A Course Description provides an outline of ‘what to expect’ from your course. It is an important document that you will need to refer to over the duration of the course. Using it will help you to plan and complete your assessment tasks and thereby achieve all learning outcomes. You will find it in the Moodle shell for your course.
The course description provides you with information about:
Course information
Includes the course title, course ID, school/division, prerequisites and progress units.
Course details
Includes contact information for the course coordinator, lecturer and tutor.
Outline of assessment
An outline of the learning tasks and assessment to be undertaken during the course must be contained in this document, and also:
- Brief description of the learning task
- How it will be assessed
- Number of required hours for successful completion
- Weighting, and
- Due date
Course sequence
Includes a proposed sequence for the semester, which is normally broken down into weeks. It includes information about:
- Week commencing date
- Lecture content
- Tutorial content
- Formal assessment times
- Required reading, and
- Any other information that is deemed relevant.
Textbooks
Generally courses have at least one prescribed textbook which you will need to purchase prior to commencing your unit of study. Each school will release the book lists for their courses prior to the beginning of the semester.
Most prescribed texts will be available for purchase through the university’s bookstores. Consider second-hand copies of these, as long as the edition is current. Ask senior students for tips on where to find second-hand books.
For more information regarding purchasing books and stationary supplies can be found through the University bookstores.