Unit completion requirements

Students must complete all the assessment tasks. A Satisfactory (or Participated) grade is required in each assessment task in order to pass this subject.

Assessment descriptions

Student learning in this unit is evaluated using two different systems:

Participation tasks are graded as Participated or Did not participate to indicate your level of engagement with learning opportunities. The weekly discussion groups and the weekly online questions track active participation rather than performance level. Similarly, active participation is required during “The Big Science Day Out” project.

Feedback assessment tasks allow evaluations of capability. Your written paper on a selected hot topic and your written report on the ‘Big Science Day Out’ project are feedback assessments. High standards are expected. You will be provided with feedback pointing to strengths and to potential for improvement in these assessments. They will be graded as Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.

Preparation for, and Participation in Discussion Groups

Readings for each week’s meeting will be posted on the Advanced Biology iLearn space, along with at least one discussion question to think about. These readings and questions will be provided by the week's presenter.

You will be required to prepare for the discussion groups by reading the required articles. Each week, you must then provide a brief (max 500 words) written response to the discussion question posed. The question will be posted on iLearn and answer can be submitted through the iLearn blog space for that week. You can submit your answer to the discussion question anytime until 9 am on the morning before the meeting. This gives other participants opportunity to look at responses before the discussion meeting.

Attendance at discussion groups is compulsory and a roll will be marked. It is extremely important to prepare for each week’s discussion group. Students who have not read the required material may be asked to leave by the presenter, in which case they will be marked as absent. All students are expected to take part in the discussion.

Participation in group project and reflection upon it

(a) Scoping phase. During this phase the challenge will be to identify aspects of biology that are interesting to non-specialists, that are well-founded in current research and that can be successfully conveyed via the ‘Science Race’ where participants have to complete activities  at your stations. Your participation will be assessed via group presentations on progress, project summaries, timely requests for materials and via observations by staff supervising the activities.

(b) Detailed design and implementation phase. During this phase, planning will be needed for individual stations during the Race. You will investigate the detailed science via reading and consulting experts, and you will road-test and overcome issues of implementation. Again, participation will be assessed via summaries, meetings and observations by staff supervising the activities.

(c) Written report reflecting on the group project (1000-1500 words, due week 8, Semester 2, at the end of the mid-session break). The purpose of this report is to assess how well the group project worked, what evidence there is to make that claim, and how the project might be improved in future. Here are examples of questions you might consider:

• How many people did the project reach or communicate with? How do you know this? How might this reach be widened?
• To what extent did participants learn something that they didn't previously know? To what extent were their values and motivations changed? What evidence do you have to make these claims, and what evidence would you like to collect if it were possible?
• How widely did the science that you communicated spread across different aspects of biology? For instance, to different groups of organisms, or different levels of function from molecular to ecosystem, or mechanistic versus evolutionary types of explanation?
• If in general you wanted to communicate science to schoolchildren, do you think The Science Race was a good way to do so, or can you think of better ways? In what aspects would they be better?
• Do you think that developing this project as a group produced an outcome that was better than if you had each worked individually? If so, how do you think that was brought about? Was it different sorts of knowledge or skills being complementary? Or different personality types? or cultural backgrounds?

Written paper on a hot topic

Word limit: 1500 words (excluding references)

Figures: no more than 2 Figures may be included.

This written paper gives you opportunity to enlarge on a particular topic you found exciting. It will arise from one or other of the hot topics discussed during the year, but it need not correspond exactly to that topic as formulated by the presenter.

Two alternative styles or formats are permitted:

(1) “News and Views” style article. These are a feature of the leading general-science journal Nature (although other journals also feature similarly-styled pieces). They are targeted for a broad readership, not just specialists in that particular field. They are based on one or a few recent papers. Their role is to explain why these particular results are of broad interest and importance. They do this by summarizing the key questions and results, and putting them into a much broader context. You are strongly recommended to look at several examples in order to get a feel for the format.

(2) Article for The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/au). This is a website with a variety of contributors, mainly academics seeking to influence policy-makers, the thinking public and politicians. Again, your article should explain recent research results or an important concept that you believe should be more widely understood. In this format, the target audience is intelligent non-scientists more so than fellow-researchers. You are strongly recommended to look at several examples in order to get a feel for the format. Although contributions to The Conversation do not always carry referencing, for purpose of this assignment we would like you to cite following standard scientific-paper practice for facts or opinions attributable to others besides yourself.

You can discuss suitability of your topic and format with the Convenor. The paper is due by midnight on Friday of the last week of Semester 2 (the Friday before exams begin).

Assignment Submission

All assessments are to be submitted via iLearn. Your work may be submitted to the anti-plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) via iLearn. Your work will automatically be compared to work of your classmates, previous students from Macquarie and other universities, with material available on the Internet, both freely available and subscription-based electronic journals and book chapters. The results will be sent only to the unit convenor, who will analyse them with reference to the University's Policy on Academic Honesty.

Extensions and penalties

Deadlines for assignments are not negotiable. Late assignments will be penalised. Extensions are granted only on grounds of disruption to study policy, and appropriate supporting documentation must be submitted via ask.mq. All applications for special consideration or extension must be sought before the due date.

Work submitted after 3 weeks beyond the due date, or the date for which an extension has been given, will not be accepted. If you are having problems completing an assignment, please contact the Convenor as soon as possible.

This unit is for students enrolled in the Advanced Science (Biology) Program. The Advanced Biology Program offers expansion and enrichment of the standard undergraduate curriculum. It is designed for students who have good grades in their regular Biology units and who have energy and curiosity to spare.

During the year, students meet with diverse academics, and are exposed to the advancing frontiers of research. Students will be challenged to think about topics where biological knowledge is changing and advancing rapidly.

Learning and thinking about how new knowledge is acquired will help those students who might go on to become career researchers, but it will also be of great benefit to students who enter other fields, such as media, politics, government or business.

The first year (BIOL188) and third year (BIOL388) units meet for at least one hour on a weekly basis throughout the year. The timetable has a two hour session booked each week, so that we can extend discussions if the need arises.  Most weeks will be discussions about hot topics and recent research advances in biology. These discussions will be led by researchers who work actively in these areas. Topic areas will include medical science, molecular biology, synthetic biology, ecology, evolution, palaeontology, and biology in the media, to name a few. Some speakers may choose to show you their laboratories and focus on research within their groups to enable you to see the research in the Department first hand.

Students will also participate in a group project to develop research-based material for Science Week at the Royal Botanic Garden as part of the ‘Big Science Day Out’. This is an opportunity to meet researchers from science based industry and interpret research activities for communication to the general public. In some weeks, activities will revolve around this project.

• Successful completion of this unit will earn you 3 credit points.
• The unit is offered internally for a full year (FY1)

In the last offering the group activity was run at Taronga Zoo (Wild Science Race). This year we will work with the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Australian Museum to co-develop and deliver the Big Science Day out.