Environmental Stress and Adaptation (11774.1)

Required texts

There are no required textbooks for this unit. A range of required and recommended readings will, however, be placed on the Canvas website. Students are also expected to conduct literature searches and read documents beyond those listed on Canvas.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

All assessment items must be uploaded to Canvas, except for the quizzes (which are conducted in Canvas).

Where an assignment is a group project, the submitted work must include the student ID numbers and names of all group members on the first page. This allows confirmation of students' participation in the group assignment and allows the identification of students that did not submit the assignment.

If there is any doubt regarding the requirements of any particular assignment or assessment procedure, the onus for clarifying the issue rests with the student who should contact the unit Convener or tutor. Further, it is the responsibility of students to ensure that they are correctly enrolled in the unit and that teachers and Student Administration have their correct contact details.

Special assessment requirements

An aggregated mark of 50% is required to pass the unit.

In addition, students must attend and participate in field classes to pass the unit, this includes submitting data collected, this is a hurdle requirement. It is the responsibility of students to contact the unit convenor via email, if they have a justifiable reason (e.g. sickness) to miss one or more of these classes.

The unit convenor reserves the right to question students on any of their submitted work for moderation and academic integrity purposes.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

The amount of time you will need to spend on study in this unit will depend on several factors including your prior knowledge, learning skill level and learning style. The unit has been designed around the assumption that students will attend all classes in person and that they will also read material placed on Canvas and do their own literature searches reading and private study. It is estimated that students will spend about 150 hours of study for this unit, comprising about 48 hours of in class study and the remaining 102 hours of private study, including conducting and preparation for assessments.

Engagement with the material in lectures, practical and field classes and online is required to complete the assessment tasks. The assessments will draw upon the activities covered/completed during classes and online.  Not attending and engaging in these classes will make it very difficult for students to pass this unit.

Field class attendance:

An aggregated mark of 50% is required to pass the unit. In addition, students must engage in field work and the glasshouse experiment, including submitting data collected, this is a hurdle requirement. It is the responsibility of students to contact the unit convenor via email, if they have a justifiable reason (e.g. sickness) to miss one or more of these classes.

Lecture attendance:

Students are expected to attend/view lectures prior to the practical class each week. Practical activities will involve tasks based on the lecture content and all lecture content is assessable.

Practical class attendance:

Please note that practical classes will not be recorded and, coupled with lecture content, inform assessment items.

Participation requirements

It is strongly encouraged that you attend all lectures and practical classes to make the most of your learning experience. Recordings of lectures is provided for those who miss a lecture, e.g. because of sickness. Practical classes and filed trips are not recorded. Students must attend and participate in field classes to pass the unit, this includes submitting data collected, this is a hurdle requirement.

Required IT skills

Students will need basic computer skills in web browsers, email and Microsoft Office software, especially Word and Excel, and graphics/statistical software (e.g. R). Students should be able to use ‘formulas' within Excel. The written reports must be in word processor format, readable by MS Word or Adobe Acrobat (PDF). All assessment items are to be uploaded to the unit Canvas website (except the quizzes).

In-unit costs

No additional costs charged by the university. Students need to ensure that they have suitable footwear and clothes and lunch for the field trips.

Work placement, internships or practicums

• Semester 2, 2025, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (226061)
• Semester 2, 2024, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (219019)
• Semester 2, 2023, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (209357)