Requirements to Pass this 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.

Assessment Criteria

Assessment at Macquarie University is standards-based, as outlined in the Assessment Policy. This means that your work will be assessed against clear criteria, and these criteria (e.g. in a rubric) will be made available when the assessment tasks are released to you on iLearn. 

Submission of Assessments

All assessments must be submitted online through Turnitin unless otherwise indicated. Links for the submission of each assessment will be provided on iLearn. Please do not submit your assessments via email or in hard copy.

Marking of Assessments

Written assessments will be marked through Turnitin with marks and feedback provided through GradeMark. All assessment grades will be available in Gradebook on iLearn.

We aim to return your assessment grades and feedback within three weeks of the assessment due date and before the next assignment is due. We appreciate your patience and will advise you through iLearn when your marks and feedback are available for viewing.

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:

• Enviromental management question - YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
• Envrionmental assessment report - YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
• Debate - 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.

Week 1 classes

Lectures for this unit commence in Week 1. The practicals/workshops for this unit will commence in Week 2.

Methods of Communication

We will communicate with you via your university email or through announcements posted on iLearn.

Students should make use of iLearn to access learning and teaching materials, submit assessments, stay in touch with the unit, contact lecturers, and discuss issues and concepts with others in the class. For any general questions about the unit, please post these in the Discussion Forum on iLearn. For private matters, please send a Private message to the Unit Contact. The links for these are in the Communications folder on the ENVS2467 iLearn page.

Class schedule

Students should use Class Finder to see when and where classes are being held:

• Class Finder web page link: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/enrolling/create-timetable

This year, the ENVS2467 Letcures have been scehduled for 12-1pm on Wednesdays. These lectures are online.

There are three practical classes scehduled. These are held on Wednesdays 1-3pm, Thursday 9-11am and 11-1pm- all these classes will be held in 12SW 430 active learning space. There is also a  field trip on scheduled in practical times in week 7- this is essential for assessment item 2. A detailed schedule with the weekly topics and assessment tasks anddue dates will be provided on the ENVS2467 iLearn site.

Note: all of the pracs are delivered face to face and will NOT be recorded.

Learning activities

The unit is comprised of 12 weeks of prac classes, including a field trip to a local site. The format of the prac classes varies and includes mapping skills, writing skills workshops, data and communication skills workshops, group work and student presentations. As a result, it is essential that you attend all of classes and the field trip. 

In addition to the scheduled classes, you are also required to spend time doing your own independent reading and research with most of this time going towards completing the assessments. As a guide, you should aim to spend approximately 100 hours of your own time on the unit over the semester, in addition to the scheduled classes and field trip. This requires good planning on your part to ensure that you meet the assessment due dates.

Unit Organisation and Unit Schedule

This unit is organised into three modules:

• Module 1 - Australia's unique environment and the need to manage the impacts of people on the environment. This module examines some of the physical environmental management challenges posed by people and Australia's unique environment. For example, the impacts of bushfire management on vegetation communities, and the impacts of urban areas on streams.
• Module 2 - The role of policy, planning and legislation as effective tools in environmental protection and management. This module focuses on how policy, planning and legislation impacts on the environment through strategic planning, development controls and day-to-day decision-making. This module will tie together your understanding of the physical environment and some of the tools that are used to prevent or manage environmental impacts in urban areas.
• Module 3 - The importance of implementing strategies that engage people as part of the solution to environmental problems. This module explores several themes in environmental management and decision-making including, ways of engaging people in environmental protection and management issues, identifying stakeholders, negotiation and the decision-making processes that are used to resolve environmental conflicts. This module will demonstrate the social/political challenges and complexities of environmental management

Field trip

This unit includes a field trip to a local urban creek during your workshop time in week 7. The area is highly urban, as a result, the area is an ideal place to learn about issues caused by urbanisation and environmental management. We will observe environmental management issues, record data and collect samples, and take notes which will be used in assessment item 2.

Note: There are no costs associated with this trip. However, you will be expected to wear appropriate clothing and meet your allocated class on time at the location. Field trip logistics will be discussed during the first weeks of class.

Technologies Used and Required

You will need to bring a computer to class each week. We will use basic programs such as Word and Excel. You will also need a computer to use the university systems (e.g. iLearn, library) and complete the assessment tasks. Submissions of the assessment tasks will be through iLearn using Turnitin.

Field and Lab Work, Health and Safety

To minimise the risk of WHS accidents, you must wear appropriate clothing and footwear, and bring adequate water and food for the field trip. You must also wear closed shoes when working in the lab. 

Prior to the field trip, you will need to sign up to Field Friendly (via iLearn) so that you are covered by the university insurance during the trip. This sign-up is compulsory and if you haven't signed up by the closing date, you will not be permitted to attend. 

Background Reading

There is no single textbook for this course, and reading material for lectures will be provided on iLearn. Background reading can be found in the following:

• O'Riordan, T (1999) Environmental Science for Environmental Management, Taylor and Francis Ltd
• Aplin, G (2002), Australians and their Environment: An Introduction to Environmental Studies, Oxford University Press
• Huxham M and Sumner D (2000). Science and Environmental Decision Making, Pearson Education.
• Munasinghe M and Swart R (2005). Primer on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Cambridge University Press.

Changes from previous offerings

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 clarity around assessment requirements and the level of support from teaching staff. As such, no change to the delivery of the unit is planned, however we will continue to strive to improve the level of support and the level of student engagement by altering the content to ensure the relevance of teaching materials. 

 

Assessment policy

To enable students more time to focus on learning, understanding and reflecting on the content of our unit we have revised the assessment structure as follows. There are now only three assessments: a skills assessment, report and final debate. Although no marks are associated with attendance, all activities provide you with key content designed to help you understand content and complete the assessments.