Analysing Professional Communication (MECM20012)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5Online

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Overview

Availability
Summer Term - Online
Semester 1 - Online
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Effective communication is the key to successful practice in many disciplines. This subject details how talk is managed in a range of professional settings, including: education (e.g. teacher-student interactions); medicine (e.g. doctor-patient consultations), psychology (e.g. counselling), law (e.g. question design in courtrooms), and journalism (e.g. radio interviews).

This subject will introduce students to interactional practices that are common to all workplaces: negotiation and resolving conflict; sources of misunderstanding; aligning with other speakers; managing topics; and different cultural practices in making sense of talk at work. Students will learn how interaction is organized based on the fundamental tenets of conversation analysis: turn-taking, repair and the sequential organization of talk. Students will develop an understanding of how these rules are managed in a range of settings, understanding talk as collaboratively achieved and fundamental to professional development.

On completion of this subject, students will be able to evaluate practices of effective communication in a range of professional settings, develop their own communication skills, and identify practical solutions to communication problems in the workplace.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • Identify verbal and non-verbal features of talk, using conversation analysis transcription.
  • Identify and explain the structural rules of talk.
  • Demonstrate key understandings of how communication is (mis)managed in professional settings.
  • Analyse specific communication practices used in different professional contexts.
  • Demonstrate how research evidence can provide solutions to communication issues in the workplace.

Generic skills

  • Research skills through effective use of library resources and electronic databases;
  • Critical thinking and analysis through reviews of the research literature and workshop discussions;
  • Creative thinking through conceptualising theoretical problems, forming judgements and arguments from conflicting evidence and by critical analysis;
  • Communicating knowledge effectively through workshop discussions and assessment tasks;
  • Written communication skills through assignment preparation;
  • Public speaking skills through workshop discussions;
  • Attention to detail through assignment preparation and writing;
  • Time management and planning through managing and organising workloads for class participation, recommended reading, and assignment completion.

Last updated: 14 March 2025

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 14 March 2025

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

Written quiz on seminar content

  • 1200 words (equivalent)
Mid teaching period30%

Annotated bibliography

  • 1600 words
End of the teaching period40%

Professional development resource

  • 1200 words (equivalent)
During the examination period30%
Hurdle requirement: Satisfactory completion of all online workshop activitiesDuring the teaching periodN/A

Last updated: 14 March 2025

Dates & times

  • Summer Term - Online
    CoordinatorAmelia Church
    Mode of deliveryOnline
    Contact hours36 hours
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Pre teaching requirementsDuring the pre-teaching period students will be required to complete an introductory workshop on Canvas.
    Teaching period30 January 2023 to 10 February 2023
    Last self-enrol date 1 February 2023
    Census date10 February 2023
    Last date to withdraw without fail 3 March 2023
    Assessment period ends10 March 2023

    Summer Term contact information

    Dr Amelia Church: achurch@unimelb.edu.au 

  • Semester 1 - Online
    Principal coordinatorAmelia Church
    Mode of deliveryOnline
    Contact hours36 hours
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Teaching period27 February 2023 to 28 May 2023
    Last self-enrol date10 March 2023
    Census date31 March 2023
    Last date to withdraw without fail 5 May 2023
    Assessment period ends23 June 2023

    Semester 1 contact information

    achurch@unimelb.edu.au

Time commitment details

170 hours

What do these dates mean

Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:

  • Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
  • And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
       -  Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
     

    Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.

Last updated: 14 March 2025

Further information

Last updated: 14 March 2025