Students

ENVS3463 – PACE: Environmental Management Project

2022 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Emilie Ens
emilie.ens@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(130cp at 1000 level or above) and (Admission to BEnv or by Special Approval)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This is a simulated work experience unit, where small groups undertake major projects on matters of environmental concern under the supervision of Macquarie staff and experts from outside agencies. Progress reports and a final presentation are made by each group. Much of the project work is undertaken independently and outside formal class hours (the class does not meet every week but there are frequent opportunities for additional advice and supervision with the course convenor).

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: Design and implement a research project in collaboration with a project partner or supervisor
  • ULO2: Work effectively in small teams by implementing collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the project goals
  • ULO3: Produce a professional document of the size and complexity required of consultants
  • ULO4: Demonstrate communication skills by preparing and presenting information in a professional and confident manner
  • ULO5: Demonstrate high levels of social and environmental awareness by evaluating the implications of research

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty 

From 1 July 2022, Students enrolled in Session based units with written assessments will have the following university standard late penalty applied. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/assessments for more information. 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as presentations, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.  

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Presentation 1 10% No Week 3, in your workshop
Presentation 2 10% No Week 5, in your workshop
Report Summary 10% No Week 12, Friday 28 October, 11.55pm
Final Project Report 60% No Week 13, Friday Nov 4, 11.55pm
Final Presentation 10% No Week 13, in your workshop

Presentation 1

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 3, in your workshop
Weighting: 10%

 

For the first presentation, each group will present an overview of their project, including the research question(s), proposed methods, supervisor and initial thoughts and ideas based on preliminary research and site visits.

 

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Design and implement a research project in collaboration with a project partner or supervisor
  • Work effectively in small teams by implementing collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the project goals
  • Demonstrate communication skills by preparing and presenting information in a professional and confident manner

Presentation 2

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 5, in your workshop
Weighting: 10%

 

The second presentation is an opportunity for each group to showcase their initial data/findings, and receive feedback to help guide you through any issues arising.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Design and implement a research project in collaboration with a project partner or supervisor
  • Work effectively in small teams by implementing collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the project goals
  • Demonstrate communication skills by preparing and presenting information in a professional and confident manner

Report Summary

Assessment Type 1: Summary
Indicative Time on Task 2: 5 hours
Due: Week 12, Friday 28 October, 11.55pm
Weighting: 10%

 

To accompany the final presentation, each group needs to produce a one page summary of their project that will be provided to the audience.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Work effectively in small teams by implementing collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the project goals
  • Produce a professional document of the size and complexity required of consultants

Final Project Report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: Week 13, Friday Nov 4, 11.55pm
Weighting: 60%

 

The Final Report will document the project in its entirety, including the research question(s), methods, results and a detailed synthesis of the major research outcomes.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Work effectively in small teams by implementing collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the project goals
  • Produce a professional document of the size and complexity required of consultants
  • Demonstrate communication skills by preparing and presenting information in a professional and confident manner
  • Demonstrate high levels of social and environmental awareness by evaluating the implications of research

Final Presentation

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 13, in your workshop
Weighting: 10%

 

The final presentation is a summary of the project and needs to cover the issues examined and the findings, limitations and conclusions/recommendations.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Work effectively in small teams by implementing collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the project goals
  • Demonstrate communication skills by preparing and presenting information in a professional and confident manner

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

ENVS3463 requires students to work in groups, independently, for much of the semester. There are 4 compulsory face to face (or online for external students) 3 hour workshops/teaching blocks in Week 1, 3, 5 and 13. Please note that this may change at short notice to fully online delivery due to re-curring COVID-19 restrictions. Keep an eye out for ENVS3463 ilearn announcements. The face to face teaching space is 11 Wallys Walk, Room 140.

We only meet formally 4 times in the semester so that you have ample time to read and carry out your research project. Please refer to the Unit timetable below, for further guidance. If I request a meeting with a group outside of these designated four meetings outlined in this unit guide, consider it to be compulsory, given that there will be a good reason for it – such as insufficient evidence of progress that needs to be discussed.

You and your group have to give three presentations (Weeks 3, 5 and 13), submit a short project summary (Week 12) and a Final Report (Week 13). In addition, reflecting and responding to the needs of previous group projects, I have scheduled 3 consultation weeks (weeks 6, 9, 11) for group meetings if required, by appointment. I request that we stick to the scheduled available times for meetings for this Unit. For any other queries, please email Emilie Ens or Marios Elles.

The University expects that you devote 9 hours per week (over the 15 week session), in total, to a 10 credit point unit such as ENVS3463. Put another way, you should be able to achieve a passing grade with around 150 hours for the semester. A rough breakdown for EACH person might be as follows: Classroom: 4 x 3 hours = 12 hours Group project meetings: 8 x ~ 1 hours (including preparation time) = 8 hours. Individual/group research: 130 hours Total: 150 hours

See some useful readings on group work and project management on ilearn.

Pre-Session Preparation

Students enrolled in the unit are required to subscribe to the ENVS3463 Pre-Session Preparation iLearn site to help them secure a PACE project prior to the start of Semester 2. To subscribe, please click on this link: Unit: ENVS3463 Environmental Management Pre-Session Preparation (mq.edu.au)

Unit Schedule

Week 1 - Introductory lecture and project definition, selection and confirmation

Week 3 - Presentation 1 - Groups to present an overview of their project

Week 5 - Presentation 2 - Groups to present data collected or other measures of progress

Weeks 2,6,7-11 - By email appointment - groups can consult with unit convenor and PACE Advisor if need be

Week 12 - Report Summary due

Week 13 - Final presentations and Final Report due - “Industry day” (external supervisors

are welcome to attend, COVID restrictions pending).

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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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 2022.03 of the Handbook