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Unit outline_

MECO6934: Social Issues Marketing

Intensive October, 2023 [Block mode] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Social Issues Marketing integrates marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviours that benefit individuals and communities. Examples include smoking cessation, HIV prevention and recycling. Key elements include research, theory, competition and segmentation. This unit builds students' knowledge of how social issues marketing can be used to facilitate behaviour change and improve social outcomes, including health, environment, economic and education programs. It will include how to design, manage and communicate social and behaviour change programs in Australia and internationally.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Media and Communications
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
None
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator Olaf Werder, olaf.werder@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Assignment Essay
Students individually apply a benchmark to a case study
30% Week 03
Due date: 07 Oct 2023 at 23:59
1500 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2
Presentation group assignment Team presentation
Student teams present their research to the class
10% Week 06
Closing date: 27 Oct 2023
500 words, 15 minutes (5 minutes Q&A)
Outcomes assessed: LO3 LO5 LO4
Assignment group assignment Team project report
Student group evaluates a case study in a comprehensive report
40% Week 07
Due date: 04 Nov 2023 at 23:59
2500 words
Outcomes assessed: LO3 LO5 LO4
Online task Weekly comments
Students provide a weekly reflection/thought via the Flipgrid system.
20% Weekly
Closing date: 25 Oct 2023
1500 words
Outcomes assessed: LO2 LO4 LO3
group assignment = group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Assessment 

Word Count

Weekly Comments

1500

Essay

1500

Team Project Presentation

500

Team Project Report

2500

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

 

Distinction

75 - 84

 

Credit

65 - 74

 

Pass

50 - 64

 

Fail

0 - 49

When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

For every calendar day up to and including ten calendar days after the due date, a penalty of 5% of the maximum awardable marks will be applied to late work. For work submitted more than ten calendar days after the due date a mark of zero will be awarded (USYD Assessment Procedures, 2011)

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Introduction, Definitions, Challenges Online class (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Week 02 Customer orientation, Behaviour focus Individual study (1 hr) LO1 LO3 LO4
Week 03 Theory, Insights, Exchaneg concept Workshop (10 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5
Week 04 Competition, Target segmentation Online class (2 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Week 05 Methods Mix (4P), Evaluation, Follow-up Individual study (1 hr) LO1 LO3 LO4
Week 06 Case studies, Presentations & Wrap-up Workshop (10 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5

Attendance and class requirements

  • Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
  • Lecture recording: Lecture components are pre-recorded and made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
  • Preparation: Students should commit to spending approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

The reading list for this unit can be accessed through the Library ExLibris (Leganto) service, connected to our Canvas course site via the "Reading List" button.

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. analyse the influence of theories, models and benchmarks of social marketing on social and behaviour change
  • LO2. evaluate social marketing campaigns on their use of strategy and effectiveness toward their respective contexts and publics
  • LO3. demonstrate an understanding of the practical challenges of social and behaviour change programs in Australia and internationally
  • LO4. develop advanced problem-solving and creative skills that can support social marketing aims
  • LO5. apply learned knowledge to professional practice by assessing and improving a social marketing case.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Thank you for your feedback on the Unit of Study Survey (USS) for MECO6934. Unfortunately, the response rate of only 51% is less than satisfying and also less indicative of how everyone feels and thinks. Since this misses about half the course members it needs to be read with some caution. I will reflect on the ratings you gave, and the comments you made, and will use them to make improvements in the unit next year. The unit was overall again quite well evaluated. However, there were a few things that I will try to improve following your comments: 1) Some mentioned that we should provide more definitions and/or case studies. Note that these are mutually exclusive ideas and we thought we had a host of examples and even encouraged students to introduce some but we will take this on board and think of some more fluid way of getting the material across. 2) Some suggested improving upon video lectures (tech), grading rubrics, or instructions for assignments. Without wanting to sound defensive, much of this is actually available (rubrics are in Canvas under assignments) and we have offered many times during the term to assist with explanations where needed. Can we improve? Yes, and where feasible we do make those changes and thank students for these tips. But note that, e.g., converting group assignments to individual ones (because some were with peers who seemed less engaged) would defeat the learning of this assignment. 3) Finally, suggestions were made to have more people participate in our conversations. You are preaching to the choir but aside from incentivising and cheerleading everyone's participation, there is not much one can do about a student's unwillingness to speak up. We certainly won't want to have this as a lecture again but I'll study some ideas from others if they may work for us. Breakout sessions are only a partial solution as it does not benefit everyone and many times when I personally jumped into one of the many I had organised, there was equally no participation and some even used this to completely tune out. In fact, some opted against those in their feedback already. More to explore, I guess. Aside from that, I was satisfied that the unit was overall well received and found your endorsement, In fact, almost all of those who responded were overall satisfied with the quality of the course and found it intellectually rewarding (around 85%).
  • As per School policy, students must complete all assignments in the unit to obtain a grade and avoid an automatic Absent Fail (AF) mark
  • Contact your seminar teacher for course-specific questions (e.g., group issues, etc.), contact the unit coordinator for larger issues (simple extensions, special consideration, seminar switches/course clashes, etc.)
  • Apply for extensions (where applicable) sufficiently ahead of the due date, not the day before or the day of (exceptions are emergencies). Note that there are no individual extensions for group efforts. 
  • If you drop a class after being assigned to a group, please contact both the coordinator and your group mates immediately. 
  • If you are unsure about whether this unit is right for you (in case it is an elective), please make an appointment with the coordinator and discuss it instead of disrupting class proceedings by enrolling/disenrolling within a week or two. 
  • More information can be found on Canvas after enrolment

Work, health and safety

There are no specific WHS requirements for this unit

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.