Overview
Sustainable management of pest animals, plant diseases and weeds is paramount to successful agricultural systems. This unit introduces you to the principles of crop protection and the relevant foundation disciplines weed science, plant pathology (the science of plant diseases) and agricultural entomology (insect science). You will learn key aspects of biology and identification of weeds, pests and plant diseases. You will be introduced to ecological principles of their interactions with crops and cropping systems. Guided by this fundamental knowledge you will understand, plan and evaluate protection strategies for a range of crop production systems.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite AGRI11002 Crop Management Systems
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2021
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Residential Schools
This unit has a Compulsory Residential School for distance mode students and the details are:
Click here to see your Residential School Timetable.
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from "Have your say" feedback
The "scientific and knowledge aspects of the unit" and the "super interesting and informative" topics were pointed out as among the best aspects of this unit.
The feedback shows that students appreciate even more challenging scientific concepts, and confirms this lecturer's approach to build industry-relevant knowledge upon a firm scientific foundation.
Feedback from "Have your say" feedback
One suggestion for improvement was for more smaller assessments instead of the very large 2nd assessment.
From the lecturer's point of view I agree with this. As a 'consultancy report' on a real-world case study the 2nd assessment was authentic and asked students to integrate and apply the knowledge acquired all through the unit. Unfortunately it was therefore (1) rather large, (2) only feasible as a final assessment (which limits feedback opportunities and adds to the usual end of term assessment load) and (3) did not explicitly encourage earlier engagement with the unit. Assessments should therefore be redesigned to be spread out more evenly during the unit.
Feedback from "Have your say" feedback
Physical examination of weeds, pests and diseases would be very insightful.
This was already brought up last year and resulted in the recommendation to add a practical component in form of a residential school with laboratory and excursion components. The recommendation was not implemented this year due to COVID restrictions, but should be considered in a renewed unit.
- Identify major agricultural pests, weeds and plant diseases and explain their fundamental biology and ecology with particular emphasis on their effects on crops.
- Apply your knowledge of weeds, pests and diseases to develop and evaluate crop protection strategies.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 40% | ||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||
| 5 - Team Work | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 40% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom Capacity (microphone required, webcam preferred if possible)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.tausz@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Fundamentals of weed science 1
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Fundamentals of weed science 2
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Animal pests 1 - Introduction to agricultural entomology (insect science)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 1 due online midday, Friday, 6 August.
Module/Topic
Animal pests 2 - including non-insect pest animals
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Plant pathology 1
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 2 due online midday, Friday, 27 August.
Module/Topic
Plant pathology 2
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Residential School
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Residential School (Rockhampton); Quiz 3 due in person during the residential school.
Residential school activities Friday and Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm.
Module/Topic
Weed control and management
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Pest control and management
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Integration and Revision
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Quiz 4 due online midday, Friday, 8 October.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Answer questions to test your knowledge of the foundation material you learned in lectures and tutorials. You can undertake the quiz within the time period specified (term week), but you have only one attempt. Note that once you start an attempt you have to complete it in the allocated time. Make sure you are ready, have stable internet connection and are free from distractions during this period.
4
Other
Quiz due dates are: Friday Week 4, Friday Week 6, Friday Week 8 (at Residential School) and Friday Week 12.
5 working days after the due date
Quiz questions about material delivered in lectures and tutorials must be answered correctly.
- Identify major agricultural pests, weeds and plant diseases and explain their fundamental biology and ecology with particular emphasis on their effects on crops.
- Apply your knowledge of weeds, pests and diseases to develop and evaluate crop protection strategies.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Written Assessment
You will be supplied with relevant information and material on (i) one weed and (ii) one pest animal or plant disease. Your first task is to identify the supplied materials using a variety of sources, and briefly document how you arrived at that decision (identification). The identification task will be completed at the residential school. For the second part of this assignment, you are asked to put yourself in the position of a land management officer responsible for issuing fact sheets to provide land and farm managers with relevant information. The fact sheets will be on the specimens you have identified in the first task (a total of 2 fact sheets). Fact sheets must be concise and clear, contain relevant and correct information, and include a list of authoritative resources used to compile the information. The fact sheet should have clear and easily readable layout and style, contain at least one image per fact sheet, and all content must be accommodated into one-A4 page. The overall word limit, including titles, references, figure legends etc. for each fact sheet is 350 words (700 words for both fact sheets). Further information will be made available on the Unit's Moodle site, and this will also be discussed at the residential school.
Week 10 Friday (24 Sept 2021) 11:45 pm AEST
5 working days after the due date
Marks are awarded for:
- Correct identification of the specimen (10%)
- Relevant and accurate information in the fact sheets (40%)
- Professional format and presentation of the fact sheets (30%)
- Appropriate sources correctly referenced (20%)
- Identify major agricultural pests, weeds and plant diseases and explain their fundamental biology and ecology with particular emphasis on their effects on crops.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Written Assessment
In this assessment you will be asked to assume the role of a farm advisor (agronomist, crop protection consultant or similar). You will be given a farm case study scenario with a specific weed, pest or disease problem. You will be asked to analyse and explain the problem and suggest management solutions in a written report to the farm manager. The word limit is 2000 words.
Exam Week Friday (22 Oct 2021) 11:45 pm AEST
10 working days after the due date
Marks are awarded for
- Relevant and accurate background information provided (40%)
- Rationale for the suggested management directions and clarity of suggestions (20%)
- Professional impression including the clarity of English expression, spelling, grammar, consistent and attractive formatting incl. good use of figures and tables, and appropriate length (20%)
- Appropriate sources and correct referencing (20%)
- Apply your knowledge of weeds, pests and diseases to develop and evaluate crop protection strategies.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
