Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

A comprehensive understanding of our built environment is based in an appreciation of the importance of historical processes in shaping human settlement patterns. It is therefore important that you explore the pivotal role played by history as part of the foundation of your training for your professional careers.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to explore the historical development of cities and regions by examining the role played by culture, technology, and the environment in this process. By utilising case studies from a wide variety of human cultures students will be introduced to the many different ways in which the built environment has developed through the interplay between these forces. The unit will also demonstrate the importance of historical processes in shaping our present built form.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the historical processes that have shaped the built environment.
2. Understand that variety in environments and cultures have resulted in a wide variety of manifestations of the built environment through space and time.
3. Be capable of critically analysing information relating to the history of human settlement

Content

1. Understandings of the origins of human settlement and its preceding hunter gatherer cultural systems.
2. The historical development of the built environment in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
3. Links and interactions between cultures and the transfer of ideas, technology, and materials.
4. The development of contemporary approaches to the design and planning of the built environment.
5. The critical evaluation of information and theory related to historical processes.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Teaching Mode: Hours per week:
Lecture: 1
Tutorial: 2

Learning Approaches:
The learning approaches for this unit will utilise the broad thematic elements of environment, culture, and technology as a vehicle for you to examine and interpret historical processes. Lecture sessions will present examples of these processes in a wide variety of cultural and temporal settings in order that students gain exposure to the many ways in which the built environment has manifested itself throughout the world. The material presented in these lectures is then used as a basis for student work in small groups which aims to apply this information using the development of a hypothetical settlement. This settlement evolves and changes through the course of the unit by means of a series of tutorial exercises. You will interact with the teaching staff and use research material to develop your settlements in a studio format, with staff providing formative assessment as the projects unfold.

Assessment

The assessment for this unit follows the assessment policy stated in the Manual of Policies and Procedures (MOPP) section C/5.1.1

Overview of Assessment:
Assessment will be based on applying your understanding of the various forces that influence the built environment both in its historical and contemporary context. This will be achieved through direct comparison of elements of the built environment across cultures and time, and through the development of a hypothetical human settlement which will demonstrate your capacity to apply the concepts developed during the unit.Assistance and feedback will be offered by teaching staff and tutors during the course of lectures and tutorial session to assist with assessment items.

Assessment name: Research Paper
Description: You will prepare an individual written and illustrated research project that compares a historical aspect of the built environment (transport infrastructure, marketplaces, monuments, religious or political edifices, for example) to a contemporary example of the same thing (its analogue).
Relates to objectives: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the historical processes that have shaped the built environment.
2. Understand that variety in environments and cultures have resulted in a wide variety of manifestations of the built environment through space and time.
3. Be capable of critically analysing information relating to the history of human settlement
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 6

Assessment name: Log/Workbook
Description: You will prepare a written and illustrated workbook, undertaken in pairs, which will be developed during the tutorial sessions undertaken as part of the unit. Students will utilise specific exercises to develop their understanding of various themes related to the historical evolution of human settlements. This will be achieved by applying these concepts to a hypothetical civilisation, which students will develop as the semester progresses.
Relates to objectives: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the historical processes that have shaped the built environment.
2. Understand that variety in environments and cultures have resulted in a wide variety of manifestations of the built environment through space and time.
3. Be capable of critically analysing information relating to the history of human settlement
Weight: 60%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Group
Due date: Week 13

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Type: Book
Author: Mumford, Lewis.
Title: The City in History; Its Origins, Its Transformations, and its Prospects
Year: 1961
Publisher: MJF Books, New York.

Type: Book
Author: Hall, Peter.
Title: Cities of Tomorrow; An Intellectual History of Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century.
Year: 1996
Publisher: Blackwell, Malden.

Type: Book
Author: Wright, Bruce.
Title: Expectations of a Better World; Planning Australian Communities.
Year: 2001
Publisher: RAPI, Canberra

Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

You will undertake lectures and tutorials in the traditional classrooms and lecture theatres. As such, there are no extraordinary workplace health and safety issues associated with these components of the unit.

Additional Costs
There are no additional costs associated with this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 19-Oct-2012