Here’s a do’s and don’t list of what goes in your unit guide and what goes in your iLearn unit.
As a rule of thumb, remember that any material the unit guide will be available to students and the general public. If you have material that shouldn’t be made public due to copyright licensing, intellectual property etc., then you put it in your iLearn unit, not in the unit guide. If you’re unsure check the Unit Guide policy.
Also, consider the purpose of the Unit Guide:
A Unit Guide provides students with a concise and public source of information about a coursework unit, including, but not limited to, the aims, expected outcomes, structure and requirements of a unit of study. Students may use unit outlines to make decisions about programs of study and to manage their workload during a session. They also serve to introduce students to the expectations, values and priorities of Macquarie University as a community of learners and teachers.
| What | Unit Guides | iLearn | Why? |
| Timetable info (including rooms) | No | Yes | Once a unit guide is published, it is a much more difficult and lengthy process to change content such as timetables. If you want to share timetable info, iLearn is the place to put it as you can easily update it. |
| Tutors | No | Yes | Again, many tutors aren’t appointed until after the unit guide has been published, so having your tutors listed in iLearn is the best way to go. |
| Unit Schedule | Recommended | Yes | While this section in Unit Guides is not compulsory in the policy, it is a critical piece of information for RPL purposes and for inbound and outbound mobility students.
It is also good for prospective students to have an idea of how the unit will run but I would definitely recommend having this in iLearn too. If you need to change the order of lectures or topics, you can easily edit this in iLearn. |
| Readings | Yes | Yes | Include your required texts and readings in the Unit Guide but also include the readings in iLearn (via the library’s unit reading list).
Required texts are also critical information for RPL. |
| Assessment questions | Up to you | Yes | This one really comes down to your personal philosophy and if you change the assessment question each time the unit runs. |
This table covers some common questions and may just be the tip of the iceberg of possible questions! If you have any questions that aren’t covered, please email your Faculty Learning Designers:
- Human Sciences fohs.lds@mq.edu.au
- Arts artslandt@mq.edu.au
- Business and Economics fbelt@mq.edu.au
- Science and Engineering fse-lt@mq.edu.au
- Medicine and Health Sciences fmhs.ldt@mq.edu.au
Thanks Rebecca.
Any chance of streamlining the Graduate Capabilities section I wonder?
I’ll follow up for you, Susan. 🙂
Hi Rebecca,
The unit schedule and required texts are actually critical pieces of information for RPL purposes and for inbound and outbound mobility students.
This information needs to be readily available in order to match to external units of study so students and staff can seek appropriate credit approvals.
Could I suggest these recommendations be modified?
Thanks for the feedback, Jason. I’ve updated the post.
Cheers,
Rebecca