From the time you first enrol to when you finish your degree, being prepared is one of the most important ways to stay on top of your studies at university.
In brief, to stay organised, you should:
While studying at Curtin, you’ll come across many new words and terms that might be unfamiliar at first. To help you understand them, read through the table or watch the video below. You can also find a full list of common university words on Curtin’s website.
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| Academic integrity | Acting honestly, ethically, responsibly in all aspects of academic work. All students must follow Curtin’s academic integrity guidelines. All new students must complete the Academic Integrity Program. |
| Academic misconduct | Refers to conduct by a student that is dishonest or unfair in connection with any academic work including exams. |
| Census date | The date in the academic calendar to withdraw from any unit without financial and academic penalties. |
| Core unit | A compulsory unit within your course that will ensure you gain the necessary knowledge for your major. |
| Course | The program of study which leads to your degree, usually consisting of a range of units. You can be studying a single, single with minor/s, double major or double degree. |
| Course coordinator | The academic staff member responsible for managing your course. They can also help with study plans. To find the name of your course coordinator, check Blackboard, check your faculty’s website, or contact Curtin Connect. |
| Course switching | If you meet the criteria, you can change to a different course offered at Curtin. Curtin students can apply internally, and OUA students contact OUA directly to course switch. |
| Course Weighted Average (CWA) | A weighted average percentage score for all graded and marked units that you have completed in a course. This includes units credited as automatic credit or designated credit. Your CWA is included on your Academic eRecord and Academic Transcript. Each course you study will have a separate CWA. |
| Credit | How the value of a unit within a degree is calculated. Most units are worth 25 credits at Curtin and you need to achieve a specific amount to graduate. The amount of credits you need will depend on what you are studying. |
| Credit for Recognised Learning (CRL) | Credit for Recognised Learning (Advanced Standing) is an application you can submit for unit exemptions based on previous study or experience completed. |
| eCAF | An electronic version of the Commonwealth Assistance Form for university course fees. |
| Elective unit | A unit that you can select from any school or discipline as part of your course, provided you meet the prerequisites. |
| Faculty | Broad areas of study within the University. Curtin has five Faculties: the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Business and Law, Humanities, Science and Engineering, and Health Sciences. |
| Full/part time student | A full-time student studies four units per semester. A part-time student studies one-three units per semester. For OUA students, full-time is two units per study period. |
| Leave of absence | Taking a break from your course due to unforeseen circumstances. Curtin students can apply internally, and OUA students contact OUA directly. |
| Lecture | A large group presentation conducted by academic staff in some units. The academic staff that present these sessions can be called lecturers. |
| Library catalogue and databases | The searchable collections of resources provided by Curtin. |
| Major | The main discipline you are studying within your course. E.g., Creative Writing, Geography, or Health Sciences. |
| Minor/specialisation | Selection of four recognised units within a specific discipline. |
| Optional units | A specific list of units you can choose from as part of your course. |
| Prerequisite | Study you must successfully complete before enrolling in a subsequent unit, e.g. the UniReady Mathematics for Science unit satisfies the Mathematics Applications ATAR prerequisite for many courses. |
| Reading list | The list of essential and recommended resources selected by your unit coordinator for each unit. Resources could include textbooks, journal articles, videos or websites, among others. Readings and resources will be relevant to your assessments and exams. |
| Respectful Relationships | An online training program that most newly enrolled students will be required to complete during the first four weeks of their study. |
| SSAF | Student Services and Amenities Fee. This fee supports the provision of a wide range of non-academic services to all students. It is charged each Semester. |
| School | A department within a Faculty, e.g. School of Accounting in the Faculty of Business and Law. |
| Study period | The period in which the units for your course are delivered/offered. At Curtin there are a range of different study periods. Your studies may follow the semester calendar, with two 14-week study periods each year, the trimester calendar, with three study periods each year, or the OUA calendar with four 13-week study periods each year. |
| Terminated status | You are no longer allowed to continue in your current course due to not achieving satisfactory course progress. |
| Textbooks | A type of essential reading for your course, and will usually be listed in your unit outline, Reading List or the Library’s textbook finder. Remember to check if you can access the book via the Library before buying textbooks. |
| Tutorial | Small discussion groups led by a tutor. Each unit will usually have one tutorial per week. Tutorials involve a number of tasks and activities to help students develop their understanding of the content covered in the previous lecture. |
| Unit | A component of a course that covers one subject area in detail. |
| Unit coordinator | A subject expert who coordinates the whole unit, including the teaching materials, resources and assessments. The name and contact details of your unit coordinator can be found in your unit outline. |
| Unit outline | A resource for a particular unit that contains information on what you will learn and how you will be assessed. |
| Withdrawing | Cancelling a unit or course you were enrolled in. If you withdraw anytime after the census date, you are liable for the full fees. Curtin students can withdraw internally, and OUA students contact OUA directly. |
Getting ready before the semester starts will help you feel prepared when your classes begin. Following these steps early will give you a better chance of doing well.
You might already know which units you need to study, but choosing the right order can be tricky. Some units are designed for first-year students, while others have prerequisites. This means you may need to finish certain units before you can enrol in others. The best way to plan your course is to look it up in the Curtin Handbook and check the course structure. If you need help, you can contact Curtin Connect or your Course Coordinator.
When you’re studying through OUA, you need to enrol in your units through OUA directly. You should also download your degree guide from the OUA website. For more information visit the online study page.
Orientation Week, or O-Week is a week-long event full of activities for new and current students. All new Curtin students are invited to join online or in-person workshops to help them get started with their studies.
If you’re studying through OUA Curtin offers an online OUA orientation.
Curtin’s student essentials webpage has useful information like how to order your student ID, important dates, forms you might need, and tips for managing your course.
The Academic Integrity Program is a required online module for all new students. You may also need to complete the Respectful Relationships module depending on your units. If you don’t finish these modules, you may face restrictions, such as not being able to see your results. Make sure to check your Official Communications Channel on OASIS for updates.
Curtin gives students access to a range of software for students. For example, you can download Microsoft Office for free and use other programs with your Curtin login.
To help you manage your study time and other commitments, you should get ready before you start each unit and attend each class. This means planning ahead and organising what you need. Make sure you have downloaded these resources before you begin each study period.
Each unit you study will have a unit outline. This document includes important information about the unit, such as assessments, weekly topics and readings, referencing style, and other key details.
The unit outline will also help you understand how much time you should spend on the unit. Each unit has a set number of hours you are expected to complete each week. This includes contact (class) hours and personal study time, where you will complete readings, research, and assignments. You should plan to spend about 10 hours per unit each week, but you should check your unit outline for exact details.
You can download the unit outline from OASIS under the My Studies tab one week before the study period begins.
You should use this document regularly throughout the study period. Make sure you record all important assessment dates in your calendar early so you can stay organised.
Each unit will include a list of readings to help you succeed in your studies. Readings can include different types of resources, such as book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, websites, and video files. These readings are selected by the unit coordinator.
To access the Reading List for your unit, open Blackboard, select your unit, and click on the Reading List link in the left-hand menu. If you cannot find this link, you should ask your unit coordinator for help. The readings for each week may be divided into ‘essential’ (required) and ‘recommended’.
To learn how to read academic resources effectively, you should view the reading and note-taking guide.
For every assignment, you will be given a marking rubric. This rubric clearly breaks down the assessment task and explains the criteria you will be marked against.
To understand how to read and use your rubric, view the getting started guide.
Some assessments may include extra documents in addition to the information in your unit outline and on Blackboard. These documents may include a template for writing your assignment or a list of specific requirements you must include in your work. These materials are usually released closer to the assignment due date and can be accessed on the assignment page in Blackboard. If these materials are provided, you should download them, read them carefully, and use them throughout the assignment process to make sure you meet all assessment requirements.
Another useful resource is the academic calendar. This calendar lists important dates, such as census dates and results publication dates. The default view shows the calendar by semester, but you can change this using the drop-down menu.
Using the academic calendar together with the information in your unit outlines will help you stay organised and on track throughout the semester. If you would like extra support with managing your time, you should view the study habits guide.
Whether you are studying on campus or online, you will need to use online platforms and spaces to access your course content and take part in your units and study. The two main platforms you need to know are OASIS and Blackboard. You can think of OASIS as your student administration platform, and Blackboard as your online classroom.
OASIS is Curtin’s online student portal and is the main place to access important information, resources, and services. As part of Curtin’s policy, you must log in to OASIS at least once every seven days.
A range of services are available through OASIS. These include the official communications channel (OCC), your student email, events, news, and your student records, enrolments, and results. For more information, you can visit the OASIS help pages.
Click on the purple i buttons below to explore the features on your OASIS Welcome page.
Blackboard is Curtin’s learning management system and gives you access to your unit content. This is where you will find your learning materials, assessment information and submission links, grades, discussion and collaboration tools, and other resources.
To access Blackboard, go to the My Studies tab in OOASIS. Then click the Blackboard button in the Important Links section at the top left of the screen.
Content in Blackboard is usually organised into topics or modules. Teaching staff will provide information and resources for each topic. Essential and recommended readings for each week are often included in a Reading List, which you can access from the menu in your Blackboard unit.
For more help using Blackboard, you can visit Curtin’s help guide.
When you open one of your units, you will see a screen similar to the example below. On this screen, you can find your unit content organised into different sections listed on the left-hand side.
Note: This is only an example. Your unit may not include all of these sections, and it may also include additional sections. This will depend on how the unit coordinator has set up the Blackboard site.
Curtin provides students with free access to Microsoft Office. This includes Microsoft Teams. If your unit coordinator chooses to, they may create a ‘team’ for your unit. This allows you to communicate and collaborate easily with other students.
You can also use Microsoft Teams to stay organised. It includes features such as calendars and to-do lists. You can also use it to share documents and files with others.
For more information, including how to download and install the app, you should visit Curtin’s help guides.