In Progress
Please note that this Unit Profile is still in progress. The content below is subject to change.Overview
This unit surveys the major patterns of Australian landscapes and the processes which have produced them. Topics include the geology, climates, landforms, soils and ecology of Australia.
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 1 - 2025
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 UC self assessment
Revising learning materials to align with the the evolving technology landscape.
Continue refreshing and updating the learning materials, particularly the online quiz questions, to ensure they are more relevant to the specific content and cannot be easily answered by Generative AI.
Feedback from UC self assessment
Enhancing foundational learning resources to support student learning.
Incorporate and enhance foundational learning resources, such as assessment tutorial videos and supplementary reading on assessment writing, within the unit's Moodle site to better support students' learning and academic progress.
- explain fundamental processes responsible for the development of Australian climates, landforms, soils and biogeography
- describe major patterns of climates, landforms, soils and biogeography in Australia.
Important skills objectives include the development of abilities to:
- find particular information when required that is contained in your online material, textbook or other study resources
- demonstrate information literacy skills concerning the use of the CQU Library online catalogue and the development of search strategies for research paper topics
- research and analyse information relating to the physical geography of Australia
- write annotated bibliographies and research papers.
In a broader educational context, it is worth noting that the design of this unit is intended to assist students to develop independent life-long learning skills, and in particular the ability to successfully cope with online learning environments, such as is presented in this unit.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 30% | ||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | ||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 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 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | ||||||||||