Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Module presenter
Ken Cheng
Contact via email
Module presenter
John Alroy
Module presenter
Michelle Leishman
Module presenter
Ian Wright
Caitlin Kordis
Darrell Kemp
|
---|---|
Credit points |
Credit points
10
|
Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
|
Corequisites |
Corequisites
|
Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
|
Unit description |
Unit description
Students will formulate novel research questions within well-defined topic areas, conduct a comprehensive review of the primary literature, synthesise this material to address their research question, and present their findings in written form. This unit provides an opportunity for students to explore areas of biological research that they may be unfamiliar with at the outset. The intention is to give students an opportunity improve their skills in two fundamental forms of scientific writing: grant proposals and literature reviews. |
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:
Submission of work: All assessment tasks (proposal, abstract & final review) must be submitted electronically via the relevant TURNITIN link located in iLearn.
Scheduling of assessment tasks: Assessment tasks have been scheduled so that feedback from earlier assessments can adequately inform the more heavily-weighted latter tasks (full grant proposal & review). Where possible they have been designed so as to not contribute to workload bottlenecks for students undertaking Year 1 of the MRes program.
Academic honesty - IMPORTANT: Presenting the work of another person as one’s own is a serious breach of the University’s rules and carries significant penalties. The University’s Academic Honesty Policy can be accessed at:
http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
In this unit we will be checking written work for plagiarism using TURNITIN. Penalties for plagiarism may include a zero mark for the assignment or in more extreme cases, failure of the unit. Plagiarism WILL be noted on your academic record. Full details of penalties can be found at:
http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/schedule_penalties.html
Extensions, penalties and disruptions to study: Overdue assessment tasks will attract a penalty at the rate of 5 % of the total mark allocated for the task per day past the due date. Weekend days are included in this calculation. The penalty will be capped at 75 %, which means that once your submission is more than 15 days overdue you can earn up to a maximum of 25 % of the assessment grade. The date and time of your submission will be taken as registered by TURNITIN.
Deadlines for assessments are not negotiable except under circumstances when you have experienced a serious and unavoidable disruption. In such instances, you should formally lodge a disruption to studies notification via ASK@MQ. University policy and procedure in regard to disruptions is given in the links below, but please note in particular:
Further information about the Disruptions to Studies policy and procedure is online at Policy Central:
http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/procedure.html.
And there is additional information on managing your Disruptions to Studies at:
http://students.mq.edu.au/student_admin/manage_your_study_program/disruption_to_studies/
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
---|---|---|---|
Literature review plan | 5% | No | Week 4 |
Peer review - literature review | 10% | No | Week 6 |
Literature review | 35% | No | Week 7 |
Grant proposal plan | 5% | No | Week 10 |
Peer review of grant proposal | 10% | No | Week 12 |
Grant proposal | 30% | No | Week 15 |
Time on task reflection | 5% | No | Week 13 |
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 5%
An outline for the proposed literature review
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 10%
Students will peer review each others literature review drafts prior to final submission.
Assessment Type 1: Literature review
Indicative Time on Task 2: 45 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 35%
A short literature review on a topic in biological sciences.
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Week 10
Weighting: 5%
A plan for the proposed grant application.
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 10%
Students will peer review each others grant proposal drafts prior to final submission.
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 45 hours
Due: Week 15
Weighting: 30%
Students will write an grant application.
Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 5%
Students will keep a time on task diary and at the end of the session reflect on their time management.
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
Unit readings
There is no formally prescribed text for this unit. Recommended readings will be populated into iLearn. These include the following guides for effective science communication:
Cheng K (2019) Expository Scientific Writing: A Short Guide.
Haddaway et al. 2020 Eight problems with literature reviews and how to fix them. Nature Ecology & Evolution
iLearn
iLearn and email will be the principle method of communication in this subject. We expect you to regularly stay in touch with the unit’s dedicated iLearn site, where you will find ongoing unit announcements and a group discussion forum. The site will also be populated with material such as relevant new literature and grade outcomes for specific assessment tasks.
As noted earlier, additional resources of relevance are provided on the MRes community iLearn site “Biological Sciences PG”, accessible from your iLearn homepage under “Community Units” or directly via the link:
https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/course/view.php?id=49045
How do you log in? The URL for the iLearn is: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/. You will need to log in to iLearn each time you use it. Your user name is your student number and the password your oneID. For further details go to http://mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/index.htm. If you are having trouble accessing your online unit due to a disability or health condition, please contact Macquarie Student Services. If you cannot log in after ensuring you have entered your username and password correctly, contact Student IT Help: 9850 4357 (in Sydney) or 1 800 063 191 (outside Sydney).
The structure for this unit is based around two writing modules corresponding to each half of the teaching session. The first module deals with writing an opinion/commentary-style literature review and the second deals with writing a research grant proposal. Each module starts with several weeks of scheduled face-to-face tutorial hours in which you will receive guidance for the task. There is a common assessment structure for each module consisting of a plan/proposal, a student peer-assessment task, and the full document.
A full outline of unit activities and their precise dates/times throughout the teaching session will be updated in Unit Guide publication prior to the session start (and published on the unit's iLearn site).
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
This unit has for several years been based around a single literature review task, and prior to that served as the “theme topic” literature review component of the Biological Sciences Honours program. The 2021 delivery of BIOL7920 has been modified to include a roughly equally-weighted grant-writing task, therefore scaling back the size and scope of the review writing task. This change has occurred along with changes to related units in a course restructure aimed at coherence and continuity of the Year 1 MRes curriculum. The overall emphasis in BIOL7920 remains on developing effective scientific writing practices.
Unit information based on version 2021.02 of the Handbook