Expertise and Your Professional Career (EDUC30071)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
July
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This subject provides insights into professional knowledge, learning and expertise that will enhance students’ development in their chosen professions. The subject explores meta-frameworks for learning in all professions by distinguishing between different forms of knowledge, the relationships these have to practice across a broad array of fields, and the implications this has for learning. The focus is on the structures of knowledge and the way knowledge is produced in professions generally, rather than the content of knowledge in specific professions. It asks students to consider whether learning in academic disciplines and professions is the same, or whether differences in the structures of knowledge and the nature of practice require different approaches to learning. It distinguishes between professions that have emerged in the last fifty years and those that have an older lineage and queries whether they are different, and if so, how they are different. The subject considers debates about the relationship between theory and practice in the development of expertise in work by comparing and contrasting those that emphasise process and experiential accounts of learning with those that emphasise the intrinsic role knowledge plays in the development of expertise. The implications for debates about professional education are considered and students are asked to contemplate the significance of these debates for their own future career development.

Intended learning outcomes

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

  • Debate theories about the structures of theoretical knowledge for professional practice and whether these can be distinguished from other forms of knowledge such as the academic disciplines on the one hand, and every day knowledge on the other
  • Theorise about and debate the relationship between the emergence of professions, the development of professional knowledge and the relationship between professions and education
  • Compare and contrast different theories about learning in the professions and the development of expertise and expert practice
  • Consider the implications of debates about the nature of knowledge and professional learning for their own future career development

Generic skills

This subject should enable students to:

  • be critical and creative thinkers, with an aptitude for continued self-directed learning
  • examine critically, synthesise and evaluate knowledge across a broad range of disciplines
  • initiate and implement constructive change in their communities, including professions and workplaces
  • value different cultures
  • be well-informed citizens able to contribute to their communities wherever they choose to live and work
  • accept social and civic responsibilities

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Recommended background knowledge

None. However it will be helpful for students to be far enough advanced in a course or profession to be able to reflect upon their initial experiences of professional formation.

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: 9 April 2025

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

An individual 5 minute presentation on the topic selected for the essay, based on work in progress

  • 600 words (equivalent)
Early in the teaching period15%

An individual evaluation of a 15 minute group presentation on current challenges to a profession

  • 600 words
End of the teaching period15%

An essay, focused on debates about knowledge, learning and expertise in the professions

  • 2800 words
End of the assessment period70%

A minimum of 80% attendance at all scheduled tutorials, seminars and workshops.

Hurdle requirement		Throughout the teaching periodN/A

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Dates & times

  • July
    Principal coordinatorSuzanne Rice
    Mode of deliveryOn Campus (Parkville)
    Contact hours36 hours
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Pre teaching start date 3 July 2024
    Pre teaching requirementsDuring the preteaching period, students are required to engage with materials posted on the LMS.
    Teaching period15 July 2024 to 19 July 2024
    Last self-enrol date 5 July 2024
    Census date15 July 2024
    Last date to withdraw without fail26 July 2024
    Assessment period ends 6 August 2024

    July contact information

    s.rice@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.

Additional delivery details

During the two-week pre-teaching period students will be required to read a set of articles for discussion during the teaching period.

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Further information

Last updated: 9 April 2025