ENV11101 Humans and Wildlife Assessment Brief: Interpretation exercise

1. Module Number

ENV11101

2. Module Title

Humans and Wildlife

3. Module Leader

Matt Wale (m.wale@napier.ac.uk)

4. Assessment

Interpretation exercise

5. Weighting

40% of module assessment

6. Time limit for assessment

5 minute presentation (not less than 4 minutes and not more than 6 minutes)

7. Purpose of assignment

Education, demonstration, advice and media are important means by which values and beliefs of the general public about the natural world can be influenced (Barrow, 2006). Interpretation is an explanation of the meaning of something: it takes anything that the public might observe superficially and gives it meaning. Interpretation in various forms (signage, talks, tours, tweets, videos, blogs, webpages, etc.) can be a powerful tool for public engagement with conservation and for subsequent behavioural change on behalf of the engaged public.

Besides which, interpretation is a skill much called-upon in our field of work: many graduates have used successful performance in an interpretation task as evidence of their suitability for a job. Interpretation is often part of your role in managing a protected area, running a conservation project or promoting public understanding of your research. This assignment will exercise your skills in public engagement, speaking confidently and succinctly, educating, and tailoring your message to your audience.

Barrow, Chris J. (2006) Environmental Management for Sustainable Development. 2nd Ed. Oxon: Routledge

8. Deadline of submission

5 pm (UK time) on Friday 5 December 2025 (week 13)

Your attention is drawn to the penalties for late submissions: capped at P1 if up to one week late, not marked if more than one week late.

If you are affected by circumstances outside your control which mean that you may miss a deadline, use the RE1 form availableto apply to the module leader for an extension. Note that you should apply for an extension when the circumstances arise, not only when the deadline looms. Failure to do so may influence the evaluation of the extension request or may result in the deadline passing before your request is reviewed.

9. Arrangements for submission

Submit a word document or .pdf which contains the transcript of your presentation and a link to the recording. Rename the file before uploading:

begin the filename with your matriculation number.

One draft submission via turnitin is allowed, for which you will see the originality report. You will not see the originality report on the final submission but your marker will. Turnitin will only highlight text: it is your responsibility to ensure that any images included are used with the appropriate citation and permission.

Keep your own copy of the assessment and save draft versions in separate files with the version number or date in the filename so that you could go back to earlier versions if necessary. Back up your work.

By submitting your work, you signify that you agree to the following statement:

“I agree to work within Edinburgh Napier University’s Academic Conduct Regulations which require that any work that I submit is entirely my own and has not been submitted for another assignment. The regulations require me to use appropriate citations and references in order to acknowledge where I have used any materials from any sources. I am providing my student matriculation number in place of a signed declaration in order to comply with Edinburgh Napier University’s assessment procedures.”

10. Assessment Regulations: All assessments are subject to the University Regulations

11.

12. The requirements for the assessment

Your assignment is to present a five-minute video or narrated PowerPoint which interprets some aspect of biodiversity, conservation or wildlife for the general public.

 All media, including photographs, video, maps and drawings should be your own or used with the permission of the copyright holder and with appropriate citation (for example, used under a creative commons license; maps downloaded from Digimap under Edinburgh Napier University license).

 If any recognisable human individuals feature in your media, they should give informed consent to the use of the images. It is usually better not to include identifiable people.

Your interpretation should be widely accessible (clear audio, clearly readable text, any technical terms explained) and should include the necessary health and safety information if it might stimulate members of the public to go out wildlife watching themselves. 

You are not necessarily restricted to peer-reviewed sources for this assignment, but you should exercise critical judgement when selecting any sources from the web.

Carry out your own risk assessment before going out to photograph, film or observe; considering any physical hazards such as traffic, biological hazards such as infection risks from various sources and social hazards such as the need for access permission or likelihood of attracting unwanted attention. If necessary, include guidance in your presentation so that anyone inspired by it will be appropriately aware of hazards.

 You must also prepare a text transcript (that is, type out everything you say in the video) which includes:

• In-text citations for all statements of fact and a full references list in APA style.
• Citation for each image/media item, stating either “author’s own” or citing the creator and linking to the license under which the media are used.
• Evidence of informed consent for any recognisable people featured, other than yourself.
• Outline risk assessment in a format of your choice
• A link to your presentation
• A template is given on Moodle to prompt you to include each of these elements.

13. Special instructions

Advice on producing and recording a presentation is given on moodle. We recommend that you record in Panopto but you can use any software that allows you to make a video and send us the link to it. You can upload video into panopto that you have created in any software, or build a session in panopto combining bits of pre-captured video and audio (guide here: Panopto Support

 If you have any issues with downloading the Panopto recorder you can use Panopto Capture which works from your

browser: Learning Technology Hub

 Online drop-in sessions for technical support with any issues you have (for example: optimizing a powerpoint presentation, recording in Panopto, uploading your video) are scheduled in weeks 11, 12 and 13. If you are unable to attend these sessions you can email the module leader Matthew Wale (M.W@napier.ac.uk) or learning technologist Natalia McLaren (n.mclaren@napier.ac.uk) for technical assistance.

 Examples that you might choose to interpret include: the behaviour of birds, insects or other animals observed from your home or nearby; the ecology of a local habitat (including heavily human-influenced habitats such as walls and playing fields); ecological and evolutionary concepts (e.g. competition, facilitation, phylogeny, evolutionary convergence…); the rationale for one or more pro-environmental behaviours (such as keeping dogs on leads, avoiding horticultural peat, feeding/refraining from feeding wildlife…).

You may choose to target a particular interest group e.g. city dwellers, children, older adults, commuters, gardeners, dog- walkers, tourists or other. If you do, make this clear at the beginning of your presentation and in your transcript.

Techniques that you might use include:

• Filming/photographing organisms or habitats
• Voice-over-powerpoint video, where the powerpoint displays diagrams, animations and/or images
• Talking to camera (selfie-style)
• Filming your hand as you write or draw on paper/whiteboard (this footage can be speeded up)
• Using your own previously-created images or footage from any place or time; or media which have a creative commons license.

The video should be one that it is possible for one person to produce alone and in most circumstances it should be produced alone. You are allowed to put a camera on a shelf or tripod so that you can appear in the video and if you have no suitable shelf or tripod you can use a friend to hold the camera; however, they should not do anything that a tripod could not accomplish.

You may not include interviews because it may be ambiguous how much the structure and intellectual content comes from the author or the interviewee. Do not collect new drone footage for the purposes of the assignment unless you can clearly evidence in the transcript that you complied with all legislation, licensing and access permissions. Pre- existing drone footage can be used like any other media.

 To reference images in the transcript, it might be helpful to have a separate list of image citations in the transcript, before or after references, in the order that images appear and with a brief title for the image like "map"; "photo of butterflies" etc. Images themselves don't need to appear in the transcript. Most images which aren't your own will require some visible credit where they appear in the video as well, in accordance with their Creative Commons license. An appropriate citation format to appear with the image would include the image title, creator's name (or pseudonym, if no name available), the nature of the license and a link to the license. For example: ""Bryum capillare" by C. Quintin, CC BY-NC 2.0". Note that the licence type is hyperlinked to license definition. In the references list within your transcript, also include the image url (linking to the original image page, not the search result page). Your own images and those for which the license does not require attribution do not need any citation in the presentation itself, only in the transcript.

 If you work or volunteer for a conservation organization which allows you to use their photos/footage or if friends/family allow you to use their photos/footage, cite these media with creator/copyright holder name in the usual way. When you don’t include a creative commons license, briefly mention where the image came from and how you have permission. Note that we can check whether, where and how images have been published on the web and we will check if we suspect that they are used without proper credit.

 Some transcripts will have a very short references list. If you were able to write it without any sources because it consists entirely of things that you observe by going to the place, then it doesn't need referenced.

Things that can be considered common knowledge (lots of people know this and it could be found in lots of different sources) don't have to be referenced. This includes definitions - unless there is one precise definition you want us all to understand - and long-established facts and theories - unless you are discussing one individual's work in that area and referring to their particular contribution. For example, you can explain evolution by natural selection without citing any sources but if you are discussing Darwin's original publication of this theory you should cite it. A web search will pull up more examples of what you can consider common knowledge.

If you are explaining something that you know well then you might not refer to any sources and hence would not reference anything in the transcript of your interpretation video; however, in most cases the interpretation would be enriched if you did look up and refer to additional sources to deepen the insight you are giving.

Whether or not you show any references for statements of fact within the presentation itself or not is a style choice and depends on what you think your audience will appreciate.