Assessment Criteria

Assessment at Macquarie is standards-based, as outlined in the Assessment Policy. This means that your work in ENV118 will be assessed against clear criteria, and these criteria will be made available to you via iLearn before the assessment tasks are due.

Submission of Assessment Tasks

All assessment tasks in ENV118 (except your blog, work in class, and the final exam) must be submitted online through iLearn and Turnitin. Links for the submission of each assessment task will be available on iLearn.​

Your assignments will be marked through Turnitin and your grades will be returned to you in the online Gradebook, along with feedback noted on the assignment itself. Please do not submit email or hard copies of your assignments.

Penalties for Late Assessments

The penalty for late submission of assessments in ENV118 is ten percent (10 %) of the assessment value per day, calculated from the due time and date. This means that if the assignment is worth a total of 25 marks (or 25 % of the unit) you will lose 2.5 marks for each day late. This is a hefty penalty designed to make you aware of the importance of organising yourself around assessment due dates. The penalty will be applied over weekdays and weekends unless you have been granted an extension by the lecturer responsible for the assignment prior to the due date.

Extensions for Assessments

To obtain an extension for an assessment task, you will need to follow the formal process as outlined in the Disruption to Studies Policy, and you must provide appropriate supporting documentation (e.g. medical certificate). The final decision regarding the granting of an extension and/or a late penalty lies with the lecturer responsible for the assignment.

Return of Marked Assessments

Due to the large number of students in ENV118 (>200), we aim to return your assignments with feedback within three weeks of the date that you submit your assignment, and before your next assignment is due. We will advise you through iLearn when your marked assignments are available for viewing.

Exams

Details of University exam conditions and exam timetables can be found at: http://students.mq.edu.au/student_admin/exams/​

It is very important to note that the final exam period includes weekdays and weekends and all students (including international exchange students) are expected to present themselves for the ENV118 exam at the time and place designated in the exam timetable. The timetable will be available in Draft form approximately eight weeks before the commencement of the exams and in Final form four weeks before the commencement of the exams.

Classes

The timetable for ENV118 can be found at: https://timetables.mq.edu.au/2017

A detailed class schedule with lecture and tutorial topics will be made available to all enrolled students through iLearn.

ENV118 is taught via interactive lectures, panel discussions, tutorials, readings, and assessment tasks. Students must make use of iLearn to access teaching and learning materials, to submit assessment tasks, to stay in touch with the unit, to contact lecturers and tutors, and to discuss issues and concepts with classmates. We also recommend that you follow current developments in the multidisciplinary field of environmental management by staying abreast of the news.

Workload

ENV118 earns 3 credit points towards your degree. For a 3 credit point unit such as ENV118, you are expected to put in at least 9 hours of study per week, on average, over the semester. This requires planning on your part to do all the work required in lectures, tutorials, assignments, reading, and the final exam.

iLearn

The ENV118 iLearn page can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php​

Information about how students can access iLearn can be found at: http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/index.htm​

The ENV118 iLearn page uses Macquarie University’s standard interface and has links, discussion threads, blogs, and access to lectures (as audio files through Echo360, and as downloadable PDF presentations) and tutorial material. Important announcements will be made through iLearn, so please check the ENV118 page regularly.

Echo360

Information about how to access lecture recordings through the Echo360 EchoCenter page in iLearn can be found at: http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/lecture_recordings.htm​

Turnitin

Macquarie University promotes student awareness of information management and information ethics. As well as training and the provision of information, the University promotes academic honesty through use of the online program Turnitin.

Information about how to submit assignments to Turnitin in iLearn can be found at: http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/assignments.htm​

As well as being a key tool for assignment submission, marking and feedback, Turnitin compares your work with the work of your classmates, with previous students from Macquarie and other universities, with material available on the Internet, and with freely available and subscription-based electronic journals. The results are sent only to your lecturers, who will analyse them in reference to the University's Academic Honesty Policy.

You will be able to access the results of the Turnitin academic honesty scan for your own assignments, known as your ‘originality report’. In ENV118, we will allow you to overwrite the initial submission file with a second submission if you choose to do so, but only up until the final due date and time for the assignment. We consider this opportunity to fine-tune your academic honesty a considerable resource, and we hope that you will use this review process constructively to ensure you are referencing other material correctly and effectively.

Recommended Texts

There is no prescribed textbook for ENV118. There are, however, three books that will provide helpful guidance and we recommended that students look up and make use of these texts in the library or online:

• Bridgman, H., Dragovich, D. and Dodson, J. 2008. The Australian Physical Environment. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
• Goldie, J., Douglas, B. and Furnass, R. (Editors). 2005. In Search of Sustainability. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
• Hatton, T.J., Cork, S., Harper, P., Joy, R., Kanowski, P., Mackay, R., McKenzie, N. and Ward, T. (State of the Environment 2011 Committee). 2011. Australia State of the Environment 2011: An independent report presented to the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Available online at http://www.environment.gov.au/science/soe​

We also recommend that students majoring in this field secure a copy of:

• Hay, I. 2012. Communicating in Geography and the Environmental Sciences (Fourth Edition). Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Relationship to Other Units in Your Study Program

ENV118 is a core part of the Environmental Management major within the BEnv, BSc and BA. It is also a core requirement of the BPlan and is a useful unit for any student interested in the environment and a sustainable future. It is taught by staff from the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Department of Geography and Planning, who have expertise in environmental science and human geography and the nexus between these disciplines. If you need academic advice on your program, please make an appointment to see an academic staff member.

Schedule

ENV118 relies on a structured teaching program to facilitate your learning and critical thinking. The unit is taught via interactive lectures, panel discussions, tutorials, readings, and assessment tasks. A detailed class schedule will be made available to all enrolled students through iLearn.

Students must attend one two-hour lecture and one one-hour tutorial class per week (note: there are no tutorials in Weeks 1 or 13).

There are no on-campus sessions for students enrolled in the external mode (X2) of ENV118. Lectures and tutorials will be made available to all external students each week on iLearn and/or Echo 360, along with dedicated discussion threads and blogs hosted by our lead tutor.