1	Design, analyse and interpret experiments, and effectively communicate these in written and oral reports.
2	Develop interdisciplinary solutions to a variety of biochemical problems.
3	Critically analyse and evaluate quantitative & qualitative biochemical information.
4	Obtain and evaluate information from a variety of sources.
5	Communicate effectively in a variety of forms.
6	Use terminology appropriate to the field of study correctly and contextually.
7	Extend knowledge and understanding of a variety of biochemical concepts in a range of      contexts.

Journal club-based small group workshops designed to build knowledge of current literature in Biochemistry.

Individual research proposals presented in both written and oral formats to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, and help develop written and oral communication skills.

A student enrolled in this 6 unit course should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., workshops and presentations), as well as non-contact time (e.g., self – directed reading and literature searching).

Students will participate in a series of Journal Clubs, wherein they will critically examine and discuss a research paper chosen by a member of the academic staff. The second major part of this course is designed to develop and test critical thinking, originality and ability to integrate information and ideas. This is the Research Proposal, where the student will come up with an original, testable proposal on a topic of their choice. Once the student has formulated the idea, he/she will need to design a detailed set of experiments that can provide either evidence for or against their idea, and present this proposal in both written and oral form.

Assessment Task	Type of Assessment	Percentage of total assessment for grading purposes	Hurdle (Yes/No)	Learning Outcome
Series of journal club meetings. Overall mark for Journal Club: Oral Participation (50% of final journal club mark) Discussion of specific questions (50% of final journal club mark)	Formative & Summative	20%	No	3-7
Overall mark for Research Proposal & defence: Written proposal (30% of final research proposal mark) Oral delivery of proposal (30% of final research proposal mark) Proposal Defence (40% of final research proposal mark)	Formative & Summative	80%	No	1-7

JOURNAL CLUB ASSESSMENT

Overall, performance in four group based journal club sessions will make up 20% of the final mark within the 6 unit course Advanced Biochemistry (Honours); there are two components of this mark, one part for the overall oral participation and one part for the role as a discussion leader for an “element” in the paper. Each part is worth 50% of the final journal club mark, that is, each Journal club is worth 5%, made up of 2.5% for role as discussion leader and 2.5% for oral participation. Journal clubs will be held in semester 1, approximately two weeks apart and will be assessed by at least two academic/research staff.

 

RESEARCH PROPOSAL ASSESSMENT

 

The research proposal will be worth 80% of the 6 unit Advanced Biochemistry (Honours) course. The written proposal will be submitted in approximately week 15 of semester 1, and the presentation and question and answer period will be held approximately one week later.

The development of an original testable research proposal will be assessed as follows.

 

Written proposal: (4800 words maximum; 30% of proposal assessment; )

1. Clear and concise introduction of research area, including a summary of the primary literature and appraisal of key experiments.
2. Succinct statement of the research proposal question (the hypothesis or proposition). There should be a clear relationship between the background material in the proposal and the hypothesis, and the hypothesis should address an important unsolved issue.
3. Logical outline of the proposal’s aims (the experiments), with an explanation of how the data from the experiments will allow the student to answer their proposal question.
4. Detailed presentation of each proposed experiment. Include the type and quality of data generated by each experiment, and be sure to mention possible experimental pitfalls, and how the approach would be re-designed or substituted with another experiment if one proposed experiment fails.
5. Scholarship: appropriate referencing and attribution of data and concepts to the correct sources

The written document will be assessed by three academic/research staff. Supervisors will not assess their own student’s proposal.

 

Oral presentation delivery and content: (20 min; 30% of proposal assessment)

1. Logical flow of ideas and data; the talk should flow in roughly the same order as the written presentation
2. Particular attention should be paid to making sure the logic of the proposal is well expressed in the oral presentation. The audience should be able to see an obvious relationship between the background data and the hypothesis, and the presentation of proposed experiments and the data they will generate should clearly related back to the hypothesis.
3. Clarity, both in design of slides and in oral commentary

Question/answer period: (Up to 30 minutes; 40% of proposal assessment)

1. Demonstration of analysis and synthesis of scientific concepts and scientific relevance. Critical analysis of background literature.
2. Demonstration of understanding and evaluation of primary experimental details
3. Students should be prepared to defend two essential aspects of their paper/presentation: one, the hypothesis and its scientific importance, and its scientific “originality;” two, the choice of experiments, and specifically if the experimental design of the proposal will give a definitive answer to the hypothesis.

 

The presentation and Q&A period will be assessed by all available academic staff.

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply.  A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.