Subject - Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

Click on the subject title below to read how we have responded to your questionnaire responses.

2005:

2005

BIO11GEN - Genetics, human biology & evolution (2005)

This is an introduction to general genetics and human biology suitable for students intending to pursue further studies in these areas or as a one-semester terminal subject. Included is the history and importance of genetics in understanding human nature and in improving quality of life. Topics include the nature and functioning of the genetic message, the mechanics of inheritance, developmental and quantitative genetics, genes in populations, conservation and ecological genetics, human behavioural genetics and the significance of human genetic variation, genetics in larger evolutionary patterns, the origin of life, speciation, macro-evolution and the origins of modern humans.

BIO11GEN continues to be a popular subject among first year students. The content is interesting and relevant to most students, focusing as it does on Human Biology. The practical's include a major breeding experiment using fruit flies, providing hands on experience for students.

CHE11BAS - Basic chemistry and CHE11GEN - General principles of chemistry (2005)

Students study the chemistry of atoms and molecules, atoms, molecules and ions, quantum theory and the electronic structure of the atom, periodic relationships among the elements, chemical bonding and molecular geometry. Also studied is the chemistry of carbon compounds, hydrocarbons, delocalised bonding and aromatics, alkyl halides, hydroxyl compounds, aldehydes and ketones and acids. In addition, gases and liquids, the properties of gases, thermochemistry, intermolecular forces, physical properties of solutions and acids and bases.The laboratory course is compulsory and an attendance requirement applies.

The overall results in this subject (average of 60% for the total assessment) show that students gained a satisfactory understanding of the subject matter and demonstrated adequate laboratory skills. Some students who entered the course with a limited background in chemistry achieved high standards. Students who experienced difficulties were assisted greatly if they attended consistently to practical work and workshop tests. The replies of the student survey for this subject in first semester 2005, were generally very positive. As a result of experience in 2004, some changes were made to ally concerns. Such changes appeared popular with students and included:

- More time was allocate for tutorials out of classes. The weekend option provided satisfactory.
- Past papers with answers were dealt with more thoroughly in tutorials.
- The length of the practical classes was maintained but introductions kept to a minimum so that students had more time for the actual work.
- The number of questions requiring answers in practical classes was increased which allowed students to link their prac work to theory more thoroughly. This measure also improved the strength of the assessment in practical work.
The use of the textbook was emphasised more and the link with lecture notes and tutorials made more often.

Mr Martin Fussell

GEO11DYN - The dynamic earth (2005)

This is an introduction to the study of the Earth, its composition and the dynamic systems which have shaped it. Topics include the origin and evolution of the planets the nature of geological time, crystals, minerals and rocks, sedimentary environments and the evolution of the landscape, including the formation of soils.

The overall response of students to GEO11DYN was more than positive. Students responded well to the subject matter, some clearly enjoying topics that were new to them. Mild comments were made with concerns regarding the volume of work to be covered in theory and the number of tasks to be completed in a three hour practical session. The excursion again proved popular. More emphasis was made of using the textbook and students made no mention, as in the past, concerning any difficulty they had with the resource. Tutorials were more focused on preparation for both theory and practical exams, which seems to have had more effect on the practical results. Greater encouragement to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of the theory course will be attempted in future.

WEM21EPA - Environmental pollution control A (2005)

The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of environmental pollution and its control. The fundamental concepts of nutrient cycling (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) in the environment are discussed together with the sub-cycles of these macro-nutrients in the hydrosphere and the lithosphere. Water quality is discussed with particular reference to river health and soil quality is discussed in terms of the consequential perturbation effects on the nutrient dynamics prevalent in the hydrosphere and lithosphere. A further section of the unit discusses basic waste management and hazardous waste management with particular reference to the safe disposal of toxic industrial, urban and agricultural wastes. The unit overall emphasises sustainable environmental management.

Student satisfaction in 2005 was high, the mean value for subject content and delivery being 6 and 6.4 respectively on the standard 1 - 7 scale. The relevance of the practical work and field excursions was again highlighted by students as one of the most favoured aspects of the subject.

Suggested improvements for the subject were refinement of 1 or 2 of the practical components so that their aims and outcomes are more clearly defined; greater discrimination between the subject matter of sequential assignment tasks; and an even greater inclusion of local field observations and assessment.

STA21BS - Biostatistics (2005)

In this unit students practice with the techniques commonly used in biostatistics chosen from: chi-squared tests, regression methods, one and two-way analysis of variance and bio-assay. Students are introduced to the important experiment design principles of randomisation and blocking. Extensive experience with a major statistical package is gained, with some of the data sets being provided by biological science staff.

Biostatistics, or biometrics, is concerned with the design and analysis of studies of biological systems. STA21BS aims to build upon the statistical foundations taught in STA12LS: it covers the basics of statistical design, and it expands on the theory and methods of analysis taught in first-year. Laboratory sessions and assignments give students the opportunity to apply what they learn using the SPSS statistics package.

Student satisfaction was high, with 89% of students rating the unit as good to very good (i.e., 4 - 7 on a 7 point scale) and all students rating the delivery of the subject as good to very good. The unit was also rated highly on all aspects of learning and teaching: from being clear about the aims, expectations, and assessment requirements, to the value of lectures, practical's, notes, and explanations, and the relevance of the material to other units.

Satisfaction was slightly lower on the issue of workload. On average, the students felt the workload was manageable about 70% of the time, and feedback suggests it was the last week of semester, when so many other pieces of assessment are due, that was of particular concern. I will consider making some tutorial questions optional, particularly in the final week.

The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of the principles and practice of waste management and pollution control relating to wastewater and solid wastes, with an emphasis on the recovery of water, nutrients, resources and energy. Topics covered in wastewater management include; the characteristics of municipal and industrial wastewater's, unit processes in wastewater treatment plants, design and modelling of wastewater treatment systems, constructed wetlands, remote wastewater systems, and wastewater disposal /reuse. Solid waste management topics include; solid waste collection systems, recycling, composting, energy recovery (incineration), and the design and operation of sanitary landfills. Also covered are some aspects of environmental management systems, cleaner production methods and industrial ecology.

The Waste Management and Treatment course in 2005 had a total of 12 students, with a 92% pass rate. Generally high grades were achieved, reflecting the enthusiasm of many of the students for the material. Several students undertook work placement in second semester within the wastewater or solid waste management industries, with some likely to pursue careers in this direction. Students in 2006 can expect a greater emphasis on new technology trends in the wastewater treatment industry.

This unit introduces students to statistical techniques as an aid to effective decision-making in the business environment. It has been specifically designed for the Bachelor of Business degrees, with an emphasis on practical applications of statistical techniques in business and the ability to express findings in non-technical language. Topics covered include descriptive statistics, probability concepts and distributions, sampling theory and statistical inference, linear regression and correlation and statistical process control. The statistics package SPSS, will be used for analysis.

Introduction to Business Statistics introduces student to statistical techniques as an aid to effective decision-making in the business environment. Laboratory sessions and assignments give students the opportunity to apply what they learn using the SPSS statistics package.

About three quarters of students rated the unit and its delivery as good to very good (i.e., 4 - 7 on a 7-point scale). The unit was rated well on most aspects of learning and teaching: from being clear about aims, expectations, and assessment requirements, to the value of lectures, practical's, and notes.

The predominant suggestion for improvement was to run the unit over a 13 week semester rather than the usual 10 week trimester. Students felt the material was difficult to absorb at the pace that a trimester demands. Similarly, the lecturer felt there was insufficient time to properly deal with each topic. Accordingly, ECO11IBS will not again run over a 10 week trimester.

In this unit students will be introduced to the basic statistical methods that would be very useful, to some extent essential, for students in biological sciences, medical sciences, agricultural sciences, nutrition, and health sciences. For example, this unit will be essential for students to analyse data from experiments and write reports. It is specifically designed for students who do not have a strong background in mathematics, and further, it does not assume any previous training in statistics or probability. The unit covers descriptive statistics, estimation, hypothesis testing, test for proportions and means, analysis of variance, regression analysis, and analysis of cross-classified data. The use of statistical software is an integral part of this unit. Successful completion with a minimum of C grade qualifies students for most of the second-year level units in statistics, including STA12SS, STA21AS, STA21MAS, and STA22BS.

Statistics for Life Sciences emphasises the link between statistics and the scientific method; it provides an overview of the types of studies encountered in science including surveys, observational studies, and experiments; and it teaches the tools necessary for analysing data from most one- and two-variable contexts. Students are also taught how to analyse data using a graphing calculator and the statistical package SPSS.

All students rated the unit and its delivery as good to very good (i.e., 4- 7 on a 7 point scale). The unit was also rated highly on all aspects of learning and teaching: from being clear about the aims, expectations, and assessment requirements, to the value of lectures, practical's, and notes, and the support from teaching staff.

The predominant suggestion by students for improvement of the unit related to the time that was available to complete tasks in tutorials. Based on similar comments made about first-year statistics units, the problem seems to arise from competition for the tutor's time between users and non-users of the T183 calculator. To overcome this problem, a graphing calculator will be made a prescribed requirement for this unit. To minimise the cost burden on students, information will be provided on sources and prices of both new and used calculators. We shall also attempt to compile a list of students wishing to sell their graphing calculator. It should be noted that the only other prescribed requirement for this unit is the lecture notes, which have previously been available for $5.

This unit is designed to introduce students undertaking the major stream of psychology to a range of statistical methods used in contemporary psychological research. Topics include: descriptive statistics, data entry and manipulation; exploratory data analysis, basic probability models and sampling, estimation and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing and its relation to confidence intervals; the power of a test and its relation to sample size; effect sizes and an introduction to meta-analysis; analysis of single and two group designs; correlation and simple linear regression; analysis of categorical data; non-parametric statistical methods; multiple regression and related methods. The statistical computing package SPSS is an integral part of this unit with weekly tutorials held in a computing laboratory.

Statistics for Psychology emphasises the link between statistics and the scientific method; it provides an overview of the types of studies encountered in science including surveys, observational studies, and experiments; and it teaches the tools necessary for analysing data from most one- and two-variable contexts. Students are also taught how to analyse data using a graphing calculator and the statistical package SPSS.

Ninety percent of students rated the unit as good to very good (i.e., 4- 7 on a 7 point scale), and 85% rated the delivery of the unit as good to very good. The unit was also rated well on most aspects of learning and teaching: from being clear about the aims, expectations, and assessment requirements, to the value of lectures, practical's, and notes, and the support from teaching staff.

Students expressed concern about the division between users and non-users of the T183 in tutorials. This division causes much competition for the tutor's time. Possible solutions to this problem include: 1) tutors could endeavour to integrate a full explanation of solutions with T183 instruction (which already happens); 2) class sizes could be reduced; and/'or 3) having a T183 could be made compulsory. After consultation with Lin Crase, Phil Suter, and Michael Halloran, it was decided to make a graphing calculator a prescribed requirement, with information to be provided to students on sources and prices of both new and used calculators.

Dr Warren Paul

WEM22OEB - Origin and Evolution of Australian Biota (2005)

This unit introduces the student to the Australian environment and its biota. The continent's history as part of Gondwana; its geological structure, climate, soils and biogeography are studied to explain the development and distribution of Australian biota and ecosystems. Several framework areas will be reviewed, including geology and biogeography, major features of the Australian landscape, their origin and history, the climatological determinants and distribution of weather patterns, soil science and origins, properties of soils, hydrological variables within aquatic systems and catchment theory. This framework is used to examine selected plant and animal groups that contribute significantly to the past or present biota of Australia and to review the distribution and evolution of biological communities, fire and human impacts.

WEM22OEB has been run in a similar fashion at the Wodonga campus over the past 8 years. In 2005, as in 2004, many of the lectures given by the primary lecturer were supported by powerpoint presentations. Quality Assurance survey forms, which were returned by 10 of the 13 students enrolled in the subject, indicated that most students rated the subject very well overall (mean score of 5.7 out of possible 7) and that the delivery of the subject was considered even more satisfactory (mean score of 6.4 out of 7). Mean scores for all 18 other standard assessment items were above 4.0 out of possible 5 and in 14 cases mean scores were greater than 4.5. Half the students listed the field 'Healesville trip' as the best thing. A majority of students (6 of 10) indicated that they would like to have lecture notes handed out to them so that they didn't have to pay to photocopy them from the library. As a result of this consideration will be given to giving out handouts in lecturers in 2006. Otherwise WEM22OEB is unlikely to be altered.

The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of the chemical and physical aspects of pollution control in aquatic and atmospheric environments. Subjects covered will include; the hydrology of inland streams and lakes, water quality parameters, analytical methods, chemical speciation (complexation, precipitation and adsorption), redox processes, natural organic matter (NOM), biogeochemistry, as well as the physical and chemical aspects of atmospheric processes. Other topics covered are the impacts and management of point and diffuse source pollution, eutrophication, river and ocean discharges, stormwater management, air pollution, and water treatment engineering.

The Water and Air quality course in 2005 had a total of 14 students, of which 12 passed. The students were given a challenging program focusing on the chemical and physical aspects of water quality, with a generally high level of achievement. The practical and field exercise components continued to be popular aspects of this course, and in 2005 included an all-day field trip in the Kiewa river catchment. As always the students would have liked a stronger emphasis on the practical aspects of water quality. This will be addressed in 2006.

The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of ecology, ecological genetics and evolutionary ecology by consideration of the following topics: the maintenance and distribution of genetic variation, the measurement of inbreeding, the impact of natural selection, the evolutionary history of species' distributions, co-evolutionary processes, speciation and extinction.

Ecological Genetics and Evolutionary Ecology continues to be a popular subject among second year students. The content is interesting to most students, and those who find genetics difficult usually enjoy the taxonomic project.

This unit aims to provide an understanding of natural resource management within an ecological context, by consideration of the following topics. Conservation biology identification and restoration of threatened ecosystems, management of invading or pest species, design of ecosystem reserves, single species and whole community conservation, managing community change and succession, environmental policy and legislation, the structure of environmental law in Australia and the management of renewable and non- renewable resources.

In 2005 I re-wrote/updated all 54 lectures associated with this unit at the request of students enrolled in 2004.

Again this year, the students were frustrated by the 'lack of a published answer' to their assessments. My goal as an educator at 3rd year level of university is to deepen students' abilities to access relevant literature (i.e. information literacy, even if that means finding out there isn't any) and to make them think. As such, I intentionally avoid assessments that involve 'regurgitation' of someone else's thoughts.

This subject provides an understanding of the principles and practices of environmental impact assessment, toxicology, risk analysis, hazard audits. Topics include concepts and principles of toxicology, risk analysis, hazard analysis, geographical information systems (GIS), environmental impact audits and environmental impact assessment including policy, legislation and administration at national, state and local levels. Case studies of environmental audits and impact assessment studies are also included. A compulsory ten week industrial workplacement component is included as a practicum for the subject.

Student satisfaction was high with all students rating the subject and its delivery between good and very good (5 -7 in a 7 ranked scale: Mean 6.4). The workplacement component was again rated as one of the best aspects of the subject as it provided practical experience in natural resources management. There was also positive feedback on the delivery and resources provided throughout the semester.

Suggested improvements included additional tutorials and revision sessions and a reduced emphasis on the legislation governing Environmental Impact Assessment in Australia. This latter issue is a result of every State and Territory having different legislation which also differs from the Commonwealth legislation. Due to our geographical position on the border it is important to examine a range of Acts from different jurisdiction. These suggestions will be considered during the preparation of the 2006 lectures.

Content Approved by: Head of Department
Page maintained by: Administrative Officer
Last Updated: September 30, 2009

Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Life Sciences

Department of Environmental Management & Ecology

Quality Assurance Survey Feedback to students

2005:

2005

General Information

Other Useful links