Program Overview

---

Program Details

The program details for the university are as follows:

Study at ACU

• Find a course
  • New courses
  • ACU Online
  • Course types explained
  • Course guides
  • Core Curriculum
• Why study at ACU
• How to apply
  • Undergraduate students
  • Postgraduate students
  • Short courses and individual units
• Education pathways
• Admission pathways
  • Find your pathway or entry program
  • I have completed military service
  • I am Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

International Students

• ACU中文官网
• Access International Course Guide online
• Download student guides
• Student and alumni stories
• International student scholarships
• How to apply
  • Study undergraduate
  • Study postgraduate
  • Study research
  • Study English
• English and pathway programs
  • Diploma programs
  • Foundation Studies
  • Tertiary Preparation Program (Health Sciences)
• Study abroad and exchange
  • Semester programs
• Gateway to ACU
• Arriving and living in Australia
  • Accommodation options
  • Student visas

Student Life

• Experience uni before you start
  • Experience ACU
  • Explore your local campus
  • Open Day
• Student stories
• ACU Thrive
• Campus facilities
  • Food, drink and recreation facilities
  • Learning and teaching facilities
  • Sports, health and wellbeing facilities
• Student safety
• Student services
  • Academic skills development
  • Campus ministry
  • Career development services
  • Connect2Uni
  • First year students
  • Counselling services
  • Disability support
  • Medical centres
  • Student advocacy
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student services
  • Student Veterans Support Program
• Library
• Clubs, activities and student associations
  • Student associations
  • Clubs and societies
  • Creative and cultural activities
  • Leadership opportunities
• ACU Sport
  • Gyms, fitness classes and facilities
  • Sports clubs and activities
  • UniSport
  • Social sport and sport facilities
  • Elite Athlete and Performer Program
• Gain work experience
• Student accommodation
  • Rental Advisory Service
  • Student Accommodation Scholarships
• Graduation

Locations

• Ballarat
• Blacktown
• Brisbane
• Canberra
• Melbourne
• North Sydney
• Rome
• Strathfield
• ACU Online

Research and Enterprise

• Research community
  • Researchers
  • Institutes and centres
  • Research candidates
• Research facilities and capabilities
  • Research services
  • Library
• Graduate Research School
  • Graduate research
  • Partner with us
  • Supervisor resources
  • Candidate resources
• Collaborate with ACU
  • Innovate and research
  • Join us on campus
  • Connect with students
  • Engage our candidates
• Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise)
• Our research vision
• Contact us

About ACU

• Reputation and ranking
• Vision 2033
  • Vision 2033 Plans
• Leadership and governance
  • Organisational structure
  • Government and public policy
  • Vice-Chancellor and President
• Faith and Values
  • What if I'm not Catholic?
  • Community giving
• Community engagement
  • Community-initiated research
• Sustainability at ACU
• News
• Events
• Careers at ACU
• Arts and culture hub
• Widening participation
• Employers and industry
• Our partnerships
  • Research partners
• Publications
  • Handbook by year
• First Peoples Directorate
• Empowering veterans
  • Student veteran services
• Policies and procedures
• Professional Standards and Integrity
• Search

Faculties, Directorates and Staff

• Faculty of Education and Arts
• Faculty of Health Sciences
• Faculty of Law and Business
• Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
• Directorates
• Institutes, academies and centres

Course Details

EXSC314 - Healthy Relationships for Young People

Year

2022

Credit points

10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Teaching organisation

150 hours of focused learning.

Unit rationale, description and aim

Professionals working with adolescents require contemporary knowledge, strategies and skills to reflect on and engage with The unit aims to provide students with opportunities to examine issues about gender, power, sexual orientation, communication, rights and responsibilities, domestic/dating violence, child abuse, pornography and other controversial and sensitive topics and how they can impact on one's wellbeing and relationships. Students will analyse and develop appropriate strategies and learning activities in raising awareness, providing accurate information, accessing services, prevention and intervention. The unit also focuses on examining processes for increasing supportive environments, community capacity and empowerment, while providing students with an appreciation of social justice, an understanding of equity and a respect for the human being.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination andimpact.
Explore the graduate capabilities. On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

• LO1 - Critically reflect and analyse the range of sexual perspectives, priorities and recommendations related to adolescent sexual health and relationships (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9)
• LO2 - Plan and develop creative and engaging teaching and learning activities in the area of adolescent sexual health and relationships for future practice (GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10)
• LO3 - Communicate and reflect upon effective teaching and learning experiences that facilitate knowledge, positive behaviours and attitudes in the area of adolescent sexual health and relationships (GA1, GA5, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10)
• LO4 - Analyse and evaluate adolescent sexual health and relationships teaching activities and resources that facilitate learning. (GA4, GA5, GA8)

Graduate attributes

• GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity
• GA4 - think critically and reflectively
• GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession
• GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively
• GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information
• GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media
• GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• Introduction and perspectives on sexuality
• Sexuality and sex education(Dealing with controversial and sensitive issues, creating safe environments, developing diverse values, beliefs and attitudes, role in Catholic schools)
• Biological perspectives(Sexual anatomy, physiology)
• Social-cultural perspective(aspects related to gender, race, geographic location, culture, socioeconomic background, age, disability, religion, media influence, sexual preference and sexuality identity)
• Behavioural perspectives (Sexual behaviour: variations/practices, coercive sex: harassment, abuse, discrimination, assault)
• Healthy Sexual ChoicesSTI's, planning and managing sexual health (protective strategies, sexual health care)
• Healthy relationships(Communication, consent, range, type and complexity of relationships, rights and responsibilities)
• Gender and Power(Dimensions of power, impact of power on sexual relationships and risk taking behaviours, power in social relationships)
• Maximising Choice, Minimising Risk(Strategies to improve and enhance sexual safety, expanding on issues such as social safety, discrimination and harassment and how these can be addressed)
• Teaching strategies and pedagogy(websites, resources, PDHPE syllabus)

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Student centred teaching and learning strategies will be the focus in the unit based on the constructivism theory and reflective practice. These strategies encourage independent and life long learning, where students take responsibility for their learning. The learning tasks are authentic (engage in tasks that are real), reflective (deep learning) and collaborative (engaging and working with peers). Student centred strategies include reflective writing, critical thinking activities, co-operative/ collaborative learning, incorporating ICT and peer/independent learning. These strategies link directly to the assessment tasks, as the assessments are a teaching and learning strategy in itself. These strategies have been chosen to give students opportunities to actively engage with the content and to provide variety within the tutorial and assessment tasks. The knowledge and skills acquired can be applied and are relevant to what is required in real world situations and for future profession/practice/workplace.

Assessment strategy and rationale

Employers today seek more than knowledge from students – they want them to transfer learning to real situations, problem solve and have higher order thinking skills. Authentic assessment provides students with these skills, because the tasks are real, meaningful, require judgment and innovation and are related to one's workplace, personal and social life. Students learn in different ways, professionally we need to explore and provide opportunities so they perform to their very best, feel worthwhile, empowered and enjoy learning.
In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies are used including:

• Reflective Writing strategy _ (Assessment 1)****_Written reflection on healthy relationships/sexual health practice as foundation for Teaching Resource File.****Learning Outcome 1**
  Reflective writing is a personal response to an experience, situation and new learning. It involves students to think deeply, identify with their feelings, values and assumptions. It relates to ones prior knowledge/ideas and what they can then apply, review, reconstruct, and interpret from the experience.
• Constructivism strategy _ (Assessment 1) Teaching Resource File Learning Outcome 2_**
  Students will construct new meaning (build on prior knowledge) and make sense of what they are learning, why they are learning this and how this learning is applied.
• Collaborative Learning strategy (Assessment 2) Teaching Presentation _****_Learning Outcome 3
  The concept of collaborative learning, students work in small groups for the purpose of achieving the learning outcome by engaging together in a task. This involves shared learning with opportunities for critical thinking, oral communication, negotiation, listening, planning, interaction and responsibility for ones own learning.
• Self and Peer Assessment strategy (Assessment 2) Teaching Presentation
  Engages students in the learning process to reflect on their own and peers work. Provides opportunities to exchange feedback, evaluate, critical thinking, responsibility for learning and encourages reflective practice.

Overview of assessments

Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks| Weighting| Learning Outcomes| Graduate Attributes
---|---|---|---
Teaching Resource File in 2 parts Teaching Resource File with a written reflection on healthy relationships/sexual health practice as foundation for Teaching Resource File. | 30% | LO1, LO2, LO4 | GA1,GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10
Team Teaching Presentation with a written self and peer assessment | 40% | LO3, LO4 | GA1,GA5, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10
Written examination | 30% | LO1 | GA4,GA5, GA8,GA9

Representative texts and references

• Bennett, D, Towns, S, Elliott, E & Merrick, J. (2009). Challenges in adolescent health: An Australian perspective. Nova Science Publishers: New York.
• Dines, G. (2010) Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality. Beacon Press: Boston
• Family Planning Association (2009). Contraception Healthy Choices. UNSW Press: Sydney, Australia
• Hillier, L., Turner, A, A., & Mitchell, A (2008). Writing Themselves in Again: 6 years on. The 2nd national report on the sexuality, health & wellbeing of same sex attracted young people in Australia. [Monograph Series No 50]. Melbourne: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society.
• NSW Kids and Families. Youth Health Resource Kit: An Essential Guide for Workers (2014).
• Rew, L. (2005). Adolescent health: A multidisciplinary approach to theory, research and intervention. Sage Publications: London
• Russell, D, Bradford, D & Fairley, C. (2011). Sexual Health Medicene. IPCommunications. Melbourne: Australia
• Smith, A., Agius, P., Dyson, S., Mitchell, A., Pitts, M. (2008). Secondary Students & Sexual Health 2008 Melbourne: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society, La Trobe University
• Tankard Reist, M. & Bray, A. (EDS) (2011). Big Porn INC:Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry. Spinifex:Victoria, Australia
• Temple-Smith, M. & Gifford, S. (2005). Sexual health: an Australian perspective. Melbourne: IP Communications.