Course Catalogue

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This course will be taken by final-year MSci Honours students undertaking an outreach research project, which will be hosted either by a local school or by another organisation, such as the Glasgow Science Centre, University of Glasgow Collections and any other appropriate organisation.

Students undertaking a project in a school will liaise with staff in the host school to develop, deliver and evaluate scientific activities appropriate to pupils in pre-tertiary education.

Students undertaking a project in other organisations will develop, deliver and evaluate public engagement materials and/or activities in collaboration with the host organisation.

Individual projects may require travel outwith Glasgow.

As arranged individually. 

Normally, this course is only available to final-year students in a Life Sciences MSci programme.

Depending on the placement, students may have to satisfy the conditions for the PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) scheme.

BIOL4246P Life Sciences Investigative Honours Project

BIOL4247P Life Sciences Dissertation Honours Project

BIOL4248P Life Sciences Outreach Honours Project

BIOL4249P Life Sciences Internship Honours Project

BIOL5287P Life Sciences Investigative MSci Project

BIOL5288PLife Sciences Dissertation MSci Project

Project dissertation (55%), supervisor's assessment of overall performance (10%), project oral presentation (15%) and future research proposal (20%). 

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. 

The aims of the course are to provide experience in the identification, design and delivery of a scientific activity appropriate to the host organisation or target audience, data analysis and interpretation, the production of a written report, planning an original event for a target audience, and in presenting and discussing research findings orally.

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

■ plan, execute and evaluate an outreach activity to disseminate scientific knowledge;

■ critically evaluate and summarise published research papers relevant to the subject area;

■ acquire, analyse and interpret scientific data;

■ write a cogent research report;

■ prepare a proposal for a subsequent original event targeted to a specific audience;

■ give a clear, well-constructed oral presentation describing their research to their peers.

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

Students must complete the future event proposal item of assessment. Students who do not submit that assessment will be transferred to the related BSc Honours programme, assessed under BSc Honours regulations and will not be eligible for the MSci award.