Animal Biology Core Skills 4X core BIOL4285

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Biodiversity One Health Vet Med
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 1
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This final-year course further develops skills important for Zoology and Marine & Freshwater Biology: science communication, advanced statistics, and critical reading. 

Timetable

Normally, 45-minute lectures on Mondays plus practical statistics sessions on Mondays and Thursdays. There will be no scheduled classes for this course during those weeks when field course options are running.

Requirements of Entry

Normally, only available to final-year Life Sciences students in a Zoology or Marine and Freshwater Biology programme. Visiting students may be allowed to enrol, at the discretion of the Life Sciences Chief Adviser and the Course Coordinator. 

Excluded Courses

None.

Assessment

The course will be assessed by a 2-hour statistics and critical analysis examination (60%) and in-course assessment consisting of a literature review (40%). 

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

The aim of this course is to support the acquisition of skills in gathering and critically-assessing scientific data and evidence in different formats, analysing the acquired data statistically with up-to-date methods, and communicating research findings to a range of interested parties.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course, students will be able to: 

■ Communicate scientific ideas and results relevant to their subject area in a written form; 

■ Apply statistical techniques and interpret statistical results in a broad range of situations encountered in research; 

■ Critically assess the logic of ideas, experimental design and conclusions in published work. 

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.