Assignment submission

All students need to submit their written assessments via TURNITIN. Assessments must be submitted by 11am Wednesday of the week it is due.

TURNITIN is a powerful online tool for the detection of plagiarism. It works by comparing the text of a submitted document (i.e., your assignment) with the work of your current classmates, past students, as well as published material in books, journals and on the web.

To submit your assignment via turnitin:

1.      Visit the Assessments tab in iLearn, look for the turnitin header and select the relevant assessment item (Practical Report or Field Trip Report).

1. Click on the Submit Paper tab.
2. Select Student Name of the student who you are submitting on behalf of.
3. Enter a Submission Title.
4. Select Submission Part if there are multiple parts available.
5. Click Browse and select the file you would like to submit.
6. Click Add Submission.

Academic Honesty

Presenting the work of another person as one’s own is a serious breach of the University’s rules and carries significant penalties. The University’s Academic Honesty Policy can be found at:

http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

In this unit, we will be checking written work for plagiarism using TURNITIN. Penalties for plagiarism may include a zero mark for the assignment or in more extreme cases, failure of the unit. Plagiarism WILL be noted on your academic record. Full details of penalties can be found at:

http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/schedule_penalties.html

Extensions, penalties and special consideration

In order to pass this course, you will be required to attempt ALL assessments. Late assignments will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks allocated to the exercise per day.

You may hand in your work after the due date and escape penalty only if you have an acceptable reason (usually a medical certificate). Discuss your problem with the Lecturer as early as possible before the due date.

Information about the Special Considerations policy and procedure is online at Policy Central: http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/special_consideration/procedure.html. All requests for special consideration should be submitted using the online form:

http://web.science.mq.edu.au/new_and_current_students/undergrad/admin_central/

Return of Assessment Tasks

Marked assignments and feedback sheets will be available 2-3 weeks after assignment submission. Internal students should collect these from the Science Centre. External students will receive marked work through the mail.

Grading

Academic Senate has a set of guidelines on the distribution of grades across the range from fail to high distinction. These grades reflect the academic standard you have met, with respect to the learning outcomes. Your final result will include one of these grades plus a standardised numerical grade (SNG). It is possible that your raw mark for this unit (i.e., the total of your marks for each assessment item) may not be the same as the SNG which you receive.  Under the Senate guidelines, results may be scaled.

To pass this unit, you need to have demonstrated that you have met all learning outcomes.

RESOURCES

Required and recommended texts and/or materials

There is no prescribed text book for this course. Instead, I have compiled a collection of readings, vodcasts, podcasts and websites that directly complement the lectures. These are available via the iLearn site for this unit. Students are expected to have gone through the material for that week PRIOR to coming to class.

Unit web page

PowerPoint slides, lecture recordings, unit readings, copies of all unit hand-outs and helpful resources for completion of assessments will be available through iLearn. Consequently, it is strongly recommended that you interact with the CLIM803 online unit regularly. To access the online unit, go to https://iLearn.mq.edu.au/login/MQ/ and type in your Macquarie OneID Username and password.

New to iLearn? You can find out more at: http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/

About this unit

We live in a world with a rapidly changing climate, the consequences of which will have broad impacts on our way of life. To reduce the environmental, societal and economic costs of climate change adaptation is essential. But what impacts are expected and what does adaptation look like? The foundation to this unit is a diverse set of real world case studies, spanning natural resource and biodiversity management, water and energy security, human health and disaster management, green infrastructure, and enhancing livelihoods in developing countries. Presenting this unit is a partnership of scientists who research climate impacts and responses, and expert government officers, NGO’s and consultants who develop or implement adaptation strategies. This unit will enhance the analytical, integrative and critical thinking skills of students, and challenge them to think outside the box to develop creative approaches that combat the negative impacts of climate change.

• Successful completion of this unit will earn you 4 credit points.
• The unit may be completed internally (D2).

Classes

The unit consists of 2 lectures per week and a one hour tutorial, run back-to-back. These will be held in E7A829. If possible, please bring a laptop with you.

Attendance is compulsory.

• Lectures: Wednesday 3-5 pm
• Tutorials: Wednesday 5-6 pm

Teaching and learning strategy

Already, diverse organisations and peoples are developing adaptation plans to increase resilience to climate change. To develop students’ skills in this rapidly growing area, most lectures/tutorials will be in the format of discussions between the speaker and the students.  Students will be expected to turn up to class having ALREADY undertaken set activities (which may be in the form of reading scientific papers, watching vodcasts, using web-based tools, or researching other examples of that weeks topic): these will provide students with background knowledge needed for the discussion and for group-based critique of theory and practice.  Thus, classes should be viewed as a time for peer learning, and I encourage you to participate actively to maximise your learning. The range of topics has been selected to showcase real-world examples of climate impacts and responses from a broad range of cultures, socio-economic levels, and industries. The assessment tasks have been designed to enable students to incorporate their personal interests and the nature of their professional work.