Unit Synopsis
This unit will introduce the student to the concept of environmental determinants of health and the need to protect people from hazards in the environment that pose a risk to health. Students will study the links between good health and the state of the environment, particularly those between the environment and society, economics and environment, politics and environment and environmental health development. Students will develop an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental health issues and the interaction between human lifestyles, consumption patterns, urbanisation and health. It is a requirement of this unit to have access to the CQU website and the internet.
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 - 2026
Term 1 - 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) | 5% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 4. Written Assessment | 55% |
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 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 19.35% 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: Personal reflections
Review Structured Tutorials for 2025
Discussed with HoC. Some tutorials may need to be restructured for intake of internal students for 2025.
The international students were provided with an extra hour of teaching support on the Melbourne campus and the domestic students an extra hour of tutorials online.
Source: Personal reflection
Student attendance of lectures and tutorials was poor across the term.
Emphasise at the start of, and during, term how important it is to attend lectures and tutorials. As well as the importance to student learning of regularly engaging with the teaching staff.
In Progress
Source: Unit comments
Dale & Lisa are doing great work, they inspire me to think outside the box, which has exp(a)nded my knowledge a lot.
Encourage all students to reflect on the positives of the unit teaching as the term unfolds. Have students provide in depth feedback on the unit curriculum during the term, so changes can be considered.
In Progress
Source: Student reflection
Possibly not so much reading
Not clear why the student felt the amount of reading was too much. The reading material meets the learning outcome needs and where reading can be replaced it is replaced with audiovisual materials, e.g. podcasts, vidcasts and audio recordings. As with other resources provided for this unit the readings are regularly under review.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Describe environmental determinants of health
- Explain the principles of environmental protection, ecologically sustainable development and the precautionary principle
- Discuss the historical development and current paradigms pertaining to the discipline of environmental health in Australia and overseas
- Analyse case studies which highlight the interdisciplinary nature of environmental health issues and the need to protect people from hazards in the environment that pose a risk to health
Describe This unit relates to the following requirements for accreditation by Environmental Health Australia:
Environmental health literacies
- Public heath principles
- Sustainable development and environmental health principles
- Foundational sciences
- Foundational environmental health practice
- Environmental health management
Environmental health graduate attributes
1. Apply relevant knowledge, principles and concepts to workplace needs
- Apply basic public health science principles and concepts to issues of concern
- Understand the discipline of environmental health, its theoretical underpinnings and spheres of operation
2. Communicate effectively
- Exchange of information with colleagues, practitioners, clients, policy-makers, interest groups and the public
- Persuasively argue for the value and importance of environmental & public health
3. Access, evaluate and synthesise information
- Identify and access information sources and compile relevant & appropriate information when needed
- Analyse data, recognise meaningful test results, and interpret results
4. Utilise lifelong learning skills
- Take responsibility for their own learning and development
- Critically evaluate personal beliefs and assumptions
5. Demonstrate international and cultural awareness and understanding
- Recognise individual and collective human rights
- Recognise the importance of cultural diversity and sensitivity
- Think globally
6. Apply professional skills
- Work independently and in teams
- Demonstrate ethical practices
- Employ systems thinking skills
7. Use technologies appropriately
- Decide on appropriate applications, recognising their advantages & limitations
8. Think critically, creatively and reflectively
- Apply logical and rational processes to analyse the components of an issue
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 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 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | ||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||
| 4 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||