ENEC12010 - Hydraulics and Hydrology

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will be introduced to the basic principles of hydraulics and hydrology used in civil and environmental engineering. You will apply the concepts of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. You are also introduced to flow measurements, physical modeling of hydraulic systems, and pump selection to suit given applications. You will solve problems, prepare basic designs, and describe the construction and maintenance of pipes and open channel systems. You will learn about monitoring and analysis of the basic components of the hydrologic cycle. You will also use HEC-RAS or equivalent software to create a digital twin of a hydraulic system, and validate your model's output by participating in a remote design studio. In completing these tasks, you must use appropriate technical language in written communication and work individually and in teams to solve problems.

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
Prerequisite: MATH11218 Applied Mathematics or MATH11160 Technology Mathematics
Prerequisite or Corequisite: ENEG11006 Engineering Statics

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 3 - 2024

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Bundaberg
Cairns
Gladstone
Mackay
Mixed Mode
Online
Rockhampton

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 Test 30%
2. Written Assessment 35%
3. Written Assessment 35%

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 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 32% 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
Some students found that the course workload was high.
Recommendation
The unit content should be reviewed to enhance the learning experience of students while ensuring the necessary content is covered.
Action Taken
Unit contents were reviewed, and students were given drop-in sessions to discuss their assessment tasks and difficulties encountered in the learning materials.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Some students expected a clear outline of the assessment tasks.
Recommendation
It should be communicated to the students that the assessments are ill-defined by design. The goal is not to confuse the students but to allow them to work on the ambiguous nature of tasks that they may encounter in the workplace.
Action Taken
Additional sessions were carried out to explain the assignments, and appropriate scaffolding was provided. Student queries were answered promptly to provide a better direction for the assessment. Students were also given drop-in sessions to discuss their assessment tasks.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students wanted more useful feedback.
Recommendation
Assignments should be returned with more comprehensive feedback. A dedicated feedback session should help students understand the feedback in detail.
Action Taken
Comprehensive feedback was given for assignments, and dedicated sessions were arranged to provide further clarifications.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Unit resources can be better organised and aligned to assessment timelines.
Recommendation
The unit weekly topic schedule should be reviewed to align the unit content better with assessment timelines.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Workload in the second half of the semester was high.
Recommendation
The unit content should be reviewed to spread the workload throughout the term.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Formulating answers for open-ended assessment tasks were difficult.
Recommendation
It should be clearly communicated to the students that the assessments are intentionally left open-ended to simulate real-world scenarios. Additional drop-in sessions should be organised to support unpacking the open-ended tasks.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
The lecturer encouraged engagement and responded promptly to queries via forum posts, emails, and individual drop-in sessions.
Recommendation
This practice should be continued.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Providing progressive feedback for assessment would help student learning.
Recommendation
Additional sessions should be organised to provide progressive feedback for open-ended assessment tasks.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
It is difficult to understand the usefulness of unit content.
Recommendation
Relevance of the unit content for their jobs and succeeding units in the course should be emphasised during the lectures and via guest lectures as well.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Apply standard techniques, computational tools, and data used by engineers in conducting hydraulics analysis
  2. Solve problems involving combinations of basic hydraulic systems including pipes, pumps, and open channels
  3. Explain the key components of the hydrologic cycle and how they are monitored and analysed
  4. Estimate runoff from rainfall and create design hydrographs
  5. Work autonomously and in teams to develop numerical models, validate them with lab experimental data and apply the models to solve engineering problems.

The Learning Outcomes for this unit are linked with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standards for Professional Engineers in the areas of 1. Knowledge and Skill Base, 2. Engineering Application Ability and 3. Professional and Personal Attributes at the following levels:

Introductory
1.1 Comprehensive, theory-based understanding of the underpinning natural and physical sciences and the engineering fundamentals applicable to the engineering discipline. (LO: 1N 2N 3N 4N)
1.2 Conceptual understanding of the mathematics, numerical analysis, statistics, and computer and information sciences which underpin the engineering discipline. (LO: 1N 2N 3N 4N)
1.6 Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities, and bounds of sustainable engineering practice in the specific discipline. (LO: 3N)
3.6 Effective team membership and team leadership. (LO: 5N)
Intermediate
1.3 In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline. (LO: 1N 2N 3I 4N)
1.5 Knowledge of engineering design practice and contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline. (LO: 3I)
2.1 Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem-solving. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4N)
2.2 Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools, and resources. (LO: 1I)
2.3 Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes. (LO: 1I)
3.2 Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains. (LO: 5I)
3.4 Professional use and management of information. (LO: 5I)

Note: LO refers to the Learning Outcome number(s) which link to the competency and the levels: N – Introductory, I – Intermediate, and A - Advanced.
Refer to the Engineering Undergraduate Course Moodle site for further information on Engineers Australia's Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineers and course-level mapping information https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=1511

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Test • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
5 - Team Work •
6 - Information Technology Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice •
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