Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Rachael Dudaniec rachael.dudaniec@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites (BIOL1110 or BIOL115) and ((BIOL1310 or BIOL114) or (BIOL1210 or BIOL108) or (BIOL1610 or BIOL116) or (BIOL1620))
Corequisites	Corequisites (STAT1170 or STAT170) or (STAT1371 or STAT171) or FOSE1015
Co-badged status	Co-badged status BIOL2110, BIOL6110
Unit description	Unit description Genetics occupies a central role in modern sciences, with profound implications for basic and applied research in biology, medicine and agriculture, as well as for a number of philosophical issues in human affairs. This unit offers a balanced approach to teach introductory principles of genetics. It combines sections on classical, molecular and population genetics presented in an integrative way. The practical sessions offer students the possibility of learning essential techniques and skills in modern molecular genetics.

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: Describe how genetic processes apply to agriculture, human health, society, and the environment
ULO2: Apply numeracy and basic principles of genetics to solve problems and draw conclusions from genetic data
ULO3: Describe routine techniques used to assay genetic variation in populations
ULO4: Demonstrate proficiency in the use of genetic research tools (pipettes, gel electrophoresis, sequence analysis)
ULO5: Analyse genetic data using some common population genetic software and bioinformatic tools
ULO6: Source, synthesise and critically evaluate information from the literature in written and oral formats

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted or not accepted for Genetics:

Practical Report – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Poster Presentation - YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Problem Sets - NO, unless special consideration is granted. Each problem set is worth 1% (5 in total) and there is 14 days to complete each one.
Online Test - NO, unless special consideration is granted - this is a timed test assessment
Exam - NO, unless special consideration is granted for a supplementary exam - this is a timed test assessment

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Special Consideration Policy: https://policies.mq.edu.au/document/view.php?id=136

Hurdle Assessment

Final Exam (45%)

Students will be tested on their knowledge of course content. The exam will include information from lectures, practical classes and assessment tasks up to and including week 13. The date for your final exam will be available later in the semester - the exam will be online multiple choice format. This is a hurdle assessment meaning that failure to achieve 45% in the final exam may result in a fail grade for the unit. Students who obtain between 35-44% in the final exam will be invited resit a supplementary exam at a designated time after the exam period.

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

Achieve at least 45% in the final examination (hurdle assessment)
Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%, including 45% in the final exam.

Further, it is considered essential that you attempt every assessment in this unit to pass. It is very difficult to pass this unit without attempting all of the assessments.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Problem Sets	5%	No	Weeks 3,5,7,9,11
Practical Report	25%	No	April 13th
Seminar Poster	15%	No	May 3rd
Test	10%	No	May 13th (Saturday online - timed)
Final Exam	45%	Yes	Exam period

Problem Sets

Assessment Type ¹: Problem set
Indicative Time on Task ²: 10 hours
Due: Weeks 3,5,7,9,11
Weighting: 5%

The problem sets are designed to assist you to understand topics covered in the course and to provide you with feedback on your understanding of those topics. It is essential that you complete the problem sets as the test and the final examination will cover similar topics to the problems. Answers to the problem sets will be provided. A good and reasonable attempt at each of the problem sets is required to obtain the full marks for each problem set (problems will not be individually graded).