ENG 4021 - Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering
North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2024
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General Course Information
Course Details
Course Code ENG 4021 Course Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering Coordinating Unit Centre for STEM Education and Innovation Term Semester 1 Level Undergraduate Location/s North Terrace Campus Units 3 Contact Up to 4 hrs per week Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y Restrictions Must have completed a minimum of 24 units at 2nd year, and 12 units in 3rd year. Assessment Quizzes, assignments, reports Course Staff
Course Coordinator: Dr Cristian Birzer
Course Timetable
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.
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Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the role of UN/partner organisations across the humanitarian/development spectrum.
2. Detail considerations (technical and non-technical) for response planning
3. Apply Sphere standards to humanitarian response scenarios
4. Develop Disaster Risk Reduction plans to response scenarios
5. Develop a Monitor and Evaluation plan to response scenarios
The above course learning outcomes are aligned with the Engineers Australia Entry to Practice Competency Standard for the Professional Engineer. The course develops the following EA Elements of Competency to levels of introductory (A), intermediate (B), advanced (C):
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 — — — C C C C C C C C C B C C — 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) Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth
Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving
Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.
2, 3, 4, 5 Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills
Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.
2, 3, 4, 5 Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness
Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.
2, 3, 4, 5 Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency
Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Attribute 7: Digital capabilities
Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.
1, 2, 5 Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.
2, 3, 4, 5 -
Learning Resources
Required Resources
Sphere Handbook (link available via MyUni).Online Learning
All required information will be provided online via MyUni. -
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes
The lectures will be pre-recorded and released for you to watch and understand before the workshops. You will also have readings to do before workshops. In the workshops, we will have a summary session of the lectures (very brief), discuss the related readings, and then work through scenarios. There will also be supplementary material and topics to learn that will be mixed into the workshops.
Most of the lectures and "new knowledge" will be front loaded. This will allow for more support in the workshops for assessments, discussions and guest presenters. It also acknowledges that you have other courses to deal with and will be busy.Workload
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
The course consists of:
10 online lectures over the semester
2 hour workshop per week
3 hour of allocated reading per week
up to 7 hours per week required for the assessments and quizzes.
Total = 154 hours per semester
(Noting the assessments are designed to help learn and assess, not just assess knowledge)Learning Activities Summary
There are 10 major themes that are covered in the course these are:
1. Introduction to the course, structure, expectations
2. The Humanitarian/Development Spectrum/Nexus
3. UN and UN Operations
4. Sphere Handbook - Charter, Principles, and Standards for Humanitarian/Development Operations
5. Sphere Handbook - Technical standards
6. Mainstreaming GEDI (Gender, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion) considerations
7. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
8. Monitor & Evaluation in Humanitarian/Development Operations
9. Informatin Management in Humanitarian/Development Operations
10. Concepts and applications within Development Engineering. -
Assessment
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
The course consists of four major assesment pieces, plus small online quizzes. All assessments are to be done individually. The assessments are:
Assessment Task Task Type Due (week)* Weighting Learning Outcome Disaster Risk Reduction Plan Formative & Summative TBD 20% 4 (plus 1, 2, 3, 5) Monitor and Evaluation Plan Formative & Summative TBD 20% 3 (plus 1, 2, 4, 5) Site Development Report Summative TBD 40% 2, 3 (plus 1, 4, 5) Research / Project Proposal Summative TBD 10% 2, 3, 4, 5 Quizzes x 4 Summative TBD 10% (2.5% each) 1 - 5
* The specific due date for each assessment task will be available on MyUni
There is NO exam for this course.Assessment Related Requirements
The assessments are designed to reflect real-world work that you may be expected to undertake as engineering working in the Humanitarian/Development sector. You will note that these tasks are very-much transferable to the work that engineers do outside of the Humanitarian/Development sector as well.
The assessments are open-ended and require students to develop understanding of resource-constrained communities likely to be impacted by sudden and slow onset disasters.
There is no specific group work assessments, but the assessments are used as part of the workshop discussions. Hence group engagement to understand the work is used.
The quizzes are used to confirm knowledge learned from the online assessments.Assessment Detail
Full details are available on MyUni as summary is as follows:
Disaster Risk Reduction Plan - develop a DRR Plan (following established guidelines) for a student-selected location and catastrophe
Monitor and Evaluation Plan - develop a M&E Plan for propsed actions developed from the DRR plan
Site Development Report - design and present an IDP/Refugee Camp layout for a given scenario
Research/Project Proposal - develop a proposal for either research that should be conducted, or projects that should be implemented to benefit the Hum/Dev sector.Submission
All submissions are via MyUni.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.
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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.
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Student Support
- Academic Integrity for Students
- Academic Support with Maths
- Academic Support with writing and study skills
- Careers Services
- International Student Support
- Library Services for Students
- LinkedIn Learning
- Student Life Counselling Support - Personal counselling for issues affecting study
- Students with a Disability - Alternative academic arrangements
- YouX Student Care - Advocacy, confidential counselling, welfare support and advice
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Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
- Academic Credit Arrangements Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progress by Coursework Students Policy
- Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy
- Copyright Compliance Policy
- Coursework Academic Programs Policy
- Elder Conservatorium of Music Noise Management Plan
- Intellectual Property Policy
- IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy
- Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy
- Reasonable Adjustments to Learning, Teaching & Assessment for Students with a Disability Policy
- Student Experience of Learning and Teaching Policy
- Student Grievance Resolution Process
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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.
