Units of Study - Definitions

Postgraduate units of study - foundation and advanced

Foundation units of study

Units of study with numeric codes between 5000 and 5999 are foundation units of study.These units of study are generally completed in the early stages of a course and contain introductory material for the particular subject area. For example ACCT5001 Accounting Principles introduces the student to foundational accounting principles.

Students admitted to the Master of Business Information Systems, Master of Commerce (and combined programs), Master of Economics, Master of International Business (and combined programs)and Master of Professional Accounting are automatically assessed for up to four units of credit for foundation level units, based on their previous study. Students enrolled in other programs of study (and those enrolled in the aforementioned program who have been granted the maximum four units of credit) may be eligible for waivers of prerequisites if they have covered foundation material previously, however should note that waivers do not reduce the total number ofunits required to complete the program.

Advanced units of study

Those units of study with numeric codes between 6000 and 6999 are advanced units of study, and those with numeric codes between 7000 and 7999 are advanced honours units of study. Advanced units of study are more specialised units and sometimes require the completion of the general foundation units of study. Advanced units of study tend to focus on a more specialised area within the particular subject area. Students enrolled in a pass degree can only enrol in 5000 and 6000 level units of study. Students enrolled in some honours degrees can also enrol in 7000 level units of study. Course requirements indicate which units of study must be completed in order to fulfil degree requirements. Students should refer to the specific information on their degree for further information.

The following table shows an illustrative example of a postgraduate degree progression

Please Note. This is an example only. For details of how students should enrol in units of study in particular programs, please refer to the individual undergraduate degrees.

Postgraduate units of study - other definitions

Credit points

Credit points refer to the value of the contribution each unit of study provides to meeting the total course requirements. For example, for the Master of Commerce students must successfully complete 72 credit points in total to be awarded the degree. In terms of units of study, this would mean that students would need to successfully complete 12 x 6 credit point units of study in order to be awarded the Master of Commerce.

Each unit of study has a credit point value assigned to it. The majority of units of study on offer by the Faculty are worth 6 credit points. Some advanced units of study are also worth 12 credit points and are equivalent in workload and assessment to 2 x 6 credit point units of study.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites are necessary requirements that need to be completed successfully before students can enrol in another particular unit of study that has the prerequisite.

Examples of prerequisites include the following:

• a particular unit or units of study which are required to be completed successfully before the student can attempt another unit of study e.g. ACCT5001 Accounting Principles is a prerequisite for ACCT6001 Intermediate Financial Reporting

• a particular grade average in particular units of study which must  be obtained in order to enrol in higher level unit/units of study e.g. ECON6901 Microeconomics Analysis 2 requires students to have completed ECON6001 Microeconomics Analysis 1 with a Distinction average or better

• the completion of a certain number of credit points before students can enrol in certain units of study at a higher level e.g. to enrol in IBUS6013 Entrepreneurial Restructuring and Renewal students must have completed 12 credit points before they can enrol in this unit

Corequisites

A corequisite refers to a unit of study which must be taken in the same semester or year as a particular unit of study (unless already completed). For example, IBUS6001 International Business Strategy is the corequisite for IBUS6004 International Business Alliances.

Assumed knowledge

For some units of study, a student is assumed to have passed a relevant unit of study or have particular knowledge of a subject area. Although students are usually advised against taking a unit of study which they do not have the assumed knowledge for, they are not prevented from enrolling in the unit of study.For example, students enrolling in INFS6018 Business Intelligence Systems, would find it beneficial for their study in the unit to have already completed the unit of study INF6017 Strategic Information and Knowledge Management.

Prohibition

Prohibitions or prohibited combinations of units refers to when two or more units of study contain a significant overlap of content. Enrolment by students in any one such unit of study prohibits their enrolment in any other unit of study identified as a prohibited unit.For example, Students who completed GOVT6317 Politics of Consultation would not be able to enrol in GOVT6300 Deliberation and Public Engagement as it is a prohibited unit of study because both units cover similar material.

Core units of study

Core units of study are the units of study which are compulsory and must be completed for the award of the particular degree. Core units of study are specified under the course requirements for each particular postgraduate coursework program. For example, under the Master of Commerce students choose between 4 and 6 core units of study from a list of 14 core units of study options.

Compulsory units of study

Compuslory units of study are units of study which must be completed as requirements for a particular degree or area of specialisation (major). For example, under the Master of International Business the units of study IBUS6001 International Business Strategy, IBUS6002 Cross-Cultural Management, IBUS6003 Managing International Risk and IBUS6004 International Business Alliances are compulsory.

Elective units of study

Elective units of study are units which students choose from a range of options determined by the award course in which they are studying. Elective units of study can be chosen as individual options or as part of majors.

For details of the units of study which are currently available, students should refer to Postgraduate units of study.