| Unit name | Fieldcourse or Laboratory Workshop Report |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BIOL31209 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Professor. Franks |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Biology, Botany, Zoology, Psychology/Zoology or Geology/Biology honours programmes. Attendance at BIOL20009 Fieldcourse or Laboratory workshop. |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
A critical aspect of each field course and lab workshop is that students have the opportunity to formulate and test their own scientific hypothesis. They do so through the development of their own short project which is accomplished in a small group of 2 or 3. The practical aspects of which are completed during the course. Each student then works independently to produce a scientific report based on their project work. Such reports may be in the form of a brief scientific paper or a very detailed conference poster.
Each such report will include a carefull statement of the hypothesis and null hypothesis, an 'introduction' to place the study in a broader context, 'Methods and Results', including statistical analyses and a critical 'Discussion@ placing particular findings in a borader context> Such reports and the feedback students will receive about them will serve as improtant training for each students practical project at level 6.
This level 6 unit will follow up, in the form of a project write-up ( report), the level 5 unit that will include the practical work and a presentation in the form of a talk.
Students completing this unit will be able to demonstrate an ability to report scientific data based on their own research to test a hypothesis that they have formulated for themselves.
The report each student will produce will be based on a period of practical work lasting between 5-7 days during which students have no other learning commitments. Students will receive detailed advice on how to report their findings. The exact nature of how the report is presented will vary among the different field courses ( e.g different target journals or target audiences) but training specific to the particular report will be provided, this complementing the generic training in presenting scientific data provided during a course in scientific communication at Level
Assessment of the student’s report will include a degree of understanding of topic, ability to analyse and present results logically, ability to evaluate the results and discuss their meaning, evidence for originality, clarity of presentation. Marking criteria are available for this.
Text books, research monographs, reviews, and primary journal papers relevant to the student's individual topic
