BOTN19001 - Australian Botany

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will learn about Australian plants, their taxonomy, distribution and economic uses. Emphasis will be placed on plant identification, so you can apply this knowledge in vegetation surveys, biodiversity conservation, and selection of plant species for economic development. The specimen collection as well as practical sessions and field visits that are scheduled during compulsory residential school will enable you to gain practical skills in plant identification and vegetation surveys.

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

Pre-requisites

BIOL11099 Living Systems or BIOL11100 Functional Biology or BIOL11102 Life Science Laboratory

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 Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Mixed Mode

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

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 15%
2. Practical Assessment 45%
3. Online Test 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%).

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 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 80.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 47.62% 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
Feedback
I found the residential school extremely useful as it dealt with hands-on work on identifying and utilizing native plants.
Recommendation
As this is a practical-oriented unit, field visits and keying are essential part of the unit. This component will be continued and improved, where possible.
Action Taken
The residential school was successfully run again in 2024.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
A lot of resources are included in the unit and they need to be tidied up.
Recommendation
The Unit is proposed to be re-organised for 2024 offering. During this process, new materials (electronic resources) will be added and the least relevant material will be removed.
Action Taken
The unit content was reviewed and condensed in areas, however learning materials and recordings require further updates.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
"Overall, I have learnt a lot from this unit especially on recognizing Australian native plants in the bush. Nothing much to improve"
Recommendation
We will endeavor to maintain this quality, and update/improve the contents, where possible.
Action Taken
Students were introduced to plant identification during field trips at residential school.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
More feedback is sought on quizzes, in class test and specimen collection.
Recommendation
Tutorial sessions will be used to provide feedback on student performances. Specimen collection will be scheduled for Week 11 so as to allow provision of feedback on time.
Action Taken
Feedback was provided to all students during weekly tutorials and as written feedback on assessment pieces.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Specimen collection could be difficult if the students are located inlands which are often dry.
Recommendation
Students will have up to 11 weeks to plan and collect specimens. They are also encouraged to collect specimens during residential school. Targeting creek lines and wet areas, and looking for both ground cover species and trees/shrubs will help overcome this issue. Students are also encouraged to discuss their difficulties with the lecturers at the start of the Term.
Action Taken
The field trips during residential schools provided opportunity for students to collect specimens as needed.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The unit is content heavy and students found time management difficult when also completing other units.
Recommendation
Content should be reduced, refined and updated with new lecture material recorded. Some residential school activities could be removed or updated, alternatively consider an additional day for residential school.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The Moodle site could be refined so that information is easier to find.
Recommendation
The Moodle site should be reviewed and refined.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Assessment tasks were overall well received but the size, and associated cost of the plant collection assessment was considered prohibitive by some students. Comments were also received on the size and extent of the final quiz.
Recommendation
All assessment items should be reviewed. Digital options for the plant collection assessment should be considered rather than the extensive physical collection.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Staff passion within the unit was contagious and supported student learning and outcomes.
Recommendation
Staff should continue to support students.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Define selected botanical terms
  2. Collect and curate native plant specimens, and use taxonomic keys to identify native plants
  3. Examine characteristic features of Australian flora, and discuss the uses of native plants in conservation, vegetation management and economic development
  4. Describe how native flora respond to environmental disturbances, and explain the ways by which this knowledge can be applied in revegetation and restoration programs
  5. Undertake vegetation surveys, interpret data and explain the use of GIS and remote sensing techniques in vegetation management.

N/A

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work • •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • •
3 - Online Test • • •