The University of Adelaide
Course Outlines

C&ENVENG 7029 - Environmental Modelling & Management

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2015

The course addresses the major steps in the development of engineering models, and how they are used for decision-making, with a particular emphasis on water quality and adaptation to climate change. Topics to be covered include one or more of the following: model specification (environmental processes, model complexity, model application), model calibration (gradient methods, evolutionary algorithms and ant colony optimisation), model validation and stochastic modelling (types of uncertainty, random variables, risk-based performance measures and reliability analysis, including Monte Carlo simulation and the first-order reliability method), environmental decision-making (multi-objective optimisation, multi criteria decision analysis). These topics will be illustrated through a project on managing dissolved oxygen in a river system under climate change.

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  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code C&ENVENG 7029
    Course Environmental Modelling & Management
    Coordinating Unit School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Eng
    Term Semester 1
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 4 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange N
    Incompatible WRM 7011
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Wenyan Wu

    Course Coordinator and Lecturer: Dr Wenyan Wu
    Room N124, Engineering North Building, wenyan.wu@adelaide.edu.au
    ph: 8313 1113. Consulting time will be provided.

    Tutors will be available for assistance during the tutorials.
    Course Timetable

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

    Please note that the course timetable is subject to change, because Monday the 6th of April is a public holiday and a lecture is currently scheduled on this day. The final timetable will be confirmed before the beginning of the semester.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

    Technical knowledge and application of knowledge skills
    1. Gain an understanding of the decision-making processes that surround engineering and environmental / natural resources management projects, including understanding
    the steps in the model development process, such as calibration and validation;
    2. Become aware of different types of models, e.g. process-driven, data-driven (including an introduction to Artificial Neural Networks), their advantages, limitations and potential areas of applicability;
    3. Become aware of the need for the incorporation of uncertainty into models and to gain an understanding of how this can be achieved using Monte Carlo simulations and the First Order Reliability Method;
    4. Apply methods for obtaining optimal tradeoff Curves using Genetic Algorithms and to become familiar with the concept of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis and how to apply the weighted sum method. Students will also become familiar with Ant Colony Optimisation algorithms;
    5. Demonstrate competence in using computers and information technology effectively;

    Thinking skills
    6. Develop competence in critical and independent thinking in identifying, formulating and solving problems;
    7. Develop the ability to effectively synthesize information and ideas;

    Personal skills and attitudes
    8. Develop the ability to work effectively as a member of a team, including the development of written, oral and listening skills;
    9. Develop the ability to manage effectively the allocation of time in performing tasks by meeting the deadlines for submission of assignments and projects;
    10. Develop life long learning skills.
    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)
    Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner. 6, 7, 9
    An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems. 6, 8
    Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication. 8
    A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies. 5
    A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life. 10
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Lecture Notes:
    The lecture notes can be purchased from the Image & Copy Centre and can also be downloaded from the course MyUni site.

    Course Profile:
    The Course Profile is a required resource. It can be downloaded from the course MyUni site.
    Online Learning
    Additional required course-related material is available through MyUni, including:

    Online Learning Units:
    A number of required online Learning Units (LUs) are available in the “Learning Units” section of the course MyUni site, which consist of a structured sequence of activities on a particular topic. The LUs
    contain multimedia Online Modules (OMs), which are interactive online lectures. The OMs can be viewed online or downloaded for viewing offline. Handouts of the slides for a particular OM can be downloaded from MyUni. Many of the OMs contain quizzes, which are purely formative and designed to reinforce key concepts presented in the modules (i.e. the quizzes do not count towards assessment and can be done as many times as you like in order to improve your understanding of the material presented).

    Design Project Information and Resources:
    Relevant information, data and software required to complete the design project are in the “Project” section of the course MyUni site.

    Information on Submissions and Communication:
    Relevant information on submissions and communication are in the “Resources” section of the course MyUni site, such as the assessment cover sheet, submission exemplars, a style guide for coursework submissions, information on referencing etc.

    Other Resources:
    If required, other relevant resources will be made available in the “Resources” or “Project” sections of the course MyUni site.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    This course consists of a set of integrated learning activities designed to provide you with the opportunity to achieve the course learning objectives in a supportive and motivating context.

    The centrepiece of the course is a Design Project on environmental modelling and management that consists of three phases and spans the duration of the entire course. You will learn the fundamental principles / underlying the theory required to complete the project as part of a number of learning cycles consisting of a series of Online Modules (OMs), Online Quizzes (OQs) and Lectures (Ls). The Online Modules and Quizzes provide you with a base level of knowledge that enables more in-depth material to be explored during Lectures. The Design Project provides you with the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the material covered by applying it in a realistic context.
    Workload

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

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
    Please note that University guidelines suggest that the average student should spend 48 hours per week to achieve a Credit. Consequently, the total workload for this course is 12 hours per week (144 hours in total) for an average student to achieve a Credit.

    Activity

    Contact Hours

    Private Study Hours

    Total

    Lectures

    15

    0

    15

    Online Learning Units

    2 (Homework Exercises)

    42 (3h per scheduled hour, allowing for quizzes, homework exercises, reading of lecture notes etc.)

    44

    Design (Phase 1)

    7

    24

    31

    Design (Phase 2)

    5

    22 (per person – this is a group task)

    27

    Design (Phase 3)

    5

    22 (per person – this is a group task)

    27

    Total

    34

    110

    144 

    Learning Activities Summary
    A summary of the different structured learning activities is given below. The structured learning activities consist of face-to-face lectures, online learning units (LUs) and design sessions.

    There are slight variations of the sessions in Week 5 and Week 6 compared to previous years due to an early Easter this year. Please complete the ONLINE LEARNING UNITs - Model validation and Climate change, before the corresponding lectures in Week 5.

    The final detailed outline of all of the learning activities, as well as their timing will be given at the beginning of the semester.

    week Session Topic
    1 1 LECTURE 01: Introduction to course and teaching approach (Phase 1a)
    1 2 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Environmental Management (MyUni - Private Study)
    1 3 LECTURE 02: Introduction to project, development of project map
    1 4 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Specification of process driven models: Processes & mathematical
    representation (MyUni - Private Study)
    2 1 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Specification of process driven models: Complexity (MyUni - Private Study)
    2 2 LECTURE 03: Introduction to Phase 1 of Project
    2 3 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Specification of process driven models: Dissolved oxygen modelling 1 (MyUni - Private Study)
    2 4 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Specification of process driven models: Dissolved oxygen modelling 2 (MyUni - Private Study)
    3 1 LECTURE 04: Specification of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model for phase 1 of design
    3 2 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1A: Specification of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model
    3 3 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Model calibration (MyUni - Private Study)
    3 4 LECTURE 05: Calibration of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model for phase 1 of design, project map for calibration, introduction of HE on model calibration
    4 1 HOMEWORK EXERCISE - MODEL CALIBRATION: Calibration homework exercise on theoretical functions
    4 2 LECTURE 06: Go through model calibration homework exercise, discussion about nature of fitness landscapes and how information about fitness landscapes can be obtained by mutli-start optimisation run
    4 3 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1A: Data division, calibration of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model
    4 4 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1A: Calibration of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model
    Before Week 5 Session 1 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Model validation (MyUni - Private Study)
    Before Week 5 Session 2 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Climate change (MyUni - Private Study)
    5 1 LECTURE 07: Validation of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model for phase 1 of design
    5 2 LECTURE 08: Design conditions, modification of design conditions due to climate change
    5 3 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1A: Validation of Streeter-Phelps dissolved oxygen model
    5 4 Public holiday
    6 1 Public holiday
    6 2 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1B: Assessment of river system under current design conditions and design conditions modified by climate change
    6 3 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1B: Assessment of river system under current design conditions and design conditions modified by climate change
    6 4 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 1B: Assessment of river system under current design conditions and design conditions modified by climate change
    7 1 LECTURE 09: Intro to project phase 2, manual design process, objective function specification
    7 2 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 2: Objective function specification, manual design process
    7 3 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Optimal decision-making: Genetic algorithms (MyUni - Private Study)
    7 4 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Optimal decision-making: Optimal environmental management (MyUni - Private Study)
    8 1 LECTURE 10: Design Phase 2: Optimisation problem formulation, genetic algorithm implementation, introduction to homework exercise on GA parameters
    8 2 HOMEWORK EXERCISE: Impact of GA parameters
    8 3 LECTURE 11: Constraint method, penalty function, GA searching behaviour (go through Homework Exercise: Impact of GA Parameters)
    8 4 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 2: Formulation of optimisation problem
    9 1 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 2: Genetic algorithm parameter sensitivity analysis
    9 2 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 2: Genetic algorithm parameter sensitivity analysis
    9 3 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 2: Determination of Pareto front
    9 4 LECTURE 12: Intro to project phase 3, intro to Homework Exercise: MCDA Criteria Weights
    10 1 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Multi-criteria decision analysis (MyUni - Private Study)
    10 2 LECTURE 13: Go through  Homework Exercise: MCDA Criteria Weights, determination of deterministic rankings of alternatives using the weighted sum MCDA approach
    10 3 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 3: Deterministic MCDA
    10 4 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Decision-making under uncertainty: Risk-based performance (MyUni - Private Study)
    11 1 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Decision-making under uncertainty: Reliability analysis (MyUni - Private Study)
    11 2 ONLINE LEARNING UNIT: Decision-making under uncertainty: MCDA (MyUni - Private Study)
    11 3 LECTURE 14: Determination of distributions of random variables, linking of models, monte carlo simulation, presentation of output
    11 4 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 3: Characterisation and incorporation of random variables in model
    12 1 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 3: Linking of simulation and MCDA models
    12 2 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 3: Monte Carlo simulation
    12 3 DESIGN SESSION - PHASE 3: Post-processing of Monte Carlo simulation results
    12 4 LECTURE 15: Course Review and Exam



  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Please find below details of all assessment tasks for the course. Hardcopy submissions must be made in the appropriate submission box outside the School Office (N136).

    Title %* G/I** D/F/S# Type Due Date
    Online Quizzes embedded in Online Modules 0 I F Online N/A
    Homework Exercises (HEs):
    - HE: Model Calibration
    - HE: GA Parameters
    - HE: MCDA Criteria Weights    		 0
    I
    I
    I
    F
    F
    F
    CATS
    CATS
    Online
    Week 4
    Week 8
    Week 10
    Online Quizzes (OQs):
    - OQ: Env Management
    - OQ: Specification: Process-Driven Models
    - OQ: Model COmplexity
    - OQ: Dissolved Oxygen Modelling Rivers
    - OQ: Model Calibration
    - OQ: Model Validation
    - OQ: Climate Change
    - OQ: Optimal Decision Making
    - OQ: Multi Criteria Decision Analysis
    - OQ: Optimal Decision-Making Under Uncertainty    		 10
    I
    I
    I
    I
    I
    I
    I
    I
    I
    I
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    F^^
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Online
    Week 1
    Week 2
    Week 2
    Week 3
    Week 3
    Week 5
    Week 5
    Week 8
    Week 10
    Week 11
    Design Project (Phase 1) 15 I S/F Design calculations & summary Week 6
    Design Project (Phase 2) 15 G S/F Design calculations & summary Week 9
    Design Project (Phase 3) 15 G S/F Design calculations & summary Week 13
    Exam (2h) 45 I S

    *    This is the percentage of the overall assessment for the course
    **  This indicates whether the assessment task is to be performed individually (I) or in groups (G)
    #   This indicates if hte assessment task is diagnostic (D), formative (F) or summative (S)
    ^^ Although these assessment tasks count towards the overall mark, they are primarily formative in nature
    Assessment Related Requirements
    Students must obtain at least 40% in the final examination to be eligible to pass the course. Please be aware that you may be eligible for an academic supplementary exam if you fail to meet this requirement. If a student sits a supplementary exam on academic grounds, the final mark will be based on that examination only. Failure to demonstrate a necessary level of knowledge and understanding of the course material in the supplementary exam will result in a fail grade.
    Assessment Detail

    QUIZZES EMBEDDED IN ONLINE MODULES
    The Online Quizzes can be accessed from within the Online Modules, which are on the course MyUni site. It should be noted that some quizzes contain numerical questions that will require the use of a calculator. How to answer the quiz questions is intuitive (e.g. multiple choice, true/false, rank in order, match statements, fill in the blanks). However, please note that if you are asked to respond to a “Multiple Answer” question, any number of the answers provided can be correct (or incorrect) and you must indicate which of the answers you consider to be correct.
    Other Details: 
    - You can complete the quizzes as many times as you like
    - The quizzes are purely formative and are therefore not assessed

    HOMEWORK EXERCISES
    Details about the Homework Exercises will be given at the beginning of the course.

    ONLINE QUIZZES
    The objective of the Online Quizzes is to assist students with gaining an understanding of the material presented in the various Learning Units, as well as testing the level of competence achieved. The Online Quizzes can be accessed as part of the relevant online Learning Units on the course MyUni site. It should be noted that some quizzes contain numerical questions that will require the use of a calculator.

    - You can complete the quizzes as many times as you like 
    - While the quizzes will remain available after their submission deadline, the mark at the time of the deadline will be counted towards assessment 
    - The quizzes are open book 
    - You must complete the quizzes individually, without the assistance of anybody else

    PROJECT
    Details of the project are given on MyUni.

    EXAM
    The exam is 120 minutes long. All of the material covered in the course is examinable. The exam is closed book. A formula sheet will be provided. The use of calculators is permitted. Ensuring the calculator batteries are sufficient for the duration of the examination is the responsibility of the student. The use of a ruler may be required. A question / answer booklet will be used. The questions will be numerical and / or short answer questions. Additional details will be given at the beginning of the semester.

    Submission
    Details about the submission process for the Homework Exercises will be given at the beginning of the semester and details of the submission process for the Project will be given in separate handouts.
    Submissions should follow the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering’s Guidelines for Coursework Submissions, which are available at:

    http://www.ecms.adelaide.edu.au/civeng/students/docs/guidelines.pdf.

    All submissions should be accompanied by a signed assessment cover sheet (available at
    http://www.ecms.adelaide.edu.au/civeng/students/docs/assessment_cover.pdf ).

    Late submissions will only be accepted for the Project. However, there will be a loss of 10% of the marks obtained if the submission is less than 24 h late, 20% if the submission is between 24 and 48h late and so on. Extensions will only be granted in special circumstances (e.g. illness) and must be sought for each assessment task individually.
    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.
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