Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit convenor and lecturer
Anina Rich
Unit convenor and lecturer
Regine Zopf
Lecturer
Paul Sowman
Lecturer
Lyndsey Nickels
Lecturer
Simmy Poonian
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Credit points |
Credit points
4
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit will engage students in critical research issues in cognitive science. We examine the assumptions and methodological issues of the main techniques used across the different fields of cognitive science (e.g., neuroimaging, behavioural, and neuropsychological techniques). The unit will include seminars by experts in the various techniques and student-led analyses of recently published papers. The aim is to provide students with the tools to critically appraise published studies and the inferences made on the basis of experimental data. Activities are based on seminar attendance, directed reading of research articles, and critical discussion of research in both written and oral form.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Late Penalties
Late submission of an assignment will attract a penalty of 5% of the maximum mark for every day that the assignment is late (including weekend days). For example, if the assignment is worth 40 marks and your assignment is submitted 2 days late, a penalty of 2x5%x40 = 4 marks will be applied and subtracted from the awarded mark for the assignment. Work submitted more than 7 days after the submission deadline will not be marked and will receive a mark of 0. Please note that it is the student’s responsibility to notify the University of a disruption to their studies and requests for extensions for assignments must be made via the University’s Ask MQ System (as outlined in the Special Consideration Policy).
Questions about the assessment tasks?
Please email the unit convenors for clarification or questions about any of the assessments - we are happy to discuss essay directions in advance of submission if necessary.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Participation | 10% | No | Throughout course |
Leading journal club | 10% | No | Dependent on signed up topic |
A critical review of a paper | 30% | No | 2 weeks after paper discussion |
Critical issues essay | 50% | No | 18/06/2018 @ 9am |
Due: Throughout course
Weighting: 10%
This assessment involves participating, discussing and contributing ideas throughout the course, and reading a journal article each fortnight in advance of class discussion.
The course alternates between lectures given by experts and student-led journal club discussions. Students are given ample opportunity to ask questions, contribute ideas and thoughts and participate. For the student-led journal club sessions, it is required that all students carefully read the selected paper and critically think about the issues the paper raises. All students are then expected to contribute to the group discussion about the selected paper.
Due: Dependent on signed up topic
Weighting: 10%
This assessment involves selecting an academic research paper and leading a student group discussion.
The purpose of this assessment is to provide students with practical experience in critical thinking and reasoning when reading academic articles. It will also provide students with an opportunity to enhance oral communication skills, increase their understanding of methodological techniques commonly used in cognitive science, and increase their familiarity with academic writing.
Each student will nominate to lead a paper discussion on a particular topic. Topics will be based on particular methods used in Cognitive Science and will follow specific lectures about the topic. Each student will select a paper (either already published or available on a pre-print repository such as BioRxiv or PsyArXiv) that uses the relevant methodology for the nominated topic and upload it to iLearn. All remaining students will then sign up to read and critically discuss one of the selected papers.
On the day of the student-led discussions, students will split into small groups according to which papers they signed up to critically evaluate. The nominated student will lead the discussion by critically reading and preparing for the discussion on the day. There will be department experts in the topic to help facilitate discussion within the groups. All students will contribute to discussing the critical issues within the paper. Groups will complete a short paper summary form throughout the discussion and give a short summary presentation to the whole class about the critical issues in the paper.
Due: 2 weeks after paper discussion
Weighting: 30%
A critical review of a paper
Due: 2 weeks after paper discussion @ 4pm
Weighting: 30%
This assessment mimics the task of a pre-publication review. Before papers are published, other researchers are asked to act as ‘reviewers’ for the journal, assessing the merit of the paper for publication and giving recommendations for improvement.
As part of the previous assessment (leading a journal club), students will have selected a paper (either already published or available on a pre-print repository such as BioRxiv or PsyArXiv) that uses the relevant methodology for that topic. They will then be required to submit their review two weeks after leading the journal-club discussion. This critical review is usually on the paper or manuscript analysed during the journal club discussion but can be a different paper if preferred, as long as it uses the relevant methodology for that topic.
The review needs to be a critical analysis of the particular paper, pointing out problems that should be addressed or issues that could be improved. The review needs to include a brief summary of the academic paper, identifying major and minor issues, discussing the implications and making constructive recommendations for changes that could improve the study.
The review will be assessed for evidence of:
[1] understanding the goal, methods, analyses & results of the study,
[2] critically and reflective thinking regarding potential major and minor issues with the study, making relevant recommendations for how to improve the study or for follow-on work,
[3] writing, clarity, and argumentation
Word Limit: Up to 1500 words. Writing clear and concise reviews is an important research skill. There will be 5% leeway in the word limit (i.e., up to 75 words over 1500), but beyond that the student will be penalised 5% of the review mark for every further 100 words over the limit.
Due Date: The critical review of a paper is due two weeks after the student led the journal club discussion. An electronic version of the review must be submitted to iLearn by 4 pm on the due date through Turnitin.
Late submission of this review will attract a penalty of 5% of the maximum mark for every day that the assignment is late (including weekend days). For example, if it is submitted 2 days late, there will be a penalty of 10% for this assignment. Work submitted more than 14 days after the submission deadline will not be marked and will receive a mark of 0. Please note that it is the student's responsibility to notify the University of any disruption to studies and that requests for extensions for assignments must be made via the University’s Ask MQ System (as outlined in the Special Consideration Policy).
Due: 18/06/2018 @ 9am
Weighting: 50%
This assessment requires writing a 3000 word essay about key critical issues in cognitive science covered during the course.
The essay should contain an introductory overview and present a number of the most important issues (perhaps 3-4) that arose during the course across the different techniques. It should demonstrate an understanding and detailed knowledge about the important issues in conducting research in cognitive science. The essay should include explanations about the significance of these issues and provide supporting evidence by referring to evidence-based scientific papers. The essay should also highlight critical issues and flaws within cited papers, and relate the impact these can have on the interpretation.
The essay will be assessed based on evidence of:
[1] critical thinking and understanding of the selected issues
[2] writing, clarity and argument
[3] correct use of referencing and reference list (APA style).
Word Limit: 3,000 words excl reference list. Please write the word count on the cover page. There will be 5% leeway in the word limit (i.e., up to 150 words over 3,000), but beyond that the student will be penalised 5% of the essay mark for every further 100 words over the limit.
Due Date: The critical issues essay is due Monday 18th June 2018 at 9am. An electronic version of the essay has to be submitted to iLearn through Turnitin by 9am on the due date.
Late submission of the essay will attract a penalty of 5% of the maximum mark for every day that the assignment is late (including weekend days). For example, if it is submitted 2 days late, there will be a penalty of 10% for this assignment. Work submitted more than 14 days after the submission deadline will not be marked and will receive a mark of 0. Please note that it is the student's responsibility to notify the University of any disruption to studies and that requests for extensions for assignments must be made via the University’s Ask MQ System (as outlined in the Special Consideration Policy).
ABOUT THIS UNIT
This unit will engage students in critical research issues in cognitive science. We examine the assumptions and methodological issues of the main techniques used across the different fields of cognitive science (e.g., neuroimaging, behavioural, and neuropsychological techniques). The course will include lectures by experts in the various techniques and student-led analysis of recent published papers. The aim is to provide students with the tools to critically appraise published studies and the inferences made on the basis of experimental data. Activities are based on seminar attendance, directed reading of research articles, and critical discussion of research in both written and oral form.
Delivery
There will be 13 weekly seminars that run for 2 hours each.
Seminars will start in Week 1 of Session 1 on Wednesdays from 2.30-4.30pm in the Australian Hearing Hub, Level 3, room 3.610 (Marrie) except for Wednesday 16th May, which will be in 3.310 (Yirran Room).
We expect 100% attendance to the weekly seminars. If there are any issues with attendance, please email Dr Regine Zopf in advance of the class. We require all students to participate in the discussion in the journal club seminars, which requires thorough reading of the assigned papers.
Resources
The required readings for this unit will be nominated by students.
Recommended readings will be given by lecturers after each lecture.
Slides and readings from each lecture will be available on this unit's iLearn page.
Date |
Topic |
Lecturer |
28th Feb |
Overview & experiment design/analysis |
Associate Professor Anina Rich |
7th March |
Behavioural papers |
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14th March |
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) |
Dr Regine Zopf |
21st March |
fMRI papers |
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28th March |
Electroencephalography (EEG) |
Dr Simmy Poonian |
4th April |
EEG papers |
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11th April |
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) |
Associate Professor Paul Sowman |
18th April |
Mid-Semester Break |
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25th April |
Mid-Semester Break |
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2nd May |
MEG papers |
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9th May |
Patient studies (single case vs. group) |
Professor Lyndsey Nickels |
16th May |
Patient papers |
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23rd May |
Neural stimulation |
Associate Professor Paul Sowman |
30th May |
Neural stimulation papers |
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6th June |
Summing up |
Associate Professor Anina Rich Dr Regine Zopf |
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Our postgraduates will be able to demonstrate a significantly enhanced depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content knowledge in their chosen fields.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our postgraduates will be capable of utilising and reflecting on prior knowledge and experience, of applying higher level critical thinking skills, and of integrating and synthesising learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments. A characteristic of this form of thinking is the generation of new, professionally oriented knowledge through personal or group-based critique of practice and theory.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our postgraduates will be capable of systematic enquiry; able to use research skills to create new knowledge that can be applied to real world issues, or contribute to a field of study or practice to enhance society. They will be capable of creative questioning, problem finding and problem solving.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our postgraduates will be able to communicate effectively and convey their views to different social, cultural, and professional audiences. They will be able to use a variety of technologically supported media to communicate with empathy using a range of written, spoken or visual formats.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our postgraduates will be ethically aware and capable of confident transformative action in relation to their professional responsibilities and the wider community. They will have a sense of connectedness with others and country and have a sense of mutual obligation. They will be able to appreciate the impact of their professional roles for social justice and inclusion related to national and global issues
This graduate capability is supported by:
The structure of the summary of a paper assessment has changed to reflect the real-life task of a researcher reviewing for journals.
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COGS701 involves methods that allow us to study the brain. We therefore may use images and videos of human brains and dissections, as well as discussing patients with brain damage and animal research. It is a discussion-based interactive course, which means all students need to feel comfortable contributing to class conversations. Please treat both staff and your fellow students with the utmost respect.