GEOG 3025 - Environmental Policy and Management Internship

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2016

This course allows students to spend up to two days per week during the semester or, undertake a two week block of concentrated interaction, working as an intern with a community, business/industry or government agency engaged in environmental policy, planning and management activities, or with an individual or group engaged in environmental research. During their internships students can choose or will be assigned specific projects by their 'sponsors' and will prepare reports on the methodology and results of their projects. The course coordinator will assist students to identify suitable sponsors and projects and will monitor student progress in weekly seminars. Students are expected to choose their sponsors and projects in consultation with the course coordinator before the beginning of the semester, as admission to the course will depend on approval of the sponsor and project by the course coordinator.

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Course Details

Course Code	GEOG 3025
Course	Environmental Policy and Management Internship
Coordinating Unit	Geography, Environment and Population
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	6
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange
Prerequisites	24 units of Geography, Environment and Population courses at an average of credit level or above.
Restrictions	Course only available to Bachelor of Environmental Policy and Management students.
Quota	20
Assessment	Seminar presentation 20%, Final report 80%

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor John Tibby

Course Timetable

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

Course Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate interdisciplinary problem-solving skills
Demonstrate high quality written and verbal communication skills
Have first-hand working experience of an environmental government, industry or non-government organisation
Undertake independent research leading to production of a substantial research report

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
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	1, 2, 3, 4
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	1, 2, 3, 4
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1, 2, 3, 4
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	3, 4
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	3, 4

Learning Resources

Required Resources

None

Recommended Resources

Reference and example materials will be provided on MyUni

Online Learning

Seminar slides, assessment requirements and example reports will be posted on MyUni. Note that seminars (which are highly interactive) will not be recorded.

Learning & Teaching Modes

The seminar-based learning and teaching approach allows for an interactive, flexible, problem-based approach to the course. While many students have similar experiences in their placement organisations, a number of the issues that arise are experienced by only a small number of students. In the seminar situation students benefit from the insights of their peers and the course coordinator in
developing solutions to problems and in discovering the best means to gain maximum benefit from their experience.

Workload

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

Workload	Hours
Seminars	36
Work placement	80
Preparation for seminars	36
Preparation of final report	160

Learning Activities Summary

Schedule
Week 1	Introductory seminar- organisation of internships and project briefs
Week 2	Insurance, liability, completing project briefs - group discussion
Week 3	Group discussion
Week 4	Group discussion and finalisation of projects
Week 5	Job applications lecture & group discussion on project progress
Week 6	Finding the literature related to your project
Week 7	Report preparation approaches
Week 8	Group discussion, organisation of seminars and final reports
Week 9	Student seminar presentations
Week 10	Student seminar presentations
Week 11	Student seminar presentations
Week 12	Student seminar presentations

Specific Course Requirements

Students are required to spend up to two days per week during the semester or, undertake a two week block of concentrated interaction, working as an intern with a community, business/industry or government agency engaged in environmental policy, planning and management activities, or with an individual or group engaged in environmental research

Small Group Discovery Experience

The nature of this course is entirely SGDE in that the course group size is made intentionally small to permit interaction within the group. The majority of the course is led by the course coordinator, although guest seminars may be provided by staff from the careers service, former students in the course and host organisations.

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

No information currently available.

Assessment Related Requirements

This course requires students to undertake a placement of approximately 2 days per week (commitment will vary for individual projects) as an intern at an external organisation. Before commencing your placement you need to complete an insurance form (form on MyUni) and a project brief (an example is available on MyUni).

Assessment Detail

1           SEMINAR PRESENTATION (20%)

This presentation will last 20 minutes with 15 minutes for the presentation itself and 5 minutes for questions. The seminar can include comment on the student’s personal experience and critical evaluation.

2          FINAL REPORT (80%)

The final report will vary according to the particular internship but should contain the following:

·     Introduction to the organisation including the structure, the aims/vision/role, place of your
supervisor and your project within the institution

·        Aims of the project

·        Methodology for the project

·
Findings of the project (this may include much of what is presented to the organisation)

·        Describe the outputs provided to the organisation

·        Personalcomments and a critical evaluation on the internship experience (good or bad)
and what was gained from the experience.

·        A reflection on the seminar program.

Submission

The report should be submitted to the School of Social Sciences Office (Napier G18)

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 Access Adelaide.

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’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator