EVST13018 - Environmental Management Systems

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will examine the nature of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) as developed by the International Organisation for Standards and Standards Australia. Topics include: concepts of EMS, ISO 14000 series (including ISO 14001 and ISO 14004), implementing EMSs, risk assessment, auditing and certification, relationships with Environmental Impact Assessment and the concept of continual improvement. You will review case studies focused on the implementation and functioning of environmental management systems in Australia and in other countries. You will use your learned knowledge and skills to develop your own draft environmental management system for a hypothetical or actual organisation.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Prerequisite: Minimum of 24 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 3 - 2025

Term 1 - 2026 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

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 30%
2. Written Assessment 70%

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 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 57.14% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 28% 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: Quantitative data from SUTE responses and student Moodle posts
Feedback
Further clarification of unit and assessment requirements are needed.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Lecturer clarify level of detail required for the main written assessment using examples from other organisations' Environmental Management System documents.
Action Taken
Written assessment requirements were discussed in detail using examples of previous student work during recorded Q&A sessions. Additionally, examples of organisations' Environmental Management Systems were provided within unit content.
Source: Quantitative data from SUTE responses and Lecturer reflection
Feedback
Additional opportunities for feedback on written assessments are needed.
Recommendation
Lecturer should consider setting milestones for the main written assessment in order to provide formative feedback on students' draft Environmental Management Systems. Continued provision of Q&A sessions to students is also recommended.
Action Taken
The main written assessment was divided into 3 milestone submissions and constructive written feedback was provided at each milestone. Online Q&A sessions were continued.
Source: Student Moodle posts and Lecturer reflection
Feedback
Unit learning materials need to be updated.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Lecturer update prescribed textbook and record learning book lectures as videos.
Action Taken
Textbooks chapters and online learning materials were updated. Weekly lectures, formatted as written learning books, were reviewed and condensed into study guides. Some weekly content was recorded as lecture content within Q&A sessions.
Source: Student grades and lecturer reflection
Feedback
Dividing the main written assessment into milestones with formative feedback points improved student performance and engagement.
Recommendation
It is recommended that this milestone structure be retained in future offerings to support student learning.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE comments, lecturer reflection
Feedback
Students indicated that more recorded content would support their learning, with several requesting weekly lecture recordings and additional tutorials to help make the material more accessible and easier to engage with.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator provides pre-recorded lectures summarising weekly unit material, supplemented by fortnightly online tutorials to consolidate understanding and address questions.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data and comments
Feedback
Reducing the number of quizzes from 12 to 3 was well received, leading to higher completion rates and positive feedback on the reduced assessment load. Some students suggested refinements to the wording or structure of certain quiz questions.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator retains the structure of 3 quizzes per term and update questions to improve clarity and understanding of expectations.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data and comments, lecturer reflection
Feedback
Some students commented on the unit content, with a few suggesting the volume of material could be refined, with some requesting more video resources, and others noting that the organisation of content could be improved.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator continues to review and update weekly content to ensure it is concise and well-structured, incorporate additional video resources, and reinforce expectations of third-year study to support student understanding and engagement.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Identify the concepts and key features of the international standard ISO 14001
  2. Locate and apply specific Standards Australia documentation in order to research the various designs and elements of an environmental management system
  3. Develop a draft environmental management system with adequate documentation for a hypothetical (or actual) small organisation.

N/A

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