Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Other Staff
Katherine McClellan
Contact via katherine.mcclellan@mq.edu.au
Unit Convenor
Jane Williamson
Contact via jane.williamson@mq.edu.au
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Credit points |
Credit points
4
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
BIOL777 provides required skills for students wishing to continue with underwater marine research. Level 1 (AS2815.1) Occupational Diving Certification or equivalent will be obtained as part of successful completion of this Unit. BIOL777 applies the practical and theoretical aspects of scientific methods used in underwater research and reflects the philosophies and shortcoming that students may have prior to embarking on such research. BIOL777 helps provide students with a well rounded background of scientific research involving a range of underwater techniques, thus making them highly competitive in the field of aquatic research. Dates for BIOL777 may be obtained from the Department. This unique and research-based unit in marine conservation and management will provide students with a practical and marketable skill sets across both temperate and tropical marine ecosystems (Sydney Harbour and Heron Island). Additionally, it will equip them with the necessary communication skills to present complex marine conservation issues to the local community.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Museum Visit | 5% | Week 1 |
Diving Equipment | 15% | Week 3 |
ADAS 1 | 25% | Week 2 |
ADAS 2 | 25% | Week 3-4 |
Report | 30% | Week 5 |
Due: Week 1
Weighting: 5%
Following on from the 'History of scuba diving in Australia' lecture, we will all meet at the Australian National Maritime Museum on the agreed date and time. The education, registration and archaeology teams at the museum have kindly agreed to show us some historical diving equipment. This will be a fantastic opportunity to take a closer look and get some hands on experience to understand what it would have been like to dive underwater ~150 years ago.
In the lecture we talked about the function each piece of equipment aimed to achieve, all of which are still important to modern commercial and recreational scuba divers. Although not all of these analogies are immediately obvious. This visit will also allow you to ask questions and take advantage of experts with knowledge in these historical artifacts, which will be very beneficial to you all for the 'history of scuba diving (Part 2)' assessment.
Due: Week 3
Weighting: 15%
You are required to make a comparison between the equipment / practices used by a 'standard tight dress diver' (~mid to late 1800's) and a modern scuba diver (21st Century). Not every piece of equipment in each era will have an obvious and analogous counterpart, although the function of an alternate piece of equipment and / or practice will be present. Your objective is to critically evaluate as many of these within the word limit to display your understanding of underwater diving equipment (please do not consider re-breathers).
Due: Week 2
Weighting: 25%
Australian Divers Accredited Scheme Part 1 R - Theory Exam
Due: Week 3-4
Weighting: 25%
Australian Divers Accredited Scheme Part 1 R - Practical demonstration of dive skills over 12+ dives.
Due: Week 5
Weighting: 30%
You will be asked to perform an ecological impact assessment on the pearling industry.
The datasets will be available upon request. We will be testing your experimental design, statistical analysis, report writing, project management, and ability to assess risk.
Week 1 and 5 will be delivered via a virtual classroom.
Week 2 will be delivered at Macquarie University. This is an intensive block of theory required to complete the ADAS Part 1 R course. You will sit an exam at the end of this week in class.
Weeks 3-4 will be practical diving skills. You will demonstrate these on a minimum of 12 dives in and around sydney harbour and off shore.
Week 1 - Lecture Program (History of SCUBA, Limitations of underwater research, Experimental design)
Week 2 - ADAS Dive Theory
Week 3 - ADAS Dive Practical
Week 4 - ADAS Dive Practical
Week 5 - Summary, guest speakers, assessments
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
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Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
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