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GEPL405 Past Australian Coastal Environments

Updated: 05 January 2010
Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study Online Level
Armidale Semester 1 Off Campus B - Internet access required
Intensive School(s)
Start Finish Attendance Notes
N/A N/A Mandatory Field school at Bundeena, Royal National Park, NSW. Dates to be advised.
Supervised Exam There is no UNE Supervised Examination.
Pre-requisites candidature in a postgraduate award
Co-requisites None
Restrictions GEAR210 or GEAR310 or GEAR410 or GEPL305
Notes None
Combined Units GEPL305 - Past Australian Coastal Environments
Coordinator(s) Robert Baker (rbaker1@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

The unit demonstrates, from field study, how coastal systems have evolved in Australia over the past 20 000 years as a result of global climatic change, and how human occupation has adapted to such changes, from the evidence left by past sea-level movements on local coasts and estuaries. The unit develops observational, recording and analytical skills about marine environmental change, and associated Aboriginal remains and at the 400 level will require an extended assessment of literature.
Recommended Material
Optional 		Text(s):

Note: Recommended material is held in the University Library - purchase is optional

Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline Morphodynamics
ISBN: 9780521598903
Carter, R.W.G. and Woodruffe, C.O., CUP 1997
Text refers to: Semester 1 , Off Campus
Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction
ISBN: 9780470517307
Bird, E., John Wiley 2nd ed. 2008
Text refers to: Semester 1 , Off Campus
Disclaimer Offer of some subjects is subject to viability. Information in these unit descriptions is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Assessment
Title Exam Length Weight Mode No. Words
Report 50% 3000
Assessment Notes
Field report with graphica and statistical analysis
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 1-8
Report 2 20% 1500
Assessment Notes
Field Report: Overview of management and scientific issues specific to GEPL405 including a presentation of a visual record of coastal landscape processes
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-4 GA: 1-4
Review 30% 2500
Assessment Notes
Literature review
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-6 GA: 1-8

Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. appreciate, from field observations, how marine environments have changed over the past 20 000 years;
  2. use skills in recording evidence of change from marine species, geomorphology, and human occupation;
  3. undertake group work in gathering of information and its presentation;
  4. produce a field report integrating and applying the unit reading to field examples;
  5. synthesise environmental information to recreate past environments and human interaction with these environments;
  6. write a scholarly overview from the literature of the major debates and issues surrounding Australian coastal management, and their origins in past environmental events and changes.
  7. understand the reasons at every scale for changes in marine environments over the past 20,000 years and their relationship to the present global warming debate.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
The students, at the end of the unit, are able to identify features of past coastal processes and landforms related to climate change. 		True True True
2 Communication Skills
The students undertake tutorial discussion, group work and written assignments. 		True True True
3 Global Perspectives
The students understand global consequences of past sea-levels (eg. rising sea-levels). 		True True True
4 Information Literacy
The students complete a field worksheet, and present a report based on their observations and discussions. 		True True True
5 Life-Long Learning
The students learn to appreciate the evidence-based research and the implication for the global climate change debate. 		True True True
6 Problem Solving
The students are asked to critically analyse observed evidence at the residential school to develop problem-solving skills. 		True True True
7 Social Responsibility
At the residential school students undertake social responsibility in the context of the wider community. 		True True True
8 Team Work
The students conduct their fieldwork in assigned groups, and learn the benefits of sharing information. 		True True True
   

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