Missed Assessments

The only exception to not sitting an in-class test or examination at the designated time or handing in an assessment on the due date is because of a serious or unavoidable disruption.

Students who miss a formal assessment held in class or a final examination due to a serious and unavoidable disruption which commenced after the start of the study period must lodge a Disruption to Studies Notification via ask.mq.edu.au within five (5) working days of the commencement of the disruption in order to apply for Special Consideration. The notification must be supported by appropriate evidence.

In submitting a Disruption to Studies Notification, a student is acknowledging that they may be required to undertake additional work. The time and date, deadline or format of any required extra assessable work as a result of a Disruption to Studies Notification is not negotiable. Further, in submitting a Disruption to Studies Notification, a student is agreeing to make themselves available so that they can complete any extra work as required.

Students will be advised of the outcome of their Disruption to Studies Application via ask.mq.edu.au.

Please refer to the Disruption to Studies Policy for further details.

Extensions & Late Submissions

To apply for an extension of time for submission of an assessment item, students must submit a notification of Disruptions to Studies via ask.mq.edu.au.

Grounds for extensions are usually serious illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances and must be substantiated with relevant evidence (e.g. professional authority form).

Late submissions without an approved extension will be penalised at a rate of 10% per day (weekend inclusive). This applies to assessments completed outside of class such as essays and assignments.

Final Examinations and Final Assessment Tasks

Final exams and final assessments typically take place in Week 13 and the first 3 days of week 14. Please note that you must pass the final exam or final assessment task in order to pass this unit.You are expected to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated in the Final Examination Timetable. Please note that no special consideration will be given to students who have booked flights out of the country prior to the conclusion of the examination period.

The Final Examination Timetable will be available in provisional form on the MQC Student Portal Noticeboard at https://student.mqc.edu.au/NoticeBoard.htm in approximately week 10 of this Session.  You will have 1 week to give feedback to the Student Administration Manager should you have concerns or note any clashes in your final exam timetable. From week 12, you will also be able to view your personal final exam timetable via the MQC Student Portal.

The examination timetable is produced to provide the maximum number of students with the least number of consecutive examinations. It is not uncommon for students of Macquarie University at both the City and North Ryde Campuses to be required to sit two consecutive examinations.  A maximum of three consecutive exams is also permitted (for example, two on one day, and one the following morning). However, no student is required to sit four consecutive exams and if any student discovers their examination timetable contains four consecutive exams, they should immediately contact the Student Administration Manager to have an exam rescheduled.

Prior to the examination period, you should ensure that you are familiar with the Examination Rules. You can find these under Exam Information on the MQC Student Portal Noticeboard. A breach in any of these rules will lead to disciplinary action being undertaken.

Students who miss a final exam or final assessment will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task and cannot pass the unit, except for cases where a Disruption to Studies Notification is lodged and a Special Consideration is awarded. Please note that in submitting a Disruption to Studies Notification, a student is acknowledging that they may be required to undertake additional work. The time and date, deadline or format of any required extra assessable work as a result of a Disruption to Studies Notification is not negotiable.

Supplementary Examinations

Supplementary final examinations are held during the scheduled Supplementary Final exam Period in the lead up to the subsequent teaching period.

Please note that results for supplementary exams may not be available until the conclusion of Week 2 of the subsequent teaching session and until supplementary results are released, continuing students may be prevented from enrolling in certain units in the subsequent teaching session.

Students in their final semester of study who undertake supplementary final exams should note that Formal Completion of the Foundation Program will not be possible until supplementary results are released and this may impact on their ability to enrol subsequent programs of study on time.

 Retention of Originals

It is the responsibility of the student to retain a copy of any work submitted and produce another copy of all work submitted if requested.  Copies should be retained until after the release of final results each Session.

In the event that a student is asked to produce another copy of work submitted and is unable to do so, they may be awarded zero (0) for that particular assessment task.

The University also reserves the right to request and retain the originals of any documentation/ evidence submitted to support notifications of disruptions to studies. Requests for original documentation will be sent to the applicant’s University email address within six (6) months of notification by the student. Students must retain all original documentation for the duration of this six (6) month period and must supply original documents to the University within ten (10) working days of such a request being made.

Turnitin

Students may be requested to submit assessments via Turnitin and in such instances any hard copies submitted without a Turnitin Report will not be marked.

Step by step guidance for Turnitin submissions can be found here. Should you experience any difficulties with Turnitin submission, please see a Lab Demonstrator in Lab 311 at MQC.

If you experience difficulties submitting through Turnitin on the due date, you must email your work in electronic format to your lecturer using the email address provided in the unit guide. Late submissions will be penalised at 10% per day.

Grading & Requirements to pass

This unit will use the following grading system:

• HD - High Distinction (85-100)
• D – Distinction (75-84)
• CR – Credit (65-74)
• P – Pass (50-64)
• F – Fail (0-49)

Grade descriptors and other information concerning grading are contained in the Macquarie University Grading Policy which is available here.

To pass this unit, you must attempt all assessable components of the unit, pass the final exam and attain an overall mark of at least 50%. Failure to do so will result in an F (fail) grade being recorded.

Please note that this is a level 2 elective unit. All attempts at a level 2 elective unit will count towards your Macquarie University Average (MQA), including failed and withdraw fail results. If you academic advice, please see a Student Adviser prior to the Academic Penalty Date (Friday Week 8).

For further information on progression to an Undergraduate degree, please see Progression into Undergraduate studies section below.

Provision of Feedback

Marks awarded for assessment items will also be available on the MQC Student Portal within fourteen (14) days of the due date. Typically you will also be able to collect your submitted assignments in this same timeframe.

If you wish to receive further feedback from your instructor, you should contact them directly using the contact details provided in this guide.

Students may seek general feedback about their performance in a unit up to 6 months following results release.

Contacting Staff and Getting Help

Foundation students may approach teaching staff for one-on-one help in one of three ways:

• During Consultation sessions. For details about consultation sessions and Consultation times, please refer to timetabled provided on the Macquarie City Campus Portal Noticeboard.
• Using the "Questions for your instructor" dialogue provided in Week 0 of the respective unit in iLearn.
• Using the instructor’s email address provided in the Unit Guide of the respective unit.

For all university related correspondence, students are required to use their official MQ student email account which may be accessed via the Macquarie University Student Portal. Inquiries from personal email accounts will not be replied to.

Classes  

Weekly contact will be 5 hours consisting of a 2.5 hour lecture, and a 2.5 hour lab / tutorial.

Classes will take place at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, which is located near Town Hall station (483 George St, Sydney NSW 2000). 

The lecturer will meet students at MQC in Week 1 (in the room indicated on the students' timetable) and take them down to St Andrew’s. Students will be expected to make their way to St Andrew’s from thereon. Please make sure you allow sufficient time to make your way to the School.  If you have a class immediately prior to your Science lesson at St Andrew's, you are permitted to leave that class 15 minutes early in order to arrive at Sta Andrew's on time.

While at St Andrew’s, students will be expected to comply with the school’s rules and procedures.

During Lectures, new content will typically be presented and explained by the lecturer. During laboratory work and tutorials participants will have more opportunities to engage in discussion and activities. (This unit will not comprise any consultation sessions.) Attendance of both sessions (lectures & tutorials) is compulsory.

Timetables for lectures and tutorials as well as consultation sessions can be found on the Noticeboard on the City Campus Student Portal.  

If any scheduled class falls on a public holiday a make-up lesson may be scheduled, usually on a Saturday. Scheduled make-up days are noted in the Teaching Schedule of the Unit Guide and attendance is compulsory. Where appropriate the instructor may require students to complete alternative activities on-line rather than attending a make-up lesson. 

Learning and Teaching Activities

Classes will consist of a mixture of theory and practical activities and will involve the use of chemicals and other laboratory equipment. For this reason, students are required to wear closed shoes for their lessons in the Laboratory.

It is expected that all students purchase the prescribed text and read in advance to ensure that they are well prepared for the content covered in each lecture.

iLearn will also be used to post lecture and tutorial materials and also communicate with students so it is expected that students will check this resource on a regular basis.

iLearn

iLearn is Macquarie's online learning management systems. The following unit specific information will be available on the website:

• Announcements
• Staff contact details
• Lecture notes and recordings
• Learning and teaching activities and resources
• Assessment information
• Tutorial questions and solutions
• Assessment submission tools such as Turnitin
• Other relevant material

Please note that you must enrol in a unit via eStudent in gain access to the unit in iLearn.

You are required to regularly check the website and use it as an information and resource centre to assist with your learning.

Ensure that when you have finished using the website, you log out. Failure to do so could allow unauthorised access to your account.

Please contact the IT helpdesk (Ph. 02 9850 4357) or lodge a ticket using OneHelp if you need assistance accessing iLearn.

Required and Recommended Texts and Materials

Prescribed textbook(s):

• Heineman Biology (Third Edition), Brotherton, J. and Mudie, K. Pearson Secondary, 2010, ISBN: 978 144 251 794 3

All prescribed textbooks will be made available to students to purchase at the Phillip Street Coop Bookshop. Students can view a full list of textbooks for all units on the Macquarie City Campus Student Portal Noticeboard.

Technology Used and Required

In the classroom students will be required to develop skills and safe practices in a variety of areas. Included are microscope work, biological materials and chemical testing. This equipment will be provided in the laboratory.

Students will be required develop expertise in research and presentation technologies. This will include the use of MS PowerPoint and possibly Microsoft Excel.

iLearn will be utilised to put up lecture slides and additional resources, so students should login to the system on a regular basis.

Other Important Dates 

Completing the Foundation Program

When you successfully complete your Macquarie Foundation Program to the required level, you can articulate into a bachelor's degree at Macquarie University, either the North Ryde campus or the City Campus. Students who successfully complete the Macquarie University Foundation Program but are not eligible for direct admission into an undergraduate degree can still apply to study an SIBT diploma either at Macquarie University or city campus.

How is entry into Macquarie Undergraduate degrees assessed?

In the Macquarie Foundation Program,  students' performance is measured against the MQA (Macquarie University Average).  This MQA score is used to determine whether a student is eligible for entry into their chosen bachelor degree at Macquarie University. The MQA is calculated as the average of each student's performance in their level 2 elective units only.

For further information about the MQA and progression into your Undergraduate degree, please see the Entry pathways to Macquarie University webpage.

Exiting Foundation Student Information Session

An information session will be held in Week 10 for students in their final session of the Foundation Program. You will receive an invitation to attend this session in Week 9 of your final semester, via your student email.  At the session you will be provided with information on how to apply for your preferred degree and will be given an opportunity to ask questions, so it is strongly recommended that you attend the Information Session for Finishing Foundation Students.