SCI1300: Climate Change: From Science to Society

40% Projects (two assignments worth 20% each, due in weeks 5 and 8 respectively)
Do not underestimate these projects! They will definitely take longer than you expect, and some of the questions are really difficult. Because there is no exam for this subject, the assignments and essay are worth more than probably most other science subjects, making them more important. These two assignments involve downloading a program/excel files from moodle and fiddling around with the values to help you answer questions.

20% Essay (1500 word essay due in week 10)
This essay is about comparing the impacts of climate change on two different countries and how they responded (policies, mitigation/adaptation etc.). When the essay was first explained it shocked a lot of us because Wikipedia was initially allowed to be used as a reference… but I don't think anyone actually did, thankfully. A lot of information can be found in the IPCC reports (which is recommended), the World Bank, CIA Factbook and other resources like those. The essay itself is quite straightforward because its structure is very formulaic and what information is required is made quite clear.

20% In-semester tests (two tests worth 10% each, held in the last lecture of weeks 6 and 12)
The two tests basically acted as mid-semester and end-of-semester assessments. They went for about 30 minutes and had mostly multiple-choice questions (like the tutorials) and two or three short-answer questions. The best way to revise is probably to re-do the tutorial questions or watch some of the important parts of lectures again (like how the greenhouse effect works or the ice-albedo feedback loop). Note that none of the content from the first six weeks is in the second text, so you can forget it all if you weren't really a fan of it!

20% tutorial participation and attendance
There are 11 tutorial classes in the semester (none in the first week). Each tutorial class had 2% allocated to it, so you could miss one and still get full marks for participation/attendance. 1% is attendance (being there and having your name marked off on the roll) and 1% is answering a question. It's very easy to get these marks (although I had a great tutor, apparently there were some who were harsher in giving out marks if you tried to answer a question but got it wrong, and checked attendance by collecting answer sheets at the end of class).

Three of the tutorials were used for explanations of the projects and essays, where the tutor goes through the instructions, marking criteria and any questions, and you can start the assignment during the class. The other tutorials during the first half of the semester had multiple-choice questions to answer (all of the answers are in the lecture notes). The tutorials during the second half had less multiple-choice questions and involved reviewing some climate science blogs for credibility/bias etc. The further into the semester it got, the longer the classes seemed to drag out and the more it seemed like a one hour class was more appropriate, simply because there was too little to do.

A lot of the people I talked to who chose this subject as their elective said they did it because it didn't have an exam (fair choice), but many did not expect the assignments to be so difficult. So, while initially this was expected to be a cruisy elective unit, it turned out to be quite time-consuming and stressful when the projects were due.

The unit is split into two parts. The first six weeks focus on the science of climate change (reasons behind it, energy, the greenhouse effect, climate drivers, atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns, climate variability). A lot of this stuff is covered briefly in EAE1011 which is great if you've done that subject. The second half looks at projections of climate change (using the IPCC reports), impacts on the world, ways to prevent and adapt to climate change, different organisations involved in this process, economic and ethics. I definitely found the first half more interesting and engaging. Like with the tutorials throughout the semester, I felt that the lectures seemed to become more boring and it was difficult to focus during the last few weeks. This is no fault of Julie's - she is very kind and helpful, I think it was just the content that was a bit dry, especially the week about international and Australian organisations.
So, this unit is not bad, but could be improved, especially in the later weeks of the course. Take it as an elective if you are interested in climate change or climate in general and want to know more about how processes/cycles in the ocean, air and ice work. I really enjoyed learning about the climate, but the complexity of the assignments (and lack of clarity/differences between tutor instructions) and the dragging out of some aspects of the course made me enjoy it less than I otherwise would have.

Prof. Christian Jakob (weeks 1-6), A/Prof. Julie Arblaster (weeks 7-12)

No past exams, because there is no exam

3.5 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture

No textbook required

A lot of the information/images in lectures, at least in the first six weeks, seemed to come from a textbook called 'The Earth System', which I found the first three chapters of online (this could help if you need a different explanation of ideas/processes, and for the first assignment): http://talleylab.ucsd.edu/ltalley/esys10/text_chapters/

3x1hr lectures, 1x2hr support class/tutorial

2017, Semester 2