Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Drew Allen drew.allen@mq.edu.au Kate Barry kate.barry@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites Admission to MRes
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit has been developed specifically for BPhil/MRes students to provide them with a solid foundation in the philosophy and undertaking of scientific research. Through a series of workshops students will incrementally build their skills and knowledge of research in Biological Sciences. In parallel, students will undertake a small research project through which they apply the very skills they are discussing in tutorial classes. The unit will provide students with experience in formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, data compilation and analyses, and communication of results. The unit provides a recap of statistical analysis and works specifically to refine the writing and communication skills of students through various formats.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

ULO1: Analyse data to answer experimental hypotheses
ULO2: Collect and store safely high quality research data and critically evaluate those data for completeness, adequacy and quality
ULO3: Understand scientific method and the process of generating and testing hypotheses
ULO4: Critically review, evaluate and summarise scientific data and information
ULO5: Understand the process of designing, planning and undertaking small research projects in biological and environmental sciences
ULO6: Prepare and present scientific information to a professional standard to different audiences and in different ways

General Assessment Information

Submission of work: Your report must be submitted electronically via TURNITIN link in iLearn.

Scheduling of assessment tasks: The skill building assessment tasks have been scheduled so that feedback can be used to help guide you in the preparation of your report.

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 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:

To be eligible for special consideration, you must notify the University of a serious and unavoidable disruption within five (5) working days of the commencement of the disruption;
Such requests must be lodged for the specific assessment task for which you experienced disruption. Special consideration cannot be granted retrospectively (i.e., beyond the 5-day window of each assessment due-date);
Unit staff will NOT be held responsible for assessing special consideration unless a disruption notification is formally lodged viaASK@MQ.

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/

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Project pre-registration	15%	No	Week 3
Project Report	40%	No	Week 13
Time on task reflection	5%	No	Weekly
Project presentation	20%	No	Weeks 13
Skill building exercises	20%	No	Weeks 4, 6, 8, and 10

Project pre-registration

Assessment Type ¹: Plan
Indicative Time on Task ²: 20 hours
Due: Week 3
Weighting: 15%

You will complete a preregistration of your research project. The preregistration will outline the background, aims and methods of your project.