Last modified: 25 Jun 2024 13:16
Field exercises will expose students to techniques for identifying and characterising organisms, and for sampling aspects of the environment.
Lab practicals will develop students’ skills and relate observations and hands-on experience to concepts introduced in lectures; post-lab debrief sessions will ensure students consolidate their learning.
Formative exercises will introduce students to a range of novel assessment types and provide a scaffold for the final summative assessment.
Through the production of a graphical abstract and written report students will demonstrate their understanding of one of the experiments conducted during the course.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session | Summer School | Credit Points | 10 credits (5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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One or more of these courses have a limited number of places. Priority access will be given to students for whom this course is compulsory. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for more details on this process.
The aim of this course is to develop field and laboratory skills relevant to the life sciences. Additionally, the course will strengthen English language skills and introduce students to a variety of teaching, learning and assessment types. The schedule will include a mixture of classroom, field and laboratory activities to support the aim. Visits to cultural sites will be included to introduce the students to areas of interest in NE Scotland.
Field trips likely to include insect sampling, Caledonian pine forest ecology and management, agricultural soils, methods of remote and indirect sampling for squirrels, investigating plant growth and development and rocky shore ecology.
Laboratory sessions likely to include the use of ELISA methods to detect parasite antigens, glucose homeostasis to detect metabolic disease, plant-water relations, measuring and interpreting carbon respiration in agricultural soils, and river water analysis to examine the impact and consequences of nitrate in the environment.
The types of assessments that will be introduced will include: reflective writing; critiques of published papers; oral presentations; and, graphical abstracts.
| Description | Value |
|---|---|
| The course has been costed to include a number of cultural events, English language tuition and the costs for the field and lab work, as well as staffing costs. | GBP 3,000.00 |
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 3 | Feedback Weeks | 4 | |
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | To plan and conduct a small research project, including an analysis and report on results orally and through a graphical abstract |
| Procedural | Apply | To apply a range of ecological, laboratory and sampling techniques and demonstrate competence by producing relevant data. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 3 | Feedback Weeks | 3 | |
| Feedback |
Word Count: 1,000 Written individual feedback will be provided. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | To critically evaluate a published paper through discussion with instructor and peers and production of a written critique |
| Assessment Type | Formative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 3 | Feedback Weeks | 3 | |
| Feedback |
Word Count: 1,000 Written individual feedback will be provided. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Understand | To consider the ethics of examples of bioscience scenarios and become familiar with reflective practice by considering personal position on an ethical question related to biology |
| Assessment Type | Formative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 3 | Feedback Weeks | 3 | |
| Feedback |
Students will present 2-minute talks about one of their experiments and will get informal feedback during the session. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | To plan and conduct a small research project, including an analysis and report on results orally and through a graphical abstract |
| Procedural | Apply | To apply a range of ecological, laboratory and sampling techniques and demonstrate competence by producing relevant data. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Resit only failed elements, previously passed assessment elements are carried forward. Individualised written feedback will be provided through MyAberdeen, 3 weeks after the assessment submission. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | To plan and conduct a small research project, including an analysis and report on results orally and through a graphical abstract |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | To critically evaluate a published paper through discussion with instructor and peers and production of a written critique |
| Procedural | Apply | To apply a range of ecological, laboratory and sampling techniques and demonstrate competence by producing relevant data. |
| Reflection | Understand | To consider the ethics of examples of bioscience scenarios and become familiar with reflective practice by considering personal position on an ethical question related to biology |
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