LSC-30057 - Bioinformatics and Science Communication

Coordinator: David Watson Tel: +44 1782 7 33676

Lecture Time: See Timetable...

Level: Level 6

Credits: 15

Study Hours: 150

School Office: 01782 734414

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2020/21

The module is taught through a mix of IT tutorials, workshops and lectures. The first part of the module will introduce you to a wide range of freely available online bioinformatics resources for the acquisition of information in the identification and characterisation of gene and protein sequences. Your communication skills will be further developed in the form of visual presentation of research work as a scientific poster, in a mini-conference format towards the end of the semester, aligned to professional practice.
Additional tutorial sessions may involve staff from the University Student Learning team and will include; communicating effectively to a range of audiences; awareness of equality and diversity in professional practice; and communicating with confidence and networking for personal success.
The final part of the module will deal with the acquisition and analysis of primary scientific literature, with the end of module exam dealing with the analysis and critical evaluation of the context, methodology and data interpretation of a recent publication.

Aims

To develop skills (appropriate to level 6) in the general area of acquisition, analysis and communication of scientific information, including use of computer databases, skills required for communicating scientific information, verbally, visually and in writing, accompanied by student poster presentation at a standard appropriate to level 6, and analysis of a research paper under examination conditions.

Intended Learning Outcomes

design and conduct an investigation to identify and characterise transcribed gene sequences using online bioinformatics tools and communicate the results and interpretation in the form of a scientific paper: 1
locate and retrieve information from scientific literature: 1,2,3
communicate the purpose, methodology, results and interpretation of experimental investigations, based on the final year research project as a scientific poster: 2
analyse and critically evaluate the context, methodology and results of primary scientific literature: 3

Study hours

14 hours lectures and tutorials
02 hours examination
67 hours preparation of in-course assessments
67 hours private study, preparation for examination

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Laboratory Report weighted 25%
2,000 word report
Students will complete an independent bioinformatics project to identify and characterise allocated gene sequences and produce a report detailing the approach to sequence analysis, results obtained and analysis

2: Poster Presentation weighted 25%
Research poster
Students will produce a research poster based on their final year experimental research project, including for presentation at a final year student conference

3: Open Book Examination weighted 50%
Online open book examination
The paper will be released on KLE as a Word document at 9am on the morning of the exam and will comprise of short answer questions on the context, methodology and interpretation of a recent published journal article allocated to students in week 9 of semester 2. Students should answer each question using Word, clearly labelling each question as they provide their answers. Work will be submitted to Turnitin no later than 5pm on the day of release. International students will be asked to notify the School if they need an extension due to different time zones. Although students have been given significant time to complete this exam script, we expect most students to spend no more than 2 hours. Answers should be as accurate and concise as possible. Students should pay careful attention to the number of points that each question is worth. In general, we would expect only one or two sentences for each point.

LSC-30057 - Module Specification School of Life Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences

LSC-30057 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences