Overview

This unit comprises of two (2) compulsory on-campus workshops and a compulsory 8-day field trip to the Jervis Bay area on the south coast of NSW.

Note, if students cannot attend the field trip they should advise the unit convenor as soon as possible to organise withdrawing from the unit. There is no exam for this unit.

The Jervis Bay region is facing many of the environmental problems and issues that are common to the east coast of Australia. This includes the impacts of future population growth in the region and predicted sea level rise due to climate change. The work that we will do during the field trip will contribute to the understanding of these problems and the development of management protocols. Students will gain experience in field data collection across a range of discipline areas (field themes) and will learn how to integrate those data sets to provide meaningful contributions to management decisions by Government authorities and community groups. The field themes may include some or all of the following: terrestrial ecology, aquatic ecology, water quality, community attitudes, coastal geomorphology, mangroves, coastal impacts or coastal hazards. The final selection of field themes is based on student numbers and staff expertise.

The two on-campus workshops are designed to prepare students for the field trip, as well as the assessment tasks. Hence these workshops are critical to the unit and to ensuring an enjoyable and productive field trip.

Much of the work done in this unit is undertaken in groups. At Workshop 1, each student will be assigned to two different groups: 1. Field Group (or day group), and 2. Data Group (or evening group). All the field data collection will be carried out by the Field Groups who will rotate around the different activities each day. The data collation, analysis and reporting for each field theme will be carried out by the Data Groups. The Field Groups will be made up of one or two representatives from each Data Group. This allows a mix of experiences and perspectives, as well as ensures that every student gets to lead the data collection for their theme.

A staff member will be responsible for each of the field themes. Their role is two-fold: i) to guide the Data Groups in their development of the data collection methods and analysis, and ii) to guide the Field Groups in the use of equipment and survey methods to collect the field data each day.

Workshop 1 - Saturday 18 August 2018, 9 am - 4 pm

Location on-campus: 4 Western Road, Room 220

The first workshop will be held at the end of Week 3. The aims of the workshop are to:

1. Provide an overview of the unit and field trip
2. Organise students into Field and Data Groups
3. Become familiar with the coastal zone management challenges at Jervis Bay
4. Discuss the role of environmental policy and management implications
5. Understand the components and structure of an environmental report, compared to other styles of academic writing 

Workshop 2 - Saturday 1 September 2018, 9 am - 4 pm 

Location on-campus: 4 Western Road, Room 220

The second workshop will be held at end of Week 5, and in this workshop, students will spend the day working in their Data Groups. The workshop will include discussions and activities depending on the theme, with the aim for each group to have a well thought-out plan and materials (e.g. data sheets) prior to the field trip. Previous years’ data will be available to use as examples where possible.

Some groups may choose to meet up again in their Data Groups before the field trip.

Field trip - Friday 21 to Friday 28 September 2018

Organisation: 

The field trip will officially commence at 8:00 pm on Friday 21 September at the Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort (caravan park) and will finish at 10 am on Friday 28 September. Some limited transport will be provided by the university - the university vehicles will be departing the campus at 2 pm on the Friday afternoon. For those that are driving themselves, the requirement is to arrive at the caravan park by 8 pm to ensure that you've found your cabin and are ready to start first thing on the Saturday.

Details on the location, what to bring, etc will be provided in Workshop 1.

Working in Groups: 

Data Groups will meet in the evenings of the field trip to bring together the material collected each day. Some afternoons may also be spent working in Data Groups, but this depends on the number of groups and the final field trip schedule. On the last full day of the field trip (i.e. Thursday), each Data Group will give a brief presentation of their findings from the weeks work. In addition to the presentation, each group also needs to provide a comprehensive dataset for other students to use in their Individual Reports, as well as for archiving.

Field Groups will need to meet at the conference center in the caravan park each morning, ready to leave at 8 am unless otherwise advised. We will aim to return from the field by 4 pm, or earlier depending on the field trip schedule and field activity, e.g. some groups may need to complete their field data collection and data entry back at the caravan park. 

Transport:

If possible, students should make their own arrangements for transport to and from Huskisson and during the field trip. A limited number of seats will be available in the university vehicles and 12-seater mini-buses.

Accommodation:

Cabin accommodation has been organised for the group at the Huskisson Beach Tourist Resort. See: https://huskissonbeach.holidayhaven.com.au/ It is expected that students will share with 2 or 3 others from their Data Group (max of 5-share, but more likely 3-share per cabin depending on the bed configuration; we will ensure that every student has their own bed). The cabins are self-contained with kitchen facilities, ensuites, and single beds, double beds and/or bunks. All linen and towels are provided. The resort also has BBQ’s, a pool, tennis court and is located on the beach front of Jervis Bay.

Meals:

Students must self-cater all meals for the week. This includes taking a packed lunch, adequate water and snacks into the field each day. Since students are required to work on their data analysis in the evenings, it is recommended that meals are planned around this accordingly, ideally sharing with others in their cabin. On the last night after the presentations, we will head to the Husky Pub for dinner. The main street of Huskisson, which is a short walk from the caravan park, has a small supermarket, restaurants, cafes, the Husky Pub and an RSL. A larger supermarket is located in Vincentia, which is about 5 mins drive from Huskisson.

Field trip costs:

The cost of the field trip is not included in the course fees, however all attempts are made to keep these to a minimum. Additional costs that will need to be paid by each student include accommodation, meals and transport. Payment for accommodation (7 nights) will need to be made prior to the commencement of the field trip. Details on how to do this will be provided. The indicative cost for this year is $340 per person, but this will be finalised after the first workshop depending on student numbers and sharing arrangements. Meals and transport are at own cost.

Essentials for field work:

Each student will need to ensure that they are equipped with the following essentials for the field trip:

• Adequate food each day in the field (i.e. packed lunch)
• Adequate water each day in the field (minimum 1 ltr)
• Rain jacket
• Clothing appropriate for the weather, season and field task (e.g. warm jumper, long-sleeved shirt for sun protection)
  • Presentable street wear that is suitable to approach members of the public for interviews is also required for the social analysis component
  • Cargo pants and shirts with pockets are recommended for the terrestrial ecology component
• Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
• Closed shoes or boots (old sneakers are useful for the aquatic ecology component)
• Field book, clipboard, writing materials and camera
• Laptop and writing materials for working on the data analysis

All field measurement-related equipment will be supplied.

If you cannot attend the field trip

If you cannot attend the field trip because you are unavailable for those dates, you should withdraw from the unit before the census date to avoid financial penalty. See https://students.mq.edu.au/important-dates

If you cannot attend the field trip because of illness, you should obtain a medical certificate that covers the days of the field trip, and submit a request to ask.mq.edu.au as soon as possible, requesting to withdraw from the unit without financial and academic penalty.

It is very important that you act on this. Otherwise, if you remain enrolled in the unit and do not attend the field trip, you will be awarded a Fail grade and will still be required to pay fees for the unit. If you need help, please contact the Faculty of Science and Engineering Student Services Centre who are located in the atrium area between 12 Wallys Walk (E7A) and 14 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Ave (E7B).

*Workshops: 4 Western Road, room 220; 9 am to 4 pm

Assessment submission

This unit uses electronic submission and marking. The required format and mode of submission is as follows. Note that there is no requirement to submit a hard copy as well, unless specified. Further details on how to use Turnitin will be provided separately.

General assessment criteria

The general assessment criteria that is used to examine the overall attainment of knowledge, skills and abilities includes the following, where the level of achievement is expected to be at the standard of a post-graduate student in each of the criteria. 

• Students are able to complete the assessments as instructed, including answering the question that is asked and staying within the specified word limit.
• Students can demonstrate knowledge and research skills by engaging in the subject matter and developing an understanding of the topic through literature and data searches.
• Students are able to demonstrate independent and in-depth thinking through discussion that places the topic in the broader context and through developing new ideas.
• Students are able to demonstrate good planning and structure written (and verbal) work to convey ideas clearly and logically.
• Students will submit work that is presented in a professional manner, including correct grammar and spelling, correct use of professional terminology as appropriate, and correct use of SI units, abbreviations and acronyms.
• Students are able to use figures and tables to summarise or present information and data effectively, with reference to these in the text. Informative figure captions and table headers are included and positioned accordingly, with the source of each provided where relevant.
• Students are able to demonstrate effective communication by conveying their message clearly and concisely using written and verbal formats.
• Students are able to work individually and in teams.

Assessment marking and grades

Grading forms will be used to mark each assessment. These will be provided on iLearn along with further instructions on the assessments. Feedback will also come in the form of written comments.

In the case of Group assessments, all members of the group will initially receive the same mark, but these will be moderated based on the peer review to provide a fairer representation of contribution towards the group task.

Evaluation of assessment grades will be based on the Macquarie University scale: High Distinction (HD, 85-100 %), Distinction (D, 75-84 %), Credit (Cr, 65-74 %), Pass (P, 50-64 %) and Fail (Fail, 0-49 %). Grades may be further refined by use of a “+” or “-“ to indicate work towards the top or the bottom of each grade’s band of marks.

If you experience difficulty achieving a good standard in your written work, please let the convenor know ASAP. The University offers a variety of remedial writing courses and sources of advice that may help you. We emphasise the necessity for clear writing and its importance in your performance assessment.

Academic Honesty

In completing and submitting the Assessments, students must be aware of, and adhere to, the University policy on Academic Honesty, which can be accessed here: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

The University implements the Academic Honesty Policy for all pieces of academic work by using a number of systems and checks, including:

• Copy detection software such as Turnitin
• Random sampling of assessment items to check for similarities
• Comparing student performance across a number of tasks
• Requiring students to defend submitted work e.g. oral exams or presentations

The penalties, where a person has been proven to have breached the policy (or any of its related procedures), are outlined here:  http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/schedule_penalties.html

Each student is responsible for their own work and for reporting suspected breaches to the convenor or Head of Department together with all relevant materials or evidence of the basis of the allegation.

Penalties for late assessments and extension requests

All assessments must be completed and submitted, on time and in full, in order to receive a minimum pass grade.

Penalties for late written assessments will be a minimum of 10% per day (including weekend days) or part thereof. These deadlines and penalties will be imposed. Allowing some students to hand assessments in late is unfair to those who meet the deadlines.

The deadlines for assessments are not negotiable except in the circumstances outlined below. Please take note of the DAYS at which work is due and let the Convenor know of problems in advance or as soon as possible, not after the event: they are likely to be much more sympathetic and flexible if you follow this advice.

The University has a Disruption to Studies Policy, which can be accessed here: http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html 

In accordance with the Policy, students that experience a disruption to studies which is serious, unavoidable and greater than 3 days as per the Policy guidelines, and wish to request an assessment extension on these grounds, must submit a formal application for special consideration to the Science Faculty. http://science.mq.edu.au/current-students/postgraduate-students/

If a student experiences a disruption to studies that is unavoidable, but not serious and is of 3 days or less in duration, they can apply for special consideration to the convenor under the following conditions:

• Personal illness or illness of a child – If an assessment is submitted after the due date, a medical certificate or a letter with appropriate supporting documents outlining the extenuating circumstances must be provided that covers the day that the assessment was due, and/or the days preceding.
• Work commitments - Work commitments will not be viewed as grounds for an extension unless your work commitment requires you to be away from home for at least 1 overnight or requires you to be at work for longer than 12 hours per day, e.g. field work or inter-state meetings. 
• Other family commitments or emergencies - If you have other commitments that take you away from study you should plan for these in advance as part of an effective individual study plan. Extensions will only be considered if your ability to submit an assessment on time was caused by an unexpected event where you can demonstrate: that the event was not foreseeable or predictable and that the event substantially impacted upon your ability to complete the Assessment Task and that there was alternative option available.

The number of days of disruption and the timing of disruption will be taken into considered in determining whether special consideration should be granted or not. The ultimate grounds for the decision will be whether the disruption was unavoidable and fairness with respect to other students.

The safety of you and those around you is our highest priority. Consequently, ALL participants in fieldwork activities are obliged to work and behave appropriately in the field, and to take care to protect their own health, safety and welfare and that of fellow fieldwork participants. You are required to follow instructions from the Fieldwork Leader at all times.

Prior to the fieldwork, each student must complete the Field Friendly registration (link to be provided). In the registration, you must let the Fieldwork Leader know of any allergies, special dietary requirements or medical considerations that may affect your ability to participate in fieldwork. You will need to complete a declaration of a known medical condition form, outlining a treatment plan for your condition. Details of your responsible next of kin must also be provided in case of emergencies.

You are required to wear and carry clothing and footwear as appropriate to the fieldwork situation. Your Fieldwork Leader will advise you as to what these are prior to the fieldtrip. Irrespective of the activity, footwear must be worn. For terrestrial fieldwork, ankle to knee protection must be worn either in the form of either long trousers or gaiters. For marine fieldwork, appropriate clothing to protect against sunburn and exposure should be worn. For all fieldwork activities, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent and items to protect against unexpected weather changes, such as rain & cold, are strongly recommended. The Fieldwork Leader reserves the right to exclude anyone that is ill-equipped from the activity.

If you are taking any medication, please ensure that you take sufficient supplies with you on the field trip. The University’s staff are unable, by law, to provide this to you. This includes pain relief, such as panadol or nurofen, cold and flu medication and anti-histamines for allergies.

If you need to leave the field location for any reason prior to completion of the scheduled activities, you must first inform the Fieldwork Leader. In the event of illness or injury, please let the Fieldwork Leader know immediately. All injury’s or incidents must be reported via the on-line reporting system: http://www.ohs.mq.edu.au/form5a.php

Alcohol is a significant contributing factor in many incidents and acts of prejudicial conduct. Alcohol must not be consumed when undertaking fieldwork activities or when using a motor vehicle/machinery. After-hours consumption of alcohol is at the discretion of the Fieldwork Leader. Anyone acting irresponsibly or in any way deemed to be a danger to themselves or others by the Fieldwork Leader will be required to leave the field trip, return to Sydney at their own expense and report to the Head of Department. The consequences of this may include exclusion from the Unit of study or your Degree program.

For more information, contact:

Russell Field

Fieldwork Manager (Dept of Environmental Sciences)

Macquarie University NSW 2109.

(W) 98508341

Compulsory attendance and assessment submission

In order to successfully complete this unit and receive a minimum Pass grade, students must:

1. Attend and participate in the two workshops;
2. Attend and participate in all days of the field trip;
3. Submit all assessments;
4. Meet the minimum level of achievement expected of a postgraduate student, as outlined in the General Assessment Criteria.

Non-attendance at the field trip for any reason other than those outlined in the Disruption to Studies Policy will result in an automatic fail.

Workload requirements

The workload for units at Macquarie University is based on a minimum of 3 hours per credit point per week to receive a Pass grade (including 13 x weeks of semester and 2 x weeks of mid-semester break). For this unit, this means that you are expected to spend a total of around 150 hours on course learning activities. This includes 8 days during the field trip.

A guide of the hours required to receive a Pass grade is outlined below. However, keep in mind that grades are awarded based on a demonstration of knowledge, skills and abilities not on effort! Approximately 10 % of the course is class-room based, 50 % is field-based and the remaining 40 % is for individual study, primarily to complete the assessments and undertake further reading related to the unit.

Unit Grading

In this unit, it is expected that your assessments will be of a very high quality and will demonstrate comprehension of course content including knowledge, skills and abilities which are at the standard of a postgraduate level. Grades for the unit as a whole will be awarded according to the Macquarie University Assessment Policy Schedule 1, as outlined below.

ASSESSMENT GRADES AND STATUS

This unit has a home page that can be accessed through the Macquarie University online facility (ilearn.mq.edu.au). It contains the usual discussion page, mail page and lecture notes page. As the semester progresses, it will be used to circulate data and other materials related to the course, field trips and assessments.