Overview
In Modern Environmental Issues you will learn how scientific methods and knowledge inform issues of environmental concern. You will learn about different environments and their interaction with human populations, resources and pollution, disturbance, atmospheric composition and air pollution, fossil fuels and renewable sources of energy, conservation and environmental management. You will begin to apply basic scientific knowledge and quantitative data to researching and discussing environmental issues and 'wicked' problems.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit Coordinator
Invented citations in fortnightly assessable questions and the end of term on line quiz are a growing issue
All scientific literature citations need to be accompanied by a clickable DOI link to ensure invented citations are minimized. Students will need to indicate the page and paragraph the cited item originates from.
Feedback from Student
Content and assessments felt excessive for a first year unit and required significantly more time commitments than second and third year units.
The content of the unit does not exceed the standards for first year units (12.5 hours/wk). Lectures are 3 hours, fortnightly assessment is 3-4 hours, and readings are ~3 hours.
Feedback from Student
Each assessment criteria was clear and precise, the lecturer was easy to get a hold of and quick to respond to all questions and provide further clarification when needed, and the assessment results were returned in a timely manner.
The assessment criteria will continue to updated and modified to help students improve their research and communication skills, to help them incorporate GenAI into their workflow, and to deepen their knowledge of environmental issues and their impact on society and nature.
Feedback from Student
Proof check moodle before term commencement, particularly assessment items, due dates and ability to post to ECHO360.
Remove ECHO360 links from individual weekly tiles so that all video lecture material is available through the Virtual Classes tile. Tick the "allow text" box on the Assessment 2 to allow students to submit assessment to ECHO360 through Moodle. Check and recheck dates against the Unit Profile. Reduce due dates to three places on each Moodle page (UP, Assessment Tile summary, and each assessment item).
- Describe the underpinning science of environmental issues
- Discuss possible solutions to environmental issues
- Communicate the scientific basis of environmental issues to general audiences
- Discuss the ecological and scientific principles relevant to understanding natural and human impacts on the environment
- Synthesise information from scientific literature relating to modern environmental issues.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online discussion forum - 20% | |||||
| 2 - Presentation - 30% | |||||
| 3 - Online Test - 50% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - First Nations Knowledges | |||||
| 11 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||