BLAR11033 - Building Materials 1

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will develop your knowledge on the properties of building materials. You will also examine testing (both destructive and non-destructive) of timber, concrete, and metals in relation to: Timber - grading, strength tests, durability and protection of timber products; Concrete - tests on aggregates, fresh and hardened concrete properties, durability studies and test methods, and concrete protection; and Metal - ferrous and non-ferrous metal and its alloys, corrosion of metals and protection, and strength properties tests. This unit also develops your understanding of: Protection from corrosion and destruction; Identifying the suitable grade material for the site conditions; and Relevant Australian and international Standards. You will be provided with an introduction to: the development and application of materials from industry by-products and re-cycling of materials and life-cycle analysis of materials.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the 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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 71.43% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 22.86% 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: Student
Feedback
Students appreciated that the lecturer included modern materials and 3D printing of buildings.
Recommendation
The unit is continually updated to reflect technological advances.
Action Taken
More examples of new construction methods and materials were provided via the unit MS Team and discussed during tutorials.
Source: Student
Feedback
The information provided by the lecturer was split randomly between the Moodle and MS Teams, this was confusing for some students.
Recommendation
All core learning material is provided through the Moodle site and mirrored in the MS Team which also provides a forum for student engagement.
Action Taken
Core materials remained in Moodle, but more students actively used the MS Team, where all core materials were mirrored. During the tutorials, the availability of new and additional resources was made clear.
Source: Lecturer
Feedback
Attendance at and access to tutorial recordings was low.
Recommendation
Tutorial attendance is highly recommended for students to provide clarification on the unit's subjects and guidance on the assignments.
Action Taken
Students were reminded by several emails that tutorials help improve their outcomes. Reliance on watching the recordings was highlighted as a weak alternative to actually attending.
Source: Students
Feedback
The MS Team provided quick access to the lecturer and allowed students to discuss matters together.
Recommendation
The MS Team will continue to be actively used. Many students are increasingly using MS Teams at work, which has become a transferable skill in teaching.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student
Feedback
Teams could be utilised for the whole course and links through to Moodle as required
Recommendation
Moodle must remain the core system, but the team is increasingly used in support functions and engagement improvement.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student
Feedback
The quality of the pre-recorded lectures could be improved.
Recommendation
Lectures are to be reviewed and renewed. They do not simply read from textbooks but expand on the core issues and ideas.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student
Feedback
Thanks to the lecturer for their help and feedback, which ensured that the tutorials were an essential source of information and understanding.
Recommendation
All students have direct, quick access to the lecturer via the MS Team, and they remain the focus of the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.