Course Coordinator:Craig Greber (Cgreber@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Occupational Therapy
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 usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
You will develop an understanding of professional issues relevant to working as an occupational therapist in contemporary practice. The course will explore essential skills for entry to practice, specialised and emerging areas of practice, sustaining a healthy career and contributing to the future of the occupational therapy profession. You will understand registration procedures and the functions of professional bodies (OT Australia and WFOT) and focus on enhancing your readiness to enter practice. Activities will include professional development, career planning, mentoring, and preparation for entry to practice.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Information session – Employability Workshop (in-class, not recorded) | 8hrs | Orientation week | Once Only |
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – In-class scheduled workshop (not recorded) | 2hrs | Week 1 | 9 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 2 – Online scheduled workshops (not recorded) | 2hrs | Week 1 | 11 times |
Independent Study/Research – StudentLink Mentoring | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
Topics we will address in OCC402
Professional and ethical practice
Teamwork, mentoring and supervision
Strategic management and leadership
Identifying and addressing emerging issues in practice
Cultural responsiveness and consumer-focused planning
Professional sustainability and growth
400 Level (Graduate)
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 * Occupational Therapy Council of Australia Ltd | |
1 | Describe and evidence graduate-level professional competency. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Empowered Ethical Engaged Sustainability-focussed Communication Collaboration Problem solving Organisation Applying technologies Information literacy |
1.3, 1.10, 1.12, 2.7 |
2 | Support the development of self and others for the benefit of the profession and the wider community. |
Engaged Sustainability-focussed |
1.11, 1.14, 1.16, 2.6, 2.9, 2.10, 3.14 |
3 | Demonstrate the ability to identify and address emerging issues in practice. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker |
1.1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.8, 2.1, 2.4, 2.6, 3.14 |
4 | Communicate knowledge, experience and ideas clearly, coherently and professionally. |
Knowledgeable Empowered Ethical Communication |
1.1, 1.2, 3.7, 4.1, 4.5 |
5 | Adapt knowledge and skills to meet the needs of different individuals in a range of contexts. |
Empowered Engaged |
1.5, 2.4, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 |
CODE | COMPETENCY |
Occupational Therapy Council of Australia Ltd | |
1.1 | Complies with the OTBA standards, guidelines and code of conduct |
1.2 | Adheres to legislation relevant to practice. |
1.3 | Maintains professional boundaries in all client and professional relationships |
1.5 | Practices in a culturally responsive and culturally safe manner, with particular respect to culturally diverse client groups. |
1.8 | Adhere to all work health and safety, and quality requirements for practice. |
1.10 | Practices within limits of her/his own level of competence and expertise. |
1.11 | Maintains professional competence and adapts to change in practice contexts. |
1.12 | Identifies and uses relevant professional and operational support and supervision. |
1.14 | Recognises and manages her/his own physical and mental health for safe, professional practice. |
1.16 | Contributes to education and professional practice development of peers and students. |
2.1 | Applies current and evidence informed knowledge of occupational therapy and other appropriate and relevant theory in practice. |
2.4 | Understands and responds to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health philosophies, leadership, research and practices. |
2.6 | Maintains and improves currency of knowledge, skills and new evidence for practice by adhering to the requirements for continuing professional development. |
2.7 | Implements a specific learning and development plan when moving to a new area of practice or returning to practice. |
2.9 | Maintains knowledge of relevant resources and technologies. |
2.10 | Maintains digital literacy for practice. |
3.7 | Reflects on practice to inform and communicate professional reasoning and decision-making. |
3.14 | Contributes to quality improvement and service development. |
4.1 | Communicates openly, respectfully and effectively. |
4.5 | Complies with legal and procedural requirements for the responsible and accurate documentation, sharing and storage of professional information and records of practice. |
4.8 | Maintains professional collaborative relationships with clients, health professionals and relevant others. |
4.9 | Uses effective communication skills to initiate and end relationships with clients and relevant others. |
4.10 | Seeks and responds to feedback, modifying communication and/or practice accordingly. |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
OCC401 and enrolled in Program SC440
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
You will receive early formative feedback on Task 1 in Week 2 and on Task 2 from Week 3 onwards.
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 | 1a | Practical / Laboratory Skills, and Written Piece | Individual | 25% | Preparation activities: 10 hours total Participation activities: 10 hours total These hours contribute to your practice education hours. |
Refer to Format | Online Submission |
All | 1b | Practical / Laboratory Skills, and Written Piece | Individual | 25% | Mentoring: 1 hour per mentoring session = 6 hours. Mentoring Log completion: 2 hours per mentoring session = 12 hours. Mentoring hours contribute to practice education hours for the course. |
Exam Period | Online Submission |
All | 2 | Portfolio | Individual | 50% | 2500 words equivalent |
Week 9 | Online ePortfolio Submission |
All - Assessment Task 1a:StudentLink Mentoring Preparation | |||||||
Goal: | You will develop your mentoring skills by completing preparation activities and participating in briefing and debriefing workshops. |
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Product: | Practical / Laboratory Skills, and Written Piece | ||||||
Format: | Complete mentoring preparation activities during class in your StudentLink Workbook in Weeks 1-9, and 11. See Canvas for due dates and times. *Formative Assessment in Weeks 1 and 2 to help you understand the preparation & participation processes. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: | Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
All - Assessment Task 1b:StudentLink Mentoring Participation | ||||||||||||||||
Goal: | You will develop your mentoring skills by participating in mentoring and completing your StudentLink Log Book. |
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Product: | Practical / Laboratory Skills, and Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
Format: | Evidence of participation in the StudentLink mentoring program by completing the Mentoring Log and related assessment tasks in the StudentLink workbook. See Canvas for specific dates and times. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: | Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
All - Assessment Task 2:ePortfolio | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Goal: | Create a comprehensive, coherent and independent exposition of your values, experiences, competencies, and aspirations as a graduating occupational therapist. |
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Product: | Portfolio | |||||||||||||||||||||
Format: | A professional ePortfolio in PebblePad. See Canvas for specific dates and times. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: | Communication, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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.
Please note that you need to have regular access to the resource(s) listed below. Resources may be required or recommended.
Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
Recommended | Brown, Bourke-Taylor, Isbel,Gustafsson, & Cordier | 2021 | Occupational Therapy in Australia | 2nd edition | Routledge |
Recommended | Richmond & Powers | 2009 | Business Fundamentals for the Rehabilitation Professional | 2nd edition | SLACK Incorporated |
Recommended | Dunbar & Winston | 2015 | An Occupational Perspective on Leadership. Theoretical and Practical Dimensions | 2nd edition | SLACK Inc |
Recommended | Allan | 2019 | Law and Ethics for Health Practitioners | n/a | Elsevier |
Recommended | Robbins, Judge, Edwards, Sandiford, Fitzgerald, & Hunt | 0 | Organisational Behaviour | 9th ed | Pearson Education Australia |
Students will need to access Canvas and PebblePad for all course requirements. Queries regarding assessment will be addressed on Canvas – not by email. Other issues can be discussed with your course coordinator via appointment during the designated contact hours as specified on Canvas. You are required to wear the USC OT uniform for any in-class presentations.
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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The SafeUniSC Specialist Service is a Student Wellbeing service that provides free and confidential support to students who may have experienced or observed behaviour that could cause fear, offence or trauma. To contact the service call 07 5430 1226 or email studentwellbeing@usc.edu.au.
For help with course-specific advice, for example what information to include in your assessment, you should first contact your tutor, then your course coordinator, if needed.
If you require additional assistance, the Learning Advisers are trained professionals who are ready to help you develop a wide range of academic skills. Visit the Learning Advisers web page for more information, or contact Student Central for further assistance: +61 7 5430 2890 or studentcentral@usc.edu.au.
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To book a confidential appointment go to Student Hub, email studentwellbeing@usc.edu.au or call 07 5430 1226.
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