Course Coordinator:Lucas Dixon (ldixon1@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
Business research is essential for any organisation to remain competitive, understand their customers’ needs, and resolve business problems or take advantage of opportunities. Through research and discussion, you will explore how to define business problems and design business research to address them. Having an ongoing dialog in the workshops you will focus on how to interpret business analytics for decision making. You will acquire practical skills to aid in evidence-based decision making, conducting business research, and communicating outcomes to benefit your future job role/organisation.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous (recorded) online delivery of learning material. | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Synchronous (live) and scheduled face to face workshops. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous (recorded) online delivery of learning material. | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Synchronous (live) online workshops (Recorded) | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
Key concepts include: the role of the research process and business analytics, the fundamentals of choosing a method for research, and the essential analytics used to solve research problems.
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business | |
| 1 | Identify and use foundational research skills to solve business problems. | Empowered |
PC1, PC3, PC3.1 |
| 2 | Apply a research approach to solve business problems. |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
PC3, PC3.1 |
| 3 | Use academic literature to justify business solutions and recommendations. |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
PC1.1, PC3, PC3.1 |
| 4 | Apply, analyse and evaluate quantitative techniques for business analytics (descriptive, inferential and predictive statistics) | Empowered |
PC3.1
|
| 5 | Apply statistical tools and software to support business decision making. | Empowered |
PC1.3, PC3.1, PC6 |
| 6 | Articulate business outcomes and recommendations in a written mode. | Engaged |
PC1.1
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| CODE | COMPETENCY |
| Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business | |
| PC1 | Communication |
| PC1.1 | Written Communication |
| PC1.3 | Digital Literacy |
| PC3 | Creative and Critical Thinking |
| PC3.1 | Problem Solving |
| PC6 | Career-ready |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
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Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
The workshops will have embedded tasks to assist with drafting the tasks.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Report | Individual | 30% | 800 words (+/- 10%) |
Week 5 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 2 | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | Individual | 30% | One A3 poster (approx. 500-600 words +/- 10%). |
Week 11 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Oral | Individual | 40% | 8-10 minute recorded presentation |
Exam Period | Online Submission |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Research Foundations Report | |||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate foundational research skills in an authentic business context through information literacy, critical thinking, synthesis of information, professional written communication, and research planning. |
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| Product: | Report | ||||||
| Format: | Task 1 draws on concepts introduced in Modules 1-3 and focuses on developing foundational research skills. You will compile an annotated bibliography of relevant academic journal articles addressing a business case issue. Drawing on this research, you will then justify a research question to guide your proposed research project. Further details will be provided on Canvas. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Research Poster | |||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate knowledge and application of business research concepts in an authentic business context through the visual communication of a proposed research design supported by appropriate scholarly evidence. |
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| Product: | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | ||||||
| Format: | Task 2 builds on the research problem and question developed in Task 1. Drawing on concepts introduced in Weeks 5-8, you will design a business research project and communicate your proposed design through a visual research poster. You will outline how to investigate the business issue by identifying the key elements of your chosen research method and supporting your approach with relevant academic literature. Further details will be provided on Canvas. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Applied Data Interpretation Presentation | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate understanding and application of business analytics through the interpretation of data and the communication of evidence-based recommendations for business decision-making. |
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| Product: | Oral | ||||||||||||
| Format: | Task 3 builds on the skills developed throughout the course by focusing on your ability to interpret research findings and communicate their business implications. Drawing on concepts introduced in Weeks 9–12, you will record a short presentation in which you analyse a set of research results, explain what the findings mean, and make practical recommendations for a business audience. The presentation will demonstrate your understanding of how data can inform evidence-based decision-making and your ability to translate results into clear, professional insights. Further details will be provided on Canvas. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Problem solving, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Not applicable
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
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