This course aims to provide a training in generic research skills for dentists and allied professionals, including critical analysis of literature, how to write and publish a research paper, managing data and its integrity, bioinformatics and entry level statistics, and the principles underpinning the selection and implementation of practical laboratory methods. Students will also critically analyse, interpret, organise and scrutinise their own data sets generated during the in-person laboratory sessions.

The course will be delivered in Semester 1 over a ten week block.

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■ Abstract written examination assignment - 120 minutes - 300 words (25%) (covers ILO2 and 3)

■ Data analysis lab report - 1000 words (25%) (covers all ILOs)

■ Oral defence of lab report - (25%) (covers ILO2)

■ Contribution, presentations at biweekly journal club - students will be graded each session on evidence of engagement with literature, participation, and overall interaction (25%) (covers ILO1 and 3)

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.

This is the case for the assessment relating to journal club participation, of which cannot be re-assessed due to the nature of the assessment.

The aim of this course is to provide a training in generic research skills for dentists and allied professionals, including critical analysis of literature, writing and publishing of research papers, managing data and its integrity, entry level bioinformatics and statistics, and the principles underpinning the selection and implementation of practical laboratory methods.

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

1. Critically interpret literature related to the oral sciences and develop research paper writing skills, e.g. journal clubs.

2. Appropriately analyse and discuss results from variety of data outputs generated in the field of oral sciences using statistical analysis and various software packages.

3. Critically discuss the principles underpinning the selection and implementation of different laboratory techniques that can be used in the field of oral sciences.

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