Detailed instructions for each assessment task are available on iLearn. Ensure you read these instructions closely.

All students must submit their assignments through the appropriate Turnitin link provided on iLearn.

Late penalties

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. 

This penalty will be applied unless you are granted an extension by Jess and provide appropriate supporting documentation. Please talk to (or email) Jess about any circumstances that affect your assignments before the due date.

Grading and appeal

Each assignment will be marked and commented upon before return to you. The mark will be in the form of a graded letter as shown on the table below and as consistent with University policy. If you are uncertain or unhappy with any aspect of your comments or results please contact Jess (jessica.mclean@mq.edu.au) as soon as possible to discuss it. 

                           Graded letter                                             Meaning                                              % equivalent

                                        F                                                                  Fail                                                              <49

                                        P                                                                Pass                                                           50-64

                                       Cr                                                                Credit                                                          65-74

                                        D                                                              Distinction                                                     75-84

                                      HD                                                           High Distinction                                               85-100

To successfully complete GEOP603 students must complete all the required assessment tasks and key to these tasks is effective research. 

Researching in GEOP603 - what is expected?

GEOP603 is an advanced Human Geography unit. You will be required to undertake rigorous research to complete the unit. This will involve skills in identifying, accessing and critically using information, and will generally be limited to use of secondary sources. You are required to adequately identify and list all and any sources you use in your work. You are expected to demonstrate an ability to search for material systematically, for example using the Library and internet databases effectively. You are also expected to browse journals relevant to your interests and topics (some examples of good journals to browse, or subscribe to their tables of contents, include: Australian Geographer, Geographical Research, Journal of Environmental Management, GeoJournal, Society and Natural Resources). You should also browse the books in relevant parts of the Library, use the mass media, follow-up listings in other researchers’ bibliographies, and explore specialist libraries. All these strategies are part of the toolkit of a good researcher and you should develop good research habits now. Failure to demonstrate appropriate research skills in your assignments will incur its own penalty. 

Referencing material in GEOP603

In GEOP603 we prefer Harvard, in-text referencing but you may use others styles as long as you are consistent. If you need to provide references to non-conventional materials (videos; radio broadcasts; information from the Internet) please ensure you follow conventions for your referencing style. There are numerous online sites outling these conventions for you to follow.

DELIVERY

GEOP603 is available in internal and external study modes. Learning and teaching will be via a mix of face-to-face lectures and guest lectures, pre-recorded lectures, real-time workshops, online workshops and Readiness Assessment Tasks. All Internal students must listen to the face-to-face lectures or pre-recorded lectures prior to the relevant workshops, attend and complete the required real-time and online workshops and complete all the Readiness Assessment Tasks. External students must listen to all the lectures, complete the online versions of the real-time workshops, complete all online workshops and complete all the Readiness Assessment Tasks. Please see the unit schedule on iLearn for details of these compulsory activities.

Lectures: Tuesday 2-3pm 4 Western Rd - 320 Tutorial Rm

Workshops: online

Poor preparation and participation will affect your overall engagement with the unit and also your grade for Assessment Task 1. You must contact Jess (jessica.mclean@mq.edu.au) if you are unable to attend a session due to unavoidable circumstances, otherwise your grade will be affected.

Teaching and Learning Strategies and Workload Expectations

Students are expected to complete independent study over the semester as well as attend lectures, workshops and/or online activities. Thus, in addition to attending weekly classes for an average 3 hours per week (in real time or online), students in GEOP603 are expected to complete appropriate preparation and Readiness Assessment Tasks (approximately 3 hours per week) as well as assignment preparation (approximately 3 hours per week). The total workload for this unit is a minimum of 10 hours per week throughout the semester and we have worked hard to ensure the workload aligns with this. However, workload does vary throughout the semester with more intense periods of class time tempered with a lighter face-to-face workloads at other points in time. Please work with this rhythm and adjust your work plans accordingly.

GEOP603 aims to be a challenging and stimulating unit that not only engages with and critiques resource management but also reflects on our role as potential environmental management ‘experts’ within that system. To achieve the unit aims of not only considering how environmental management systems have turned worlds upside down, but also to turn our own worlds upside, it is important that you open yourself up to the challenge of the unit and put the required effort and energy into it through actively doing the necessary preparation, assignments and constructively engage with the activities.

GEOP603 aims to offer you as many opportunities as possible to engage with your role as a student and potential professional resource manager through up-to-date material, case studies, hypotheticals, simulation exercises. Although GEOP603 focuses on the experiences of Indigenous people in class based activities, the unit encourages you to pursue specific personal interests – drawing these interests into class activities and importantly focusing on these topics for your assignments.

RESOURCES

Technology used and required

All students must have access to iLearn. Please bring laptops computers and other devices to real-time workshops.

Required and recommended texts

Highly recommended textbooks: 

Burarrwanga, L., Ganambarr, R., Ganambarr- Stubbs, M., Ganambarr, B., Maymuru, D., Wright, S., Suchet-Pearson, S., and Lloyd, K. 2013 Welcome to My Country. Allen and Unwin, Melbourne. This book is co-authored by an Indigenous and non-Indigenous team of authors. It draws you into life at Bawaka in northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory and challenges you to look below the surface beauty of the Country to appreciate the connections, relationships and obligations that enable its on-going health and vitality. It also gives you an insight into the incredible lives and histories of the amazing people who live there. Copies are available in the Co-op Bookshop (royalties from the book go directly to the lead author Laklak Burarrwanga). (approx.. $18.00).

Howitt, R. 2001 Rethinking Resource Management: justice, sustainability and Indigenous peoples, Routledge, London is based on the GEOP603 teaching program and presents conceptual and case study material on unit themes from around the world. It includes detailed bibliographies and guides for discussion. (approx. $85.00).

Preparation readings:

Required readings for the unit are available through the Library’s Multisearch function - http://www.mq.edu.au/on_campus/library/. Click on the Unit Readings tab and enter GEOP340.

Recommendations for further reading: Based on your interests, you should consider some of these texts for your professional library:

Altman, J and Kerins, S 2012 People on country: vital landscapes, Indigenous futures. The Federation Press, Sydney. This fabulous collection of case studies challenges mainstream resource managers to engage with and appreciate the role that Indigenous people play in caring for Country in Australia. (approx. $38.00).

Burarrwanga, L.L., Maymuru, D, Ganambarr, R., Ganambarr, B., Wright, S., Suchet-Pearson, S. and Lloyd, K. 2008 Weaving Lives Together at Bawaka, Northeast Arnhem Land. Centre for Urban and Regional Studies University of Newcastle, Newcastle. This book is also co-authored by 2 colleagues, 4 Indigenous women from north-east Arnhem Land and myself, and gives a small insight in the craft of weaving and the role it plays in the Yolngu cosmos. Copies are available in the Co-op Bookshop (money raised by the book goes directly to the tourism enterprise owned and run by the Burarrwanga family). (approx. $25.00).

Hay, I. 2012 Communicating in Geography and the Environmental Sciences, Oxford University Press, Melbourne (4th edition). If you are studying other Human Geography units, you should consider purchasing this book as it is a very useful manual for work in this field. Copies will be available in the Co-op Bookshop.

Rose, D.B. 1996 Nourishing Terrains: Australian Aboriginal views of landscape and wilderness, Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra. This beautiful book draws on anthropologist Debbie Rose’s deep understanding of Aboriginal cultural values and ecological vision to fashion one of the most compelling and accessible accounts of the basis for a respectful reconciliation of Australians yet published. Highly recommended as a foundation for the unit – and a wonderful present for people you want to help see things differently! This book is no longer in print but the text can be downloaded from

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications/commission/books/pubs/nourishing-terrains.pdf

Weir, J. 2009 Murray River Country: an ecological dialogue with traditional owners. Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra. This is quite a brilliant book that explores the interplay of multiple perspectives on environmental and social change in Murray River Country. It offers a rich case study of how people, place, water and culture interact in contemporary Australia. Copies are available in the Co-op Bookshop. (approx. $23.00)

Jackson, S., Porter, L. and Johnson, L.C., 2017. Planning in Indigenous Australia: From Imperial Foundations to Postcolonial Futures. Routledge. (available as an eBook through the library)

See the iLearn site for a detailed unit schedule.

I have removed the Professional Submission assessment task and incorporated this in to a weekly blog activity. This has shifted the emphasis of assessments to the Readiness Assessment Tasks and the overall pattern of learning in the semester is more balanced. 

The Review Paper used to involve a 1000 word written component. This has been revised and it is now only an oral presentation. 

This year we will be using Virtual Reality technologies to support learning about different ways of seeing, thinking and doing, with respect to resource management. We will use this digital technology as a way of doing virtual fieldwork.