Assessment item - Portfolio

Objectives -

This assignment is designed to develop a portfolio of resources that you can use during your degree. The compilation of your Portfolio is progressive throughout the term. Please refer to the Unit Profile to see how this assessment item relates to the Unit Learning Outcomes.

Requirements -

Week 3- Portfolio: Critical Thinking

Task -

This portfolio item requires you to write two paragraphs about Critical Thinking.

Your entire submission should be approximately 350 words in length. It should be written objectively in third person.

Your first paragraph should include a paraphrased definition of critical thinking supported by evidence. The reference must be a peer-reviewed, academic source from the last 5 years. It must be selected using the Triple R framework. The structure of the paragraph should include a topic sentence, evidence and a concluding sentence summarising your definition.

Write the second paragraph to highlight the need for ICT professionals to be good critical thinkers. This paragraph should begin with a topic sentence. You should then provide two unique examples to explain how ICT professionals would need apply their critical thinking skills. Conclude your paragraph with a sentence that summarises the importance of critical thinking for ICT professionals.

Week 5- Portfolio: SWOT Analysis

Task -

Conduct a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis of your academic writingskills. An example can be found on page 16 of the prescribed textbook. The SWOT analysis should be presented in a square with four (4) quadrants or in a list as it is presented in the textbook. Each quadrant/section should have at least two (2) unique points. In addition to the SWOT analysis, you should outline some strategies to address one of the weaknesses that you identified in your academic writing skills. That is, if you identified 'lack of good grammar skills' as a weakness then describe at least two strategies that you could use to overcome that weakness.

Week 7- Portfolio: Reflective Writing

Task -

By now you should have received feedback and marks for your Participation Activity 1 (email to the lecturer). Discuss that experience in two paragraphs of reflective writing. Describe the experience including your contribution for the outcome in one paragraph. In the second paragraph, demonstrate what you have learnt from the experience, describe how you would handle it or another assignment differently in the future, and evaluate the positives and negatives of the experience (e.g. reading and reflecting on assessment feedback).

If you received full marks for your PA1 and the feedback indicates that you do not require further improvement, then select another assessment from this Unit or another Unit you studied at CQU or at another university where you received feedback on improvement. In this case, you should clearly identify the alternative assessment item when describing your experience. Discuss with your local lecturer if necessary.

Your submission should cover the three key points on reflective writing (see below). This should be approximately 450 words.

The key points to consider when writing reflectively are:

1. You need to demonstrate what you have learned from a particular experience not just describe what happened.

2. There is no right or wrong answer-reflective writing is about what you learned from the experience.

3. Ask yourself the following questions and give your responses in your writing: Why did X happen? What did I do in X situation? What were the positive and negative outcomes inthe situation? How might I do things differently next time? What have I learnt and how does this knowledge contribute to my development?

(McCulloch & Reid, 2015, p. 131)

Note 1: You should re-read pages 130-132 of the textbook to ensure you know what is meant by reflective writing.

Note 2: This reflective writing is about evaluating yourself; it is NOT about evaluating the marker of your assessment.

Week 11- Portfolio: Responding to an ethical scenario

Task -

In week 9 you learnt about making decisions in various ethical situations. Understanding who you are and how you relate to others in both your personal and work life can make you aware of the values that are important to you as well as the values that you may need to work on to improve your professional standing. This portfolio item is designed to make you think about how to respond to an ethical scenario as a good ICT professional. As you are training to be an ICT professional you should refer to the ACS Code of Ethics and/or ACS Code of Professional Conduct in your response. It should be approximately 400 words.

Responding to an ethical situation

Scenario:

You are currently working in an ICT role (you may select a relevant position related to the ICT industry in your response) where you have access to client information including their personal and health information. During the course of your job you find that your best friend's husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and has only six months to live. Your friend has never mentioned to you that her husband is so unwell. Your friend and her husband are just about to take out a huge home loan to buy a property in Sydney. You are concerned that her husband may die soon and leave your friend with a huge debt that she will be unable to pay on one salary.

Write about 400 words (in 2 - 3 paragraphs) outlining how you will respond to this ethical dilemma. What will you do in this situation? Will you tell your friend about her husband's diagnosis so she can rethink taking out the home loan, or will you inform your management about your dilemma and ask for advice? Or will you not say anything to your manager but simply contact your friend to inform her of the situation? Is there anything else you will do? Explain what you will do and the reasons for your actions referring to the ACS Code of Ethics and/or the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. You must correctly reference the document/s in APA style.

Week 12- Portfolio: Successful Completion

Task -

This portfolio item requires you to justify that you have successfully achieved the Unit Learning Outcomes and to provide feedback about your experiences with the Unit. The response should have two parts and should not be longer than 2 A4 pages.

Part A - Justification

The Unit Profile provides a list of Learning Outcomes you are expected to have achieved after completing this Unit.

From the Unit Profile:

On successful completion of this Unit, you will be able to:

1. Describe the basic principles and importance of effective interpersonal communication, active listening and reading for meaning.

2. Demonstrate teamwork skills.

3. Communicate ideas effectively both verbally and in written form using appropriate language.

4. Create and deliver effective oral presentations.

5. Argue the importance of ethics, codes of behaviour, and societal, privacy and legal issues within the ICT industry.

6. Demonstrate an understanding of common work practices and values operating in the Australian workplace.

7. Assess how ICT can be used to improve organisational processes.

8. Evaluate the application of emerging technologies to communication and collaboration.

Write a reflective analysis that demonstrates you have satisfied all eight(8) learning outcomes that are listed in the Unit Profile for COIT20249 Professional Skills in ICT (they are listed above). Justify how the work you have completed this term has satisfied all eight (8) Unit Learning Outcomes. Please note it is important that you JUSTIFY how you have satisfied the Unit Learning Outcomes with examples. Do NOT just summarise the Unit content and/or assessment items OR define the Unit Learning Outcomes.

In short paragraphs, respond under the following themes (use relevant headings) and refer to relevant Learning Outcome/s from the above list. Use examples from the assessments you have completed in this Unit and/or the competencies you have achieved after completing the Unit. You might refer to some Unit Learning Outcomes more than once in your response. This part should be 1-1.5 A4 pages (approximate guideline).

1. Describe an example where you used interpersonal skills along with listening and verbal communication skills effectively.

2. How did you use reading skills to effectively develop an academic document? Provide an example.

3. Provide an example of using your teamwork skills to resolve a conflict or assign tasks for a team project. What other skills from the above list did you use in this situation?

4. Provide examples of two assessments where you discussed the importance of ethical behaviours, and social, privacy and legal aspects within the ICT domain. How did this help you to understand ethical behaviours, and social, privacy and legal aspects within the ICT domain?

5. Discuss with examples how you learnt the skills to work with staff and/or students from different cultures and demonstrate the knowledge of cultural diversity (1 mark).

6. Describe how you learnt to evaluate ICT technologies to improve organisational processes. Give an example.

7. Describe two examples of communication and collaboration technologies you have learnt after completing this Unit. Explain a situation where each of these technologies could be used and their potential benefits.

Part B - Feedback

Write two things you liked about this Unit and provide the reason or reasons you liked them. Also describe two suggested improvements to the Unit and justify why they would improve the Unit. This could be around half an A4 page in length (guideline only).

Assignment Files -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6z9vhonc2j6biqr/Assignment%20Files.rar?dl=0