Soils are the physical and chemical foundation of terrestrial ecosystems and Australian soils are among the oldest and most fragile in the world. In this unit you will learn the origin of soils and how they are affected by geology, geography, climate, living organisms and time. You will develop soil classification and testing skills in the laboratory and in the field, and study the conservation, management and remediation of Australian soils.

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.

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 SUTE

Students reflected positively on teaching staff and commented that they learnt a lot of valuable skills and enjoyed the field trip/laboratory experience.

This comment reinforced the value of preparing thoroughly for the residential school to ensure all activities could be clearly explained and students could learn from them. Any staff teaching this unit in future should review the residential school handbook carefully to ensure activities and calculations are explained clearly to the students.

Feedback from Staff reflections

Assessment 3 (End of term online quiz) is open to students using generative AI to come up with answers.

Replace Assessment 3 with an alternative type of assessment that has lower risk of academic integrity breaches through use of GenAI.

Feedback from Staff reflections

Staff turnover in the unit coordinator role has been high and unit content has not been substantially reviewed and updated in the past 3 years.

Allocate unit coordinator role to a staff member who is likely to continue in the role and that staff member should review, and where relevant update, the unit content to reflect more recent trends and case study examples of soil conservation and management.