ENV BIOL 3505 - Marine & Wildlife Conservation III

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2024

This course aims to provide an understanding of the patterns of abundance and diversity of marine plants and animals and the processes that structure these patterns. The course focuses on the practical measurement and interpretation used to assess variation in ecological pattern and process, with some emphasis on human driven impacts. Particular emphasis is placed on temperate coasts for which the Australian population is largest and most dense, and its coastal-ocean problems are most expensive and intense. This course involves field trips and laboratory research that responds to tests of hypotheses that are developed during tutorials.

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Course Details

Course Code	ENV BIOL 3505
Course	Marine & Wildlife Conservation III
Coordinating Unit	Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 6 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Incompatible	ENV BIOL 3500
Restrictions	Available to students specializing in Marine & Wildlife Conservation Biology
Assessment	Graphical Abstract, Science Blog, Seminar, Poster

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Professor Sean Connell

PROFESSOR SEAN CONNELL
PROFESSOR BRONWYN GILLANDERS
PROFESSOR IVAN NAGELKERKEN

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1.     Demonstrate knowledge of processes that shape the abundance of organisms in marine and land based environments

2.     Demonstrate scientific communication skills, including the conventions in technical and popular science writing, the structure of
        scientific papers and graphical methods for presenting data, and use of a graphical abstract to enhance science communication

3.    Demonstrate team-oriented management of projects, especially communication with peers.

4.     Apply analytical methods to answer research questions, particularly questions about patterns and their natural or human-driven causes

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)
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

Hands-on practical activities characterises how this course integrates with class activities. It is a natural extension of Research Methods courses that provides practice in assessing the responses of marine populations and communities to natural and human forces and their analyses. Field and laboratory research will be built from 1 x 2-hour tutorials per week for 10 weeks, including science communication to both scientists (individual seminars) and non-scientists (individual blogs). These assessed tasks are derived from the field and laboratory studies (4 hours per week over 10 weeks) and associated tutorials. Its assessment is based on your understanding of the techniques used in marine biological research of ecological patterns and processes, their interpretation and communication. The final weeks of semester are dedicated to creative communication of coastal studies that combine marine and wildlife conservation issues.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

Learning Activities Summary

This course has an emphasis on field and laboratory practicals. Over 10 successive weeks, students collect data from coastal sites or analyse samples collected from these sites to test ideas about the influence of humans (e.g. marine litter surveys) and natural patterns of diversity (e.g. mangroves). This fieldwork is assessed by communication exercises (e.g. poster of litter type and litter frequency) or laboratory analysis of species diversity (results presented by individual seminars).

This course centres on problem-solving to acquire data to solve a marine impact issue and the scientific communication of the major outcomes. These tasks are derived from two problem-solving practicals. The first practical focuses on the development and use of sampling techniques to assess the prevalence and commonness of marine litter. The second develops observational research skills on the potential responses of marine life to spatial and temporal change in environmental issues. The assessment is designed to enhance scientific communication, showing how creativity and theory development that is a fundamental part of the progress of scientific thinking. By generating outcomes about the patterns or/and processes, students will be challenged to recognise that this is not the end-point-in science. These exercises involve the production of a poster that presents information in an engaging and concise way that targets scientists and non-scientists. It also involves providing a seminar in which clarity and concise oral and visual communication is emphasised.

Specific Course Requirements

The course involves field trips to coastal sites. Students will be informed of the relevant Environmental Health and Safety procedures at the beginning of the course.

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	Type of assessment	Percentage of total assessment for grading purposes	Hurdle Yes or No	Outcomes being assessed / achieved	Approximate Timing of Assessment
Presentation (Poster) from coastal study	Formative & summative	30%	No	1,2,4	Week 7
Presentation (Seminar) from coastal or lab study	Formative & summative	30%	No	1,2,3	Week 7
Science blog	Formative & summative	20%	No	1,2, 4	Week 12
Graphical Abstract	Formative & summative	20%	No	1,2, 4	Week 12

Assessment Detail

Marine debris (30%)

Using data gathered on the type and commonness of marine litter, students will create a poster of the activities and findings
of their research. In small groups of 2-4, students will produce a poster of the results they collect, analyse and interpret as a group and will be marked as a group assignment that is marked for content, logic, flow and overall engagement and clarity of message. Assessment includes a schematic (15%), Abstract (5%) and Poster (15%)

Seminar (30%)

These presentations of 10-15 minutes each person builds on communication skills to convery the knowledge they created on
spatial and temporal sampling of natural inhabitants of a native habitat. Student communication is assessed through class presentations, with emphasis on the ability to synthesize, evaluate and intellectually progress evidence-based ecological patterns.

Graphical Abstract (20%)

Students will convert a paper into a graphical abstract. This is an individual assignment with individual assessment. A paper is assigned to each student.

Science Blog (20%)

A 1000 word science blog will consider wither a pressing issue facing marine conservation or methodological issue. It will be marked for how it entices the reader and its factual content.

Submission

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the
assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.

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 .

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.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
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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Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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