Foundation Program

After passing all required Foundation units and successfully completing the Foundation Program, you will be eligible to enter the relevant Deakin College diploma.

Find out more about our diploma programs

After successfully completing the Foundation Program and meeting specified entry requirements, you may be eligible to apply for entry into the first year of selected Deakin University bachelor degrees.

View the Foundation Pathways Guidelines and transfer requirements

Note: Foundation to degree pathways are only available to international students.

This unit will explore content creation for the modern media landscape. Students will develop skills in viewing, analysing and composing diverse media, including social media, new and online media. Initially, students will focus on familiarising themselves with different media industries, how they are composed and how they function within culture. In this context, students will then be asked to produce their own forms of media and encouraged to read, reflect and engage with the tools of contemporary media.

This unit introduces students to key principles and practices of visual design, media and communication in digital format. It contextualises thinking and practice within the field of creative communications and explores problem-based learning approaches and applications. The unit investigates a range of fundamental concepts relating to design concepts, social media, and digital technologies in which students apply and reflect practice-based solutions and analyses.

This unit provides an introduction to the operation of financial accounting systems. Together we will explore the accounting process predominantly for sole traders who buy and re-sell goods or provide services. We study some of the principles of Accounting, the Accounting Equation, entering business transactions into Journals; including balance day Adjustments and Closing entries, posting to Ledgers, extracting Trial Balance and preparation of Financial Statements. We also work with cash management including Bank Reconciliation.

This unit provides students with a broad understanding of theoretical Micro and Macro-economic concepts and to introduce the relevance and importance of Economics in today’s society. You will learn to apply these concepts to a modern market economic system. The unit explores basic economic issues and problems and apply policies to overcome these problems. You will develop skills and confidence to explain individual and firm decision-making and be provided with a basic understanding and ability to explain government policies that influence the workings of a modern economy like Australia, and its relation to the global marketplace.

This unit provides students with a broad understanding of the principles and practices of management in the contemporary world. The course will cover background information on how theories of management have developed, the environment in which a manager operates, basic managerial principles and practices along with important issues related to organisational behaviour in the current context of management.

This module introduces students to Calculus and prepares students for more advanced studies, for both academic and professional purposes. Students will use critical thinking and cognitive skills to identify, analyse, compare and assess mathematical concepts in order to apply them to technical and engineering problems.

This unit provides students with the knowledge of a broad range of physics concepts, and to help you appreciate the impact of physics on technology and our society. The practical investigations in this unit requires logical and analytical thinking, as well as the communication of scientific information and ideas. The basic principles of physics you acquire will be able you to explain many natural phenomena. You will also learn to apply these phenomena in technologies, which are important to modern-day society.

This module provides a background in Calculus and prepares students for further studies academically and professionally. Students will develop and apply critical thinking and cognitive skills to identify, analyse, compare and assess mathematical concepts for solving technical and engineering problems.

This module seeks to imbue students with a broad scientific knowledge of the living world. It focuses on concepts relating to biological structure, function, diversity, distribution, genetics, and interactions of living organisms.

This unit introduces students to the study of matter and its interactions, providing a link to other branches of natural science. The course is designed to assist students in coming to appreciate the impact of chemical knowledge and technology on society.

This unit is designed to underlay students with a general mathematics knowledge base required for further studies in Business, Health Sciences and Computing/IT/Engineering courses. It includes the fundamental concepts of arithmetic, statistics, algebra, functions and their graphs, optimisation, sequences, series, growth and decay. You will need a scientific calculator for this unit.

This unit seeks to impart to students the fundamentals of communication skills – a necessity for a positive learning outcome, effective engagement in academic, business and social environments. You will develop and hone these skills through constant exploration and exercise of current topics and issues. This unit is designed as a pre-requisite into FNDS013.

This unit seeks to further develop students’ written skills through exploration of two key writing genres and academic writing. You will analyse key linguistic and organisational aspects of comparing texts as well as producing your own pieces of writing.

This unit is an introductory unit in computing and information technology. This unit has the overall objectives of delivering an accurate snapshot of the state of IT as it exists in our current times, as well as to equip you with a useful set of skills in the use of common productivity software.

This unit builds linguistic and tactical skills for participation in the academic contexts for the Australian tertiary education system. It fosters a collaborative environment so that you can practise and apply your active listening, note taking and deliberative skills. The main assessments include a presentation of a topic and leading a formal job interview.

This unit is designed to enhance students’ knowledge of their own culture and encourages them to reflect on how their perspectives, values and beliefs are formed. Students will gain knowledge and skills about living in the multi-cultural Australian environment, so that they are able to effectively communicate in various social contexts: educational, health, legal, political, religion/faith, and human rights. Students will learn to identify the differences between these contexts in their own culture and those in the Australian culture, in order to come to a better understanding of their position in both.

Information systems and technology are vital components of today’s business environment and everyday life. This unit imbues in students an understanding of the various computing systems and supporting technology and how they can be applied to different business environment. The effects of these systems on society and the ethical issues associated with the implementation and use of these systems will also be explored. Upon completion of this unit students will be able to critically analyse business cases and develop needed skills to solve problems and recommend solutions using appropriate technology.

This unit trains you in the academic literature review and the essay writing process, producing lengthy arguments and supporting the arguments via academic literatures. You will develop the ability to retrieve, interpret and summarise academic journal articles, produce an annotated bibliography, and conducting a literature review to generate ideas for future research. This unit will thus provide you with a strong foundation in academic writing and research, which are pivotal in tertiary education.