Health Sciences Students

• New students
  • O Week
  • About the Faculty
  • Managing your studies
  • Academic information
  • General information
• Forms
• Your studies
• Career opportunities
• Faculty life
• Contacts

Credit points, assessment and student workloads in the Faculty of Health Sciences

Modes of learning and instruction for students include lectures, tutorials, seminars, practicum's, clinical training, self-directed learning and distance learning using multimedia and other packages.

University policy indicates that a normal workload for a full-time student is between 42-46 hours per week ("contact" and "non-contact"), with some variation between courses. "Contact" hours are the formal hours of lectures, tutorials, practicum's, etc. as described in the University Handbook. "Non-contact" hours are the hours that students spend doing background reading, writing essays, studying in the library, and so on. A student's total workload will ultimately be determined by the number and type of subjects undertaken within a study year. The workload associated with a particular subject is measured by the credit point value for that subject. The credit point values and assessments for subjects vary according to the type of subjects and the method of instruction. The types of units undertaken by students within the Faculty of Health Sciences may be divided into a number of different categories as follows:

• Category A Subjects that consist of low contact hours (also known as Handbook hours) but with relatively high non-contact hours and relatively high requirements for written assessment; for example, subjects that consist mainly of lectures, tutorials or some self-directed learning subject.
• Category B Subjects that consist of medium contact handbook hours and medium non-contact hours; for example subjects with a practical component or small clinical or fieldwork component.
• Category C Subjects that consist of high contact hours but relatively low non-contact hours; for example, subjects that have a high clinical or fieldwork component. A significant proportion of the assessment in these subjects in evaluation of clinical or laboratory skills, and this mostly takes place concurrently with the contact hours.

Students will normally study a range of subject types with varying contact hours and assessment, but aiming for a total acceptable workload equivalent to 120 credit points for a year of study in a normal degree program.

Plagiarism

La Trobe University regards academic honesty as the foundation of teaching, learning, and research. It requires its academic staff and students to observe the highest ethical standards in all aspects of academic work. At La Trobe University:

• It is the responsibility of the academic staff to conduct research according to ethical standards of scholarship, and to teach their students ethical learning and research practices;
• It is the responsibility of the students to acquire a clear understanding of how to avoid unethical practices, and to employ this knowledge in their work submitted for assessment.

Plagiarism is a very serious offence within the scholarly community and any case of work submitted for assessment which is alleged to contain plagiarism shall be reported to the Head of School who shall, in consultation with the teaching staff directly involved, review the alleged breach of discipline. The Head of School after reviewing the case, may report the matter to the Dean for action under the Discipline Regulations or take other action as appropriate. Students must refer to the University's academic misconduct policy on the Policies website.

To find out more about the university's position on academic integrity and how to avoid plagiarising view Academic Integrity and Avoiding plagiarism page.

All first year students must complete the Academic Integrity Module 2011-1 HLT1AIM available in LMS

Academic progress rules

Student performance is assessed through a variety of methods such as examinations, assignments, and practical work. Some courses have clinical activities or placements in which students must participate (and pass) in order to complete the relevant stage of the course. Details of assessment in each subject are available on School notice boards from the beginning of the academic year. Most Schools have specific procedures or guidelines which operate under the authority of University regulations and Faculty guidelines. School procedures or guidelines are available from the relevant School office.

Normally, students must pass all subjects of one year level before proceeding to the next year level. All results are confirmed by a Consideration of Results Meeting(CoRM). When a student fails a subject, the CoRM may recommend a number of courses of action. For information on academic progress please refer to the University policy: www.latrobe.edu.au/policies.

Grievance procedures

Occasionally, a student might be dissatisfied with an academic or disciplinary decision taken by a staff member or committee of the University. There is provision for any student to complain or 'appeal' in relation to a decision taken about their academic performance or behaviour. Some courses of action open to students are covered in the regulations, some avenues of complaint are more informal.

In the first instance, your lecturer or an administrative officer in your School will usually be able to provide advice on matters involving regulations, policies and procedures. The publications listed elsewhere in this guide may be consulted for further names of people who can help: administrative staff, academic staff, Students Union academic rights advisers, and in some situations, Study Skills Advisers or Counselling Service staff.

Student feedback on courses - quality assurance

The University is committed to ensuring that its programs are of a high quality. One way of ensuring this is to obtain student feedback and act on the results. The University's Student Feedback on Subjects (SFS) provides students with the opportunity to provide feedback on their subjects and courses on an annual or biennial basis. On occasions you will be asked at the completion of a subject to complete a brief questionnaire giving your impressions of the content, workload, assessment, teaching and organisation of the subject undertaken. This information is used by the lecturer to prepare a report on the effectiveness of the subject's curriculum and assessment which the Head of School then uses to prepare a report for the Dean. Recommendations for improvements to subjects and courses are generated from the feedback obtained from students.