Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 101182

Coordinator David Arness Opens in new window

Description This is a fully online subject. Everything we do depends on our environment, but rarely do we ask the question "what is the environment?" In this subject, we examine our various environments, the natural world, our built physical spaces and things, and the social, biological, and psychological domains. We then examine questions of: How do we interact with these environments, and how do they shape and influence our behaviour? How does understanding this interaction help us improve the human condition, while also maintaining the integrity of the environment? Drawing from psychology to understand human behaviour, the subject has application to as many discipline areas as there are spheres of human activity.

School Psychology

Discipline Behavioural Science

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 4 10cp

Check your fees via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 1 subject

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Apply key concepts related to the human-environment relationship.
2. Apply/integrate principles of psychology and the broader social sciences to interpret/explain aspects of the human-environment relationship.
3. Evaluate real-world situations to articulate problems of behaviour-environment interaction.
4. Construct/develop evidence-based arguments for change, drawing on subject content and scholarly research.
5. Propose solutions to problems of behaviour-environment interaction, justifying your decisions based on scholarly research evidence.
6. Apply knowledge and skills gained from the subject to enhance better person-environment fit in a variety of design contexts.

Subject Content

Scene Setting:
1. Subject Introduction: What is the Environment?
2. Consciousness, Brain Processes and Culture
3. Sense of Place and Attachment

Natural Environments
4. The Natural Environment
5. Environment Stressors
6. Restorative Environments
 
Built Environments
7. Navigating the Environment: Wayfinding and Cognitive Mapping
8. Person/Environment Fit
9. Design of Usable Spaces
10. Future Environments 

Social Environments
11. The First People and the Environment 
12. Social Environments Across the Lifespan
13. Social Shifts: Smartphones, Social Media, and Pandemics