Students

ENVS8527 – Engaging Society with Sustainable Development

2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Co-convenor and lecturer
Thelma Raman
thelma.raman@mq.edu.au
Co-convenor and lecturer
Caragh Threlfall
caragh.threlfall@mq.edu.au
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: Create an authentic sustainability education program, event or experience
  • ULO3: Develop, apply and analyse data to inform the development and evaluation of sustainability education programs
  • ULO4: Critically assess the design of different forms of education and engagement strategies to influence change towards sustainable development
  • ULO5: Plan and present written and oral arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form including through presentations

General Assessment Information

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

  • Attempt all assessments, and
  • Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%

Late Assessment Submission Penalty 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation 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. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern. For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration. 

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted 

Assessment 1, 2 and 3, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Evaluation of an education program 25% No Week 5
Prepare an sustainability video 35% No Week 9
Development of sustainability education program 40% No Week 12 in class workshop, Week 13 Report

Evaluation of an education program

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Week 5
Weighting: 25%

 

Critically evaluate a sustainability education program. The report is to examine its relationship to the principles of education for sustainable development and relevant UNSDGs.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Articulate the role of and principles for effective engagement and education for sustainable development
  • Develop, apply and analyse data to inform the development and evaluation of sustainability education programs
  • Critically assess the design of different forms of education and engagement strategies to influence change towards sustainable development
  • Plan and present written and oral arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form including through presentations

Prepare an sustainability video

Assessment Type 1: Work-integrated task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 37 hours
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 35%

 

A. Prepare a 4-minute educational video on a sustainable development topic for a target audience.

B. Write a personal reflection on the preparation of the video related to the subject of and audience for the video and production process itself.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Create an authentic sustainability education program, event or experience
  • Develop, apply and analyse data to inform the development and evaluation of sustainability education programs
  • Plan and present written and oral arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form including through presentations

Development of sustainability education program

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 41 hours
Due: Week 12 in class workshop, Week 13 Report
Weighting: 40%

 

Develop an education for sustainability program and pilot the program in class. The program logic, rationale, design, implementation, and evaluation will form the basis of a written report.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Create an authentic sustainability education program, event or experience
  • Develop, apply and analyse data to inform the development and evaluation of sustainability education programs
  • Plan and present written and oral arguments in coherent, well-structured and documented form including through presentations

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

Week 1 classes

There are no classes scheduled for week 1. Our first workshop commences in week 2. In week 1, students should read and familiarise themselves with the i-learn content.

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn. Queries to convenors can either be placed on the iLearn discussion board or sent to the unit convenor via the contact email on iLearn.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

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.

Changes from Previous Offering

We value student feedback to be able to continually improve the way we offer our units. As such we encourage students to provide constructive feedback via student surveys, to the teaching staff directly, or via the FSE Student Experience & Feedback link in the iLearn page.

Student feedback from the previous offering of this unit was very positive overall, with students pleased with the diversity of content and assessments.  This year we have streamlined the assessments further, and will continue to strive to improve the level of support and the level of student engagement.

Unit information based on version 2024.02 of the Handbook