Unit Synopsis
Sustainable management of pest animals, plant diseases and weeds is paramount to successfully managing agricultural and natural environments. This unit introduces you to the principles of plant protection and the relevant foundation disciplines of weed science, plant pathology (the science of plant diseases) and 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 agricultural and natural environments. Guided by this fundamental knowledge you will understand, plan and evaluate protection strategies for a range of agricultural and natural environments.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite 48 Credit Points 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 40% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 12% response rate.
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.
Source: SUTE data
Improve clarity of quizzes
It is recommended that quiz questions are continuously revised to ensure clarity, align with current lecture material, and minimise academic integrity issues.
Quiz questions were revised to ensure alignment to lecture content. Additional lecture-aligned questions were added to the question bank. To minimise academic integrity issues, there was a large bank of quiz questions were set to be randomly selected and students had a tight but reasonable timeframe to complete.
Source: SUTE data
Review amount of weekly content
It is recommended that weekly live workshops be held, encouraging discussions on content and assessment. Additionally, weekly updates on the current timetable and upcoming assessments should also be provided. Based on the student needs, additional workshops focused on specific assessments may also be considered.
Lecture content was reviewed and presentations were updated. Live weekly workshops were held to encourage networking, content discussion and assessment information.
Source: SUTE data
Provide more real life examples relating to unit content
It is recommended that live tutorials will include more guests with research or industry backgrounds. This will provide students industry connections and current knowledge. Relevant researchers would provide students to potential research issues and innovative practices.
Guests with research and industry backgrounds were included, as per previous years. Assessment was aligned with expectations of future careers. For example: weed identification, fact sheet development and a consultancy report.
Source: Email
Provide additional assessment feedback
It is recommended that more feedback will be provided on each assessment.
Feedback was provided on all written assessment. Feedback included mark breakdown (aligned with rubric) and general statements.
Source: SUTE
Inclusion of topical learning materials
Learning materials are updated to provide topical and relevant information. It is recommended that lectures and tutorials be continually refreshed to update information and provide topical case studies for discussion.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Provide skills and knowledge for the workforce
Tutorials focus on research and industry topics to provide networks and relevant knowledge. Assessment is also orientated for job ready communication skills to target relevant audiences. It is recommended to involve more researchers and stakeholders to provide industry insight and greater networking opportunities.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Continue to promote networking with industry professionals
Live weekly workshops are held to encourage networking with industry stakeholders and researchers. It is recommended to review and update lectures, tutorials and assessment to maintain information relevance to agriculture students.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Provide additional assessment feedback
Assessment is orientated towards future careers. For example: weed identification, fact sheet development and a consultancy report. Feedback is provided on all written assessment. Feedback information includes the mark breakdown (aligned with rubric) and general statements. It is recommended that feedback will be clearer and informative and provided in a timely manner.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Identify major weeds, pests and plant diseases
- Explain the fundamental biology and ecology of weeds, pests and plant diseases
- Evaluate and propose protection strategies for agricultural and natural systems from weeds, pests and plant diseases.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | |
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |