Portfolio Overview
As part of a scaffolded learning cycle, students will complete a four--part portfolio over the course of the semester. This portfolio will include individual and group aspects, encouraging collaboration and individual responsibility.
Each group will choose a social inclusion topic refined to business and economics. To complete the various stages of the portfolio, students will research and become experts on the implications, both practical and ethical, related to the topic. Students will collaboratively problem--solve an aspect of the topic and present substantiated recommendations to respond to an aspect of the social inclusion issue (locally and/or globally).
Strategic Philanthropy
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a non-- profit organisation established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates. The defining ethos of the Gates foundation is the desire to improve the living conditions and quality--of-- life of under--privileged people world--wide. In the pursuit of these goals, the Gates Foundation focuses on three main areas: Global Development, Global Health, and Education.
While the focus of the Gates Foundation is world--wide, the majority of these issues are also relevant to the Australian context. For the ACBE100 Portfolio Project, we would like you to form a group of 3 or 4 students, and choose one of the 7 issues below. Once you have chosen your issue to focus on, you will then develop a proposal for the funding of a project that focuses on an Australian community, population group, regional area, or national concern.
Each of the portfolio assignments will help you to develop this proposal. The texts used for your Critical Summaries will be based around this topic and will provide critical background information. Your presentation will present a synthesis of the background to your topic and your response via your recommendations. Your business reports will provide information on the funding and deployment of resources required for the success of your project. Your persuasive essay will then provide recommendations for actions based on your Critical Summaries, Business Report and Group Presentation.
1. Topics
Issues of health, education, equality and law are often driven by economic decisions and the economic climate. As government institutions modify their systems to account for an evolving and globalising word, it is important to examine the mutual impact of economic considerations. Your group will examine an aspect of social inclusion through the lens of economic planning and impact. Through the course of the semester, you will develop a substantiated report on and recommendation to respond to the selected social inclusion issue.
A. Refugee Resettlement & Asylum Seekers
War, genocide, political persecution and natural disaster displace millions of people every year, 80% of whom are women and children who are more vulnerable in this unstable environment. Refugees who move on from volatile camps often seek asylum in stable, developed nations, creating a precarious tension between human rights and safe passage (e.g. Australia's asylum seeking ‘boat people'). Examine the issue of refugee resettlement and asylum seekers in relation to current immigration policy. Identify the voices most active in this debate (i.e. from those pursuing justice and adherence to UN Conventions to those seeking to "protect" Australia's borders) and how their arguments are merited in terms of policy and procedure.
B. Vaccine Delivery
Vaccines save millions of lives each year and are among the most cost--effective health interventions ever developed. Immunisation has led to the eradication of smallpox, a 74 percent reduction in childhood deaths from measles over the past decade, and the near eradication of polio. However, one in five children worldwide are not fully protected with even the most basic vaccines, sometimes due to access, sometimes due to misinformation. As a result, 1.5 million children die each year, that is, one every 20 seconds. A further issue related to vaccine delivery is the use of unsafe methods and tools. Some 17 billion injections are given each year in the developing world and 7 billion of them are unsafe (Hutin, 2003).
Examine the multidimensional issues related to vaccine delivery, the causes and the consequences of these practices and identify the initiatives or programs dedicated to ensuring safe vaccination delivery throughout the world.
C. Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Poor sanitation contributes to about 700,000 child deaths from diarrhea alone every year. Forty percent of the world's population (i.e., 2.5 billion people) lack adequate sanitation facilities and the consequences can be devastating for human health as well as the environment. Examine current issues related to ensuring healthy and safe water, sanitation and hygiene, identify any problem areas and investigate how these critical issues of humanity are being resolved.
D. Human Trafficking
While gender inequality refers to the unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on gender, the manifestation of this inequality varies from salary disparities to forced prostitution and slavery. The US State Department estimates that "between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. Eighty per cent of those trafficked are women and girls, mostly for sexual exploitation" (Half the Sky Movement). Organisations who actively fight the oppression of women in this growing trade face enormous political, religious and economic barriers, often related to the lucrative benefits of "turning a blind eye" to an industry generating $27.8 billion each year (Half the Sky Movement). Examine the problem of human trafficking and the gender discrimination issues that have fuelled this egregious human rights offense. Identify the organisations and approaches dedicated to eradicating this slavery epidemic and discuss the effectiveness of these various methods.
E. Financial Services for the Poor
Worldwide, approximately 2.5 billion people do not have a formal account at a financial institution. Viewed another way, 80% of the world's poor adults do not have a bank account and as a result, most poor households operate almost entirely in the cash economy.
Notably, this phenomenon is not solely caused by poverty but is also a result of costs, travel distance and other barriers. Importantly, the informal mechanisms of a cash economy tend to be insecure, expensive and complicated to use. They offer limited recourse when major problems arise and often further disadvantage those in this already--disenfranchising position. Examine the causes of restricted financial services for the poor, the impact of this lack of access and any programs or initiatives that are working to give financial services access to the larger impoverished community.
F. Income Gender Inequality
According to the UN, women comprise 70 per cent of the world's poorest people and only 1 per cent of the titled land. Across the globe, in both developed and developing countries, women suffer from unequal access to education and training, earning on average about three--fourths the pay of men in the same position. Advocates for equal pay argue that income gender equality could help decrease poverty, citing studies that indicate that "when women hold assets or gain income, the money is more likely to be spent on nutrition,
medicine and housing"; "for every dollar a woman earns, she invests 80 cents in her family" while men comparably invest only 30 cents (Half the Sky Movement). If income gender equality would have such a profound impact on global poverty, it is worth exploring why this disparity continues throughout both developed and developing countries. Identify the issues related to pay discrimination and discuss the movements dedicated to eradicating this economic disparity.
2. Portfolio Tasks:
a. Critical Summary
This task requires students to critically read and evaluate discipline--specific texts related to the group's assigned topic. Each student is required to read a relevant text and write a critical summary for each, identifying the salient arguments, key statistics and points of reliability for why the article is a valid resource in the academic community. (500 words)
b. Research Report
The Research Report organises salient information collected in the critical summaries to present a recommendation written for a professional audience. This report will effectively integrate one data diagram and corresponding data commentary to illustrate salient information and how it relates to and supports the relevant stage of the report.
Students are required to reference at least six (6) sources outside of the course materials and the prescribed format will replicate the model report examined in class.
The second component of the Research Report is a directed analytical reflection of the students' learning experiences and development.
a. Group Video Presentation
The group video builds on the information synthesised both in the Critical Summaries and the Research Report. Students organise information related to their topics and collaborate to produce a coherent, multi--dimensional report, persuasively proposing one recommendation to remediate the given social inclusion topic.
Student video presentations will demonstrate an ability to collaborate effectively to identify issues and problem--solve solutions. Following the group's video premier, groups will expertly respond to audience enquiry during a 5--10 minute Q&A session. Students who are functioning as the "audience" of a given presentation will be required to complete a "Question Development Worksheet" and will be assessed on their ability to formulate probing questions relevant to their peer's presentations.
The individual component of the Group Video presentation is a directed analytical reflection of the students' learning experiences and collaboration with his/her group.