Overview
Soils are the physical and chemical foundation of terrestrial ecosystems and Australian soils are among the oldest and most fragile in the world. In this unit you will learn the origin of soils and how they are affected by geology, geography, climate, living organisms and time. You will develop soil classification and testing skills in the laboratory and in the field, and study the conservation, management and remediation of Australian soils.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisites: BIOL11099 Living Systems CHEM11041 Chemistry for the Life Sciences
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 1 - 2018
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 Student feedback
More timely return of assessment items.
The Unit Coordinator and lecturers will reassess assessment due dates and return dates to ensure students have ample feedback throughout the term.
Feedback from Student feedback
Having lectures and materials posted before the week begins.
Next year, lecture and other materials will be available throughout the term. Lectures from last year will be left up and replaced as new lectures are presented during the term. Students can go ahead if they choose to but will be warned that new content may be presented in current lectures.
Feedback from Student feedback
Residential school timing.
This was a new unit and therefore the residential school was scheduled around existing units. Because of this, the residential school occurred earlier in the term before much of the theoretical learning had occurred. A request has been made to technical staff to schedule this residential school later in the term.
- Describe the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil
- Describe and classify a range of soils
- Conduct soil tests in the laboratory and field
- Discuss the major challenges for the sustainable management and remediation of Australian soils.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 50% | ||||
| 2 - Presentation and Written Assessment - 20% | ||||
| 3 - Examination - 30% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 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 - Practical and Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Presentation and Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Examination - 30% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Australian soils and landscapes: an illustrated compendium http://ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/login?url=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/lib/cqu/detail.action?docID=714045
- Soil health, soil biology, soil born diseases and sustainable agriculture: a guide http://ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1194484&site=eds-live&scope=site
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
n.english@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Soil Development (pedogenesis) and soil chemistry
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 1 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Some of the lectures here are shared with AGRI11001. Please see schedule on Moodle for Week 1 lecture times and locations.
Module/Topic
Physical properties of soils
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 2 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Soil microbes, sampling and processing
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 3 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Soil mineralogy and clays
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 4 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Soil solutions and ion chemistry
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 5 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Field Trip and Res School (no lectures this week), April 18 to 20, 2018.
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 6 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Field trip and residential school (Compulsory). See Moodle for more details and scheduling updates.
Module/Topic
Soil acidity and nutrients
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 7 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Pollutants and wastes in soils
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 8 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Guest Speakers
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 9 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Soil microbial ecology, nutrient cycling, and transport
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 10 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Group Written Report must be submitted before 5PM Wednesday, May 16, 2018.
Module/Topic
Soil conservation (biodegredation and bioremediation)
Chapter
Readings as assigned on Moodle Week 11 tab.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
In-class Group Oral Presentations, unit overview and exam preparations
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Group Oral Presentation slides must be submitted before 8AM Monday, May 28, 2018. Presentation times will be advised on Moodle once Timetables are completed.
Self and Peer Assessments (SPA) must be submitted before 5PM June 1, 2018.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Practical and Written Assessment
You will submit your Field Workbook (20%) and a Summary (30%) of work completed at the residential school.
You must submit a scanned copy of your Field Workbook and the worksheets completed on the field trip, including a legible soil characterisation for the site we visited.
The Summary is a short report that includes a brief description of the experiments carried out and their results, including relevant figures. It will be no more than 1000 words, excluding title page, references, tables, figure and picture captions. Figures must be publication ready and generated using Excel, R or other suitable software. Resources will be available on the Moodle site to explain how to make publication ready figures in Excel. More details of this assessment will be posted on Moodle.
This Residential School is compulsory for all students. You may not complete this activity using notes produced by another student.
Week 8 Friday (4 May 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Friday (18 May 2018)
The Summary will be marked on:
- Completeness (all observations, experiments and results presented);
- Clarity, grammar, punctuation and organisation;
- Figure presentation (figures should be publication ready).
The Field Workbook and worksheets will be marked on:
- Completeness and legibility;
- Soil characterisations reasoning;
- Accuracy of the soil characterizations.
A complete rubric with weightings will be available on Moodle.
- Describe the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil
- Conduct soil tests in the laboratory and field
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
2 Presentation and Written Assessment
This is a group assessment. Your group's task is to prepare a Written Report and a Group Oral presentation on one of the three scenarios presented on Moodle. You will then award each group member a rating using the Self and Peer Assessment (SPA) tool on Moodle.
Both the written report and oral presentation should include:
- a description of the setting;
- a summary of the approach you would take to identify potential problems regarding soil at the site; and
- how you would assess, quantify and measure these issues.
The Group Written Report will be a maximum of 3000 words long (excluding title page, figure and picture captions, tables and references). It is worth 10% of total unit grade.
The Group Oral Presentation will consist of an 8 minute presentation of the report with 2 minutes for questions. It is worth 5% of total unit grade
Your group members will be awarding you a rating based on your contributions to the group work using the Self and Peer Assessment (SPA). It is in your best interests to participate fully and politely with your peers. There is a guide to Working in Groups on the Moodle page. The SPA is worth 5% of total unit grade
A more detailed task description is available on Moodle.
This assessment will be weighted in the following way:
- Group Written Report: 10% of total unit grade
- Group Oral Presentation: 5% of total unit grade
- Self and Peer Assessment (SPA): 5% of total unit grade
Group Oral Presentation slides must be submitted before 8AM Monday, May 28, 2018. Presentation times will be advised on Moodle once Timetables are completed. Self and Peer Assessments (SPA) must be submitted before 5PM June 1, 2018.
Feedback on Group Written Report will be returned by 8PM May 21, 2018. Feedback on Group Oral Presentation will be returned 8PM June 4, 2018. Anonymised SPA scores will be returned to you before release of grades.
The Group Written Report, Group Oral Presentation & SPA will be graded in the following way:
Group Written Report:
- Completeness of scenario description;
- Approach and reasoning;
- Appropriateness of the methods selected to assess, quantify and measure the issues;
- Clarity, grammar, spelling, references, and contribution statement.
Group Oral Presentation:
- Presentation quality (including slides, on-time delivery, organization and focus);
- Audience targeting;
- Equal division of presentation time;
- Quality of answers to questions asked after the presentation.
Self and Peer Assessment (SPA):
- Each student's final mark for the SPA will be an average of their peers' assessment of their contribution to the group.
- Describe the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil
- Describe and classify a range of soils
- Discuss the major challenges for the sustainable management and remediation of Australian soils.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
Examination
Calculator - non-programmable, no text retrieval, silent only
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?
