BLAR12052 - Geotechnical Studies

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will learn the role of geotechnical investigations in the design process, and soil mechanics including description of physical properties, soil classification, bearing capacity, permeability, compressibility, shear strength, slope stability, flow of water, and foundations and footings including investigations into basic principles of subsurface rock and soil materials and their ability to support structures.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

BLAR11049 Built Environment Communication and Skills Or COMM11003 Professional and Technical Communication (before 2012 term 1)

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 2 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 83.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 14.63% 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: The Student Unit Teaching Evaluation T2- 2023
Feedback
The lecturer is extremely knowledgeable with an extensive understanding of the subject matter. Assignment feedback is thorough and helpful. Overall, a well constructed unit.
Recommendation
Similar teaching method will be adopted for future deliveries.
Action Taken
Similar teaching practices were adopted for the current delivery. The lecturer found that student engagement with the unit learning was considerably high based on the queries received via emails, Q&A, and discussion forums.
Source: The Student Unit Teaching Evaluation T2- 2023
Feedback
Students find that the Introduction of MS Team, email, Moodle for same communication is somewhat confusing.
Recommendation
Future deliveries will focus on using Moodle mainly for Learning Management System purpose while MS Teams and emails as a general communication channel.
Action Taken
The current delivery used MS Team as a general communication channel in which the lecturer posted weekly Zoom link and important announcements. The lecturer also informed the students about the timing of uploading weekly lectures and tutorials into Moodle. On the other hand, students checked with the lecturer about the general queries such as word count and formatting of the assessment tasks. They also used this channel to inform us of their unavailability for regular classes. In contrast, Moodle was primarily used for a learning management system, where all learning materials were uploaded, and the forums were effectively used for learning matter discussions. The current delivery saw considerably higher engagement in both MS Teams and Moodle.
Source: Student Unit Teaching Evaluation (SUTE)- T2- 2024
Feedback
It is a good idea to attempt the weekly questions to expand everyone's knowledge through weekly tutorials. Simultaneously, weekly tutorial videos and the assessment tips were extremely helpful in passing this unit.
Recommendation
Similar teaching method will be adopted for next and future deliveries.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Unit Teaching Evaluation (SUTE)- T2- 2024
Feedback
Students are satisfied with the sufficient learning materials given with the unit learning. However, they have requested a summarised glossary type document to cover all symbols and abbreviations in each topic.
Recommendation
A document covering all symbols and abbreviations will be given to students from next delivery.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: The unit coordinator and lecturer
Feedback
It is better to continue facilitating formative online quizzes with the aid of the textbook publisher.
Recommendation
The lecturer will continuously liaise with the textbook publisher and try facilitating formative online quizzes with the aid of them.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unsolicited student email to appreciate the lecturer
Feedback
Students find that the unit context is difficult due to engineering and mathematics exposure. However, they find the lecturer's assessment tips and tutorial recordings have been beneficial for the unit's success.
Recommendation
The learning context will be discussed with the Built environment discipline team and the course reference committee to confirm the relevance of the unit learning to the roles of building professionals. The lecturer will adopt the same strategy to enhance students' learning.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Unit Teaching Evaluation (SUTE)- T2-2024 (Section 3 score)
Feedback
Some students question the unit relevance to their qualification/ degree.
Recommendation
The unit is recommended by the course accredited professional bodies; hence, this concern will be raised at Built Environment regular meetings and then discussed with the professional bodies for strategies to address.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.