Unit Synopsis
Sustainable management of pest animals, plant diseases and weeds is paramount to successfully managing agricultural and natural environments. This unit introduces you to the principles of plant protection and the relevant foundation disciplines of weed science, plant pathology (the science of plant diseases) and entomology (insect science). You will learn key aspects of biology and identification of weeds, pests and plant diseases. You will be introduced to ecological principles of their interactions with agricultural and natural environments. Guided by this fundamental knowledge you will understand, plan and evaluate protection strategies for a range of agricultural and natural environments.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite 48 Credit Points 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 40% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 87.50% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 25.81% response rate.
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.
Source: SUTE data
Improve organisation of learning material
Learning material will be organised to enhance the current lecture material.
The organisation of learning material has been streamlined to further enhance the lecture material.
Source: SUTE data
Provide clarity of expectations
Students have weekly live workshops where discussion on content and assessment is encouraged. In addition, weekly posts on current timetable and upcoming assessment, is provided. Additional workshops on specific assessment will be considered based on student requirements.
Weekly live workshops and posts played an important role in communicating expectations to students.
Source: SUTE data
Improve clarity of quizzes
Quiz questions are revised each year to ensure clarity, align with lecture material, and prevent integrity issues.
Quiz questions were revised and will continue to be revised each year.
Source: SUTE data
The students are encouraged to interact
The weekly live sessions encourage unit interaction, between students, with lecturers, researchers and guest speakers.
Weekly tutorials provide opportunity, and encourage students to engage with each other and with staff and guests.
Source: Email
Helpful feedback
Feedback will be provided on assessment.
Feedback was provided on assessment with comments and breakdown of marks. Additional feedback, if required, was provided via email.
Source: Email
Very responsive to email enquiries
Email enquiries will be responded to as quickly and effectively as possible.
Email queries were encouraged with effective and quick responses.
Source: SUTE data
Improve clarity of quizzes
It is recommended that quiz questions are continuously revised to ensure clarity, align with current lecture material, and minimise academic integrity issues.
In Progress
Source: SUTE data
Review amount of weekly content
It is recommended that weekly live workshops be held, encouraging discussions on content and assessment. Additionally, weekly updates on the current timetable and upcoming assessments should also be provided. Based on the student needs, additional workshops focused on specific assessments may also be considered.
In Progress
Source: SUTE data
Provide more real life examples relating to unit content
It is recommended that live tutorials will include more guests with research or industry backgrounds. This will provide students industry connections and current knowledge. Relevant researchers would provide students to potential research issues and innovative practices.
In Progress
Source: Email
Provide additional assessment feedback
It is recommended that more feedback will be provided on each assessment.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Identify major weeds, pests and plant diseases
- Explain the fundamental biology and ecology of weeds, pests and plant diseases
- Evaluate and propose protection strategies for agricultural and natural systems from weeds, pests and plant diseases.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |