Major Group Report: Due 26th May 2025 and Presentation of Findings (in Week 12 or 13)

This is a group report. You will provide an integrated regional vulnerability assessment for your region (allocated for the Practical report), and specific, implementable adaptation options for local and state government. For the allocated region  provide a precis of the potential impacts of climate change between now and 2070. In this section you may wish to reference the regional vulnerability assessments conducted by the relevant government agencies

Informed by current government strategy, you will address vulnerability and provide adaptation options for the four themes below: • Infrastructure and Tourism • Agriculture and water resources • Human Health and emergency services • Natural ecosystems and cultural heritage. Provide immediate, short term (2-5 years) and long-term (5-10 year) strategies for implementation. Maximum 3000 words. Results will be presented to the class in Weeks 12 and 13 of semester.

On-line Quiz.

Each on-line quiz will consist of 30 multiple choice questions, based solely on the lecture material. The quiz will be open in the afternoon and evening on the dates listed below. Students will have 1 hour to complete the quiz including reading time, and accessed through iLearn. Quiz 1 will cover material presented in lectures weeks 1-4 inclusive and will be held the Tuesday Week 5. Quiz 2 will cover material presented in lectures weeks 5-10 and will be held on the Tuesday Week 11

Public Communication

You will submit an article suitable for publication in "The Conversation" (https://theconversation.com/au), based on the information collected during your practical

sessions in Weeks 1-5 inclusive.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• analyse, question, and synthesise knowledge about climate change from a range of sources

• research, interpret, and assess data on climate change and draw connections across fields of knowledge

• Demonstrate an understanding of and effectively manage uncertainty in scientific data and complexity with respect to current climate change

* effectively communicate climate data to an educated non-specialist audience

Unit Requirements

Requirement to pass the unit: To pass this unit you must achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%

We strongly encourage all students to actively participate in all learning activities. Regular engagement is crucial for your success in this unit, as these activities provide opportunities to deepen your understanding of the material, collaborate with peers, and receive valuable feedback from instructors, to assist in completing the unit assessments. Your active participation not only enhances your own learning experience but also contributes to a vibrant and dynamic learning environment for everyone.

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 Quiz: NO, unless Special consideration is Granted

Assessment 2 Conversation article: YES, Standard Late Penalty Applies

Assessment 3 Group Assignment: YES, Standard Late Penalty Applies

Assessment 4 Presentation: NO, unless Special Consideration is Granted

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 https://connect.mq.edu.au.

Lectures

The unit adopts a "flipped classroom" pedagogy, under which all lectures are presented in prerecorded form available through iLearn, and key concepts are discussed by zoom in the lecture timeslot. You will get the most out of these sessions if you view the pre-recorded material prior to this time, and all content will be available by the Friday of the previous week. Within the Workshop you will have opportunity for you to ask questions, go over content you found difficult, or engage in discussion about the broader implications.

Workshops

Each week you are expected to attend the two-hour workshop in which we access a range of resources available for the analysis of climate change and associated impacts. We will also engage with key concepts introduced in the lectures. These contribute to your Conversation article. Following this, the focus of the workshops switches to the major group report, where you will tackle climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for your focus region

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

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