Example | Four-day intensive unit

Overview of unit design

This unit is run as a 4-day face to face intensive, there is no other online or face-to-face component (except for the completion of assessments after the intensive).

This unit's approach was developed over 4 years and meets two aims:

• It is designed to be completed at the beginning of the course as a community building, engagement and preparation unit. This allows for students to network and meet each other before predominantly working online in other units in the course.
• It positions ACU at the forefront of the high performance sport field. The 4-day intensive is as good quality as an international conference in this area, the first two days are marketed as a 'Summer Series Seminar' for those outside the course to attend. The income from these attendees has offset the cost of bringing in international presenters.

There are good international opportunities in terms of employment in this field, and having international presenters helps local students gain an understanding of the pathways and opportunities.

The intensive includes:

• Local, interstate and international presenters who are experts in their fields
• Two round-table discussion forums in which students can ask questions
• Dinner to help build a sense of community and networking opportunities.
• Practical components with hands-on tasks and computer lab work
• Academic and technology related presentations relevant to course such as:
  • Using LEO
  • Using Adobe Connect
  • Literature search strategies
  • Using EndNote.
• Sessions were recorded for students to review later

Another institution had a known two-week intensive but this was seen as too hard for those with employment and familial responsibilities to get time off for. So, initially the intensives for this unit were 7-days long, but the team found that this was too much for students.The four-day intensive was found to work the best.

Highlights

• International expert presenters (one in person, one online)
• First two days marketed externally as "Summer seminar series" available to those external to course in industry at cost