Students are expected to attempt all assignments.  Late assignments will be penalized at the rate of 5% of the value of the assignment per 24 hours.

CLASSES

LECTURES

There are three one-hour lectures per week.  Internal students will receive their lectures in the usual way, and external students will listen to recorded lectures via the online unit. All lectures will be recorded live and will be available via the iLearn unit through Echo360.

TUTORIALS

There are weekly two-hour tutorials for internal students in the unit, starting from week 1. Internal students will be timetabled to a session. Please do not change sessions without consulting me. We will use the tutorials to work through the problem sets. You are expected to have attempted them before the tutorial. We will also discuss the assignments. You will find the unit very difficult if you do not attend all the tutorials or on-campus sessions.

ON-CAMPUS-SESSIONS FOR EXTERNAL STUDENTS

These will deal with the problem sheets, the essay and revision. There are two of these, both held on Sundays. There is no formal requirement to attend these sessions (they are voluntary as some students are interstate or overseas) but most students will derive a lot of benefit if they do so, and I expect all local external students to attend. Students will be expected to have attempted the relevant problems before the on-campus session and to be prepared to discuss their solutions. Each session will last the whole day, from 9-6.  The dates are as follows:

1. Sunday 9 April, end of week 6, problem sets 1- 5
2. Sunday 4 June, end of week 12, problem sets 6 – 11

ONLINE TUTORIALS FOR EXTERNAL STUDENTS

There may be some optional online tutorials in the evening for external students, using the online resource Scribblar.  All arrangements, including timing and frequency, will be made with external students via the Discussion forum in the Online unit.

REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND/OR MATERIALS

TEXT BOOK

All students will need access to the internet and a scientific hand calculator. It is recommended that you purchase the textbook.

Textbook: Human Molecular Genetics. (4th Ed) Tom Strachan & Andrew P. Read, Garland Science, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-815-34149-9 Distributed in Australia by McMillan

Suggestions for optional additional reading are available on the iLearn unit.

UNIT WEBPAGE AND TECHNOLOGY USED AND REQUIRED

BIOL345 iLearn unit

The BIOL345 online iLearn unit is the core resource in this unit.  Updated unit information, links to lecture recordings, lecture notes, assignment details and discussion forums can be found there.  All students must make sure they check it regularly.

The following standards will be used to determine your grade in BIOL345

Pass

• Demonstrates the ability to think analytically, and attempts to apply appropriate mathematical techniques to solve genetics problems.
• Demonstrates the ability to find and evaluate evidence from the primary scientific literature and to extract key messages from these sources.
• Demonstrates a basic understanding of the complexities of the relationship between genotype and phenotype
• Demonstrates a basic understanding of the process of scientific discovery in human genetics and the effects of recent technological advances in the field.
• Demonstrates adequate communication skills, with the production of a piece of writing that addresses the task to a satisfactory level.

Credit

• Demonstrates the ability to think analytically and critically, and generally applies the appropriate mathematical techniques to solve genetics problems.
• Demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate evidence from the primary scientific literature and to extract key messages from these sources.
• Demonstrates a sound grasp of the complexities of the relationship between genotype and phenotype
• Demonstrates a sound understanding of the process of scientific discovery in human genetics and the effects of recent technological advances in the field.
• Demonstrates good communication skills, with the production of an effective piece of writing that fully addresses the task.

Distinction

• Demonstrates a superior ability to think analytically and critically, and consistently applies the appropriate mathematical techniques to solve genetics problems
• Demonstrates a sustained ability to critically evaluate evidence from the primary scientific literature and to extract key messages from these sources.
• Demonstrates a good grasp of the complexities of the relationship between genotype and phenotype.
• Demonstrates an excellent understanding of the process of scientific discovery in human genetics and the effects of recent technological advances in the field.
• Demonstrates excellent communication skills, with the production of an effective piece of writing that displays noticeable evidence of innovative thinking and originality.

High Distinction

• Demonstrates an outstanding ability to think analytically and critically, and consistently applies the appropriate mathematical techniques to solve genetics problems
• Demonstrates a sustained ability to critically evaluate evidence from the primary scientific literature and to extract key messages from these sources.
• Demonstrates a thorough grasp of the complexities of the relationship between genotype and phenotype.
• Demonstrates substantial depth and breadth of knowledge of the process of scientific discovery in human genetics and the effects of recent technological advances in the field.
• Demonstrates excellent communication skills, with the production of a sophisticated piece of writing that displays substantial innovative thinking and originality.