EVST13015 - Mining, Urban & Industrial Lands Rehabilitation

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will cover essential knowledge of natural and impacted (mining, urban and industrial) landscape features and their management. You will gain a theoretical and practical understanding of landforms, biogeography, and the effects of natural and man-made impacts on the sustainability of local ecosystems. You will also learn how erosion control, vegetation surveys, modern techniques of rehabilitation, productive use of degraded land and rehabilitation success criteria are used to return disturbed landscapes into sustainable or productive ecosystems. You will gain practical experience through field trips to disturbed and rehabilitated sites. The emphasis will be on Central Queensland sites with links to broader Australian landscapes.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Students must have completed 72 units of credit.

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 Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Mixed Mode

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

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 20%
2. Practical and Written Assessment 30%
3. Online Test 50%

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 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 20.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 55.56% 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 responses, in-person feedback, student emails
Feedback
During the residential school, students preferred field and laboratory-based practical skill development activities over site tours.
Recommendation
Future offerings should allow additional time for residential school fieldwork, demonstrations, and processing of samples in the laboratory.
Action Taken
Due to availability, a visit to one of the industry rehabilitation sites had to be scheduled on the same day as the field work. This meant the time available for field work was not able to be increased for 2024. However, significant updates to timing and scheduling have already begun for 2025.
Source: Student emails, Moodle posts
Feedback
Some students needed further clarification on assessment requirements.
Recommendation
Lecturers should consider offering tutorials, Q&A sessions, and exemplars to assist students with assessment preparation.
Action Taken
Assessment task sheets and instructions were updated for 2024. In-field assistance was provided. Moodle Q&A and direct communication (email, phone) was used to assist with any further enquires. Further significant updates are ongoing.
Source: Email
Feedback
Students appreciated the detailed feedback on their assessment submissions and said it was helpful and informative.
Recommendation
Continue to provide a similar level of detailed feedback on assessments whenever possible.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: In-person and SUTE
Feedback
Some students commented that they really enjoyed visits to industry, current and former mine sites, waste management facilities, and local NRM rehabilitation areas. Some other students felt the talks and conversations sometimes deviated from land rehabilitation to broader issues that were not as relevant to the unit.
Recommendation
Continue to include a variety of relevant site visits but ensure that the talks and tours focus specifically on land rehabilitation.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Personal reflection and SUTE
Feedback
Due to a scheduling conflict with one of the industry visits, the time available for field work was too short.
Recommendation
Field work location, timing and instructions, are currently being updated for 2025. Time spent on field work will be increased and further prioritised.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Some students were not satisfied with the learning materials.
Recommendation
The unit is being updated for 2025.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Personal reflection and SUTE
Feedback
Weightings of the assessment need adjustment.
Recommendation
The weightings of the assessment have been reviewed and will likely be updated to increase emphasis on the practical component and to reduce the weighting of the online test.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe key features of the biogeographic landscape
  2. Discuss the impacts of mining, urbanisation, industrial development and tree clearing activities on the sustainability of Australian landscapes
  3. Conduct land and vegetation surveys, simulate erosion events and describe disturbed land rehabilitation techniques
  4. Analyse the techniques used in the rehabilitation of degraded Australian landscapes
  5. Design a protocol for rehabilitation and/or sustainable management of a disturbed landscape
  6. Assess the criteria used to determine cost effectiveness and success of rehabilitation processes.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
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 • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •
2 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • •