A fantastically different subject, held for a week up on the Bogong High Plains, after a week of preparatory classes on campus. Practical and hands-on, with an easy, low-level introduction to some floristic basics and major families (the taxonomy is a bit lax, which makes memorisation a little easier, but I really don't see why they don't update it - it's not hard to learn that Trachymene is in the ivy family now instead of the carrot family). The nice, cool climate and gorgeous scenery definitely are pluses. However, the assessments we had to do after returning were numerous, relied on your diligence when in the field (risky!), and extraordinarily time-intensive. Some also felt like busy work. An extraordinary subject brought down by the post-20% exam assessment gauntlet (soil auger sheets, field notebooks, field herb, research report, QM report, herbarium, vegetation map, vegetation descriptions, 2 flora recording sheets were all handed in ten days after the exam, which was 5 days after returning).

Anonymous, Semester 1, 2016