Postgraduate Qualifying Program, Leading to Master of Community Development Kaplan Group - Murdoch College, Australia

Our Postgraduate Qualifying Program is a 5-unit course taught over one trimester. It has been designed as a pathway to a master’s degree for international students who don’t meet the entry requirements for a master’s degree.

This course is suited to you if you:

• don't have the desired results to gain entry to your chosen master’s degree
• need to adapt to the academic requirements in the master’s degree studies
• need additional English language support

After successful completion of this program, you will be able to commence your postgraduate degree studies with confidence at Murdoch University, which has achieved a QS Stars five-star rating.

Course Structure
You will need to complete five units in one trimester. These units are designed to develop your learning techniques, bridge gaps in your unit knowledge, and prepare you for your master’s studies at the University. You can start the program in any trimester during the year. You may extend your program period if you fail a unit and need to re-enrol.

• Academic English - This unit is aimed at providing students from a range of educational backgrounds and cultures with the academic language skills necessary to successfully study at a postgraduate level. These skills will be developed through real-world contexts to specifically prepare students for their postgraduate units. It equips students whose first language is not English with the necessary skills to successfully engage in group work, become more effective communicators when collaborating with others, and gain confidence in building productive relationships.
• Study and Research Skills - This unit aims to develop many of the written and oral presentation skills that students need in preparation for postgraduate study. This unit will develop generic writing and thinking skills that will equip students for success in any tertiary learning environment. Skills include how to begin writing assignments; how to give writing a strong structure; and how to improve the clarity and power of what is written through appropriate word choices.
• Critical Thinking Skills - This unit aims to enable students to develop the critical and analytical thinking skills essential for studying at postgraduate level. Students will learn to critically engage with academic reading material to examine and evaluate the argument of others. Students will learn to identify the difference between critical analysis and description and be able to better formulate an argument effectively in their own writing. Students will participate in interactive workshops to develop confidence in their ability to apply critical thinking strategies. Students will analyse differing viewpoints, challenge the views of others and clearly communicate their own position.
• Quantitative Studies - This unit aims to introduce students to the important quantitative skills that provide a sound understanding in mathematics and statistics that are used in postgraduate study. The principles of data analysis and quantitative techniques will discuss sampling, representations of data, measures of central tendency and dispersion, distributions, correlation, and regression.
• Intercultural Studies - This unit will provide students with an understanding of how to interact, participate and communicate effectively in Australia. Emphasis will be placed on providing students with opportunities to understand their own culture, develop meaningful and empathic understandings of other cultures (with reference to Australia) and how they relate to each other. This unit will also develop knowledge, understanding and intercultural communication skills that will enable students to participate effectively in a range of personal and professional contexts.

Leading to: Master of Community Development
This course will introduce you to the community development ideas and practices used to create and foster community-led change in settings around Australia and beyond.

This course is designed for community work practitioners and graduates with an interest in moving into emerging fields that embrace the ideas and practices of community development, and want to broaden their knowledge substantially through further postgraduate studies.

You'll study real and living community projects that build on cultural strength in remote areas, urban agriculture and sustainability projects, grassroots creative arts projects, activism work and much more. Combine case studies, documentaries, films and other creative digital forms that showcase examples of community work and attend workshops designed to teach creative ways of getting the community involved.

3 reasons to study a Master of Community Development at Murdoch

1. Put theory into practice by undertaking a community development internship in a migrant resource centre, state or local government offices, an international development agency or through an alternative education project or community arts project.
2. Be taught by leading academics who have themselves worked for community organisations and still carry out research on community-based projects including work with local government authorities, Indigenous Australian groups and in the cultural development, arts and film industries.
3. Undertake an independent research project or dissertation under the supervision of experienced researchers, in an area of community practice relevant an important to you.

What you'll learn
Build essential skills and knowledge to meet your career or study goals. Topics you’ll cover include:

• Community development in Indigenous communities
• Building links between community, industry and local government
• Social policy activism and community change
• Sustainable and ecological community development
• Understanding the dynamics of cultural diversity in the workplace and community