This unit comprises one pre-field trip briefing and an 8-day field trip to the Jervis Bay area on the south coast of NSW. Note: There is no formal examination for this unit.

1. Pre-field briefing

Date: Saturday 19 March 2016, 10 am - 4 pm, E6A133 

A 1-day workshop will be held in Week 3 to cover:

• An overview of the unit, iLearn and assessments;
• An overview of the themes covered during the trip;
• Organisation of students into Field and Data Groups;
• Field trip logistics including organization of accommodation sharing arrangements and carpooling; and,
• Initial field trip preparation, working in Data Groups.

It is compulsory for all students to attend the briefing.

2. Field trip

Dates: Saturday April 9 - Saturday April 16, 2016

Jervis Bay and its catchment on the south coast is the focus for the fieldwork. It is an area that is facing many of the environmental problems and issues common to coastal regions outside the major metropolitan areas. The impacts of future population growth in the region, and predicted sea level rise due to climate change, are of particular concern. The work that we do will contribute directly to the understanding of these problems and the development of management protocols to deal with them. Students will gain experience in field data collection in a range of discipline areas and will learn how to integrate those data sets to provide meaningful contributions to management decisions by Government authorities and community groups.

Organisation

The field trip will commence at 2:00pm on Saturday April 9, at the Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort (caravan park) and will finish at 10 am on Saturday April 16. Details on the location, what to bring, etc will be provided in the briefing.

Group work

At the pre-field trip briefing, each student will be assigned to two different groups: 1) Field Groups (day group), which will be for the field activities each day; 2) Data Groups (evening groups), will be to analyse the data collected during the week by all of the Field Groups. In other words, activities in the field will be carried out in Field Groups, while the drawing together of, and reporting on the data collected by the various Field Groups, will be carried out by the Data Groups. Each Data Group will be made up of two or three people drawn from each Field Group. This will allow a mix of experiences and perspectives to be brought to the Data Groups, as well as representation from each day to assist with ensuring that the field data is collected appropriately and the data analysis is kept up to date.

Data collection and analysis will be undertaken over five days, covering the following five field components:

1. Terrestrial ecology
2. Water quality 
3. Social analysis 
4. Aquatic ecology
5. Coastal geomorphology

A staff member will be responsible for each of the field components. They will also guide the respective Data Group in their development of the data collection activities and methods of analysis.

Data Groups will meet on the first evening of the field trip to develop strategies to be followed by the Field Groups. They will continue to meet each evening to bring together the material collected each day. On the last full day of the field trip (i.e. Fri 15 April), each Data Group will give a brief presentation of their findings from the weeks work and provide a comprehensive dataset for all students to access for use in the preparation of their Individual Reports. The dataset should consist of one or more easily accessed files (i.e. word, excel) organised into one folder and provided either on a USB or via email. Each data group is advised to select one member to be responsible for keeping track of the data and for organising it to be delivered to the Convenor on the last day.

Timetable

Saturday 9 April

2:00 pm   Arrive at the Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort, Jervis Bay

2:30 pm   Orientation tour of area

5:30 pm   Check-in and free time

7:30 pm   First meeting in Data Groups

Sunday 10 April to Thursday 14 April

Field work as follows, departing the accommodation at 8 am, returning at approximately 3-4 pm each day, to continue on data generation if needed e.g. plant identification, water quality measurements, etc.

Each Data Group should work on their data analysis in the evenings.

Friday 15 April

8 am      Final data analysis and preparation for the presentations

2 pm      Group Presentations

6 pm      Dinner at the Husky Pub

Saturday 16 April:

Clean up, pack up and depart by 10 am.

Transport

Students need to make their own arrangements for transport to and from Huskisson and during the field trip. To assist, a car pool will be initiated at the pre-field trip briefing.

Accommodation

Cabin accommodation has been organised for the group at the Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort. See: https://huskissonbeach.holidayhaven.com.au/ It is expected that students will share with 2 or 3 others (max of 4-share, but more likely 3-share per cabin depending on the bed configuration; we will ensure that every student has their own bed).

The cabins are self-contained with kitchen facilities, ensuites, and single beds, double beds and/or bunks. All linen and towels are provided. The resort also has BBQ’s, a pool, tennis court and is located on the beach front of Jervis Bay.

Meals

Students must self-cater all meals for the week. This includes taking a packed lunch, adequate water and snacks into the field each day. Since students are required to work on their data analysis in the evenings, it is recommended that meals are planned around this accordingly. For example, an idea would be to form small groups or 4 or so, where one person takes turns cooking each night for the other three who use the time to work on the data analysis. On the last night after the presentations, we will head to the Husky Pub for dinner.

The main street of Huskisson, which is a short walk from the caravan park, has a supermarket, restaurants, cafes, the Husky Pub and an RSL.

Field trip costs

The cost of the field trip is not included in the course fees, however all attempts have been made to keep these to a minimum. Additional costs that will need to be paid by each student include accommodation, meals and transport.

Payment for accommodation (7 nights) will need to be made to the University Cashier prior to the commencement of the field trip. The indicative cost is $320 per person, but this will be finalised in the first few weeks depending on student numbers and sharing arrangements. Meals and transport are at own cost.

Essentials for field work

Each student will need to ensure that they are equipped with the following essentials for the field trip:

• Adequate food each day in the field (i.e. packed lunch)
• Adequate water each day in the field (minimum 1 ltr)
• Rain jacket
• Clothing appropriate for the weather, season and field task (e.g. warm jumper, long-sleeved shirt for sun protection)
  • Presentable street wear that is suitable to approach members of the public for interviews is also required for the social analysis component
  • Cargo pants and shirts with pockets are recommended for the terrestrial ecology component
• Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
• Closed shoes or boots (old sneakers are useful for the aquatic ecology component)
• Field book, clipboard, writing materials and camera
• Laptop and writing materials for working on the data analysis

All field measurement-related equipment will be supplied.

Assessment submission

This unit uses electronic submission and marking. The required format and mode of submission is as follows. Note: there is no requirement to submit hard copies as well. Further details on how to use Turnitin will be provided separately.

General assessment criteria

The general assessment criteria that is used to examine the overall attainment of knowledge, skills and abilities includes the following, where the level of achievement is expected to be at the standard of a post-graduate student in each of the criteria. GradeMark Rubrics will be used to mark and grade parts A and B of the Final Report.

Assessment grades

If you experience difficulty achieving a good standard in your written work, please let the convenor know ASAP. The University offers a variety of remedial writing courses and sources of advice that may help you. We emphasise the necessity for clear writing and its importance in your performance assessment.

Evaluation of assessments will be based on the Macquarie University scale: High Distinction (HD), Distinction (D), Credit (Cr), Pass (P) and Fail (Fail). Grades may be further refined by use of a “+” or “-“ to indicate work towards the top or the bottom of each grade’s band of marks. Feedback will also come in the form of written comments.

In the case of Group assessments, i.e. Assessment 2 (Group presentations), all members of the group will receive the same grade.

Academic Honesty

In completing and submitting the Assessments, students must be aware of, and adhere to, the University policy on Academic Honesty, which can be accessed here: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

The University implements the Academic Honesty Policy for all pieces of academic work by using a number of systems and checks, including:

• Copy detection software such as Turnitin
• Random sampling of assessment items to check for similarities
• Comparing student performance across a number of tasks
• Requiring students to defend submitted work e.g. oral exams or presentations

The penalties, where a person has been proven to have breached the policy (or any of its related procedures), are outlined here:  http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/schedule_penalties.html

Each student is responsible for their own work and for reporting suspected breaches to the convenor or Head of Department together with all relevant materials or evidence of the basis of the allegation.

Penalties for late assessments and extension requests

All assessments must be completed and submitted, on time and in full, in order to receive a minimum pass grade.

Penalties for late written assessments will be a minimum of 10% per day (including weekend days) or part thereof. These deadlines and penalties will be imposed. Allowing some students to hand assessments in late is unfair to those who meet the deadlines.

The deadlines for assessments are not negotiable except in the circumstances outlined below. Please take note of the DAYS at which work is due and let the Convenor know of problems in advance or as soon as possible, not after the event: they are likely to be much more sympathetic and flexible if you follow this advice.

The University has a Disruption to Studies Policy, which can be accessed here: http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html 

In accordance with the Policy, students that experience a disruption to studies which is serious, unavoidable and greater than 3 days as per the Policy guidelines, and wish to request an assessment extension on these grounds, must submit a formal application for special consideration to the Science Faculty. http://science.mq.edu.au/current-students/postgraduate-students/

If a student experiences a disruption to studies that is unavoidable, but not serious and is of 3 days or less in duration, they can apply for special consideration to the convenor under the following conditions:

• Personal illness or illness of a child – If an assessment is submitted after the due date, a medical certificate or a letter with appropriate supporting documents outlining the extenuating circumstances must be provided that covers the day that the assessment was due, and/or the days preceding.
• Work commitments - Work commitments will not be viewed as grounds for an extension unless your work commitment requires you to be away from home for at least 1 overnight or requires you to be at work for longer than 12 hours per day, e.g. field work or inter-state meetings. 
• Other family commitments or emergencies - If you have other commitments that take you away from study you should plan for these in advance as part of an effective individual study plan. Extensions will only be considered if your ability to submit an assessment on time was caused by an unexpected event where you can demonstrate: that the event was not foreseeable or predictable and that the event substantially impacted upon your ability to complete the Assessment Task and that there was alternative option available.

The number of days of disruption and the timing of disruption will be taken into considered in determining whether special consideration should be granted or not. The ultimate grounds for the decision will be whether the disruption was unavoidable and fairness with respect to other students.

The safety of you and those around you is our highest priority. Consequently, ALL participants in fieldwork activities are obliged to work and behave appropriately in the field, and to take care to protect their own health, safety and welfare and that of fellow fieldwork participants. You are required to follow instructions from the Fieldwork Leader at all times.

Prior to the fieldwork, you must let the Fieldwork Leader know of any allergies, special dietary requirements or medical considerations that may affect your ability to participate in fieldwork. You will need to complete a declaration of a known medical condition form, outlining a treatment plan for your condition. Details of your responsible next of kin must also be provided incase of emergencies.

You are required to wear and carry clothing and footwear as appropriate to the fieldwork situation. Your Fieldwork Leader will advise you as to what these are prior to the fieldtrip. Irrespective of the activity, footwear must be worn. For terrestrial fieldwork, ankle to knee protection must be worn either in the form of either long trousers or gaiters. For marine fieldwork, appropriate clothing to protect against sunburn and exposure should be worn. For all fieldwork activities, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent and items to protect against unexpected weather changes, such as rain & cold, are strongly recommended. The Fieldwork Leader reserves the right to exclude anyone that is ill-equipped from the activity.

If you are taking any medication, please ensure that you take sufficient supplies with you on the field trip. The University’s staff are unable, by law, to provide this to you. This includes pain relief, such as panadol or nurofen, cold and flu medication and anti-histamines for allergies.

If you need to leave the field location for any reason prior to completion of the scheduled activities, you must first inform the Fieldwork Leader. In the event of illness or injury, please let the Fieldwork Leader know immediately. All injury’s or incidents must be reported via the on-line reporting system: http://www.ohs.mq.edu.au/form5a.php

Alcohol is a significant contributing factor in many incidents and acts of prejudicial conduct. Alcohol must not be consumed when undertaking fieldwork activities or when using a motor vehicle/machinery. After-hours consumption of alcohol is at the discretion of the Fieldwork Leader. Anyone acting irresponsibly or in any way deemed to be a danger to themselves or others by the Fieldwork Leader will be required to leave the field trip, return to Sydney at their own expense and report to the Head of Department. The consequences of this may include exclusion from the Unit of study or your Degree program.

For more information, contact:

Russell Field

Fieldwork Manager (Dept of Environmental Sciences)

Macquarie University NSW 2109.

(W) 98508341

Compulsory attendance and assessment submission

In order to successfully complete this unit and receive a minimum Pass grade, students must:

1. Attend the pre-field trip briefing;
2. Attend and participate in all days of the field trip;
3. Submit all assessments;
4. Meet the minimum level of achievement expected of a postgraduate student, as outlined in the General Assessment Criteria.

Non-attendance at the field trip for any reason other than those outlined in the Disruption to Studies Policy will result in an automatic fail.

Workload requirements

The workload for units at Macquarie University is based on a minimum of 3 hours per credit point per week to receive a Pass grade (including 13 x weeks of semester and 2 x weeks of mid-semester break). For ENVS807 this means that you are expected to spend a total of around 150 hours on course learning activities. This includes 8 days during the field trip.

A guide of the hours required to receive a Pass grade is outlined below. However, keep in mind that grades are awarded based on a demonstration of knowledge, skills and abilities not on effort! Approximately 4 % of the course is class-room based, 53 % is field-based and the remaining 43 % is for individual study, primarily to complete the assessments and undertake further reading related to the unit.

Unit Rubric

In ENVS807, it is expected that your assessments will be very high quality and demonstrate comprehension of course content including knowledge, skills and abilities which are at the standard of a postgraduate level. Grades for the unit as a whole will be awarded according to the following rubric.

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This unit has a home page that can be accessed through the Macquarie University online facility (ilearn.mq.edu.au). It contains the usual discussion page, mail page and lecture notes page. As the semester progresses, it will be used to circulate data and other materials related to the course, field trips and assessments.