BIOL12106 - Molecular Biology

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit focuses on developing an understanding of how genomes are organised, how they function within the cell, how molecular medical treatments can be developed, ways in which we can manipulate genomes and utilise their components for a range of purposes including medical, agricultural, and commercial.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisites

BIOL11100 Functional Biology

or

BIOL11102 Life Science Laboratory

or

BMSC11003 Introduction to Medical Sciences

or

BMSC11005 Foundations of Biochemistry


Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

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Residential School Compulsory Residential School
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Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 20%
2. Practical Assessment 20%
3. Online Test 60%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 77.78% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 36% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback - formal unit evaluations
Feedback
The unit content and laboratory experience were interesting and engaging and enhanced student skills
Recommendation
Continue the updated lecture content and laboratory experience.
Action Taken
Maintained the same lectures (but adjusted the order to scaffold the first assessment).
Source: Student feedback - formal unit evaluations
Feedback
Assessment return was delayed
Recommendation
The teaching team is committed to enhancing student feedback and return by improved marking rubrics and prioritising assessment return.
Action Taken
All assessments had a rubric and were returned to the students within the required time frame.
Source: Student Unit and Teaching Evaluations Comments
Feedback
Include more teaching opportunities in the res school. Relate the res school back to the lectures more clearly.
Recommendation
This unit will cease to exist in 2023, but its replacement unit will have an overhaul of the learning material and residential school. More clarity will be provided in the workbook to enable students to relate the practical tasks to the theory.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Unit and Teaching Evaluations Comments, Self Reflection
Feedback
Increase weighting of written assessment
Recommendation
This unit will cease to exist in 2023, but its replacement unit will have an overhaul of the assessments, their weightings, value and authenticity.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Unit and Teaching Evaluations Comments
Feedback
Lecturer was good, and I enjoyed the tutorials. I learnt more from them than weekly lectures.
Recommendation
This unit will cease to exist in 2023, but its replacement unit will have an overhaul of the learning material, and teaching staff will be allocated to teach to their strengths.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the structure, organisation, utility and isolation of nucleic acids
  2. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the principles of gene cloning and sequencing
  3. Accurately review and evaluate the strategies associated with the transformation of micro-organisms, plants and animals
  4. Demonstrate safe and efficient laboratory skills in molecular biology
  5. Demonstrate knowledge on the applications of molecular biology skills to medical molecular biology.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment •
2 - Practical Assessment • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
5 - Team Work •
8 - Ethical practice •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10