Students

ENVS8527 – Engaging Society with Sustainable Development

2021 – Session 1, Special circumstances, Other

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Vladimir Strezov
Paul Beggs
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MEnvEd or MSc or MEnvMgt or MEnvStud or MEnvPlan or MSusDev or MWldMgt or MEnv or MSocEntre or GradCertSocEntre or GradDipEnv or GradCertEnv or GradCertSusDev or GradDipSusDev or MConsBiol or GradDipConsBiol or MPH or MDevStud or MEngEnvSafetyEng or MScInnovationEnvSc
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit explores the role and scope of engagement and education processes in the attainment of sustainable development goals. Students will examine case studies to explore principles of good practice. A framework for planning and evaluating educational programs will be developed. Students will also examine how education processes can be integrated within environment and conservation programs and demonstrate some practical skills in planning and managing an educational experience.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Articulate the role of and principles for effective engagement and education for sustainable development
  • ULO2: Demonstrate skills to design and evaluate a community / educational event and evaluate it
  • ULO3: Critically assess the design of education and engagement strategies to bring about change towards sustainable development
  • ULO4: Critically reflect on how education and capacity building is designed to engage society with sustainable development
  • ULO5: Design a framework to evaluate education for sustainable development programs based on the principles of effective practice (or plan strategies to bring about policy for Education of Sustainable Development)
  • ULO6: Plan and present written arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form

General Assessment Information

All assignments must be submitted electronically on the iLearn site.

Each assignment has a separate upload site. The assignment site will usually be a ‘Turnitin’, where your work is reviewed for similarity to websites, articles or other students’ work. If you have not given credit for ideas used to the author or source you will be penalised (failure of the assignment and reporting to a disciplinary committee to determine whether you have breached the University’s Academic Integrity Policy: https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/academic-integrity). See information on academic honesty on the iLearn site and techniques on how to avoid common plagiarism errors (https://www.students.mq.edu.au/public/download.jsp?id=201272).

You do not need an assignment cover sheet for electronic submission to ENVS8527, it is understood that you are signing a declaration of honesty. Be sure to add your name, title of work and unit to your work.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Journal/Portfolio 35% No 9/04/2021
Earth Day participation 10% No 29/04/2021
Facilitating learning 30% No 28/05/2021
Critical evaluation of an education for sustainable development program. 25% No 4/06/2021

Journal/Portfolio

Assessment Type 1: Portfolio
Indicative Time on Task 2: 38 hours
Due: 9/04/2021
Weighting: 35%

Reflection on reading and experience; to include why engaging people in sustainable development is important, how engagement and education is designed and planned, strategies, tools, methods and approaches that can be used to do so.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Articulate the role of and principles for effective engagement and education for sustainable development
  • Critically reflect on how education and capacity building is designed to engage society with sustainable development
  • Design a framework to evaluate education for sustainable development programs based on the principles of effective practice (or plan strategies to bring about policy for Education of Sustainable Development)
  • Plan and present written arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form

Earth Day participation

Assessment Type 1: Work-integrated task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 11 hours
Due: 29/04/2021
Weighting: 10%

Plan and engage with other students to contribute to ‘Earth Day’ / sustainability on campus


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Articulate the role of and principles for effective engagement and education for sustainable development
  • Demonstrate skills to design and evaluate a community / educational event and evaluate it
  • Critically reflect on how education and capacity building is designed to engage society with sustainable development

Facilitating learning

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 32 hours
Due: 28/05/2021
Weighting: 30%

Design and facilitate an education for sustainability learning process


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate skills to design and evaluate a community / educational event and evaluate it
  • Critically reflect on how education and capacity building is designed to engage society with sustainable development
  • Critically assess the design of education and engagement strategies to bring about change towards sustainable development

Critical evaluation of an education for sustainable development program.

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 27 hours
Due: 4/06/2021
Weighting: 25%

Using the framework developed in assessment 1 evaluate an education program to assess how well it exemplifies principles of education for sustainable development


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Articulate the role of and principles for effective engagement and education for sustainable development
  • Critically assess the design of education and engagement strategies to bring about change towards sustainable development
  • Design a framework to evaluate education for sustainable development programs based on the principles of effective practice (or plan strategies to bring about policy for Education of Sustainable Development)
  • Plan and present written arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Class sessions 

Class times are shown in the schedule of block mode sessions. Attendance at all sessions is compulsory. 

Students can request consultations and extra meetings to discuss the unit content or assessment tasks individually or in groups as required. 

This is a block mode unit. There are seven full days in semester 1 made up of 

  • Four all day class sessions which are run as a series of interactive workshops (9.30-4.30) including the final session for students to apply what they have learned and demonstrate that learning by designing and facilitating an education workshop. The participants in the education workshop are the other students.
  • One day participating in Earth Day
  • One day online forum
  • One day of virtual fieldtrip and analysis of educational programs.

The class sessions provide instructional input and experiential learning by way of a facilitated learning process. This is intended to model practice in engagement, education and to contribute to the student’s understanding of the education for sustainable development process. The sessions include: 

  • Short presentations to orient the student to concepts and activities;
  • Practical activities in small groups in which students are asked to complete a task by sharing knowledge and reflecting on their thinking;
  • Presentations of student activities and engagement in peer feedback;
  • Contributions to discussion and feedback on the group activities.

Students attend approximately 42 hours of class work (which is compulsory) and are expected to undertake 110 hours of personal study, reading and reflection to present the assessment tasks.  Students are responsible for managing their time for learning and the tasks for group work. 

Students are invited to make an appointment/s for a tutorial, to gain feedback or to clarify issues from the convenor: vladimir.strezov@mq.edu.au

Technology used and required 

Students are expected to use a computer for academic research and for producing assessment tasks; to have access to the internet, make use of the Macquarie University library, student email, access the iLearn site for the unit and Zoom for the online forums.

Information about iLearn or other resources for this unit.

There is ENVS8527 ilearn site for enrolled students. Additional reading lists, resources and associated presentations are provided in a more detailed guide for enrolled students

Reading to start you off

MUST READ

 

Background on international drivers for EfSD chronologically are

Unit Schedule

DAY/DATE

TIME

SESSION

LOCATION

Friday February 26th

9.30 – 16.30

Workshop Session 1: Introduction to sustainability and education for sustainability

Online

Friday March 12th

9.30 – 16.30

Workshop Session 2: Engaging society with health and climate change

Online

Friday March 26th

9.30 – 16.30

Workshop Session 3: Participation, community engagement and citizen science

Online

Thursday April 22nd

 

Earth Day

 

Friday, April 30th

9.30 – 16.30

Online forum: Reflections on Earth Day participation

Online

Friday, May 7th

9.00 – 17.00

Virtual fieldtrip and analysis of environmental education programs

 

Friday, May 21

9.30 – 16.30

Workshop Session 4: Plan and facilitate an education for sustainable development program

Online

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.


Unit information based on version 2021.02 of the Handbook