Keele Badge

LSC-30051 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2022/23 Last Updated: 19 January 2023

LSC-30051 - Case Studies in Biotechnology
Coordinator: Sheila Hope Room: HUX230 Tel: +44 1782 7 33674
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 734414

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2022/23

Imagine being the editor of your own journal - well in this module that's exactly what you will be. You'll be looking at how biotechnology can be used to address some of the key health and sustainability issues facing the human population. Working from a case study, you will work in a group to identify what you think these pressing issues are and then you will look through the literature to see what is being done to address these issues. You will report your research back to the group. For your assignment you will have to compile your own journal, by selecting relevant papers from open access journals. For one of your chosen papers you will write a detailed summary and you will also write an editorial, giving you the chance to justify why you think the papers you chose are really significant contributions to the field. Your assessment is very much part of the learning experience for this module.

Aims
The module aims to encourage students to explore how biotechnology (in its many forms) can be used to help address some of the key sustainability issues facing humankind, such as keeping us healthy, keeping us fed, tackling pollution and finding alternative fuel sources. The module also develops higher level scientific writing skills.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/lsc-30051/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

critically discuss the underpinning bioscience and the application of biotechnology to address key challenges facing mankind: 2
critically evaluate the contribution of biotechnology research to key issues: 2
critically discuss the ethical and sustainability issues pertinent to the cases: 2
present a detailed summary of a research article, placing it in a broader academic context: produce a themed edition of a mini-journal by selecting relevant research articles and justifying the choice of papers in the editorial: 2

Study hours

6 hours case seminars (2 hours per case)
6 hours case workshops (2 hours per case)
6 hours assessment preparation workshops
30 hours reading materials for case tutorial (10 hours per case)
102 hours preparing assessments

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Publication Based Paper weighted 50%
News and views style article
For this assessment, students will write a 2000 word "news and views" style article based on one of 6 articles they have chosen to include in their mini journal. (i.e they will give a detailed summary of the paper, placing it in context with other research).

2: Publication Based Paper weighted 50%
Mini-journal with editorial
Students will produced a themed edition of a journal to include research articles chosen from the literature that highlight applications of biotechnology to the topics and also fit within the chosen overarching theme. The choice of research articles will be justified in a 1500 word editorial. The journal will be presented in a suitable online platform (such as PebblePad, SWAY or similar) The mark will be derived 90% for the editorial and 10% for the presentation of the journal.

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 19 January 2023