents 3

Biochemical Pharmacology 224Organisation 4/5 The assessments were not properly de-

tailed especially the laboratory note-book. the cost was average, however printing cost was higher than my other units. Takes a lot more than 4- 5 hours a week of extra work to get through it. Lots to remember.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 2.4/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs $30

Respondents 5

Biomedical Science 100Organisation 4.3/5 The course told me that she only

wanted us to know what was taught in the lecture slides. Not encouraging lateral acquisition of knowledge. This is tertiary education and is a master degree in nursing.

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.3/5


Costs $210

Respondents 3

Emergency Management and Incident Investiga-tion 384

Organisation 3.25/5 No recommended textbooks. The unit content has a lot of information to digest. Duration and timing of lecture is quite long and drastic; not very motivating. The assessments are worth a lot, but not a lot of time is given to complete the task.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 2.75/5

Assessment 2.5/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Epidemiology 286Organisation 3.6/5 Reasonably well organised lecture con-

tent. Delivery of subject matter very poor and uninspiring. Opportunity to greatly improve the way the informa-tion is delivered .

Teaching 3.8/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.3/5


Costs

Respondents 6

Epidemiology and Biostatistics 180Organisation 4/5 Computer labs lacked emphasis with

work that could have been studied at home. Resources are mainly from home as well.

Teaching 3.75/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.25/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Food Processing 282Organisation 3.5/5 Worst unit ever.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 2.75/5

Assessment 2.5/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Food Safety 183Organisation 4.6/5 The assessments were effected by up-

per management decisions to cut CAA lab assessment tries from 2 to 1 making it a little more difficult especially be-cause there is a fair bit of info covered in a small period of time. It wasn’t the subject that was interesting, He made it interesting.

Teaching 4.75/5

Workload 4.75/5

Assessment 4.3/5


Costs $20

Respondents 8

Health in Ageing 223Organisation 3.5/5 Overall it was a good unit because my

tutor was great and we did prac work. However the organisation was poor and the unit co-ordinator made things a lot more difficult than need be.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 3.75/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs $180

Respondents 4

Health Promotion Methods 282Organisation 4.3/5 High cost of time due to extensive

assessment criteria. However, good overall unit which provides relevant method background to Health Promo-tion activity

Teaching 5/5

Workload 4.6/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Health Science Communication 180Organisation 4.2/5 No textbook required. Pretty boring,

but required for APA accreditation. I did the absolute minimum and still did quite well.

Teaching 3.8/5

Workload 3.4/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Human Biology 133Organisation 4.09/5 In order to successfully pass it re-

quires a lot of effort and constant work. Keeping up to date with study revision, and attending all lectures and labs help very much, and with a strong commitment, this subject can be passed with a high result. It is an extremely interesting unit to study.

Teaching 4.09/5

Workload 3.8/5

Assessment 4.09/5


Costs $150

Respondents 11

Human Biology 134Organisation 3.95/5 Teaching in the labs of this unit was

quite poor, very large amount of ma-terial covered over the semester. The subject is great, interesting and chal-lenging but the workload is huge com-pared to other subjects. The i lectures are excellent, the tests are challenging but necessary so you don’t get behind.

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 3.15/5

Assessment 3.45/5


Costs

Respondents 20

Human Biology 138Organisation 4.2/5 This unit is well organised, but requires

a lot of independent study. The labs are really helpful though.

Teaching 3.7/5

Workload 3.1/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs $250

Respondents 6

Interpersonal Communication 126Organisation 3.14/5 A very boring unit, taught in a very

boring way. Everything follows the text book word for word. Ambigu-ous wording of questions and answers makes simple things more complicated than they needed to be.

Teaching 2.7/5

Workload 3.14/5

Assessment 2.85/5


Costs $70

Respondents 7

Introduction to Microbiology 132Organisation 4.16/5 Two books listed but they are not

even used in the unit. The major group assessment is long, badly coordi-nated and saps performance in nearly all your other units. Unless you get a perfect team, you will speed so much time on this assessment and almost destroy performance in all other units.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $40

Respondents 6

Lifespan Development 233Organisation 3.3/5 This was a interesting unit and the

workload was fine, however, instruc-tions on the final assignment weren’t very clear so a better explanation would benefit future students.

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Management in Health Care 417Organisation 4/5 Most of the workload for the unit is

online, but the times we were in con-tact with our tutors were very insight-ful and useful.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Medical Laboratory Science 132Organisation 4/5 This is one of my favourite units and

has an excellent teaching staff behind itTeaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Medical Microbiology 332Organisation 2.6/5 The unit coordinator is a great lec-

turer, however the co-coordinator and Deputy Head of School does not allow him to carry out his role effec-tively. As a result the students’ learning and marks suffer.

Teaching 2.6/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Nursing and Midwifery Bioscience 243Organisation 4/5 The Hospital sponsors the students for

this unit, however, the finance depart-ment lost the transaction and therefore asked repeatedly for students to pay the course fee. Finance organisation was terrible

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4.25/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Nursing Bioscience 346Organisation 5/5 It was good

Teaching 5/5

Workload 5/5

Assessment 5/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Nursing Practice 161Organisation 4/5 Overall cost - high! Was the easiest

unit I have ever done at uni!Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $500

Respondents 3

Nutrition 182Organisation 4.37/5 This is a practical unit, that is full of

interesting information, and is essential to anyone who is studying Nutrition or Food Science

Teaching 5/5

Workload 5/5

Assessment 4.5/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Nutrition 284Organisation 4.75/5 A well organised unit with the student

being stepped through the subject ma-terial in a manageable way. Text book used again in 3rd year.

Teaching 3.75/5

Workload 3.75/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs $100

Respondents 4

Occupational Hygiene 282Organisation 2.6/5 Good relevance to industry and good

teachingTeaching 3.2/5

Workload 3/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $40

Respondents 5

Pathophysiology 331Organisation 4/5 Good unit. Tutor was very knowledge-

able and organised - always had the appropriate teachings materials and provided each student with a ‘reader’ at the start of the year on a DVD which limited paper wastage and was easily accessible rather than having to search for readings each week - very good idea!

Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $160

Respondents 3

Pharmaceutical Chemistry 122Organisation 4.6/5 No comments submitted

Teaching 5/5

Workload 5/5

Assessment 5/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Physiotherapy Practise 152Organisation 4.6/5 Teachers are overall very concerned

with students’ progress. Constantly provide feedbacks on performances in practical assessments and clinical place-ments, often emphasizing on profes-sionalism. Teachers are very approach-able and dedicated to their teaching. The lab sessions are fun, interactive and effective.

Teaching 4.8/5

Workload 4.5/5

Assessment 4.5/5


Costs $130

Respondents 6

Population Genetics and Molecular Evolution 232

Organisation 3.3/5 The textbook is not helpful - don’t waste your money! Need to know the definition of terms to understand the concepts. The practical assessments are quite easy to do. Basic computer skills are used. Revision sessions are quite helpful in summarising the unit.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

Practice of Public Health 180Organisation 4.6/5 There was a lot of work in the first

four weeks of the semester, including 4 lecture summaries, 4 activity work-sheets and 4 sets of readings that all had to be completed each week. This was overwhelming and felt like too much work to be done each week. It became more manageable later in the semester.

Teaching 4.2/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Private Lives and Public Issues 211Organisation 4/5 The cost is minimal as all readings

are journal entries and self directed research. The workload it quite big, and can put stress on the student to feel the need to complete everything. The lecturers go beyond in asking for a normal level of engagement.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.12/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Psychological Assessment 423Organisation 5/5 It was a very practical and organised

unit on a very interesting topic, but the workload was made huge by the “ sink or swim” style assessments. For every hour you spend in the lecture, you need to assign an additional hour and a half either doing background re-search to be prepared for the lectures

Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 4.3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Psychological Science 220Organisation 4.8/5 This unit was one of the most organ-

ised units I have taken in Psychology. All outcomes of what needs to be known for all of the assessments and future study is continuously enforced, but their is a heavy workload espe-cially for students who don’t keep up with the lectures or tutorials.

Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 4.4/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $0

Respondents 5

Psychology 114Organisation 4/5 Bought the textbook second-hand for

$80 and only opened it once to look at a very small table that was used for the assignment. Apart from that I did not use it. Just using the lecture notes was more than sufficient.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $80-$100

Respondents 3

Psychology 123Organisation 4/5 Cost of the book was expensive but

quite fun and interesting to learn.Teaching 4/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs $120

Respondents 9

Psychology 124Organisation 3.5/5 This unit was incredibly interesting and

allowed students to learn all that they needed to and more very well, how-ever there seemed to be occasional preparatory and communication errors that confused multiple students and made assessment’s objectives unclear.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.5/5


Costs $0

Respondents 6

Sensation and Perception 221Organisation 3.1/5 Really very well taught. Covers a

huge amount of ground and is a very interesting unit. Lecturer takes criticism quite personally, so approach with caution. Huge amounts of reading required, and you will require both a holistic and specific knowledge of the entire course content.

Teaching 2.8/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 2.3/5


Costs

Respondents 6

Sociocultural Perspectives on Health 161Organisation 4.75/5 I love this unit because it deals with

individual culture as we are going to work in the public sector (hospitals), we need to know different cultures of people especially the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It did not cost me anything only time because I borrowed the textbook from and friend and Library.

Teaching 4.5/5

Workload 4.25/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Work, Family and Community 336Organisation 2/5 Overall a great unit, that would be

helpful and beneficial for all students to undertake. Only issue was that the two major assignments were too close together at the end of the semester.

Teaching 2.6/5

Workload 3/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

FFacSeultyem

y ofmeste

f Huer 2

uma2, 2

ani201

ities0

s

Architectural Design 101Organisation 4/5 Depending who your tutor is your

teaching experience can be very differ-ent. Mine was excellent.

Teaching 4.25/5

Workload 4.25/5

Assessment 4.25/5


Costs $300-$500

Respondents 4

Art and Creativity 100Organisation 3.14/5 The assessments were too broad, but

the marking criteria totally subjec-tive, making it very hard to achieve to a high level. We learnt absolutely nothing- essentially it was something teachers teach kids when they’re in year one, not at university. This class was an absolute joke.

Teaching 3.14/5

Workload 3.4/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $50-$100

Respondents 7

Assessment Practices in Early Childhood Educa-tion 202

Organisation 3.5/5 Being a 2nd year unit that we had to take as 3rd years, it was too easy, very boring because it was all standard knowledge for us now, assignments were not relevant to learning how to assess children, class was boring and not motivating - by far the worst unit all semester.

Teaching 3.25/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.25/5


Costs $120-$150

Respondents 3

Culture, Place and Globality 100Organisation 3.1/5 Enjoyable teachers, but needs much

better organisation and structure. For international students it’s very dif-ficult to follow this course. The way the class functions makes it difficult to have a say and participate. And the work load is tremendous. For someone who’s English is not their 1st language is quite a nightmare to do a

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 3/5

Assessment 2.8/5


Costs

Respondents 9

Design Practise 172Organisation 4.46/5 This subject was extremely fun and

well organised. However, you don’t get your assessments until the end of term which is kind of frustrating. There’s also a lot or work, and you have to fork out for the creative suite. But it’s worth it. The unit was excel-lent.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 3.66/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $100+

Respondents 7

Design Reflective Practice 392Organisation 2.75/5 I wouldn’t trust the rating system on

this unit, as it is totally subjective. It is largely based on self-motivation, so the rating is going to be entirely down to you. If you don’t put the effort in, it’s all on you. Think of this unit as a way to boost your portfolio if it seems to be lacking.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 3.25/5

Assessment 2.75/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Development Processes 414Organisation 4.2/5 Unit very well run with a passionate

academic who knows how to connect with students. You get a bit of an easy ride if you are also doing the Disserta-tion unit. Interesting guest speakers. Assignments are overall easy.

Teaching 5/5

Workload 4.4/5

Assessment 4.2/5


Costs $30

Respondents 5

Ecologic Sustainable Design 102/122Organisation 2.6/5 Very few people knew what was go-

ing on. This unit should be interesting and informative. Not many people learnt anything.

Teaching 1.6/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 1.6/5


Costs $20

Respondents 5

Indigenous Australian Health and Culture 132Organisation 3/5 Organisation and explanation for

some of the assessments was poor, but the unit gave a valuable insight into Indigenous Australian culture and health, which is necessary for the health professional.

Teaching 3.8/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 7

Integrated Plan Making 414Organisation 4/5 This unit is quite well organised and

is for the most part competently run. The tutors are far from effective or helpful. For those also doing the Dis-sertation unit the work load can be hard to keep up with, those who are not will find the load bearable and at times easy.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs $30

Respondents 3

Private Lives and Public Issues 211Organisation 4/5 The cost is minimal as all readings

are journal entries and self directed research. The workload it quite big, and can put stress on the student to feel the need to complete everything. The lecturers go beyond in asking for a normal level of engagement.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.12/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Project Risk Management 641Organisation 4.4/5 The unit provided a good background

to Project Management, however, it was not very engaging from an online perspective.

Teaching 4.15/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $130

Respondents 6

Screen Arts 111Organisation 3.75/5 It is important to have a text book

recommended by the lecture. Apart from the massive among of essay, you also have 3 mins storyboard on the film you chosen (DO NOT choose the shower scene in Psycho, Hitchcock), the presentation is fun but remember to ask the classmate questions.

Teaching 3.5/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.25/5


Costs

Respondents 4

The Design Experience 100Organisation 2.6/5 This is an incredibly vague unit with

varying cost and workload, particu-larly depending on your tutor. I would not suggest this unit for anyone wish-ing to pursue a graduation in the near future. It follows no real outline, and the inability to understand what is re-quired of a student is met only by the tutors inability to explain.

Teaching 2.3/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Transport and Society 112Organisation 4.25/5 Great, easy unit.

Teaching 4.5/5

Workload 4.75/5

Assessment 4.25/5


Costs $10

Respondents 3

Visual Communication Practice 392Organisation 3/5 This was a great unit which allowed

student to create a visual identity for themselves as designers. It gave stu-dents the opportunity to reflect on their personal style as designers and how best to ‘sell’ themselves. The workload of this unit, all contributes to the final graduation design show.

Teaching 3.5/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.25/5


Costs

Respondents 4

FFacu

Se

ultyEn

em

y ofngin

meste

f Scineeer 2

ienerin2, 2

nce ng 201

and

0

d

Analytical Chemistry 202Organisation 2.6/5 Lab and theory work matched up nice-

ly. Too much information was given with little direction on the examinable content.

Teaching 2/5

Workload 3/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $30

Respondents 3

Automatic Control 333Organisation 4/5 Examples were plentiful and that

helped understanding a lot!Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $200

Respondents 3

ChE 224 Process Systems AnalysisOrganisation 4/5 Course material and lecturer are very

helpful. MATLAB section handles pro-gramming, slightly similar to program-ming in first year, not taught really well.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs $350

Respondents 3

ChE 324 Fluid and Particle ProcessesOrganisation 4/5 Assignment problems are very straight-

forward and the markers don’t give many marks for working (too harsh in my opinion but if this wasn’t the case the pass rate would be 100%).

Teaching 3.3/5

Workload 4.5/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs $20

Respondents 4

ChE 325 Reaction EngineeringOrganisation 3.8/5 Pretty easy unit. Assignment expecta-

tions weren’t made clear and nor was the actual mark for the report. Was meant to be 20% but ended up being worth 12% and 60 pages long. Not worth it.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 3.8/5


Costs

Respondents 6

Chemical Reactions & Mechanisms 212Organisation 4.75/5 The lecture notes provided are very

helpful and I suggest you print them out prior to lecture.

Teaching 4.75/5

Workload 4.85/5

Assessment 4.87/5


Costs $100+

Respondents 5

Chemistry 102Organisation 4.16/5 This unit is great, with only one reason

it did not receive perfect marks. The new introduction of ‘active learning’ is a profound way to waste time and as a result, affect time for learning with stupid self-learning exercises which are bountiful enough in the tutorials. Lab textbook, materials needed. Textbook not required to purchase.

Teaching 4.16/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs $85

Respondents 6

Chemistry 124Organisation 3.3/5 The lecture notes are very messy and

disorganised. This is an easier unit than Chemistry 123, however, it is intense and focus is required for the entire 12 weeks of teaching

Teaching 3/5

Workload 3/5

Assessment 3.3/5


Costs $150

Respondents 3

Chemistry 181Organisation 3.4/5 A good unit that is fairly easy. If you

struggle with chemistry it’s a good idea to make sure you are motivated and focused from the start as it is easy to fall behind.

Teaching 3.2/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.4/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Civil and Structural Design 366Organisation 3.3/5 No books need be purchased as what

is bought in the early design units is used. Watchout for prestress compo-nent. If Ian is assessing and Sorn teach-ing, most students will fail the prestress lab assignment. Overall good unit, good lecturers.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Construction Technology and Methods 368Organisation 4.6/5 The lecturer provides in depth notes

that students need to print. Workload in this unit is too much as the assess-ments are targeted for the top 10% of the class meaning the rest will struggle right from the start. It’s a 12.5 credit unit but has more workload load than the 5 units done this semester com-bined.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 1.2/5

Assessment 2.4/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Electrical Plant 342Organisation 3.33/5 Book was not as expensive on eBay!

Workload was way to much for a half unit.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 2.3/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Electrical Systems 100Organisation 3.6/5 This Unit is considered the hardest in

first year engineering and with good reason. The large workload and the high level of understanding make this unit very tough on first years. Lectures are pretty poor, so students must make an effort to look over notes in their own time to get a proper understand-ing of the material.

Teaching 2.7/5

Workload 2.7/5

Assessment 3.4/5


Costs $120

Respondents 7

Electrical Systems 204Organisation 3/5 The book for this unit is a must have.

Everything is in there and the lecture notes are based on it. The workload is high for the unit, especially when it comes to labs. If you ask the lecturer to put something on blackboard it will take a month to get there. Pretty awe-some especially for those wanting to do power.

Teaching 4.5/5

Workload 3.25/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs $100-$240

Respondents 4

Engineering Foundation Design and Process 100Organisation 3.2/5 No comments submitted

Teaching 2.4/5

Workload 2.2/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Engineering Foundations: Principles and Com-munication 100

Organisation 4.3/5 Be prepared to cough up money for building materials if you get as-signed car building duties. Those lucky enough to build the bridge will have majority of the materials provided. Make sure your logbook is up to scratch, note down EVERYTHING that you do, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 3/5


Costs $30

Respondents 3

Engineering Management 302Organisation 3.12/5 All text is provided online. Unit cov-

ers basic accounting practices and management issues, all of which will be relevant in future employment. Assessments are marked harshly. The management section does become quite densely packed with law topics, fortunately this final section is rarely assessed.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 3.5/5

Assessment 3.75/5


Costs

Respondents 8

Engineering Materials 100Organisation 4.14/5 I only used the text a couple times so

I wouldn’t recommend; the notes put on blackboard do just fine. The lectur-ers change often and each have very different ways of assessing and teach-ing, so be prepared to change your learning habits a couple of times.

Teaching 3.7/5

Workload 4.28/5

Assessment 4.28/5


Costs $100

Respondents 5

Engineering Mathematics 120Organisation 4.6/5 Competent lecturer, goes through

worked examples in lectures. The Eng-lish of some tutors is poor, so difficult to understand at times in tutorials, though will repeat as many times as necessary till content is learnt.

Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 4.3/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

Engineering Mathematics 140Organisation 4.6/5 Book used was purchased in first

semester so no further outlay. The major cost came in printing off weekly lecture notes approximately $25 for the semester. Overall very satisfied with the structure and workload of this unit.

Teaching 3.8/5

Workload 3.7/5

Assessment 4.2/5


Costs $50

Respondents 7

Engineering Mechanics 100Organisation 3.8/5 Not impressed with this unit. The

tutorials were too rushed, because we had to do a quiz and cover unit mate-rial within the hour. The labs were good though. You didn’t have to buy the required books so I didn’t bother. I printed out the lecture notes at home.

Teaching 3.25/5

Workload 3.3/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 8

Engineering Programming 100Organisation 4.4/5 It was good but it needed the inclu-

sion of an assignment so that students can explore further into the language. Go to the labs even if you don’t get marks for them, they really help. Mid semester exam is much easier than the final exam. Not a fun unit if you don’t enjoy writing lots of code.

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4.3/5


Costs

Respondents 9

Engineering Sustainable Development 201Organisation 3/5 Don’t bother buying the books. Or-

ganisation and description of assess-ments were confusing at times, but the quality of teaching material was excellent.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 2.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Geology 102Organisation 4/5 Print out the Lecture notes and make

full use of iLecture for this info packed unit. There is simply too much to write by hand even WITH the lecture notes!

Teaching 4.3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Mathematics 103Organisation 4.2/5 Well organised and delivered unit.

Heavy workload if you have not studies maths recently. Lecturers make strong efforts to explain topics and reinforce learning. Take the lecturer’s advice and do the math exercises each week as topics build upon each other week after week.

Teaching 4.2/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs $130

Respondents 5

Mechanical Design 238Organisation 3.8/5 Exam covered topics that weren’t cov-

ered during classTeaching 3.2/5

Workload 4.2/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Microcomputers 202Organisation 2.75/5 Buy the textbook, its worth your while

because your allowed the book in the exam. Clive does pop quizzes during the lectures and if your not there you simply get 0. These quizzes vary. Some were ridiculously hard and some were very easy.

Teaching 2.75/5

Workload 2.5/5

Assessment 2.5/5


Costs $150

Respondents 4

Mine Planning 332Organisation 3.6/5 This unit is managed well with a very

good balance of assignments and quizzes. Teachings are clear and easily understood.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 2.3/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Movement Science 152Organisation 4/5 Unnecessary textbook. We did not

use it during classes at all. The lecture notes and the practices we had in class was sufficient to score well in the unit. Very often I did not understand the lectures, but when it comes to one-to-one teaching, it became much clearer to me.

Teaching 3.6/5

Workload 4.2/5

Assessment 4/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Physics 115Organisation 4/5 Lecturer was great but the workload

was far too high. It took a lot of time away from other subjects

Teaching 4.4/5

Workload 2.4/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs $300

Respondents 5

Planetary Science 101Organisation 4.6/5 This would have to have been my

favourite Unit. The lecturer was fantastic and it was the only time I had ever seen the entire room (full lecture theatre) stay quiet for 2 hours. For those who have a passion for our Solar System this is a must do elective unit. As for costs all that is required is a notebook, pen and your ears.

Teaching 5/5

Workload 4.6/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

Regolith Geology and Mineral Exploration 302Organisation 4.6/5 Excellent unit, Mehrooz makes every-

thing understandable and the assess-ments are easy to do well in if you put in the effort.

Teaching 5/5

Workload 5/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

Science Communications 101Organisation 2.3/5 This unit is the bane of my existence. I

needed to spend way too much of my time on it, on ridiculously large assign-ments. Also the teachers really press you into buying the book which you don’t really need. (One of the teachers wrote the book). They should scrap the whole unit entirely.

Teaching 2.6/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 2.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Signals and Systems 202Organisation 4.3/5 The text book is good but isn’t really

necessary for this unit. It does cost a fair bit in printing though. Make sure you attend lectures because you get weekly quizzes that are easy marks if you have done the tutorials.

Teaching 4/5

Workload 4.6/5

Assessment 4.3/5


Costs $100

Respondents 3

Software Technology 152Organisation 4.6/5 A very will-run unit that was enjoy-

able, interesting and relevant to most computing courses.

Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 4.6/5

Assessment 4.6/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

Spatial Modelling 382Organisation 4.6/5 Well organised and presented unit,

both lecture and tutorial phases where highly informative. No textbook and most readings can be downloaded so not printing unless you want to

Teaching 4.6/5

Workload 3.6/5

Assessment 4.3/5


Costs $0

Respondents 3

Statistical Data Analysis 101Organisation 2.3/5 No comments submitted

Teaching 2/5

Workload 2.6/5

Assessment 2/5


Costs

Respondents 3

Systems Analysis and Design 251Organisation 2.75/5 Assessments were terrible and the final

exam was very hard. No information was given about what was going to be contained within the exam. We had no feedback for our group assignment and were only given an overall mark.

Teaching 3.25/5

Workload 3/5

Assessment 2.25/5


Costs

Respondents 4

Tectonics and the Dynamic Earth 302Organisation 3.8/5 Difficult concepts and LOTS of mate-

rial to learn - by really has some inter-esting topics.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 4/5

Assessment 3.3/5


Costs $0

Respondents 4

Thermodynamics 236Organisation 4/5 Teaching was excellent and very useful

resources provided to students.Teaching 4/5

Workload 4.25/5

Assessment 4.12/5


Costs

Respondents 5

Transportation Engineering 366Organisation 4/5 A good unit, no costs other than print-

ing of notes. Lecturer very approach-able and willing to help. Students tend to underestimate his assessments. Overall if you read and understand his questions you’ll get high marks.

Teaching 3/5

Workload 4.3/5

Assessment 3.6/5


Costs

Respondents 3

alternative handbook 2010 semester two

Documents

unit reviewsthe unit

number of respondents

majority of respondents

unit credit value

excellent teaching staff

years alternative handbook

organisation of lectures

future students