EVST13016 - Catchment to Reef Management

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

Catchment to Reef Management is a 12 credit point capstone unit in which you will synthesise the skills and knowledge developed in your degree to date. You will study how abiotic and biotic factors affect ecosystem development in the major regions of a catchment and examine anthropogenic issues in catchment management. During an extended field trip, you will work in teams to quantitatively and qualitatively examine and evaluate the Fitzroy River catchment and then develop a whole of catchment management plan. While planning and undertaking field work you will consider the role and needs of stakeholders, including Traditional Owners, Australian Legislative and ethical requirements, and environmental and economic factors.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Students must successfully complete 96 credit points of study before undertaking this unit.

And complete the following units:

GEOG19021 and;

(BOTN19001 or ENVR12002)

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 - 2026


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 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Research Assignment 30%
2. Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books 20%
3. Report 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

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 70% 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: Moodle feedback Email
Feedback:
 Some students requested additional learning resources throughout term, which were supplied as best could be managed while also writing and delivering the unit for the first time.

Recommendation:
 Following from the materials developed and feedback provided during this first offering, the unit will be able to provide a greater volume of relevant additional learning resources across multiple formats for future classes.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Moodle feedback
Feedback:
 One student considered the current grade weighting distribution (20%-30%-50%) to be too heavily weighted toward the final assessment.

Recommendation:
 Re-examine the current grade weighting distribution and adjust if deemed appropriate relevant to the learning objectives assessed.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Moodle feedback Email In-class feedback
Feedback:
 Several students suggested that a tutorial or some additional interaction prior to the residential school would help to streamline the volume of tasks on the residential school, and ultimately better prepare them for assessment.

Recommendation:
 Additional tutorial/contact time will be set for future offerings, to help better explain and focus students onto the residential school tasks and how they relate to the assessments.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Moodle feedback Email In-class feedback
Feedback:
 Students appeared to greatly enjoy the residential school and the effort to engage them with professionals in the field during the res school and as guest lecturers.

Recommendation:
 Maintain this level of external engagement for future offerings, and improve upon it where possible

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

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

  1. Compare and contrast the ecology of the major regions within a catchment system
  2. Describe the major drivers of issues in catchment management
  3. Relate ecosystem structure to abiotic changes along the length of a catchment system
  4. Evaluate current catchment management programs and practices
  5. Plan and complete a whole of catchment survey
  6. Assess disturbances caused by natural and anthropogenic processes within a catchment system
  7. Develop a whole of catchment management plan that considers environmental and economic factors, Australian legislative frameworks, community stakeholders and the requirements of Traditional Owners.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 - Research Assignment • • • •
2 - Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books • •
3 - Report • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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 •
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 10