School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

Course Outline: ENVI / GEOG 114 Trimester 1, 2011 The Environment and Resources: The Foundations

http://michiganlendingnews.com/2011/05/11/live-green/

Staff
Course Coordinator: Email: Phone: Office hours: Lecturer: Email: Phone: Office hours: Lead Tutor: Email: Office Hours: Dr Sophie Bond sophie.bond@vuw.ac.nz 4635217 12-1pm Mondays and Tuesdays in CO203. Professor Rewi Newnham rewi.newnham@vuw.ac.nz 4635279 3-4pm Mondays & Tuesdays in CO208. Sascha Feary sascha.feary@gmail.com 2-4pm Mondays in Buchanan Room

(opposite kitchen on second floor of Cotton)

Course Outline ENVI/GEOG 114 2011

Introduction
GEOG/ENVI 114 is an introduction to the discipline of Environmental Studies that focuses on both the global and New Zealand environments. The course aims to build an understanding of complex environmental problems and to develop strategies for their solution. You will see how the environment is made up of a series of interacting and interdependent biological and physical systems that, when disrupted, can lead to environmental degradation. As degradation often occurs as a consequence of human resource use, understanding environmental issues requires an appreciation of the way in which physical, biological and social systems interact. The course employs geography as a core discipline and incorporates other bio-physical and social sciences to cover the spectrum of environmental science and management.

Course Objectives
The course objectives for GEOG/ENVI 114 are that students will develop understandings of: 1. the physical, biological and climatic components of the Earth System and their significance for life on Earth 2. the interdependency of these Earth system components that, when disrupted, can lead to environmental degradation; 3. the need for sustainable resource use to be compatible with this physical and biological dynamic (as all societies rely on environmental systems for their survival); 4. the changing character of human resource use and resultant environmental impacts over time; 5. how social systems (political, cultural, economic) and processes are implicated in environmental change, making the natural environment and resource use political; 6. a variety of technologies, innovations and strategies that can help promote both sustainable resource use and environmental protection.

Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes below relate to each of the course objectives. At the completion of this course students will be able to: 1. distinguish between different physical and biological systems and identify key aspects of interdependence between systems; 2. demonstrate an understanding that environmental change arises both from natural processes and human intervention and that the disruption of systems can lead to environmental degradation; 3. provide examples of unsustainable and sustainable resource use and relate these examples to the sustainability of physical and biological systems; 4. identify how human resource use has changed over time and explain the varying interruptions human resource use has had on biological and physical systems; 5. identify the role of core social, political, economic and cultural structures in environmental degradation; and i. explain how the natural environment and resource use is politicised through these social, economic and political structures; and ii. relate the politics of environmental change to the biological and physical interruptions that cause degradation; 6. provide examples of different tools, technologies, and environmental management approaches that can be employed to promote sustainability and environmental protection.
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Course Work
The structure of the course is shown in the diagram on page 5. Each segment indicates a module and the weeks in which it will be covered in lectures. Learning outcomes (LO) that relate to each module are also indicated. There are four central themes on which lecture modules are based. Each of these themes interrelate. These are: Natural Earth systems; Human induced environmental change; Drivers of environmental change; and Politics of environmental change.

As a 15 point paper, the expected workload for the whole course is 150 hours. This includes: - 2 one hour lectures per week over the trimester; - 6 two hour tutorials spread over the trimester (5 of which are assessed). The remainder of your time should be spent on reading preparation for lectures and tutorials, assignments and exam preparation (details below). There is an expectation that you come prepared for lectures having completed any required reading before hand. There is also an expectation that you attend all lectures. Hints about what will be examined will be scattered through lectures. It will be to your advantage to attend all of them.

Means of Communication
The main means of communication for Envi/Geog 114 is by email, Blackboard and notices given in lectures and tutorials. Please make a habit of checking Blackboard and your email regularly.

Key Dates
Term begins/first lecture: Mid Trimester Break: Assignment 1 due: Assignment 2 due: Last lecture: Exam period: Last date for withdrawal: Lecture times: Lecture Theatre: Monday 11th July Monday 22nd Aug Friday 4th Sept. 15th August 2011 26th September 2011 Friday 14th October 2011 21st October to 12th November 2011 22nd July, 2011 Monday, Tuesday 11am-12pm Hugh McKenzie Lecture Theatre (HMLT) 206

Readings and Recommended Texts

The recommended text for Envi/Geog 114 is: Holden, J. (2008) (2nd edition) An Introduction to Physical Geography, Pearson Prentice Hall, Harlow. Several copies are available on closed reserve and three day loan. Additional readings for lectures and tutorials will be posted on Blackboard with an indication of how you can access them. Some book chapters or articles may be available to download direct from Blackboard. Other material indicated will be available either from the library open shelves, on 3-day loan, or on closed reserve.

Tutorials
Tutorials are an essential part of the course and provide a crucial role in achieving the course learning outcomes. Tutorials will be held in weeks: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9 (6 tutorials in total). Choose a
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tutorial time from the following options and write your name on the tutorial lists provided on the GEOG/ENVI 114 Notice Board (beside room CO 228, near the womens toilets). There is a maximum of 36 students per tutorial class. Day Monday Tuesday Tuesday Thursday Time 4.10 6.00 8.00 9.50 4.10 6.00 8.00 9.50 Room CO216 MY632 AM104 AM102 Day Thursday Friday Friday Time 4.10 6.00 9.00 10.50 2.10 4.00 Room CO118 MY632 AM102

From week 3, each tutorial will include a marked tutorial exercise that needs to be completed within the tutorial and handed in at the end of that tutorial. The first tutorial in week 2 is not assessed but you still must attend as it forms an essential introduction. Each assessed tutorial is worth 4% of your total mark for the course, so all 5 assessed tutorials are worth a total of 20% of your final mark. Penalties will apply if you do not hand your tutorial exercise in on time (see below).

Course Calendar
The following table shows the outline of lectures, their broad content and the staff involved. It also shows when tutorial weeks fall. The asterix (*) indicate the weeks that assessment is due. Wk Date/ Tut Theme Lecture 1 11/7 L1 Introduction 12/7 L2 Environmental history 2 18/7 L3 1 Hunter-gatherers to farmers 19/7 L4 Empires, Civilisation and the roots of Western thought on nature 3 25/7 L5 2 Industrial revolution 26/7 L6 Population, Consumption and uneven development 4 1/8 L7 3 Politics of knowledge:junk science v sound science 2/8 L8 Physical Geography & Earth Systems Science 5 8/8 L9 Landforms and landform processes 9/8 L10 Atmosphere, Weather & Climate 6* 15/8 L11 4 The Biosphere: Soils & Ecosystems 16/8 L12 The Biospehere: Plants, Ecology, Biogeography th to Sun 4th Sept Mid trimester break Sat 20 7 5/9 L13 Climate Change Science 6/9 L14 Climate Change: Science & Impacts 8 12/9 L15 5 Essay writing 13/9 L16 Oil the growth imperative 9 19/9 L17 Poison Fire the Niger Delta 20/9 L18 Green Revolution 10* 26/9 L19 6 Neoliberalism, globalisation & the tragedy of the commons 27/9 L20 Managing the Commons Biodiversity, conservation and control 11 3/10 L21 Managing the Commons? Deforestation and REDD 4/10 L22 Managing the national or local commons property rights in water? 12 10/10 L23 Water and Aotearoa New Zealand 11/10 L24 Wrap up course review Staff SB/RN RN SB SB SB SB SB RN RN RN RN RN RN RN RN/SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB SB/RN

Course Outline ENVI/GEOG 114 2011

Politics of Environmental change

Managing the Commons wks 10-12 Early HumanLO 4 & 5 Environment Interaction
wk 2-3 LO 2 & 4

Environmental History
wk 1 LO 2 & 3

Human Induced Environmental change

Environmental Change Systems Earth Globalisation

- capitalism andPhysical wks 7-9 - Biological LO 3 4-5 wks & 5 Climate Change: LO 1 & 2 an illustration of
human induced environmental change
wk 6 LO 2 & 3

Drivers of Environmental change

Natural Earth Systems 5

Assessment There are four components to assessment in Envi/Geog 114, outlined in the following table.
Assessment 5 Assessed Tutorials Percentage of final mark 20% (4% each) Due Date Weeks 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 hand-in in tutorial BUT you must still attend the tut in wk 2 Length

Variable

Assignment 1: Library and Research skills

10%

Monday 15th August 4pm

Variable

Assignment 2: Research Essay Final Exam

20% 50%

Monday 26th September 4pm TBA

1500 words 2 hours

Penalties Marks will be deducted for lateness (5% per day) (weekend is two days). This means that 5% will be deducted from the percentile grade. For example, if you scored 75% for the assignment 2, but handed in two days late, you will get 10% deducted and the grade will be reduced to 65% (i.e. where 100% is 20 out of 20). This applies to both the written assignment and to tutorials. Tutorials should be handed in at the end of the tutorial. Note: The excuse that the computer crashed or the disk was corrupted is not accepted as a reason for not handing in on time. Back up your work religiously! Assignment 1 and 2 Assignment 1 is designed to provide you with essential research skills, and to encourage you to learn how to use the library even better than you already do. These skills will be essential to doing well in assignment 2, your research essay, as well as providing you with good habits for the remainder of your degree programme. Assignment 1 will be made available on Blackboard in week 3. You will need to download the word doc form and complete it. The tutorial in week 3 will also provide you with some guidance as to how you go about the exercise in evaluating information. You will be given some specific times in week 5 when you will be able to access computer labs to complete a section of the exercise on using databases in the library. Be organized about this and DO NOT LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE. For assignment 2, you are required to complete a research essay of 1500 words on an aspect of climate change or peak oil. By an aspect, we require you to focus down on a specific issue of climate change or peak oil. You can narrow your research by asking a specific question (ie create your own essay question that you address): for example, how does human activity give rise to climate change? What are the major uncertainties in attributing recent climate change to human activity? What are likely to be the most significant impacts of climate change during the 21st century? These questions still remain

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quite broad and general. You can narrow the scope of your essay further (which will make it easier for you to develop a strong argument) by focusing on a particular location. How will Aotearoa New Zealand be affected by climate change projected for the 21st century? What are the main issues Aotearoa New Zealand will face in relation to peak oil? And even more focused: What are the major contributors of GHGs in Aotearoa New Zealand and what policies (if any) are in place to address these? In relation to the last question you would be expected to give some evaluation of the effectiveness of policy measures. PLEASE NOTE: these are just examples, and part of the assignment is for you to come up with your own research question. There will be opportunities in the tutorials to discuss ideas for potential topics. Essay writing will also be discussed in a lecture at about the time you should be writing your essay (having already done or at least started the research!). REMEMBER the more focused your question is, the easier it is to write the essay and to do well. As indicated below, your essay must have a clear argument. You make your argument in the way you address the key question you have posed. The required structure of the essay and marks allocated to each part are outlined in the table below. Your essay MUST: 1. Demonstrate your understanding of the integrated nature of both earth system processes and social, economic and political factors as they relate to either climate change or peak oil; 2. Make a clear argument that you substantiate with appropriate evidence; 3. Be sufficiently focused; 4. Be well referenced, using good quality sources; 5. Be well written, proof read, and well presented. You may use diagrams, but these must be properly labeled, referenced, and add to your argument.

Section Introduction Part 1

Task Introduce your topic, your main argument, and the structure of your essay. Outline the earth system processes associated with your topic. Substantiate your argument by making some key points that are backed up by appropriate evidence.

Word limit 150 300

Marks allocated 2 6 6

Part 2

Ensure that you incorporate a consideration of how the earth system processes identified in part 1 relate to social, economic and political factors associated with your topic. Synthesise your main points and conclude your essay.

900 4

Conclusion

150

Some of the work associated with this assignment will arise from discussions you will have in groups in the tutorials. As such, you are encouraged to collaborate with others to help build your understanding of the topic. It is important however, that your actual assignment is your own work (i.e. do not share in the writing of the assignment as this will be plagiarism

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and you will be penalised, receiving a zero grade for any plagiarised work see page 14 course outline). Start work on your assignment early! It is expected that appropriate literature and/or examples will be used throughout your assignment to provide evidence for your claims. All literature/resources used must be referenced in the correct way as detailed below. Recommended reading for the assignment includes that listed for the relevant lectures in weeks 7 (Climate Change) and 8 (Peak Oil) and will be posted on Blackboard. It is expected that you will also research your own additional material and it is recommended you begin reading prior to week 8 even if you are doing your essay on an aspect of peak oil. Readings will be posted on Blackboard in advance. General criteria used in assessing work Content and Structure: Has the student answered the question? Has the material been covered comprehensively, but with discrimination of what is important and relevant? Is the material logically ordered, aim and scope clearly identified? Depth of analysis: Does the work indicate that the student understands the topic, have they critically considered various viewpoints, and interpreted the information available? Use of readings and supplementary materials. Is the range of sources appropriate? Has the student used their initiative in seeking additional sources? Is the material critically evaluated? Is the material properly cited? (See below for referencing information poor referencing can be considered to be plagiarism) Clarity of expression. Can the student convey ideas and conclusions in a clear way, which doesn't require re-reading and interpretation for the reader to understand? Technical presentation. Is the student able to write in good English, spell correctly, lay out work neatly, and make effective use of graphics and tabulations. Are format instructions followed? Originality. Is there evidence of original thinking on the part of the student, in addition to merely reporting the views of others? Note: the University takes a very serious view of plagiarism. Penalties - Timeliness of handing in. Tutorial work must be handed in at the end of the tutorial unless special exemption has been obtained from the tutors. Tutorials and the assignment will receive a penalty of 5% of its assessed grade for every day it is late. A weekend is two days. NB: The excuse that the computer crashed or the disk was corrupted is not accepted as a reason for not handing in on time. Back up your work religiously! Final Exam The final exam is worth 50% of the final grade. This will be a 2-hour exam paper covering all of the material dealt with in the course. Tips about what is examinable will be given throughout the lectures, with an overview of the structure of the examination given in the final lecture it is therefore highly recommended that you attend all the lectures. The exam will be held during the exam period at the end of the second trimester.

Course Outline ENVI/GEOG 114 2011

You MUST pass the exam to pass the course. Even if your combined internal assessment and exam marks are over 50% you will NOT PASS IF YOU DO NOT PASS THE EXAM. These are mandatory course requirements see below.

Grades for all assessment

Grade Scale A+ A AB+ B > 85% 80 - 84% 75 - 79% 70 - 74% 65 - 69% BC+ C D E 60 - 64% 55 - 59% 50 - 54% 40 - 49% < 40%

Referencing It is essential that you get into good habits with referencing. There are three reasons for this: 1. it is good academic practice in that it clearly marks your own ideas from those of others; 2. if someone wants to read further on the topic, they can follow the references you used; and 3. it is the only way to avoid plagiarism. Marks will be deducted from your assignments in this course and others if you do not reference material properly. You must cite and provide the reference details for any material that you use in your assignments. Referencing carelessly is not an excuse plagiarism is taken very seriously. Footnotes or endnotes may be used in moderation to note important information that relates to a part of the text, but should not be used for referencing. There are a variety of styles for referencing. For this course the Harvard author-date or the APA systems are preferred. Consistency and accuracy are crucial to good referencing. There are several excellent Style Guides that provide detailed information on how to present your in-text citations and your reference list. Here is a summary (from Nick Prestons Referencing Guide 2007), but for more detail refer to the links at the end of this section. There are two places where references are required. One is in the body of the text (ie your essay) referred to as in-text citing and the other at the end of the document in a reference list. Please note, a reference list differs from a bibliography. A reference list is the list of references cited (used) in the body of the text. A bibliography is a list of all material read or consulted during the preparation of the text, but not necessarily cited. You are required to present a reference list not a bibliography. In-text citing In Geography, footnotes can be used to append peripheral information; they should not be used for referencing. Within the text, you should indicate the author/s and the year of publication. There are two ways you can do this, depending on how you structure your sentence. If you wish simply to acknowledge the source of the statement you have made, this should be in brackets at the end of the sentence, e.g.: This is a statement that relates to a fact or piece of information derived from
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somebody elses work (Bloggs, 2005). Note that there is a comma between the author and the year of publication, and that the fullstop comes after the citation. If you wish to cite a number of different sources, they should be separated using semicolons, e.g.: Examples of the idea contained within this sentence can be found in a number of different sources (e.g. Bloggs, 2005; Smith & Jones, 2004; Brown et al., 1997). Alternatively, you may wish to incorporate the reference into your writing, e.g.: This was emphasised by Bloggs (2005), who stated that .... Page numbers are not necessary unless you are quoting directly, in which case the quoted text must be clearly indicated as such. The appropriate format is: Cats have nine lives (Bloggs, 2005:123). Note that the number of the page on which this quote appears in the source text is given; note also the format: a colon is used to separate the year and the page number (or range of pages if necessary). If there are two authors, both names should be included, e.g. Smith & Jones (2004). Note the use of the ampersand (&). If there are more than two authors, refer only to the first and indicate that there are multiple authors with et al.. This is an abbreviation of the Latin term et alia, which means and others. For example, Bloggs et al. (2004) found that ..... Note the use of italics (foreign language) and a full stop because al. is an abbreviation of alia. Thus, if you use this expression in a bracketed citation the correct punctuation would be (Bloggs et al., 2004), i.e. with both fullstop and comma. If you use secondary sources, within the text you should name the original source and cite the secondary source. For example: The work of Smith & Jones (1999, as cited in Bloggs, 2004) demonstrates .... Both Smith & Jones (1999) and Bloggs (2004) should appear in your Reference List. It is possible that Bloggs may have misinterpreted Smith & Jones, or s/he may have altered a diagram, so it is important that you make clear what is the source of information that you are using. Under no circumstances should you cite something that you have not seen yourself. Using this example, you should not cite Smith & Jones (1999) alone if you have only read about their work in Bloggs (2004). You must go to the original source. Reference List There are many different formats that you can use for referencing. No style is inherently right or wrong, although you will note that different disciplines tend to follow similar styles. What is crucial is that you follow and stick to one style consistently. Within Physical Geography typical citation styles can be seen in journals such as Earth Surface Processes & Landforms or Geomorphology. Within Human Geography, journals such as Progress in Human Geography or Antipode demonstrate an appropriate style. Whichever format you choose, you must keep the following points in mind: You should be consistent in your formatting. You must communicate the essential information that is necessary for yourreader to locate the material in question. The Reference List is arranged alphabetically by first author. Indent the second and subsequent lines of the reference ie use a hanging indent.

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Templates for different types of references are given below. Pay attention to the punctuation and formatting - it is important! Square brackets indicate fields; insert substitute information as appropriate. Some comments on the use of these various fields follow. Book [Author/s], [year of publication]. [Title of the Book] ([edition no.] edn.). [Publisher], [City]. [no. of pages] pp. (Note that it is only necessary to indicate the edition if this is other than the first.) Edited Book [Editor/s] (ed/s.). [year of publication]. [Title of the Book] ([edition no.] edn.). [Publisher], [City]. [no. of pages] pp. Report [Author/s], [year of publication]. [Title of the Report]. [Type of Report] [Report No.]. [Publisher/Institution], [City]. [no. of pages] pp. Thesis [Author], [year of publication]. [Title of the Thesis]. unpub. [Thesis Type] thesis, [Academic Department], [University], [City/Country]. [no. of pages] pp. Journal Article [Author/s], [year of publication]. [Title of article]. [Name of Journal] [Volume]([Issue No.]), [page range]. Newspaper Article [Author/s], [year of publication]. [Title of article]. [Name of Newspaper], [Date of publication], [page range]. Magazine Article [Author/s], [year of publication]. [Title of article]. [Name of Magazine] [Date of publication], [page range]. Book Chapter [Author/s], [year of publication]. Title of the chapter. In: [Editor/s] (ed/s.) [Title of the Book]. [Publisher], [City]. [page range]. Note that entries in edited encyclopedias and dictionaries should be treated as edited books. Article published in a Conference Proceedings [Author/s], [year of publication]. Title of the chapter. In: [Editor/s] (ed/s.) [Title of the Book]. [Publisher], [City]. [page range]. In many cases it will be appropriate to include an indication of the conference name as, or within, the title of the book. Web pages [Author/s], [year of publication]. [Title of website]. [URL] Accessed on [date].

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NOTE: Title and Journal Title Note the capitalisation in the examples given above. For books, reports and theses, capitalise all the significant words in the title, i.e. not articles, conjunctions and prepositions unless they are the first word of a title. For journal articles and book sections (e.g. chapters), capitalise only the first word and any proper names. Journal titles should be given in full, capitalised as for book titles and italicised. Note the distinction between the Journal title and the Journal article title; the former is italicised, the latter is not. Publisher For books and sections in edited books, list the publisher and the city/country in which the material was published. Page Numbers Note that for whole publications (books, theses, reports), the total number of pages is given followed by the abbreviation pp., e.g. (23 pp.) For journal articles, chapters, conference proceedings, etc. only the relevant page range is given (e.g. 23-34.) without any further abbreviation. Authors and Editors Authors and editors should be listed by surname and initials, e.g. Author, T.H.E. In some cases, the author may be unknown. You can either refer to them anonymously (Anon.) or, in the case of corporate publications (e.g. government agencies), treat the name of the corporate entity as the author. For subsequent entries for the same author/s the name/s can be substituted with a series of hyphens equivalent to the depth of indent, e.g.: Bloggs, J. 1997. The art of referencing in academia; how to avoid committing plagiarism. The Journal of Getting it Right. 1(4) 1-23. ------ 1999. Justifiable Use of Others Material. How To Publishing, Cityville. 101 pp. List all authors and note that: Where there are two authors, they are separated with an ampersand (&). Where there are more than two authors, they are separated by commas, with an ampersand for the final author in the list, e.g.: Smith, J., Jones, T., Brown, J. & Bloggs, J. 1998. ....... Multiple entries for the same author/s in the same year should be distinguished using (a), (b), etc. e.g. Smith, J., Jones, T., Brown, J. & Bloggs, J. 1998(a). A journal article that they published in 1998. In This Journal 21(8), 23-34. ------ 1998(b). A book chapter covering much the same material. In Editor, T.H.E. (ed.) The Name of the Book. Publisher, City. 56-70. Ensure that the order of lettering is consistent with the order of appearance in the text, i.e. the first of these authors works referred to in the text should be (a), the second (b), and so on. And this should be the order in which they are listed in the References.
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This applies only to the same list of authors. If even one of them is different, the full list should be given. Where an author has published material with a number of different co-authors, the references should be listed in the following order: 1. Sole publications, i.e. no co-authors, in ascending chronological order (oldest islisted first). 2. Publications with one co-author in ascending chronological order and, if there are more than one of these in any given year, ranked alphabetically by the second authors name. 3. Publications with more than one co-author in ascending chronological order and, if there are more than one of these in any given year, ranked alphabetically by the second authors name. If there is more than one editor, they should be treated in the same way as multiple authors, and the abbreviation used should be eds.

For more information on style guides see: http://www.unisa.edu.au/ltu/students/study/referencing/harvard.pdf http://www.ul.ie/~library/pdf/citeitright.pdf http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/harvard.html

Mandatory Requirements To pass the course you must achieve at least 50% in the final exam, and 50% of the total final grade which is an aggregate of the internal assessment (tutorials and assignments) and the final exam. In other words, if you fail the final exam you will fail the course even if you did well in the internal assessment. Conversely if you do not attend tutorials and take the assignments casually you would have to pass the exam with a very high mark just to pass the course. Materials and Equipment There are no specialised materials or equipment needed for this course. It is preferable that you have access to a computer to enable you to write your assignments. Further Information You can find further information on the course on Blackboard. All materials relating to the course and any additional instructions concerning assignments, tutorials, and the exam will be posted there. If you have any difficulty accessing Blackboard please contact the ITS Service Desk. Environmental Studies Major GEOG/ENVI 114 is the foundation course for the Environmental Studies major, and also a core foundation course for the major in Geography. The Environmental Studies Major is
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designed to cater to the needs of students from a diversity of backgrounds and can be designed to suit your aspirations in just about any form of environmental career. There are three main streams in the major which relate to possible career paths: Environmental Science Environmental Policy Environmental Management / Sustainable Development One way of designing your degree for an environmental career is to think about the way you might combine Environmental Studies with another discipline to give you a strong foundation for that career. For example, if you wanted to be an environmental chemist you might want to do a major in Chemistry but take Environmental Studies courses as electives, whereas if you wanted to work for a local council in pollution prevention you might want to do a major in Environmental Studies and take Chemistry papers as electives. Similarly, if you wanted to be an environmental journalist then you might want to combine Media Studies with Environmental Studies in some way. There are many different environmental career themes in the environmental arena, including the following: Environmental science Environmental policy Environmental journalism Environmental health Resource management Environmental law Industrial ecology Conservation management Sustainable development Environmental education Environmental design Environmental planning

Academic Integrity & Plagiarism Academic integrity means that university staff and students, in their teaching and learning are expected to treat others honestly, fairly and with respect at all times. It is not acceptable to mistreat academic, intellectual or creative work that has been done by other people by representing it as your own original work. Academic integrity is important because it is the core value on which the Universitys learning, teaching and research activities are based. Victoria Universitys reputation for academic integrity adds value to your qualification. The University defines plagiarism as presenting someone elses work as if it were your own, whether you mean to or not. Someone elses work means anything that is not your own idea. Even if it is presented in your own style, you must acknowledge your sources fully and appropriately. This includes: Material from books, journals or any other printed source The work of other students or staff Information from the internet Software programs and other electronic material Designs and ideas The organisation or structuring of any such material Find out more about plagiarism, how to avoid it and penalties, on the Universitys website: www.victoria.ac.nz/home/studying/plagiarism.html

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Use of Turnitin Student work provided for assessment in this course may be checked for academic integrity by the electronic search engine http:/www.turnitin.com. Turnitin is an online plagiarism prevention tool which compares submitted work with a very large database of existing material. At the discretion of the Head of School, handwritten work may be copy-typed by the School and subject to checking by Turnitin. Turnitin will retain a copy of submitted material on behalf of the University for detection of future plagiarism, but access to the full text of submissions is not made available to any other party. Class Representative A statement that a class representative will be elected in the first class, and that persons name and contact details will be available to VUWSA, the Course Coordinator and the class. The class representative provides a communication channel to liaise with the Course Coordinator on behalf of students. General University policies and statutes Students should familiarise themselves with the Universitys policies and statutes, particularly the Assessment Statute, the Personal Courses of Study Statute, the Statute on Student Conduct and any statutes relating to the particular qualifications being studied; see the Victoria University Calendar or go to the Academic Policy and Student Policy sections on: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about/policy The AVC(Academic) website also provides information for students in a number of areas including Academic Grievances, Student and Staff conduct, Meeting the needs of students with impairments, and student support/VUWSA student advocates. This website can be accessed at: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about_victoria/avcacademic/Publications.aspx

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