| Effective Term: | 2025/05 |
| Institute / School : | Institute of Education, Arts & Community |
| Unit Title: | Foundations of Contemporary Knowledge |
| Unit ID: | BADIG1001 |
| Credit Points: | 15.00 |
| Prerequisite(s): | Nil |
| Co-requisite(s): | Nil |
| Exclusion(s): | Nil |
| ASCED: | 099999 |
| Other Change: | |
| Brief description of the Unit |
The digital revolution has changed our ways of knowing about the world and ourselves. Not only do digital media and computing technologies enable new and different forms of expression, connection, and culture, but they also change how knowledge about culture and society is produced and used. This unit introduces and explores digital methods of knowledge creation with topics on, for example, big data, algorithms, and cultural analytics. It also examines theories, such as hyperreality and the post-human, that offer frameworks for making sense of who we are in the digital age. With a focus on foundational concepts and ideas, and applying them to examples, students will develop a critical vocabulary for beginning to think about and analyse the different ‘ways of knowing’ about people, cultures, and communities made possible by and because of digital technologies. |
| Grade Scheme: | Graded (HD, D, C, P, MF, F, XF) |
| Work Experience Indicator: |
| No work experience |
| Placement Component: No |
| Supplementary Assessment:Yes |
| Where supplementary assessment is available a student must have failed overall in the Unit but gained a final mark of 45 per cent or above, has completed all major assessment tasks (including all sub-components where a task has multiple parts) as specified in the Unit Description and is not eligible for any other form of supplementary assessment |
| Course Level: |
| Level of Unit in Course | AQF Level(s) of Course | | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | Introductory | | |  | | | | | Intermediate | | | | | | | | Advanced | | | | | | |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
| Knowledge: |
| K1. | Describe and explore a range of approaches to knowledge production in the digital era at an introductory level. |
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| K2. | Articulate key elements of, and issues and perspectives related to, different ways of knowing about digital culture and society. |
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| K3. | Consider the uses, implications, and effects of different ways of knowing about and within digital culture. |
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| K4. | Recognise how digital ways of knowing function in different sites and contexts. |
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| Skills: |
| S1. | Utilise vocabularies specific to the study of knowledge and to different theoretical perspectives and knowledge production methods. |
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| S2. | Analyse how different theories and methods produce knowledge. |
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| S3. | Examine knowledge frameworks in relation to examples. |
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| S4. | Engage with a range of resources and materials to develop understanding of perspectives and methods of knowledge production. |
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| S5. | Express informed views and perspectives, supported by evidence. |
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| S6. | Read, think, and engage critically. |
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| Application of knowledge and skills: |
| A1. | Apply knowledge and skills to communicate understanding of knowledge frameworks and production processes in written, verbal, or visual form. |
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| A2. | Recognise and reflect on the social and cultural significance of digital forms of knowledge production and theories about digital culture. |
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| Unit Content: |
Topics may include:
• Knowledge in the Digital Environment (How do we know things in the digital age?)
• Ways of knowing (The study of Epistemology)
• Simulation and hyperreality
• Cyberculture theory and Internet studies
• Post-humanism, transhumanism, and the cyborg
• Media ecology (and the impact of algorithms)
• Big data and society
• Introduction to cultural analytics |
| Graduate Attributes: |
| Federation University recognises that students require key transferable employability skills to prepare them for their future workplace and society. FEDTASKS (Transferable Attributes Skills and Knowledge) provide a targeted focus on five key transferable Attributes, Skills, and Knowledge that are be embedded within curriculum, developed gradually towards successful measures and interlinked with cross-discipline and Co-operative Learning opportunities. One or more FEDTASK, transferable Attributes, Skills or Knowledge must be evident in the specified learning outcomes and assessment for each FedUni Unit, and all must be directly assessed in each Course.
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| FED TASK and descriptor | Development and acquisition of FEDTASKS in the Unit | | Level | FEDTASK 1
Interpersonal | Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate, inter-act and work with others both individually and in groups. Students will be required to display skills in-person and/or online in: • Using effective verbal and non-verbal communication • Listening for meaning and influencing via active listening • Showing empathy for others • Negotiating and demonstrating conflict resolution skills • Working respectfully in cross-cultural and diverse teams. | Level 1 - Students require directions and boundaries from mentor | FEDTASK 2
Leadership | Students will demonstrate the ability to apply professional skills and behaviours in leading others. Students will be required to display skills in: • Creating a collegial environment • Showing self -awareness and the ability to self-reflect • Inspiring and convincing others • Making informed decisions • Displaying initiative | Level 1 - Students require directions and boundaries from mentor | FEDTASK 3
Critical Thinking and Creativity | Students will demonstrate an ability to work in complexity and ambiguity using the imagination to create new ideas. Students will be required to display skills in: • Reflecting critically • Evaluating ideas, concepts and information • Considering alternative perspectives to refine ideas • Challenging conventional thinking to clarify concepts • Forming creative solutions in problem solving. | Level 1 - Students require directions and boundaries from mentor | FEDTASK 4
Digital Literacy | Students will demonstrate the ability to work fluently across a range of tools, platforms and applications to achieve a range of tasks. Students will be required to display skills in: • Finding, evaluating, managing, curating, organising and sharing digital information • Collating, managing, accessing and using digital data securely • Receiving and responding to messages in a range of digital media • Contributing actively to digital teams and working groups • Participating in and benefiting from digital learning opportunities. | Level 2 - Student demonstrates some independence within provided guidelines | FEDTASK 5
Sustainable and Ethical Mindset | Students will demonstrate the ability to consider and assess the consequences and impact of ideas and actions in enacting ethical and sustainable decisions. Students will be required to display skills in: • Making informed judgments that consider the impact of devising solutions in global economic environmental and societal contexts • Committing to social responsibility as a professional and a citizen • Evaluating ethical, socially responsible and/or sustainable challenges and generating and articulating responses • Embracing lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning to be open to diverse others • Implementing required actions to foster sustainability in their professional and personal life. | Level 1 - Students require directions and boundaries from mentor |
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| | Learning Outcomes Assessed | Assessment Tasks | Assessment Type | Weighting | | 1. | K1, K2, S1, S4, S5, A2 | Demonstrate knowledge of key vocabulary and concepts. | Quizzes | 20-35% | | 2. | K1, K2, K3, K4, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, A1 | Discuss, explain, and assess an approach to knowledge. | Presentation or Report | 20-35% | | 3. | K1, K2, K3, K4, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, A1, A2 | Analyse and express a position in response to an aspect of unit content. | Written or multi-media response | 40%-50% |
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