Program Overview

Foundation Studies prepares you for a successful transition to degree-level study, providing a pathway to the first year of study of a bachelor’s degree at Murdoch University.

This course is suited to you if you:

• Need an entrance qualification for Murdoch University
• Want to accelerate your university preparation after Year 11, or equivalent
• Want to change your degree stream after Year 11, or equivalent

Course Structure
For Foundation Studies you will complete eight units over two study periods, studying a combination of core and elective units. The units you will undertake will be determined by your chosen degree. All students must complete the two English units and at least one unit from each Discipline Group.

Each unit of study builds concepts from an introductory level through to university entrance level. The units are designed to develop your learning techniques as well as bridging gaps in your unit knowledge.

• English
  • Essential Australian Studies
  • Introduction to Academic Communication
• Mathematics
  • Introductory Mathematics
  • Mathematics for Science
• Science and Technology
  • Information Technology for Academic Studies
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
• The Arts
  • Introduction to Media
  • Media Production
• Business and Legal Studies
  • Accounting
  • Management
  • Economics

Leading to: Bachelor of Criminology
Explore different perspectives of crime as you investigate why people commit offences, how to reduce or prevent crime, and how to help both victims and offenders involved in the criminal justice system.
Take a broad approach with a Bachelor of Criminology or choose to specialise in one of four majors.

• Crime Science (BCrim)
• Criminal Behaviour (BCrim)
• Legal Studies (BCrim)
• White Collar and Corporate Crime (BCrim)

You can combine these majors or add a major from another area of study such as Forensic Biology and Toxicology or Psychology. This will expand your understanding of criminology and help you to prepare you for a variety of career paths. Hear how these practical skills have fuelled Abbey's passion for criminology and unlocked her free thinking in the classroom.

Major: Crime Science
Learn about what can cause growing crime rates and look closely at the “who, what, when, where, why” and how offences are committed.

In Crime Science you can combine your interest in science with your fascination for criminology. You’ll explore the areas of science that can lead to solving and preventing crime – and learn why more than one approach is often needed in problem-solving.

As part of your studies you’ll examine how crime hotspots are identified and how patterns of crime have changed over time. You will learn how data can identify and create opportunities for early intervention strategies and approaches to policing and crime prevention. Your studies will allow you to see the value of scientific methods in the analysis of crime trends and the difficulties faced by police forces in protecting the community.

3 reasons to study Crime Science at Murdoch

• Murdoch is the only university in Australia to offer this course.
• Use real local data on local crime to analyse crime problems and propose targeted problem-solving strategies through working with the different disciplines that crime science covers – law, forensics and criminology.
• Build your network from within our Law, Forensics and Criminology disciplines making use of our strong ties to the Western Australian legal and forensics community.

What you’ll learn
Build the knowledge and skills you need to meet your career or study goals. Here are some of the things you’ll learn:

• Forensic anatomy and anthropology
• Forensic science and miscarriages of justice
• Advanced criminology
• Crime science
• International and transnational crimes