Vegetation ecology subject design
Description:
This design is for a semester long subject on vegetation ecology for second year university students. The subject is designed to give students a well-developed overview of the important elements of vegetation ecology.
Other than the residential school, the subject is delivered online through blackboard (our LMS) which hosts 13 modules, recorded lectures, asynchronous discussion forums, a tutorial activity and weekly review questions. Students are required to complete three summative and two formative tasks throughout the semester.
The activities, assessment tasks and overall design of the subject are based on principles of situated learning and constructive alignment.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Apply the correct terminology to explain the principles and concepts underpinning vegetation ecology
- Describe the structure and composition of Australian ecosystems and explain their distribution patterns
- Recognise some of the key characteristics used to identify terrestrial plant species and use a range of resources to identify species in major plant genera
- Compare and contrast different vegetation sampling techniques and apply this knowledge to design and undertake a vegetation survey
- Describe the dynamics of plant communities including how they respond to disturbances
- Analyse, interpret and communicate the results of a vegetation survey in a clear and coherent manner and draw on appropriate scientific literature to support their hypotheses and findings
| Resources | Tasks | Supports | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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- Plant specimens |
Tutorials |
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- Tutor/lecturer (email, discussion forum, phone) |
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- Readings |
Weekly review questions |
← |
- Tutor/lecturer |
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- Journal articles found in tutorial (task 1) |
Australian Ecosystems Report |
← |
- Tutor/lecturer |
||
|
- GIS (ArcGIS or Google Earth) |
Residential School Report (summative) ↓ |
← |
- Small group planning session and class feedback |
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|
- Essay test questions (hosted on LMS) |
Take Home Essay Test |
← |
- Readings |