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Unit Summary
Unit type
UG Coursework Unit
Credit points
12
AQF level
Level of learning
Introductory
Former School/College
Unit aim
Introduces major global and regional environmental issues associated with the impacts of human land use. Working in the context of increasing human populations, climate change and the political responses to evidence for increasing global environmental change, the unit examines issues of soils, water, air and biological degradation, placing Australian regional issues into a global context.
Unit content
The schedule of topics covers curriculum content delivered in the Online Study Guide and during residential exercises. This unit explores the following overlapping topics:
- ecosystems and their services, environmental resources and their use
- human population growth, sustainability and environmental health
- environmental change, land degradation, biodiversity, climate change, and water
- management and policy responses.
Underpinning this exploration, we introduce the use of scientific inquiry to build understanding of the complexities of these topics, and evaluate current policy and management responses.
Learning outcomes
Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.
| On completion of this unit, students should be able to: | GA1 | GA2 | GA3 | GA4 | GA5 | GA6 | GA7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | identify and define significant global environmental issues regarding environmental degradation, human population growth, resource use, and climate change | |||||||
| 2 | examine global environmental issues in terms of the science underpinning our understanding, and the link between science and management and policy responses | |||||||
| 3 | demonstrate an ability to present succinct summaries, analyses and arguments regarding complex issues concerning the global environment, using a range of communication techniques | |||||||
| 4 | reflect on the academic principles underpinning scientific inquiry as well as the student's learning process. | |||||||
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
-
identify and define significant global environmental issues regarding environmental degradation, human population growth, resource use, and climate change
- GA2:
- GA4:
- GA5:
-
examine global environmental issues in terms of the science underpinning our understanding, and the link between science and management and policy responses
- GA2:
- GA4:
- GA5:
-
demonstrate an ability to present succinct summaries, analyses and arguments regarding complex issues concerning the global environment, using a range of communication techniques
- GA2:
- GA4:
- GA5:
-
reflect on the academic principles underpinning scientific inquiry as well as the student's learning process.
- GA2:
- GA4:
- GA5:
Prescribed texts
- Lindenmayer, D, Dovers, S, Harriss Olson, M, & Morton, S (eds), 2008, Ten Commitments: Reshaping the Lucky Country's Environment, CSIRO Publishing, Canberra. ISBN: 9780643095854.