Course Coordinator:Ryo Sekine (rsekine@usc.edu.au) School:School of Science, Technology and Engineering
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course focuses on chemical processes in the environment and their analyses. Laboratory work focuses on methods development and evaluation and the analysis of environmental samples. Students evaluate the results of their analyses in a scientific manner.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Learning Materials are available online and delivered asynchronously. Learning Materials consist primarily of formative quizzes and interactive screencasts. Other available materials include simulations and on-line demonstrations. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Laboratory 1 – Laboratory work is conducted face-to-face on-campus. Each practical session is thematically linked to theoretical material covered in the screencasts. Students are expected to work in teams during practical sessions. | 3hrs | Week 1 | 6 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Tutorials are delivered face-to-face on-campus. Tutorials consist of focus questions and group work. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 6 times |
300 Level (Graduate)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Propose and justify ethical, sustainability-focussed solutions to current and potential environmental chemistry problems |
Ethical Sustainability-focussed |
| 2 | Demonstrate and apply knowledge of environmental chemistry incorporating regional and global perspectives | Knowledgeable |
| 3 | Design, optimise and demonstrate environmental chemistry experiments |
Empowered Engaged |
| 4 | Communicate in scientific writing and orally (to post graduate students and staff) | Empowered |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
SCI105
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Early feedback is supplied by way of formative assessment in the first few weeks of trimester.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 25% | 1 hour, <1000 words |
Week 6 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Report | Individual or Group | 35% | 1 x 2000 words |
Week 12 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 40% | 2 hours < 1500 words |
Exam Period | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Mid-trimester exam | ||||||||||
| Goal: | Demonstrate and apply knowledge of environmental chemistry and propose and justify solutions to problems |
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| Product: | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | Short and extended answer, problem solving, calculations based on material from learning material, tutorials, laboratory activities to date. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Collaboration |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Scientific report | ||||||||||
| Goal: | Produce environmental chemistry data (from field samples and laboratory experiments) to write a report. |
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| Product: | Report | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | Title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, references.Report submitted through Turnitin. |
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| Criteria: |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Final Exam | ||||||||||
| Goal: | Demonstrate and apply knowledge of environmental chemistry and propose and justify solutions to problems |
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| Product: | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | Short and extended answer, problem solving, calculations based on material from the learning materials, tutorials, laboratory and field activities. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | ||||||||||
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Colin Baird,Michael Cann | 2012 | Environmental Chemistry | 5th Edition | W. H. Freeman |
Laboratory coat, safety glasses, closed in footwear for laboratory.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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