Overview
This unit provides an introduction to the themes, approaches, and main subfields of human geography. In this unit, you will explore spatial patterns and processes of population, migration, health and disease, culture, identity and cultural landscape, urban systems, location of economic activities and sustainable development. You will examine these through case studies drawn from Australia and around the world.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
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 - 2023
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).
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 (Q5 in Unit Comment)
Some students indicated they were unsure how to approach the assessments.
This is the first unit for some students. It is recommended to run specific tutorial sessions for ensuring clear unit requirements and for assisting students to complete assessments.
Feedback from Student feedback & Unit Coordinator self assessment
The unit requirements were unclear to some students.
Review the unit's learning materials, including reading guides, learning notes and learning activities, and update or revise where necessary to ensure thorough understanding.
- Discuss the key concepts and themes of human geography
- Identify and explain spatial patterns and processes of human activities at different scales
- Interpret maps, spatial data and geographic models for geographic inquiry
- Communicate geographic concepts, facts and ideas in a range of forms, including critical summaries, maps and reports.
n/a
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online discussion forum - 20% | ||||
| 2 - Report - 40% | ||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||
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 - Online discussion forum - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Report - 40% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Word Processing
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
j.wu@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Unit Introduction - What is human geography
Chapter
There is no textbook for this unit. All learning materials will be provided on the unit's Moodle site.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Population Geography
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Mobility and Migration
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Geographies of Globalisation and Disease
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Geographies of Cultural Difference and Diffusion
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Geography of Identity and Place
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Political Geography
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Urban Geography
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Agricultural Geography and Rural Landscapes
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Geography of Industry and Services
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Geography of Development: The Unequal World
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Doing Geography: Where Do We Go From Here?
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online discussion forum
The assessment task requires you to actively participate in the online discussion forum on the unit's Moodle site, which contributes to the attainment of the Learning Outcome: "Discuss the key concepts and themes of human geography." Your participation includes creating a minimum of three initial posts and two responses that reply to the initial posts of fellow students. Each post should be concise, ranging from 50 to 70 words. For detailed instructions and resources, please refer to the unit's Moodle site.
Posts must be made during the period from week 1 to week 12. Posts submitted after week 12 (11:30pm, Sunday) will not be assessed.
All posts will be evaluated by the end of the term.
Your posts will be evaluated based on both quantity (number of posts and responses) and quality of the posts as well as their contributions to learning and discussion. Detailed marking criteria is provided on unit's Moodle site.
- Discuss the key concepts and themes of human geography
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Report
The assessment primarily focuses on exploring the significance of maps in human geographic inquiry. Its task requires you to identify two distinct websites that provide access to thematic maps in human geography. You will need to download one map from each of the websites. The two maps should differ in the scale of the area they represent. For example, if one map depicts a country, the other should represent a region (or a community) or even the entire world.
Both maps can focus on either similar or different themes in human geography. For each map, you should describe what the map reveals, analyse the distribution pattern presented, and explain how it contributes to your understanding of aspects of human geography. The report should be between 1,800 to 2,000 words in length.
Detailed instructions and resources are provided on the unit's Moodle site.
Week 7 Friday (1 Sept 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 9 Friday (15 Sept 2023)
Assessments will be marked and returned in two weeks after submission or as soon as practicable.
Your reports will be assessed based on
- Quality of maps chosen, including illustrations and appropriateness of the mapping subjects;
- Interpretation of the spatial distribution of the mapped object, including the applications of relevant human geographic concepts to address questions of what, where and why;
-
Competency of communications, including the structure of the report, English expression and citation.
A marking rubric will be provided in the unit's Moodle site.
- Discuss the key concepts and themes of human geography
- Identify and explain spatial patterns and processes of human activities at different scales
- Interpret maps, spatial data and geographic models for geographic inquiry
- Communicate geographic concepts, facts and ideas in a range of forms, including critical summaries, maps and reports.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Social Innovation
3 Written Assessment
The assessment task requires you to write a term research paper. In this paper, you are expected to identify and discuss the geographical dimensions of one or a combination of two interconnected human geography topics, such as population, migration, race, culture, politics, land use, urban and industrial space, development, health, globalisation, sustainability, etc. The paper should have A CLEAR FOCUS and the geographical area can be either at the local, national, regional, or even global level. The paper should be 2,200 – 2,500 words in length.
Detailed instructions and support are provided in the unit's Moodle site.
Week 12 Friday (6 Oct 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Exam Week Friday (20 Oct 2023)
Assessments will be marked and returned in the end of the term.
- Depth and breadth of the research on the selected topics
- Application of geographical approaches in discussing the topics, including the use of maps and other visual and graphical data
- Demonstrated knowledge and skills in explaining geographic patterns and/or spatial relations
- Effective communication, including organisation, English expression and citation.
A marking rubric will be provided in the unit's Moodle site.
- Identify and explain spatial patterns and processes of human activities at different scales
- Interpret maps, spatial data and geographic models for geographic inquiry
- Communicate geographic concepts, facts and ideas in a range of forms, including critical summaries, maps and reports.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Social Innovation
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?
