GEOG 2142 - Climate Change
North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2016
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General Course Information
Course Details
Course Code GEOG 2142 Course Climate Change Coordinating Unit Geography, Environment and Population Term Semester 2 Level Undergraduate Location/s North Terrace Campus Units 3 Contact Up to 3 hours per week Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y Prerequisites At least 12 units of level 1 undergraduate study Incompatible GEST 2042, GEST 2026 or GEST 3026 Assessment 1000 word article review (20%), 3000 word essay or report (40%), 2 hour exam (40%) Course Staff
Course Coordinator: Associate Professor John Tibby
Course Timetable
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .
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Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
- An understanding of climate and climate change processes at local to global scales
- An understanding of the policy framework in which environmental decisions are made in Australia
- Interdisciplinary problem-solving skills
- High quality written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to undertake data manipulation and interpretation
- Ability to work effectively in a team environment
University Graduate Attributes
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:
University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s) Deep discipline knowledge
- informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
- acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
- accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
1, 2, 3 Critical thinking and problem solving
- steeped in research methods and rigor
- based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
- demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
2, 3 Teamwork and communication skills
- developed from, with, and via the SGDE
- honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
- encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
4, 6 Career and leadership readiness
- technology savvy
- professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
- forward thinking and well informed
- tested and validated by work based experiences
3, 4, 5, 6 -
Learning Resources
Required Resources
Although
there is no prescribed text for this course, the following are highly recommended. The first three excellent resources are
available online.
Cleugh, H.,
Stafford Smith, M., Battaglia, M. and Graham, P. (2011). Climate change. Science and solutions for Australia. CSIRO
Publishing, Collingwood.
This book
is available online at: http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/6558.htm
CSIRO and Bureau of
Meteorology 2015, Climate Change in Australia Information for Australia’s
Natural Resource Management Regions: Technical Report, CSIRO and Bureau of
Meteorology, Australia http://www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au/en/publications-library/technical-report/
Steffen, W. and Hughes, L. (2011). The Critical
Decade 2013: Climate change science, risks and response
Department of
Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education
Available at:
http://climatecommission.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/The-Critical-Decade_July-revision_Low-res.pdf
Pittock,
A.B. (2009). Climate change: the science,
impacts and solutions. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
Pittock
(2009), and to a lesser extent Cleugh et al. (2011), provide a quite
descriptive account of the science of climate change and its impacts. Hence, they should be read in conjunction
with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report
(IPCC 2007)
One other particularly useful book is:
Richardson,
K., Steffen, W. and Liverman, D. (2011).
Climate Change: Global risks,
challenges and decisions. Cambridge University Press.
Recommended Resources
Recommended reading for each lecture will be provided via MyUni
There is a wealth of published material relevant to the course. For example, there
are over 100,000 individual publications in the Scopus database on “climate
change”. Despite this wealth of information, there is no single text book
that adequately summarises the key components of the course. Hence, a key
challenge is to focus on that which is most relevant and up to date (which, for
the most part, appears in journals and on the internet before it does in
books).
A list of lecture and tutorial reading will be made available on MyUni.
The use of the Scopus
database to locate relevant academic publications on climate change is highly
recommended. Note that you can
access Scopus from the Quicklinks on the Library’s website: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/
Glossaries
Terms used in the climate change literature have specific meanings
different to those used in everyday life.
Examples include “mitigation”, “adaptation” and “commitment”. Hence, it is important to understand these
the academic use of such terms. A useful
glossary of terms can be found at:
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/climate-change/glossary.asp
Online Learning
MyUni will be used for course-related announcements.
Additional course-related material will be made available through MyUni. These materials include:
1. Lecture recordings and lecture summaries. These will be posted after the lectures.
2. Essay questions and suggested reference sources.
3. The Geography, Environment and Population essay writing guide.
4. Information on the use of turnitin.
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Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes
There are a number of teaching and learning modes in this course. The course lectures provide basic factual information and concepts about climate change. The tutorials provide an opportunity to discuss in detail specific themes more fully, while others will be more practical and you will have an opportunity to explore climate data and climate projections. In the week 6-8 tutorials, you will be asked to develop and present your assessment of the preparedness of South Australian institutions for climate change. The short essay provides an opportunity to explore the specific appropriateness of the risk analysis undertaken by Australian agencies. Importantly, this formative piece of assessment permits an assessment of your progress and understanding while only being worth a relatively small proportion of your mark. The long essay is an opportunity for more in depth investigation of key topics. Finally, the exam will assess the extent to which students have developed their understanding through the course. The will be a specific question on the exam related to the material delivered in tutorial weeks 6-8.Workload
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
· Structured learning (lectures and tutorials): 3 hours per week
· Background reading and reading for specific tutorials: 4 hours per week
· Essay research and preparation: 3 hours per week (average)
· Exam revision: 2 hours per week (average)
Learning Activities Summary
Schedule Week 1 Scale and uncertainty in climate change management Week 2 “What, when and how?” Global climate change projections: Week 3 Historic and “pre-historic” global climate Week 4 Climate projections for Australia Week 5 Climate change and water management: the Murray-Darling Basin Week 6 Climate change risk and vulnerability Week 7 Social learning and climate change Week 8 The politics of climate change Week 9 Reflexivity and the second modernity Week 10 Global change and the oceans Week 11 Carbon accounting and trading Week 12 Responses to climate sceptics
Specific Course Requirements
n/aSmall Group Discovery Experience
In weeks 6-8 students develop a round table discussion of a local or regional scale climate change issue. Students work in group sizes of no more than 6 students to: decide on a topic (with guidance from staff), divide research tasks and organisate a presentation to the whole tutorial/workshop group. This SGDE mimics the type of approaches undertaken by Natural Resource
Management agencies in South Australia in particular and across the nation. Students are explicitly assessed on this work in the exam, but are provided feedback on their ungraded presentations immediately.
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Assessment
The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:
- Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
- Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
- Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
- Assessment must maintain academic standards.
Assessment Summary
Assessment Task Task Type Weighting Learning Outcome Short essay Formative 20% 1,2,3,4 Long essay Formative 40% 1,2,3,4 Exam Summative 20% 1,2,3,4 Assessment Detail
Short essay: Should be no more than 1000 words (including in text references but not the reference list) and follow the guidelines set out in the essay writing guide on MyUni.
Long essay: This should be no more than 3000 words (including in text references but not the reference list).
Exam: The exam will have 2 hours writing time. Example exam questions will be posted on MyUni after mid-semester break and the
exam will be discussed in the final lecture and tutorial.
Submission
Submission of essays will be required through turnitin.Course Grading
Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:
M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme) Grade Mark Description FNS Fail No Submission F 1-49 Fail P 50-64 Pass C 65-74 Credit D 75-84 Distinction HD 85-100 High Distinction CN Continuing NFE No Formal Examination RP Result Pending Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.
Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.
Final results for this course will be made available through .
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Student Feedback
The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.
SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
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Student Support
- Academic Integrity for Students
- Academic Support with Maths
- Academic Support with writing and study skills
- Careers Services
- Library Services for Students
- LinkedIn Learning
- Student Life Counselling Support - Personal counselling for issues affecting study
- Students with a Disability - Alternative academic arrangements
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Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
- Academic Credit Arrangements Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progress by Coursework Students Policy
- Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy
- Copyright Compliance Policy
- Coursework Academic Programs Policy
- Intellectual Property Policy
- IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy
- Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy
- Reasonable Adjustments to Learning, Teaching & Assessment for Students with a Disability Policy
- Student Experience of Learning and Teaching Policy
- Student Grievance Resolution Process
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Fraud Awareness
Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.
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