Engaging engineering and agriculture students to sustainability principles has changed from a marginal issue to mainstream with time. Current professionals in engineering, agricultural and environmental sciences require a clear understanding of the principles of sustainability; supported by accredited bodies such as Engineering Australia. At this regional university these students are required to complete two units of study in sustainability of rural environment, the first of which will be discussed in this paper, which outlines the unique Australian environment. To understand the concept of sustainability, students need to see the relevance in their lives and chosen career. Therefore care needs to be taken in the choice of topics for assessments such as 1500 word essay; and in this article how these topics are chosen will be discussed. This article will outline the process of topic selection that follows a partnership approach between a lecturer, first year advisor and librarian. Placing such importance, on the sustainability of Australia in first year of such a diverse group of students shows innovation in the higher education sector. These degrees that fall within the School of Environment and Rural Science whose aim it is to save the planet, feed the world.

A collaborative approach was used to re-design an early first-year essay type assessment. The aim was to develop a task that encouraged success and confidence through making expectations explicit and by allowing for the development of core skills in information literacy and academic writing.

In this project, a collaborative three-way partnership approach to assessment design utilising the combined skill set of a lecturer, librarian and first year learning advisor was taken. The project aimed to design a first year assessment task that encouraged success and confidence by allowing for the development of core skills in information literacy and academic writing whilst maintaining disciplinary standards. Team skills were identified, tasks were negotiated and carried out collaboratively, and the process documented and reflections noted. The agreed-upon key tasks underpinning the success of the new scaffolded design were selective topic selection and careful question formulation to improve student engagement and understanding. The new scaffolded approach to assessment was rewarding for staff, and preliminary student feedback suggests an enhanced learning exercise for students.