Curriculum

The curriculum complies with QUT Curriculum Framework, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), QUT information literacy framework, QUT MOPP Curriculum Design, Approval and Accreditation Policy, Best Practice Guidelines: Generic Skills for HDR Students in Australian universities by the Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies (DDOGS) and Australian Qualifications Framework Second Edition 2013 (AQF). The Curriculum has been designed for a flexible, blended, openly accessible, mobile-first, accessible, learning and technology environment to be delivered both online and face to face.

The curriculum develops information skills in alignment with the Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework and the unit content lays the foundations of the graduate capabilities within the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) 2011: Level 10 required at the completion of a higher research degree.

The curriculum includes:

  • advanced search strategies
  • sourcing and evaluating quality literature
  • bibliographic and data management
  • note-taking strategies
  • citation analysis and research impact
  • collaboration tools
  • authorship and academic integrity
  • publishing and pathways.

Successful completion of IFN006 AIRS is mandatory for all Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor of Education (EdD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil) students. As the unit is preparatory to research at QUT, it must be completed within the first year of admission to a program.

In 2024, IFN001 was replaced by a newly developed unit, IFN006 AIRS. This redesign achieved the following, while maintaining a focus on preparing graduate ready researchers for contemporary research environments:

Key changes include:

  • Increase to 6-credit points.
  • Satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading.
  • 2 assessment tasks.
  • Unit delivery in 10-week teaching periods with 4 offerings per calendar year.
  • Refined unit learning objectives designed to focus on the key information literacy skills needed early in candidature for finding, evaluating, organising, and using information effectively for research.
  • All learning content to be delivered through Canvas.

What isn't changing:

  • The unit will remain a requirement for all QUT students in the Doctor of Philosophy (IF49), Doctor of Education (ED11), and Master of Philosophy (IF80) programs.
  • The Graduate Research Centre (GRC) will enrol students in a teaching period for IFN006 that ensures they develop the necessary information research skills to progress through the early stages of candidature and beyond.
  • Flexible learning options remain available for students to choose whether they work through the online learning resources at their own pace or engage with structured study plan and workshops.
  • The expertise and support of Liaison Librarians continues to be available to students for assistance with AIRS.
  • If you have completed IFN001 within the last 5 years (e.g. if you completed the unit while undertaking a Masters of Philosophy and then progressed to a PhD), you are exempt from this mandatory component of your course.