Course Title: Environmental Issues in Chemical Perspective

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Environmental Issues in Chemical Perspective

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
CHEM1014	City Campus	Undergraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 1 2008, Sem 1 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2013, Sem 1 2014, Sem 1 2015, Sem 1 2016
CHEM1014	City Campus	Undergraduate	171H School of Science	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019, Sem 1 2020, Sem 1 2021, Sem 1 2022, Sem 1 2023, Sem 2 2023
CHEM1267	City Campus	Postgraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2016
CHEM1267	City Campus	Postgraduate	171H School of Science	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019

Course Coordinator: Dr James Tardio

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 2127

Course Coordinator Email: james.tardio@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 3.2.21

Course Coordinator Availability: Book appointment via email

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Assumed Knowledge

Prior background in VCE Chemistry will be beneficial but not essential.

Course Description

This Course will introduce you to the principles of chemistry within an environmental context and will enable you to develop and practise independent learning skills. This course will also give you an appreciation of scientific methodology and enable you to develop those problem-solving and critical-thinking skills necessary to analyse and discuss chemical and physical phenomena in the environment. 

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) for:

BH080 Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering) (Honours)
BP192 Bachelor of Environmental Science

On successful completion of this course you will be able to: 

1. Describe, explain and apply fundamental concepts of chemistry
2. Display technical competence in basic chemistry; specifically collect, accurately record, interpret, and draw conclusions from scientific data
3. Plan a chemical investigation including developing a testable hypothesis
4. Work effectively, responsibly, and safely in an individual or team context
5. Develop as an independent and self-directed learner 

Overview of Learning Activities

You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as lectorials, tutorials, practicals, laboratories, seminars, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face to face, online or a mix of both. 

You are encouraged to be proactive and self-directed in your learning, asking questions of your lecturer and/or peers and seeking out information as required, especially from the numerous sources available through the RMIT library, and through links and material specific to this course that is available through myRMIT Studies Course. 

Overview of Learning Resources

The prescribed textbook is:

• Silberberg, M., "Chemistry, The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change" (McGraw-Hill)

Other textbooks that are used are:

• McMurry, J., "Organic Chemistry" (Brookes-Cole)
• Aylward, G. and Findlay, F., "SI Chemical Data" (Wiley)

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through myRMIT Studies Course. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.

Overview of Assessment

This course contains hurdle requirements. All hurdle requirements for this course are indicated clearly in the assessment regime that follows, against the relevant assessment task(s) and all have been approved by the College Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching). 

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: Theory Assessment  
Weighting 25% 
This assessment task supports CLOs 1 & 5

Assessment Task 2: Authentic Assessment 
Weighting 25% 
This assessment task supports CLOs 1 & 5

Assessment Task 3: Online quizzes 
Weighting 10% 
This assessment task supports CLOs 1 & 5

Assessment Task 4: Practical Assessments (HURDLE)
Weighting 40% 
This assessment task supports CLOs 1-5

If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.