Course Outline
DEV701 Development Practice and Evaluation
Course Coordinator:Harriot Beazley (hbeazley@usc.edu.au) School:School of Law and Society
2023Semester 1
UniSC Sunshine Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
What is this course about?
Description
This course will introduce you to advanced issues related to development practice and evaluation in an international context, providing a critical reflection of practices and techniques used by development professionals and community workers in international settings. By emphasising agency, participation, capacity development, gender analysis, and cross-cultural values, you will develop an inclusive process for international community development planning and action. You will gain in-depth knowledge and skills about a range of development models and techniques.
How will this course be delivered?
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Weekly workshops face to face | 2hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
| Learning materials – Weekly online learning materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 13 times |
Course Topics
Key principles in Community Development
Strengths based Approaches to Community Development (Appreciative Inquiry)
Participatory Action Research
Culture and Development
Gender and Development
Children, Young People and Development
Monitoring and Evaluation
Aid Effectiveness
What level is this course?
700 Level (Specialised)
What is the unit value of this course?
12 units
How does this course contribute to my learning?
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Understand the conceptual and practice principles, values and frameworks for international community development, including the institutions involved, their discourses and practices. | Knowledgeable |
| 2 | Comprehend the diversity of perspective and values in international community development, and learn to recognize and appreciate the complexity of scenarios and challenges that development practitioners may face. |
Knowledgeable Engaged |
| 3 | Be familiar with community development tools as well as knowledge and skills necessary to be more effective when working on a community development project. |
Empowered Ethical |
| 4 | Possess skills and techniques of international community development such as cross-cultural communication, gender analysis, participatory approaches, capacity development and monitoring and evaluation. | Ethical |
| 5 | Be aware of how to conduct oneself effectively and/or appropriately as a development practitioner | Ethical |
| 6 | Adopt flexible and adaptive work practices to suit local and national contexts in a variety of settings as well as in key program areas. | Empowered |
Am I eligible to enrol in this course?
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Pre-requisites
Enrolled in any PGRD Program
Co-requisites
Not applicable
Anti-requisites
Not applicable
Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)
Not applicable
Microcredential Information
Not applicable
How am I going to be assessed?
Grading Scale
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Details of early feedback on progress
Timely and detailed feedback is provided for each assessment. Feedback is provided both within text and general comments to build scholarly skills. Students are able to seek feedback through face-to-face discussion with the course coordinator. Tutorials will include extended discussion and review of the assessment task requirements and scope.
Assessment 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 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 25% | 2000 words |
Week 6 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Oral | Individual | 35% | 15 Minutes |
Week 10 | In Class |
| All | 3 | Case Study | Individual | 40% | 3500 words |
Week 13 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Online Test | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To critically apply your knowledge of key concepts and theories within current development practice |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | You will be required to write short responses to questions that will be posted on Canvas on the Monday of Week 5 and will be available for a week until Monday week 6. You will be required to answer ten questions with a maximum of 200 words for each question |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | |||||||||||||||||||
| All - Assessment Task 2:Seminar Presentation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | You will present an individual seminar which will empower you to critically engage with a development scenario in a location of your interest. |
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| Product: | Oral | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Submit: Week 6-10. You will choose one week between Week 6 - Week 10 to present an individual seminar on a chosen topic. Choose a development practice issue in a 'developing' region or country in the world that interests you. Prepare a seminar on this issue as it relates to the course materials and readings. In particular you will be expected to focus on community development principles and values. Your scenario is expected to highlight key issues covered in the course, such as cross-cultural communication issues, gender analysis, children and development and participatory approaches to development. |
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| Criteria: |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Case Study Review | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | Critical Review of a Development Project Case Study. An analytical review of 3,500 words which will require you to demonstrate a critical awareness of community development values, ethics and principles within the context of a specific development project. You will be expected to discuss the implications of the critique for an understanding of effective and appropriate community development practice. |
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| Product: | Case Study | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This final assignment will be in the form of a take home paper that will require a response to a real-life development scenario with specific questions. The emphasis will be to reflect on the community development practice frameworks which will have been discussed during the course, including problem analysis (together with a demonstration of gender and cross-cultural awareness), project design, and monitoring and evaluation. The answer will be approximately 4,000 words. The scenario (and supporting material) will be given out in week 9 and will be posted on Canvas the following day. For this essay, you will be required to provide a critical summary of the community development processes, principles and values which were applied, including relevant contextual factors and discussion of the relevant literature. The purpose of this assignment is to give participants in the course an opportunity to ground their theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable development practice in a particular case study. By linking theory to the issues, questions and dilemmas associated with community development, participants can gain an enhanced understanding of the analytical and practice frameworks presented in the course. |
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| Criteria: |
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Directed study hours
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.
What resources do I need to undertake this course?
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.
Prescribed text(s) or course reader
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Vandana Desai,Robert B. Potter | 0 | The Companion to Development Studies | 3rd | n/a |
Specific requirements
Nil
How are risks managed in this course?
What administrative information is relevant to this course?
Assessment: Academic Integrity
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.
Assessment: Additional Requirements
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconductAssessment: Submission penalties
Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.Links to relevant University policy and procedures
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
- Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
- Review of Assessment and Final Grades
- Supplementary Assessment
- Central Examinations
- Deferred Examinations
- Student Conduct
- Students with a Disability
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
Student Charter
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.
General Enquiries
- In person:
- UniSC Sunshine Coast - Student Central, Ground Floor, Building C, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs
- UniSC Moreton Bay - Service Centre, Ground Floor, Foundation Building, Gympie Road, Petrie
- UniSC SouthBank - Student Central, Building A4 (SW1), 52 Merivale Street, South Brisbane
- UniSC Gympie - Student Central, 71 Cartwright Road, Gympie
- UniSC Fraser Coast - Student Central, Student Central, Building A, 161 Old Maryborough Rd, Hervey Bay
- UniSC Caboolture - Student Central, Level 1 Building J, Cnr Manley and Tallon Street, Caboolture
- Tel:+61 7 5430 2890
- Email:studentcentral@usc.edu.au