uqpmsuqpms.com/documents/uqpms_bsc_course_guide_2015.pdf · covered in biol1040, which is an...

UQPMS University of Queensland Premedical Society

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FOREWORD

Welcome to the BSc Course Guide for 2015.

The executive team is excited to present to you the flagship academic publication of the University

of Queensland Premedical Society (UQPMS).

This new edition of the BSc Course Guide includes the highly anticipated addition of more science

courses and more detailed, updated reviews. The purpose of this document is to provide you with

the knowledge and flexibility to formulate well informed decisions regarding your learning. Written

from the perspectives of high achieving students within our society, you can be assured of honest

and reliable information to tailor your undergraduate degree.

This publication embodies our continued interest in supporting UQPMS members on the academic

front. However, it also serves as a reminder to the direction UQPMS has taken only in recent years.

Following the introduction of the MD program, UQPMS has broadened its support to all students

intending to study medicine, including both provisional entry and GAMSAT pathways.

Lastly, we would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the numerous members involved in

compiling this guide. The society cannot hope to continue such initiatives without the determination

and support of these individuals and we are certain that this collaborative effort is a sign for better

things to come.

Please take your time in perusing through this guide, and hopefully, it will prove to be useful in your

study. Feel free to contact the executive team if you have any queries whatsoever.

On behalf of the University of Queensland Premedical Society,

Matt Kim President

Amanda Tan Vice President (Academic)


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ABOUT THIS GUIDE

DISCLAIMER

The information provided in this guide is correct as of January 2015, with adjustments made as

knowledge of them has been acquired. Due to the likelihood of changes being made to the course

structures at the discretion of the course coordinators for courses in this guide, no responsibility is

taken by UQPMS or the authors for the accuracy and correctness of the course information or

student reviews provided herein. As such it is advised that the reader consult the electronic course

profile for more detailed information on assessment details and course expectations if unsure.

INFORMATION ABOUT SECAT

Student Evaluation of Course and Teacher (SECaT) questionnaires are coordinated by the University

to evaluate student involvement and response in a particular course through a 5-point scale (‘1’ and

‘5’ corresponds to strongly disagree/poor and strongly agree/excellent respectively). The UQ

Premedical Society has recently been advised to convey this information, which is the property of

the University, to provide an insight to courses to its members. It should be noted that the data is

available on-line on the public domain of the UQ Teaching and Educational Development Institute

for any interested parties to peruse.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

UQPMS would like to thank the many students for their reviews and insight which have been

invaluable in the compilation of this guide.

Anthea Gibbons

Belinda Burgess

Chloe Yap

Elspeth Norton

Emily Chen

Jessie Madden

Jordan Liu

Leena Goh

Matthew Qiu

Myky Tran

Sebastian Sodini

Shaiba Chatterjee

William Zhao


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................ 1

About this Guide ..................................................................................................................................................... 2

FIRST YEAR COURSES

BIOL1020 - Genes, Cells & Evolution ...................................................................................................................... 5

BIOL1030 – Global Challenges in Biology ............................................................................................................... 8

BIOL1040 – Cells to Organisms ............................................................................................................................. 11

CHEM1100 – Chemistry I ...................................................................................................................................... 14

CHEM1200 – Chemistry II ..................................................................................................................................... 16

MATH1051 – Calculus & Linear Algebra I ............................................................................................................. 18

MATH1061 – Discrete Mathematics ..................................................................................................................... 20

PHYS1171 – Physical Basis of Biological Systems ................................................................................................. 22

PSYC1030 – Introduction to Psychology: Developmental, Social & Clinical Psychology ...................................... 24

SCIE1000 – Theory & Practice in Science .............................................................................................................. 26

STAT1201 – Analysis of Scientific Data ................................................................................................................. 29

SECOND YEAR COURSES

BIOC2000 – Biochemistry & Molecular Biology .................................................................................................... 33

BIOL2200 – Cell Structure and Function ............................................................................................................... 35

BIOL2202 – Genetics ............................................................................................................................................. 37

BIOM2011 – Integrative Cell & Tissue Biology ..................................................................................................... 39

BIOM2012 – Systems Physiology .......................................................................................................................... 41

BIOM2208 – Differentiation & Development ....................................................................................................... 43

BIOM2402 – Principles of Pharmacology ............................................................................................................. 46

CHEM2050 – Organic & Inorganic Chemistry ....................................................................................................... 48

CHEM2052 – Chemical Biology ............................................................................................................................. 50

MATH2001 – Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra ........................................................................................... 52

MICR2000 – Microbiology & Immunology ........................................................................................................... 54


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PSYC2010 – Psychological Research Methodology II ............................................................................................ 56

PSYC2040 – Social & Organisational Psychology .................................................................................................. 58

PSYC2050 – Learning & Cognition ........................................................................................................................ 60

SCIE2011 – Perspectives in Science ...................................................................................................................... 62

THIRD YEAR COURSES

ANAT3022 – Functional Neuroanatomy ............................................................................................................... 64

BIOM3002 – Human Biomedical Anatomy ........................................................................................................... 66

BIOM3200 – Biomedical Science .......................................................................................................................... 68

NEUR3001 – Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience ................................................................................................. 70

NEUR3002 – The Integrated Brain ........................................................................................................................ 72

SCIE3221 – Biomedical Research Project.............................................................................................................. 74

SCIE3011 – Perspectives in Science Research ...................................................................................................... 74

Image Attributions ................................................................................................................................................ 77


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COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semesters 1 & 2 at St. Lucia

Course Coordinators: Dr Milos Tanurdzic

(semester 1) & Dr Karyn Johnson (semester 2)

Lab Coordinator: Ms Lois Eden

Contact hours per week: 2 Lectures, 3 Practicals &

1 PASS class

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: High school level

biology will be helpful but not required.

Restrictions: Students who have studied

AGRC1020, AGRC1021, ANIM1060, or AGRC1041

must contact the Faculty of Science for permission

to enrol into BIOL1020.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course covers the fundamentals of modern

cellular biology, from basic cell structure and

biologically important molecules to the central

tenets of genetic inheritance and evolution.

Examples include: the mechanics of DNA

replication, RNA transcription and translation in

prokaryotes, eukaryotes and viruses, how

molecular and cellular processes give rise to

whole organism phenotypes, how to infer such

processes given the phenotype, how cellular,

genetic and evolutionary processes affect

everyday life, metabolic energy flows,

mechanics of cellular division and

reproduction. There will also be a brief

genomics and biotechnology component that

examines the multiple avenues through which

we have used organisms to develop molecular

tools. Examples of contemporary issues in the assigned textbook readings and online activities will

be highlighted in lectures, PASS classes and practicals. Practical sessions involve the handling of

model organisms and use of computational research tools. BIOL1020 in 2015 Semester 1 will be

delivered in three separate sections:

MOLECULAR & CELLULAR BIOLOGY

Covers various molecular and cellular structures from the three domains of life

Looks at examples of fundamental similarities thought to arise from the common origin of life

Basic cellular mechanisms are taught to explain how cells divide, replicate, and survive.

GENES TO TRAITS

Focuses on genes as the biological unit of inheritance

BIOL1020 - GENES, CELLS & EVOLUTION


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Builds on the previous module's understanding of DNA organisation and replication, and RNA

transcription and translation

Compares gene regulatory mechanisms between bacteria and eukaryotes

INHERITANCE AND EVOLUTION

Teaches how the physical organisation of DNA (into linear or circular chromosomes or plasmids)

and the DNA replication mechanisms create observable patterns of phenotypic trait inheritance –

Mendelian genetics, the Hardy Weinberg equilibrium etc.

Examines mechanisms underlying genetic variation on the population level including but not

limited to: mutation, recombination, transformation, gene flow, horizontal gene transfer, gene

and genome duplication, genetic drift, and natural selection

Most likely out of scope of high school biology

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive details on BIOL1020 assessment, check out the Electronic Course Profile at:

http://www.courses.uq.edu.au/student_section_loader.php?section=5&profileId=71953

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

This course is a great introduction to cellular

biology for those who have not studied it

previously because it covers high school

content.

Lectures are logically sequenced and easy to

follow. They are well staged and built on so

students should not get lost or confused.

Lecture slides have a history of being posted

on Blackboard early, which allows students to

pre-read and print off sheets to take notes on

during lectures.

BIOL1020 can be an interesting and engaging

course which is not difficult to do well in,

because of various assessment pieces

(opportunities to score marks) and practicals

with cutting-edge lab equipment made

available by the university.

Content from lectures is reinforced in pre-

practical work, practicals, PASS classes and

online Blackboard assessment so students can

gain a solid foundation before reaching exam

time.

Lecturers briefly introduce their area of

research expertise and invite keen students to

talk and ask for research experience at their

DISADVANTAGES

Being an introductory course to biology, those

who have studied high school biology may

find this course repetitive and unchallenging,

with few novel nuggets of knowledge.

However, the average workload from this

course makes it good for breaking into

university life. Extension topics can be

pursued in your own time, as well as research

experience with the lecturers.

Trying to do well in all assessment pieces or

learning activities will, at times, seem difficult,

tedious and time consuming. However this is

easily achieved by good time management

and a good understanding of what is required.

Do not forget the dates of practical mini-

exams.

Practicals may seem simple and tedious at the

time but these help with understanding

certain concepts. Most lab tutors will allow

their students to leave early if all the

necessary work is complete.

Practical mini-exams are held during your

practical sessions. Possible questions are

released via Blackboard the Friday before the

assessment week, which may be unfair as it




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respective labs.

The content covered in this course provides a

crucial foundation for future studies into

molecular or cellular biology and biological

research. It also underpins the knowledge

covered in BIOL1040, which is an important

prerequisite for major second year courses.

Success in this course will definitely help you

in the long run!

Assessment in this course also touches on

generic skills such as communication and

presentation, and is not solely content based.

gives those who have their mini-exams later in

the week a slight advantage in preparation

time.

You must attend the PASS class you signed on

weekly, so if you want to try out any other

PASS classes and their worksheets, you must

do so during your own time as additional

classes. The worksheets may differ so it is

good practice to get at least the worksheets to

work on.

The instructions given for the oral

presentation may be confusing; it is important

ask the practical tutors what they expect.

TIPS

Go to extra PASS classes if you need more help; don’t feel limited to just one class. However, be sure to attend the class you signed up on SI net! Note that not all the worksheets you receive at one class will be the same at another.

When comparing all the resources available, going to PASS and actively participating is the best preparation for the final exam. It allows you to clear up any misconceptions you may have, and the worksheets you are given are invaluable. In previous years, PASS questions and interactive exercises have been known to be comparable or very similar to final exam questions.

If you are stuck, make sure to talk to your tutors and lecturers. They are approachable and will be of assistance where possible.

Make sure to keep an eye open on my.uq or the library website for past exams closer to your final exam date. Those PASS worksheets are still one of your best bets for consolidating course content.

This course can involve a lot of rote learning for a first year course, particularly if you have not taken high school biology. Mnemonics/acronyms have worked well for people in the past, but many find the repetitive class structure helpful – the same content is covered in many different classes throughout the week.

Do your pre-readings, and do not skip the lectures. It may be repetitive but it will save you from the last minute cramming during SWOTVAC which typically shortens your telomeres dramatically.

SECAT RESULTS

3.8

3.7

4.0

3.6

4.0

4.2

3.7

4.3

1 2 3 4 5

Overall, how would you rate this course?

Assessment requirements were made clear to me

I had a clear undertanding of the aims and goals of the course

I received helpful feedback on how I was going in the course

The learning materials assisted me in this course

The course was intellectually stimulating

The course was well structured

I learned a lot in this course

Strongly Agree Disagree Neutral Agree

Strongly Disagree


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COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Dr Louise Kuchel

Lab Coordinator: Ms Lyn Beard

Contact hours per week: 3 Lectures, 3 Practical or

Lab hours

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Restrictions: Any student who has completed

AGRC1020, AGRC1021, ANIM1060, or AGRC1041

will need permission from the Faculty of Science to

enrol into BIOL1030.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course helps students understand how our

health, quality of life and future is intricately

linked to the well-being of other organisms and

the environment we share. Disease, famine,

drought, flood, species extinction - in depth

examples of major environmental and human

health challenges are examined and their origin

and complexities explained ecologically.

Proposed solutions are covered and

controversial debates dissected in lectures.

Practicals are focused around species

identification, biological drawings, data

collection, experimental design and scientific

lab report writing at a university level. There

are interesting course activities and

assessment, including documentary filming to increase public awareness of biological issues, and a

naturalistic field trip.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on BIOL1030 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at: http://www.courses.uq.edu.au/student_section_loader.php?section=5&profileId=76924

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Interesting, well-designed course. As

mentioned in the Course Description, there

are unique learning activities and assessment

pieces, such as filming a documentary in a

group on a biological issue of your choice.

DISADVANTAGES

Terminology may be confusing, especially on

'ecological services' and 'ecological functions'.

These concepts cannot be explained simply by

a quick Google search, so it's best to ask your

friendly lecturer.

BIOL1030 – GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN BIOLOGY



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There is a naturalist field trip in which you

have to identify plants using a key of your

design, take photos to collect evidence of

observations etc.

Does not require high school biology.

Great for students interested in general

biology, not just cellular, clinical detail. There

is a genetic component in lectures which

complements Biol1020's course content.

Despite an overlap on DNA structure and

mutations at a basic, high school level, the

course quickly moves on to university level

population genetics. The concepts covered

here provide a different view of Biol1020

population genetics. Good for consolidation

and expanding horizons of knowledge.

Lecturers are open to questions and

comments at the end of lectures.

Lecture slides have a history of being posted

on Blackboard early, which allows students to

pre-read and print off sheets to take notes on

during lectures.

Relatively low reading load. It is possible to do

well with just reading the lecture content and

slides and understanding the reasoning

behind the examples given. The course isn't

heavy on textbook reading and information is

centralised, making lectures your no. 1 source

of information.

Most students taking the course have a desire

to learn more about or protect the

environment, more so than in a course that

studies cellular biology. Great place to meet

up with biologists who aren't in biomed

majors.

There are recognised volunteering

opportunities offered midway during the

term - data collection in creek catchments.

Lecturers are clear about what is expected to

be learnt and assessed - see relevance.

Assessment in this course also touches on

generic skills such as communication and

presentation and is not solely content based.

It may be tempting to procrastinate and cram

later, since there is not assessment pressure

early on. Do not deliberately procrastinate

and cram. If you have no choice, choose one

or two examples or statistics per point. You do

not have time to write more than two per

point in your exam anyway. Choose short or

memorable ones if you can.

Blackboard forum may not be a hotspot for

conversations. Face to face conversations

after lectures and PASS tutorials may be your

best bet if you have a question.

The written exams are not difficult to do well

in, but need some exam technique as most

marks are given in the Short Answer section.

These techniques are explicitly taught and

practised in PASS classes following the

midsemester exam. See 'Tips'.

This course is not directly relevant to the

biomedical field - except for the emergence of

superbugs and such which may not be of

interest to some students.

Don't forget to bring your prac book and

prepare for prac quizzes or complete pre-prac

worksheets. Quizzes are pass/fail but pre-prac

worksheets are marked and graded. This was

not made clear last year.

Film making isn't everyone's cup of tea.

The field trip assessment was largely luck.

Besides plant identification, there was a

scavenger hunt to identify certain organisms,

which may be difficult to do depending on the

weather.


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TIPS

Overlaps between practicals and lectures in broad topics eg) plants will have a high probability of being assessed. Focus your efforts on the overlaps.

Do not read ahead in the textbook if not solely out of interest. The textbook covers unnecessary details and should serve as further reading when encountering a new or difficult concept. This advice is given by the lecturers.

Make sure you understand why the example or statistic was in the slide. What was the point? If you do not explain clearly and succinctly, you will lose points. Following the midsemester exam, students will have the opportunity to view their paper and ask how they were graded. In addition, PASS classes will hold exam technique sessions with practice questions, self-evaluation and model answers.

Exams have a multiple choice component (which requires brute memorisation but they tend to be of memorable facts) and a short answer component. Answers can be presented in a table format or bullet points, as long as it's clear.

Sometimes it helps to do the extra readings in the Nature publications, detailed on the bottom of slides. The key is to read more on whatever is unclear or new to you.

Always read the criteria for prac reports. Formatting is important, so turn your prac report into a pdf or risk Turnitin messing it up.

If you have a question, always ask the lecturer. PASS tutors may not know the answer because course content changes quite often.

Try and do as well as you can in each assessment. Each piece may not stand a large percentage of your final mark but it all adds up eg) The midsemester exam, worth a relatively low 10% of your final grade, is good practice for the final exam but doing well in it sets you up for a 7. In the past the 85% threshold for a 7 has been lowered due to harsh marking, so you may get lucky.

Do not think about cramming for the video. Nothing beats writing the script and rushing to find footage in two days. Pushing the rules can have strict penalties on your marks eg) a long video carries a mark penalty per second overtime so please follow the submission and filming assessment rules.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.1

3.5

3.8

3.8

3.9

4.1

3.9

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


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COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Associate Prof. Lesley Lluka

& Dr Prasad Chunduri

Lab Coordinator: Dr Kirsten Zimbardi

Contact hours per week: 3 Lectures, 3 Practical

hours, and one optional but highly recommended

1 hour PASS session starting from week 3

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: If you do not

achieve at least 80% in the Chemistry Quiz

available on Blackboard 1 week before the

beginning of semester it is highly recommended

that you attend workshop sessions in Week 1 and

2 of the semester.

Restrictions: BIOL1040 can only be taken in first

semester when completing BPharm,

BPharm(Hons), BDSc(Hons), BExSS, BExSS(Hons),

BExSS/BBusMan, BHSPE, BHSPE(Hons),

BOccHlth&SafSc, BOHSSc(Hons), BENS or BHlthSc.

Students requesting permission to enrol must

email [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is compulsory for premed students.

It covers the fundamental biological concepts

that allow complex organisms to function. Key

modules are basic cellular transport & signalling

mechanisms, neuronal structure & function,

motor mechanisms & locomotion, circulation &

gas exchange, & the endocrine system. Of huge

importance is the integration of different

concepts as they apply to the structure and

function of different regions of the entire

organism.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


BIOL1040 – CELLS TO ORGANISMS



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COURSE COORDINATOR’S COMMENT

BIOL1040 is a foundation biology course required for subsequent studies in Physiology and

Anatomy. It is offered in Semester 2 for Science (including Premed) students and Semester

1 for other specific programs. The major learning activities are based around three major

themes – scientific inquiry (practical classes), communication skills (scientific writing in

practical reports, eConference etc) and knowledge (quizzes and end of semester exam).

The course is busy and therefore the secret to success is ‘organisational skills’ and

attending all classes. Finally, take all assessments seriously, as they are all important in the

grading matrix approach to calculating the final grade.

Doctor Prasad Chunduri

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

A commonly taken, well-established course -

lecturers are very experienced with the

problems and questions students typically

have, and notes are readily available from

past students.

Not hard to do well in, if you do not skip

classes. With the grading matrix, as long as

you make the threshold to an A in each

category, the little errors you make do not

count towards your final grade, making it

easier to get a 7. In other words, it tests your

ability to complete a wide variety of

assessment pieces to a satisfactory standard.

For the specialists among us there is a 5%

exchange which lecturers will explain in more

detail, allowing for your strengths to

compensate for your weaknesses.

Lecture notes are thorough enough so that

though there are references to the textbook,

if you pay attention to what is being said and

remember what is presented on the slides,

there is no need for you to buy the textbook

and read it. Tables of hormones etc are not

required to be memorised unless it is

presented in the slide.

PASS worksheets are helpful and tutors

usually remember what has been taught,

DISADVANTAGES

The Electronic Course Profile (ECP) states that

students are expected to study in groups as

well as individually so that approximately 10-

12 hours a week are spent on Biol1040 related

activities. This requires some personal

responsibility and a good study group which

may be hard to find as a first year.

As the ECP says, if you are not present for all

your classes, you will find the material very

challenging. Past students will add that the

prep material should be completed diligently

before each module begins too. Lecturers

suggest reviewing lectures once more via

Lectopia recordings. Add in the pre-readings

and this means there is quite a heavy

workload. Students taking Biol1020 and

Biol1040 at the same time often feel stressed

and regret their course choice. It is

recommended to take Biol1040 after

Biol1020.

The cost for the Campbell Biology textbook

and online Mastering Biology access may be a

bit high for one course. Mastering Biology

access is compulsory so that's $50 spent.

Campbell's Biology tends to be cheap; seniors

are generally happy to give you a free, unused

copy. There are no significant differences


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because future biomed courses build on

Biol1040 content.

Textbook reading is fairly light. Most of the

work is understanding lecture content.

between the 8th and 9th editions, except in

one module which you will be warned about.

The correct information will be presented in

lectures anyway.

Many assessment pieces - written practical

reports, personal response and biohorizons

econference.

TIPS

The first lecture of the week (on Monday for both streams) is not recorded, and held as a

collaborative workshop in the UQ centre. These compulsory workshops are highly recommended

as they discuss application questions in worksheets that are pertinent to your exam. Very

pertinent.

Electronic textbooks are circulating and it may be a good idea to get one from a friend and split

the cost, just in case.

Try and get your Keepad Clicker before your first or second lecture. Clicker questions do not

count towards your final grade but the questions, which are posted as a separate document on

Blackboard help greatly with your three Mastering Biology quizzes and final exam multiple choice.

Mastering Biology quizzes (multiple choice) are time pressured. It is considered cheating to

Google or have the textbook and other materials in front of you. The time pressure makes it

difficult to consult these materials anyway and it is highly recommended for your own benefit

that you go through the Mastering Biology study questions, workshop worksheets, PASS

worksheets and lecture content first.

SECAT RESULTS

3.6

4.2

3.1

3.7

3.4

3.4

4.2

3.3

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


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COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semesters 1 & 2 at St Lucia, Semester 1 at

Gatton

Course Coordinators: Dr. Gwen Lawrie & Associate

Prof Mark Riley (semester 2)

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 3 practical

hours

Prerequisites: Senior Chemistry or CHEM1090

Restrictions: Incompatible with CHEM1020,

CHEM1010, CHEM1021 and CHEM1022.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course outlines concepts underpinning

inorganic, physical and organic chemistry

necessary for higher levels of study in

chemistry and engineering. Core topics include:

atomic structure, bonding and hybridisation,

molecular shape, an introduction to organic

chemistry, states of matter and intermolecular

forces, chemical equilibrium, aqueous solution

equilibria, thermodynamics, and redox

chemistry. This course is a recommended

prerequisite to CHEM1200 for students in BSc,

B Biomedical Science, B Biotechnology, B

Engineering and B Occupational Health & Safety Science, and CHEM1022 for B Pharmacy students.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive details on CHEM1100 assessment, check out the Electronic Course Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

CHEM1100 is one of the required courses in

the biomedical major, and is one of the

largest first year courses. It is a great course

to meet people in, as everyone who is

interested in medicine will have to take the

subject unless they have had it credited.

The course covers many aspects of chemistry,

which have often been done in high school

DISADVANTAGES

The practical component of the course is quite

difficult. This is mainly due to the length of

experiments that must be completed in the 3

hour prac class. However, following feedback

from last year, the post-lab questions have

been adapted to be completed online after

the practical session, relieving some of the

time pressure.

CHEM1100 – CHEMISTRY I




Page | 15

before, in more detail. This makes the subject

a lot more accessible to people who took

chemistry in high school, as they will already

have background knowledge on the concepts.

For people who have completed high school

chemistry, some of the modules feel like they

move slowly, as not everyone taking the

course has had the same background.

The module on molecular thermodynamics is

conceptually difficult to students who have

not been exposed to the topic before.

TIPS

Stay on top of the weekly online quizzes. There are a certain number of these which must be

completed to get the marks, so make sure you complete them before the deadline!

Read the practical manual before attending the lab, and have some idea of how to answer the

analysis question. The question makes up a large part of the mark for each practical, so having an

answer in mind before beginning the practical will help a lot.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.2

3.7

4.2

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.2

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 16

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Prof Paul Bernhardt

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 3 practical

hours

Prerequisites: CHEM1100

Restrictions: Incompatible with CHEM1221,

CHEM1222, CHEM1010, CHEM1020, CHEM1021

and CHEM1022.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course builds on concepts introduced in

CHEM1100, namely quantitative reaction

profiles and kinetics, chemical structure,

reactivity and mechanisms, organic functional

group chemistry, acids, bases and buffers, and

transition metal chemistry. There is also a brief

section on spectroscopic tools such as Mass

Spectroscopy (MS) and Nuclear Magnetic

Resonance (NMR). This course is recommended

for all students in the following programs: BSc,

B Biomedical Science, B Biotechnology B

Engineering and B Occupational Health and Safety Science. In 2014, students had the option of

taking a Chemistry Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) practical stream.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on CHEM1200 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Most of the content was new, unlike

CHEM1100, which was mostly a repeat of

high school chemistry. Thus, the chemistry

taught was rather interesting and challenging.

The lecturers are also very good at explaining

and they hold revision lectures where they go

through typical exam questions and questions

DISADVANTAGES

The PASS classes did not seem very useful. It is

not necessary to attend them as completing

the questions in your own time will suffice

especially since all the resources used in PASS

are on Blackboard.

The practicals were quite stressful because

there are a lot of tasks to do within a limited

CHEM1200 – CHEMISTRY II



Page | 17

students have asked.

You only need to do four practicals and write

one lab report, which is one less practical

than CHEM1100.

Prelabs for practicals are worth 10 out of the

25 marks for your practicals. The prelab

questions are usually easy and this will help

boost your practical marks. Some of the

practicals are quite interesting eg) when you

make your own paracetamol.

It is relatively easy to score high marks in the

SAPLING homework questions. Getting a

question wrong means you only lose 1%. You

also get multiple attempts at a question. They

give you hints and tell you why you might

have gotten the question wrong.

The mid-sem and EOS exam are both easy

because they are very similar to the PASS

questions and some SAPLING questions.

amount of time.

The SAPLING questions were very difficult. It is

easy to make a silly mistake such as drawing

hydrogen atoms on a molecule when they tell

you not to. Also it is difficult at first to figure

out how to draw the molecules on SAPLING.

CURE practicals required more work -

students learnt a lot but can obtain the same

number of maximum marks as those in the

main practical stream.

TIPS

For SAPLING questions it is important to read the question very carefully and double-check your

answers. Misreading or misunderstanding the question will cause you to get the question wrong.

An example is if it asks you to draw the organic product. Some people draw all the products but

you will get the question wrong for doing this.

For practicals, read the instructions before your practical. Read carefully so you understand what

you need to do. This will save you time in the practical. Also complete your analysis question

before class because these take a lot of thinking. Working on the analysis question at home also

means you have more resources (textbook, internet) to answer it.

If you have Lawrence Gahan as your lecturer, do not ever use your phone because he will

embarrass you and will threaten to take it from you!

SECAT RESULTS

4.4

4.5

3.9

4.5

4.4

4.5

4.4

4.5

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 18

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semesters 1 & 2 at St. Lucia, Semester 1

externally

Course Coordinators: Dr Victor Scharaschkin

Contact hours per week: 3 Lecture hours, 1

Tutorial hour & 1 Practical or Laboratory hour

Prerequisites: MATH1050 or SA in Year 12 Maths

C. More details on assumed background can be

found on the ECP.

Restrictions: Semester 1 external offering

restricted to students enrolled in Enhanced Studies

program (program code 1014).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

MATH1051 provides an important foundation

in calculus and linear algebra that will prove

useful for further studies in pure and applied

sciences, engineering, finance or further

mathematics pursuits. Calculus is an extension

of concepts encountered in high school, such as

general linear systems, optimisation using the

extreme value theorem to find maxima and

minima, limits, L'Hopital's rules, integration,

volumes of revolution. The study of sequences

and series (infinite sums) is extended to the

Taylor series. Matrices, simultaneous

equations, determinants, eigenvalues,

eigenvectors and applications in resonance

frequency modelling in dynamic systems are other topics covered. Matlab instruction will be

included. MATH1051 can be studied concurrently with MATH1052.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on MATH1051 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

This is a great course to lead on from

MATH1050 and Year 12 Mathematics C and

re-covers many of the topics learnt in these

said courses (however quite quickly). It is an

DISADVANTAGES

There is no mid-semester exam so all course

content is assessed in the end-of-semester

exam.

Some of the complex content in the later part

MATH1051 – CALCULUS & LINEAR ALGEBRA I



Page | 19

excellent introduction to university level

calculus and linear algebra.

The workshops provides a strong base

understanding of mathematical computer

programming skills using ‘Matlab’ software;

this is also assessed in the MATH1052

workshops (in a similar fashion, but basic

skills of computer programming using Matlab

are essentially assumed).

of the course (e.g. Maclaurin and Taylor

series) is taught quite quickly due to time

constraints.

The workshops which consist of using the

computer program ‘Matlab’ only run for an

hour and can be very rushed to complete all

of the questions.

TIPS

The final exam is usually formatted similar to past exams (in terms of mark allocations and types

of questions set), so if you can, familiarise yourself with the past exams which can be found on

the UQ Library website.

Pay close attention to the content (i.e. Matlab coding) being taught in the workshops in the first

few weeks of semester as it is critical to understand and be capable of utilising these concepts in

the later workshops of the course.

If the workshop sheets are posted on Blackboard prior to your workshop, read through to make

sure you know what you are doing and what questions to ask. In most cases you will have little

time to spare and the tutors will most likely have many questions to answer during the workshop.

The end-of-semester exam does not allow the use of calculators, so re-familiarise basic

arithmetic.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.0

3.7

4.3

4.2

4.1

4.0

4.1

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 20

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semesters 1 & 2 at St. Lucia, Semester 1

externally

Course Coordinators: Associate Professor

Benjamin Burton (semester 1) & Doctor Barbara

Maenhaut (semester 2)


Tutorial hour & 1 Contact hour

Recommended Prerequisites: MATH1050 or Year

12 Maths B.

Restrictions: Incompatible with MATH7861.

Semester 1 external offering restricted to students

enrolled in Enhanced Studies program (program

code 1014).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course provides an introduction to

mathematics likely to be useful for students

intending to study higher mathematics or

lecture, and students enrolled in computer

science, engineering, science and information

technology. Topics include formal reasoning,

elementary set theory, group theory, number

theory, graph theory, induction and recursive

definitions, and counting methods.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

MATH1061 does not cover calculus - instead,

the subject covers other, lesser known,

branches of math such as logic, graph theory

and set theory. This keeps the subject

interesting, as many unique forms of math

DISADVANTAGES

At times, when the lecturer is going through

some of the more basic topics, it can feel that

the lecture drags quite slowly for those who

have had previous experience

The subject is mostly valuable for people

MATH1061 – DISCRETE MATHEMATICS



Page | 21

are explored throughout the semester.

The forms of math which are covered in the

course provide an alternate way of

approaching and viewing problems. This is

not only in a mathematical sense, but in a

more general sense.

The course does not have much assumed

knowledge on its topics. This makes it a great

course for people who are not strong in

"traditional" maths, as the concepts are often

far removed from the typical calculus style

maths.

Like many maths courses, there is a workbook

available. The course follows the workbook

closely, which eases notetaking.

doing computer science, and it is a very

different learning style when compared to

other courses in the biomedical degree

There is only 1 lecture stream, which might

make timetabling difficult

TIPS

Like most maths subjects, the workbook for MATH1061 is very useful. The lectures will cover the

workbook almost exactly, so it makes it worthwhile to have the workbook.

The UQ library website (library.uq.edu.au) has many past exams for the subject. The questions

from these are very useful for study, especially the proof questions.

SECAT RESULTS

4.3

4.2

4.0

4.2

4.3

4.1

4.3

4.3

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 22

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Associate Professor Tim

McIntyre

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 1 tutorial,

3L1T<3P

Prerequisites: Students are assumed to have high-

school knowledge of algebra and trigonometry. A

background in Year 11/12 physics is not assumed.

Restrictions: Incompatible with PHYS1170,

PHYS1001 or PHYS1002. Students enrolled in BE or

Duals need to seek permission from the EAIT

Faculty to enrol. Permission will not be given if you

have successfully completed High School Physics

(or equivalent).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Introductory mechanics, Newtonian dynamics,

projectile motion, work & energy, elastic

properties of solids, fluids, heat,

electromagnetic radiation, radiation physics,

dc. electricity, bioelectric effects. Special

lectures on biophysical applications including

biomedical instrumentation, lasers in dentistry

and medicine. Laboratory experiments. May be

used as GAMSAT preparation.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on PHYS1171 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

If you've done physics before it's really easy.

If you haven't it's a good overview of basic

physics concepts. The tutorials are really

good, and you can go to more than one or

swap and change between tutors if you need

DISADVANTAGES

Lectures didn't really explain concepts as well

as they could have, instead a significant

portion of lecture time is spent answering

clicker questions. The expectation is that

you've already studied the content via

PHYS1171 – PHYSICAL BASIS OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS



Page | 23

to. It's pretty well structured and there is a lot

of course material available, so you get plenty

of practice before exams. The midsem is a

pretty chilled affair and pretty

straightforward (all MCQ) so it's a good way

to boost your mark for the course.

prereadings. Clicker questions are also

compulsory and you need a 50% pass rate to

get 5% of your grade (read: you have to attend

lectures).

TIPS

Ask your tutor to explain any concepts you don't understand until you get it and don't leave it

until the last week before exams. Do all the tutorial questions (not just the compulsory one) as

you get them, and then a second time before the exam. If you're just doing this course to boost

your GPA, just be aware there's a lot of compulsory attendance, weekly tute sheets etc. so it may

be more hassle than its worth.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.0

3.6

4.0

4.2

4.1

4.0

4.2

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 24

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semesters 1, 2 & Summer at St. Lucia

Course Coordinators: Associate Professor Blake

McKimmie (semesters 1 & 2) & Dr Nicole Roe

(Summer)

Contact hours per week: 2 lectures, 1 tutorial hour

Prerequisites: None

Restrictions: Incompatible with PY101, PY102 or

PY130.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Every week, this course features two different

topics. Topics include the development of

thought, language, learning and personality, as

well as issues in clinical psychology. Social

issues including communication, aggression,

and altruism, are also discussed. Students have

the opportunity to participate in both classic

and state-of-the-art psychological research and

to demonstrate their understanding of the

research process.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on PSYC1030 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


PSYC1030 – INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY:

DEVELOPMENTAL, SOCIAL & CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY


PSYC1030, Introduction to Psychology, is designed to give students a broad overview of

developmental, social, and clinical psychology. While it is a first year course, it can be

challenging for some students who have never studied psychology before. The assessment

includes a laboratory report where students learn how and why we write lab reports. We

also spend some time talking about how to conduct research in psychology, and evaluating

what that research means. There are also regular tests to reinforce learning throughout the

course. One of the pitfalls would be leaving the assignment until the last minute and skipping

lectures and relying on the lecture recordings only (recordings are a great study aid, but no

substitute for attending class!). The report is something that needs some time to complete

properly as it involves not only understanding the topic area, but also the logic of a research

report. Our overall aim with this course is to introduce students to some of the amazing and

fun things that we study in psychology.

Associate Professor Blake McKimmie



Page | 25

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Not too many assessments - only mid

semester exam, final exam and an essay

The course has a multiple choice exam

Overall it is very interesting; you’ll learn about

behaviour and drift into social dynamics

DISADVANTAGES

Lectures at times can be quite dry

Lack of practicals mean not as much

consolidation of theory, hence you’ll need to

study in your own time

Essay is very very VERY subjective to your

tutor’s criteria - Although there is a set criteria

you follow, how a tutor interprets your essay

to following that criteria varies widely from

tutor to tutor - it’s quite a gamble

TIPS

The School of Psychology recommends only two of the three first year courses is undertaken in

the first semester of study.

GO TO YOUR TUTORIALS. They usually cover a lot of material covered in the lecture and can help

you with any questions you may have, like many tutorials do

You can only submit your draft introduction for your essay once. USE THAT INFORMATION - you

will need it to help you do better as they do not accept any other drafts for any other component

This topic has a lot of information, so be sure to study hard for it whether it’s for the mid

semester exam or the end of semester exam

Get your research participation done as soon as you can, so that later down the track you won’t

suddenly remember when it’s too late

SECAT RESULTS

4.4

4.4

4.0

4.2

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.3

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 26

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semester 1 at St. Lucia

Course Coordinators: Professor Peter Adams &

Professor Peter O'Donoghue

Contact hours per week: 3 Lectures, 2 Tutorial

hours and 1 optional contact class on computer

programming

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: Any student

accepted into any science-based course at UQ will

have the necessary background to take SCIE1000:

highschool English, Maths B and a science subject.

Restrictions: None

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This foundation course introduces students to

basic tools used to develop, analyse and

interpret models. Modern scientific issues like

climate change, population dynamics, drugs

and pharmacokinetics and epidemics will serve

as backdrops for exercises in modelling.

SCIE1000 also has basic Python programming

and scientific philosophy where students are

expected to critically and creatively think about

the scientific method as a method of

justification, albeit with some underlying

assumptions. This is a general science course

that is similar to SCIE1100, 'Advanced Theory

and Practice in Science'. Students are given the

same notes, sit the same exams and classes

with the exception of assignments and an additional two hour contact for SCIE1100.

In response to student feedback the 2015 course will have minor modifications to tutorial sheets, an

expanded teaching team and reorganised and clarified sections of the lecture notes. Differential

equations and some other content will be reworked.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on SCIE1000 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


SCIE1000 – THEORY & PRACTICE IN SCIENCE



Page | 27

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Printed notes for the whole semester can be

bought at the start of the semester. Minimal

note taking means more time to focus and

interact during lectures. Peter Adams prefers

this, Peter O'Donoghue prefers it if students

paid attention AND took notes.

Usually, at least two lecturers are present per

lecture. One of the screens on the overhead

projector show the blank spaces in your notes

being filled in with model answers by one of

the non-speaking lecturers. This is available

on recordings too. When it comes to the final

exam, everyone who has attended or listened

to the recordings should have the notes the

examiners think you need for the exam.

Final exam is an open book exam. You can

bring your notes but this does mean you need

to have good notes, and can work fast under

time pressure (open book exams tend to have

time pressure).

Course is easy and has a low workload if you

have a good grasp of basic maths like

exponentials and logarithms. The extent to

which you are expected to know them will be

outlined in lectures, and you will get an

opportunity to practice in tutorials. It is not as

hard as Year 12 Maths B. You get more time

to settle in or study other subjects, so it's a

nice Semester 1 subject.

Tutorial worksheet answers come out the

week after so you can check your answers if

you are disciplined enough.

Few assessment pieces and 'free' marks from

attending tutorials and completing tutorial

worksheets.

Interesting and funny lecturers. They take

students seriously (questions, reviews and

all), but each other with a healthy pinch of

salt. They care about stragglers and make

course changes in response to feedback.

DISADVANTAGES

Mathematical/conceptual modelling may

seem like a chore you've done ever since you

were born. There is much less new material

than in a chem or bio course.

Pre-prac tutorial worksheets are due at the

start of the tutorial. But relax, it's simply a tick

if you've done it. Quality of answers are not

important at that stage. Do not spend 10

hours on that one sheet.

Tutorial worksheets may be started before the

tutorial, but are due at the end of the 2 hours.

Computer programming is included and may

give beginners some time pressure. Asking a

tutor may be difficult because there are two

tutors to a class of up to 50, so try a less

popular class or ask a nerdy friend if you're

feeling the stress.

The programming project can be challenging

for beginners. Efficiency of script is marked.

Programming is also on the final exam. Make

sure to memorise the rules and basic

punctuation. Models of challenging scripts eg)

Euler's are given in your notes but shouldn't be

necessary.

Final exam is mostly interpretation-based. It

may be hard to know what is expected unless

you have been paying attention to the style of

the model answers in lectures and tutorials.


Page | 28

In summary, this course generally receives

positive reviews from Secat student

evaluations every semester (the highest of

any large-class introductory science course

2011 onwards; it has been taught 2008-2014

so far).

Optional computer programming extends

bored students. None of it is tested, but may

be relevant to programming competitions.

TIPS

Buy your notes before the first class.

The content is basic, but tutorial worksheet questions tend to be interesting. It is recommended

that you finish all the extra questions on the weekly worksheet. These are not marked so you

have to seek out a tutor if you have questions about the answer sheets.

Attend the unrecorded revision lectures in person. These contain accurate exam hints so if you

take note of these and prepare accordingly, there should be no tricky material in the final exam.

Try and challenge your understanding of a problem and the creativity of your solutions for the

sake of learning. Understand why you would want to make simplifications - not because you are

lazy or because it's easier to deal with, but because those details are unnecessary or insignificant.

As with PASS classes in other courses, shop around for tutes which are compatible with your

learning style.

Take the optional midsemester exam for 3% bonus marks. Ask about it; students last year were

not thoroughly informed about it.

SECAT RESULTS

4.3

4.4

3.7

4.4

4.4

4.6

4.5

4.4

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 29

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semesters 1, 2 & Summer at St. Lucia,

Semesters 1 & 2 at Gatton

Course Coordinators: Doctor Alan Huang

(semester 1, St. Lucia), Doctor Thomas Taimre

(semester 2, St. Lucia) & Doctor Miranda Mortlock

(semester 1 & 2, Gatton)

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures and 2

workshop hours. Summer: 6 lectures and 2

workshop hours

Prerequisites: Queensland Year 12 Maths B or

MATH1040 or equivalent

Restrictions: Incompatible with ECON1310,

ENVM2000, STAT1301, STAT2201 and STAT2701.

Not available to BE, BE/Biotech, BE/BSc students.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is compulsory for a Bachelor of

Science degree. It explores the nature of

scientific data, data modelling and

management methods. It covers the basic

statistical tools and concepts that are required

for to make conclusions and predictions in

science, including linear regression, analysis of

variance, logistic regression, categorical data

analysis, and non-parametric methods.

Workshops will involve R programming but this

will not be assessed in any way. There is an

ethical research and experimental design

evaluation component meant to hone students'

critical judgement and ethical awareness.

STAT1301, Advanced Analysis of Scientific Data,

has the same classes with the exception of an

extra lecture per week. Exams contain an additional question for STAT1301 students, but content

learnt is largely the same.

ASSESSMENT

2015 Semester 1 assessment details unavailable at the moment. 2014 Semester 2 assessment details can be found here:


STAT1201 – ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC DATA



Page | 30


I teach the Gatton based STAT1201, it is a very introductory course, and is also a core

course. Some students do not see the relevance of studying statistics in their degrees.

However my experience in working as a scientist, in four countries and also working in the

public sector is that it is a vital and very valuable skill. The appreciation of how to design,

critique , analyse and report on scientific experiments is what I focus on. We use statistical

software- and even the programming skills help us appreciate the value of coding for

reproducible research and quantitative analysis. In science we need to understand what

we read and in some circumstances we need to be able to design an experiment or study

and not fall into the pitfalls of bias or poor design. Research money is very hard to come

by and we need to use it wisely and be able to design an efficient and defensible study.

Doctor Miranda Mortlock

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

A good introduction to statistics; difficulty is

rated easy by many members. It is not hard to

get a 7 if you attend workshops and read the

textbook. Lectures are recommended but the

general consensus is that recordings suffice.

Almost all of the content from the lectures (a

good 90%+) comes directly from the textbook

for at least the first half of the semester, with

little or no unnecessary details. Good

reinforcement of material and allows

accurate pre-reading.

There is only one resource you are required

to purchase, the textbook, which contains

almost everything you need to know for your

exams.

Lectures seem to start off at a fast pace, but

slows down later in the semester as the

topics get harder. Workload is average; most

of the work is understanding and applying

those concepts.

Workshops are very helpful in letting you

know the extent of application expected in

this course. You are allowed to leave early if

you have completed the allocated questions,

but staying also has its benefits because the

DISADVANTAGES

The stats resource page allows you to submit

your work online and view your marks for

assessment pieces, a Turnitin substitute. You

need to constantly visit it.

Final exam tests everything after the

midsemester break; there are no assessments

on content during this time. If you are prone

to slacking off after the midsemester break,

you will find yourself cramming for the final

exam. Do not cram statistics! You require

practice more than anything, and

understanding the conditions for applying

certain concepts takes time too.

There are no lecture slides published on

Blackboard. You have to check if what is said is

already in the textbook, and if it is not, you

have to make your own notes from the

lectures. Leeching off a friend is not

recommended in your first year.

This may or may not be a disadvantage,

depending on student level of understanding.

The exam papers often give students a choice

of which questions they would like to

complete, and a choice of methods they would

like to use. For example, there would be 6


Page | 31

tutors tend to be well versed with content.

Those who ditch lectures and just read the

textbook should attend the workshop not

only for its marks, but also to catch-up on the

content. It is possible to not attend lectures,

not read the textbook, turn up to the

workshop, find out by listening to the chatter

and quickly skimming the textbook what has

been taught in lectures so far, and finish the

questions in 30 minutes on average. But this

is not recommended because lecturers may

give out exam hints during lectures.

Many online resources are available for

students. The stats resource page every

student can log into has practice questions

which are very helpful in providing quick

feedback and practice for basic

understanding (enough for the midsemester

exam). They may get addictive. The only

downside to these questions is that they do

not give feedback if you guess the answers

correctly.

Lecturers are very thorough at explaining.

They generally care a lot about students;

some of them fret over their own lectures,

wondering if students are actually learning,

and make many efforts to be engaging. Such

lecturers gain high student respect because

STAT1201 is a course where stragglers and

procrastinators/crammers are real.

questions in the paper that STAT1301 students

have to complete and STAT1201 students can

choose any 5 they would like to complete.

While STAT1301 may have learnt more

content, the examined content may or may

not reflect that additional content. In the 2014

Semester 2 final exam, there was one question

that gave STAT1301 students an advantage

and that question was considered a 'STAT1301

question'. Given the time constraints,

STAT1201 students also have to know which

questions would take the most time to

complete with full working, and avoid those or

use another method eg) Odd ratios would take

more time than the Chi -squared test in a 2 x 2

table, and both should give the same p-value.

TIPS

Attend revision lectures. They are very helpful in narrowing down what might be on the exam.

Do the practice questions online, and the ones in the textbook if you have time. The textbook questions at the start of the semester do not reflect what will appear on the final exam

Do the past exam papers and practice exam paper. These are very important for the STAT1201 final exam.

The stats resource page online has a table of pre-readings for the textbook. Depending on your learning style, it may or may not help to pre-read before lectures. If you prefer to learn in lectures, the lecturers will help you understand and complete your after-reading. If you prefer to learn individually, the lecturers will reinforce what you have learnt and narrow down what is necessary for this course.

You are allowed to take in your textbook for the midsemester exam. Taking notes in your textbook during lectures is an efficient method of preparing for your midsemester.


Page | 32

You are allowed to take in one double-sided A4 handwritten sheet of formulas, practice questions and answers for the final exam. It is wise to make a summary of your lectures notes and textbook as you progress through the semester (especially after the midsemester break), making note of harder examples or applications, then to make your 'cheat sheet' from your summaries during revision week, after the revision lectures. It is a challenge to fit everything you have heard. You will have a better idea then of what you can remember under pressure, and what you can't.

Do the Clicker questions during lectures. Some questions are easy but others are deceptively so. Nothing helps you remember better than a shock.

SECAT RESULTS

3.8

3.9

3.9

4.3

3.9

3.9

3.7

4.0

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 33

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Susan Rowland

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 3 practical or

lab hours

Prerequisites: BIOL1020 + (CHEM1100,

CHEM1221, CHEM1222, CHEM1021, or

CHEM1022)

Recommended Prerequisites: CHEM1200,

CHEM1010 or CHEM1030

Restrictions: Incompatible with AGRC2001,

BIOC2012 and BIOC2014.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will provide students with key

principles of biochemistry & molecular biology.

It focuses on the molecular components of

cells: protein structure and function, enzymatic

properties, key metabolic pathways and their

regulation, DNA structure, function and

biochemistry, and the links between diet,

disease, and cellular metabolism. Practicals

provide a hands-on introduction to basic

bioinformatics and essential molecular biology

techniques. In conjunction with BIOL2202 and

MICR2000, BIOC2000 is a commonly

recommended course in various fields of study

in The University of Queensland Bachelor of

Science program. BIOC2000 is essential for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major students and

will be of importance across biochemical, biomedical, pharmaceutical, molecular biology, food

technology, dietetics, and cell biology sciences.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on BIOC2000 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

The two prac streams, LEAPS and ALLURE,

give you the chance to have a "real research

experience" without the commitment of a

DISADVANTAGES

Some of the content can get a bit boring; once

you get to the subunits of the ribosome and

wobble theory you just want to go home.

BIOC2000 – BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY



Page | 34

summer project. According to this reviewer

LEAPS is fairly underrated because it taught

quite a few good lab skills and was pretty

simple.

The content of the course provided a pretty

good foundation of biochemistry concepts.

This foundation is definitely useful for later

pharmacology and metabolism studies.

Susan has a personal library of textbooks to

loan out to students.

BIOC2000 is rather problem solving based.

Unlike other biology courses, the EOS for

BIOC2000 did not heavily rely upon content

regurgitation and instead, focussed on the

student’s ability to find solutions. This is true

for Susan’s content and enzymology but

other modules which delves into metabolism

and macromolecules will require more rote

learning on your part.

Glenn King's section is actually just Susan

Rowland's section in disguise, which is kind of

disappointing after 9 lectures of the same

thing.

There are a multitude of small assessment

pieces which may mean you will have

something due in most weeks.

TIPS

A lot of people say this course is very hard, but really it's not any harder than the other second level courses and you'll probably be completely fine handling the study load. Don't think that because this course is biochemistry you won't be expected to know all the maths behind the chemistry; you will.

Try to do as well as possible in the assignments because the final exam, although not overly difficult, is very long and time consuming (especially since filling out your personal details on all the response sheets takes you at least 10 minutes).

A fair portion of the content in Susan’s module delves into entropy and enthalpy. While superficially it seems to make sense, take the time to ensure you can fully explain various phenomena.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.1

3.6

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.0

4.2

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 35

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Associate Professor Stuart

Kellie

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures and 3 contact

hours

Prerequisites: BIOL1020

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOL2008.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is intended to be a comprehensive

introduction to Cell Biology. You discuss the

vast diversity of cells and how their structures

subserve their functions. Specifically, you will

cover cell division, the composition and

function of membranes and organelles, the

cytoskeleton and trafficking of cargo around

the cell, and the way that signals are carried

both within and beyond cells. The pracs focus

on microscopy, bench techniques, and

computer techniques while the journal analysis task exposes students to real world applications of

cellular research.

ASSESSMENT

2015 Semester 1 assessment details can be found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

This course is one of the best you will do in a

biomedical science major – it may not seem

like it at the time but in hindsight it is. It steps

you through things slowly, and the lab reports

are relatively simple. For many students, this

is the last cell biology course taken for a

biomedical associated degree.

Students will be taught the underlying

principles of signal transduction, which will

DISADVANTAGES

This course is filled to the brim with new

content and unsurprisingly, it is very easy to

fall behind.

The journal analysis is often the most poorly

completed assessment piece among students

as it can be quite subjective, depending on the

lecturer.

BIOL2200 – CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION



Page | 36

become the cornerstone for many studies

later on. Concepts such as different types of

receptors and pathways are recurrent themes

in other biomedical courses so thorough

understanding of BIOL2200 content will

benefit you greatly later on.

The course links the taught concepts to

clinical implications at most opportunities -

this is especially pertinent to those interested

in inheritable diseases.

TIPS

BIOL2200 has quite a large amount of content that is very much process and sequence based. It is

highly recommended that you take the time to write out and understand each step of the

sequence as it will make sense in the overall scheme of things. Flow diagrams are always an

excellent idea!

For the journal analysis, choose a journal that you find genuinely interesting (if possible). Often,

students fall into the trap of choosing an ‘easy’ article and find it difficult to provide the more in-

depth responses needed to attain high marks.

As the entire course is examining the cell and its activities, a good grasp on earlier concepts will

help you tremendously later in the semester. Thus, cramming the last few modules before the

first few may be disadvantageous as you may not appreciate the interconnectedness of the

modules.

There are a LOT of terms and names. Your life will be made so much easier if you spend some

time going through the differences and function of each name - it is too easy to mix up Cdc2, 13,

20 and 25.

SECAT RESULTS

3.8

4.1

3.4

3.8

3.8

4.0

3.8

4.0

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 37

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Associate Professor James

Fraser


lab hours

Prerequisites: BIOL1020 or CHEE1001

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOL2007 and

BIOL2009.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Employing a strong experimental component,

BIOL2202 addresses genetics from a modern

molecular perspective by integrating discussion

of key advances in the field (classical concepts

of inheritance, development and variation)

with the application of essential molecular

genetic techniques. The study of genetics has

pioneered core concepts underlying medicine,

biochemistry, microbiology, ecology, evolution

and environmental sciences, making it a nexus

course. BIOL2202 is also recommended for all

BSc students pursuing a biology-focused major. BIOL2202 is a required or contributing subject for

more BSc. majors than any other Level 2 course. It also appears popular among B. Biotechnology, B.

Arts, and B. Environmental Science students.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Really well-organised, fascinating topics covered.

Pracs had relevance to the course content - learned a lot but pretty chilled environment.

Amazing and dedicated lecturers - incredibly generous with their time - James Fraser deserves a shrine.

DISADVANTAGES

The modules were a bit disjointed, as they were given by different lecturers.

Each module focuses on a different aspect of

genetics, so it is unlikely that you will find all of

the modules interesting.

BIOL2202 – GENETICS



Page | 38

Lots of support for assessment.

The course is a prerequisite for third year genetics courses.

The material covered aids in other subjects.

TIPS

Stay on top of things - lots of content. Felt like quite a step up compared to 1st year courses, but

definitely worth it.

Take up the lecturers' offers for help.

Be prepared for the quizzes. Since the questions are released early, it is a good idea to go through

the questions with your friends and figure out the correct answers.

SECAT RESULTS

4.6

4.6

4.5

4.6

4.6

4.6

4.5

4.5

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 39

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Bradley Launikonis


lab hours

Prerequisites: BIOL1020 and BIOL1040

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOM2007 and

BIOM2008

COURSE DESCRIPTION

BIOM2011 explores the physiology of the

human body in an introductory manner.

Students are taught a wide range of topics,

including epithelial cells, absorption, secretion,

muscle action, excitation-contraction coupling,

neurons, synaptic responses, the neuromotor

system, endocrinology and immunity. This

course establishes the foundations for a

substantial number of second and third year

biomedical courses and consequently, is crucial

for gaining a solid understanding of biomedicine.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on 2015 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course Profile

at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

The course covers a lot of ground to engage

students with different topics. You won’t find

many courses which go over such an

interesting variety.

BIOM2011 continues where BIOL1040

stopped for some of the modules.

Fortunately for the visual learners, this course

has quite a number of diagrams to learn.

Lecturers will often indicate which ones are

DISADVANTAGES

Given that students study this course straight

after BIOL1040, BIOM2011 will be one of the

few courses where you will write a more

detailed and full prac report for the first time.

Consequently, students may encounter lower

than usual marks as the prac marking is

harsher than in first year courses.

The 2014 practicals centered on yeast cells,

which is quite unfortunate for those who

BIOM2011 – INTEGRATIVE CELL & TISSUE BIOLOGY



Page | 40

pertinent for the EOS exam. dislike cellular biology.

The neurophysiology module can be

bewildering and in my opinion, by far the

most difficult topic to learn/visualise in

BIOM2011.

TIPS

Peter Thorn in his epithelial cell module will focus on specific diagrams - this will be covered in the

exam and you'd be best to know them well.

Stephen Anderson previously provided a list of questions, of which he'd pick one to put on the

EOS. Do those questions as practice.

A fair portion of the content builds upon BIOL1040. Topics including neurons and muscles will

become more complex so don't be complacent in the early lectures. Refresh your memory and

prepare for the content to become harder.

For the 2014 EOS exam, very few diagrams, if at all, of the neuromotor module were examined.

This was unexpected as Peter Noakes spent quite some time explaining them. Regardless of

whether it would be examined or not, be sure to understand the processes and circuits as this will

help in later studies for third year neuro courses, especially ANAT3022.

Don't be too disappointed when you do pretty badly in your first prac report. Take careful note of

your mistakes and seek clarification if needed. This is important for not just BIOM2011 but for

every other second or third year science course you do as chances are, you'll be writing a prac

report then as well.

Though past students always say this, you probably won't heed it. But do not cram this course.

Your life will be better off not listening to recorded lectures at 3x speed during SWOTVAC. Once

again, this course relies a lot on diagrams and if the lectures did not record the drawings, you've

disadvantaged yourself heavily. You'd also end up laughing at the irony of cramming long term

synaptic plasticity and not being able to remember it afterwards.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.4

3.6

3.6

3.9

4.1

4.4

4.1

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 41

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Stephen Anderson


hours

Prerequisites: BIOM2011 and BIOL2200

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOM2007 and

BIOM2008.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course explores a variety of physiological

systems in depth and builds on knowledge

gained in BIOL1040 and BIOM2011. It takes a

systemic approach to understanding human

physiology and bodily functions. BIOM2012 is

composed of several topics; endocrinology and

metabolism, neurophysiology, cardiovascular

system, autonomic, enteric nervous system, GI

and renal physiology, respiration and muscle.

These are organised in a manner which focuses

on response to change, homeostasis and altered function in various pathological conditions.

Practicals involves body physiological stresses such as exercise and are unlike past biological

experiments seen in BIOL courses.

ASSESSMENT

2015 Semester 2 assessment details are unavailable. 2014 Semester 2 assessment details can be

found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

BIOM2012 offers a new perspective on

biomedical studies thus far as it is one of the

few second year courses to examine the

entire body and its functions. This course

complements anatomy studies as students

can relate to the actual process by which the

DISADVANTAGES

The course begins by warning students who

have not met the prerequisites. In the first

place, this course will be challenging to

students who have done the prerequisites so

do not neglect BIOM2011 and BIOL2200.

The practicals can also become a nightmare if

BIOM2012 – SYSTEMS PHYSIOLOGY



Page | 42

body functions, through the studied organs

and systems. Exercise and rest are key

themes in this course and hence, it is more

relatable than cell biology courses.

As mentioned before, the course content ties

in nicely with past studies including

BIOL2200, BIOM2020 and BIOM2011. It

would be a very valuable course to

consolidate knowledge taught prior, which is

an asset for future studies related to

biomedicine.

The practicals are an excellent opportunity to

do something tailored to your liking as

students are able to design their own

experiment.

an undesirable experiment is chosen - as

students vote on their preferred experiments,

this should hopefully not happen.

TIPS

Tutors are very helpful with pointing you to the right direction in regards to the practical report.

Be sure to ask plenty of questions, especially the statistical ones.

While there is a lot of content, the modules are more or less evenly divided for convenience. It

should be noted that each module should connect to one another as they are all looking at

aspects of the human body. Hence, be sure to understand the implications of a stressor upon not

just your lungs but also your sensory systems or your GI tract.

For your experimental design, don’t aim for complexity. While it should be something novel

(relatively speaking), don’t get caught up with too much detail. Upon students of the class voting

on an experimental design, the tutors will do their best to streamline, improve and optimise the

chosen design anyway.

Dr Anderson provides a collection of questions, from which he will select to put on the final

exam. Thank him to the bottom of your heart and be sure to do every question for preparation.

SECAT RESULTS

3.9

4.2

3.3

4.1

3.8

4.0

4.3

4.1

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 43

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor David Simmons

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 3 contact

hours


Recommended Prerequisites: BIOM2011 or

BIOC2000 or BIOL2202

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Modern medicine is increasingly relying on a

thorough understanding of developmental

biology as it searches for new therapeutic

strategies. Tissue regeneration, stem cell

therapy, artificial organs, replacement joints,

dental implants, and in vitro fertilisation are

just a few examples. In this course, the basic

principles of how embryos develop the

complex arrays of cells, tissues and organs that

contribute to a healthy functioning human is

explored. Students will be introduced to an array of technology and model animal systems that

drive modern biomedicine. This course offers an opportunity to stay abreast of this flourishing field

and better grasp new therapies and research directions.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on BIOM2208 Semester 2 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Out of all of the second level science courses this one was probably the least demanding.

The lecturers are excellent and engaging and they definitely know their stuff, so the course is very well structured.

Course co-ordinator David Simmons is very approachable and prompt with email responses.

There was only 1 prac report, and the pracs

DISADVANTAGES

In saying it's mostly about concepts, there is

some rote learning (especially in the modules

by David Simmons). Remembering this content

takes some practice, repetition, and maybe a

check of the textbook to make sure you're

100% sure on how it works. There are also a

lot of protein names to remember! Not only

BIOM2208 – DIFFERENTIATION & DEVELOPMENT



Page | 44

were fun and very hands on. There were no lectures in the last week of semester before swotvac (self-study week) which was a plus.

For the major group assignment you get a lot of feedback (a whole pdf page of feedback) which is great.

A big advantage of this course was its small size. This meant the lecturers sometimes went a little off-topic, but it made the content more interesting and allowed them to talk about things they're passionate about. It also allowed them to walk around the lecture room and ask questions or initiate discussions.

There are some almost abstract ideas in this course (especially in the evolutionary development module at the end); for some this made things interesting and really thought-provoking, but for others this may not be the case.

Overall, this course provides a very good

introduction to development. It makes you

think less about memorising pathways and

more about broad concepts and how you can

extrapolate an idea from the lectures to

answer a question you might not have seen

before. In this way, you're encouraged to

think logically but openly about what makes

sense and why.

will you learn the names, but also where the

proteins are localised in the embryo, and

whether they are from the mother or

synthesised by the embryo. These specific

proteins can be assessed in the exam so if you

want to do really well you just have to go hard

and study them.

The wiki assignment can be a pain if you have

a bad group so don't let anyone slack off and

make sure things are done as early as possible.

Developmental biology is often described as a

dynamic process that is represented

diagrammatically on lecture slides. This means

if you aren't physically at the lecture it can

sometimes be hard to follow along what the

lecturer is talking about in the recordings

because you can't see what they're pointing

to.

Also the course content is quite specific, so

this course is only a prerequisite for about 2

third level courses. This means that if it turns

out you don't like developmental biology, it's

pretty much useless at fulfilling its role as a

prerequisite.

TIPS

With regards to the group assessment wiki page - you will start off with grand plans of having the

greatest page in the world, but you might realise that you have to be real with your expectations.

Especially if you've got loads of other assessment in your other courses! Distribute the work

evenly among your team and if you have a freeloader - speak up. The co-ordinator is very

understanding and will help you deal with it.

Also make sure you really understand what they want from the page. It's a bit of a strange

assignment and a lot of people don't get it first up. You really don't want to waste time and effort

when you're going in the wrong direction.

For the group assignment, the groups are assigned (good if you don't have any friends to partner

with, bad if you do).

For the course in general: find a way that you can take notes and fast! Whether that be typing or

writing. These lecturers are seriously knowledgeable but they talk mercilessly fast and most do

not provide detailed notes. So keep your own organised!

As with any other course, speak up if you don't understand. Half of the dozen other people in the

room probably didn't get it either.


Page | 45

Make sure you have time to properly process what happened in the lectures; some of the

concepts are challenging but there's nothing you won't be able to understand if you take good

notes and allow time to revise properly.

Brian Key's lecture slides are pretty much just blank pages with a picture of an embryo (if you're

lucky) so you absolutely have to watch the lecture (which isn't actually that bad because he's an

amazing lecturer).

If you end up doing the chick embryo prac, try not to get egg yolk on your lab coat because the

smell literally never comes out.

SECAT RESULTS

4.2

4.5

3.9

4.1

4.1

4.2

4.5

4.1

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 46

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Dr Mary-Louise Manchadi


hours

Prerequisites: BIOL2200 and (CHEM1100,

CHEM1222, CHEM1022 or CHEM1020)

Recommended Prerequisites: BIOC2000

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOM2041.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

BIOM2402 introduces students to fundamental

concepts in drug action and drug disposition at

the molecular and cellular level. The binding of

drugs to receptors, receptor activation and

inhibition, effect of drugs on cell signalling,

drug absorption and metabolism, genetic

determinants of drug action and drug toxicity

are topics covered within the modules of this

course. A major proportion of this course

examines the clinical and molecular effects of a

wide array of substances, including

neurotransmitters, illicit drugs and

anaesthetics. Students are also introduced to experimental approaches to study drug effects.

ASSESSMENT


found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

This course provides a very deep insight into

drug mechanisms and interactions with the

body. For the vast majority of second year

biomedical students, this is the first course to

delve into such topics and consequently, is

bound to interest many. Many of the drug

examples would be very familiar to students,

DISADVANTAGES

Unsurprisingly, this course is content heavy.

While the initial few lectures may be easy to

keep up with, later modules will catch unwary

students off guard. Be careful!

The prac reports are actually quite challenging

to write up. It may be difficult to many to

gauge just how much detail is required, given

BIOM2402 – PRINCIPLES OF PHARMACOLOGY



Page | 47

which serves to engage more students.

The practicals build upon the lecture content

quite well and includes organ baths, which is

again, new for many students.

Those who did BIOC2000 are advantaged as

they have had previous exposure with

pharmacological graphs. Despite that, it is not

too difficult for those who did not complete

BIOC2000 to keep up with the course

content.

The content ties in well with past courses,

such as BIOL2200 and BIOM2011. For

instance, receptor activity and the nervous

system are examined in BIOM2402.

the strict word count.

TIPS

Do not underestimate the importance of the practical sessions in regards to reports and the EOS exam. Be sure to understand what exactly you are doing and become familiar with the various graphs.

It is quite easy to become distracted in the later experiments due to the moderate amount of replicates that is required. In 2014, the final practical session was a chance for repeating unsuccessful experiments. Don’t skip the session and take the chance to ask tutors questions if you have any.

Familiarity with the drug names (at least the ones you’re meant to know) is highly recommended. A later module looking at drug effects and treatment will demand that students know their names.

SECAT RESULTS

4.5

4.7

4.1

4.3

4.3

4.4

4.6

4.4

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 48

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Professor James De Voss

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures and 3

contact/workshops

Prerequisites: (CHEM1100 or CHEM1020) and

(CHEM1200, CHEM1030 or CHEM1010)

Restrictions: Incompatible with CHEM2041 and

CHEM2001.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

CHEM2050 provides a comprehensive coverage

of inorganic and organic chemistry with the aim

of sufficiently preparing students for third level

chemistry courses. Unlike other courses,

CHEM2050 will feature no wet lab sessions but

rather, introduce problem based learning

sessions to improve students’ theoretical

understanding. All in all, this course lays the

crucial foundation for further studies in

chemistry at the undergraduate and post-

graduate levels.

ASSESSMENT

2015 Semester 1 assessment details can be found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

If you enjoyed CHEM1200 and want to know

more about organic and inorganic bonding

and reactions, then this is the course for you.

Small class size so the lectures tend to be

tailored towards the questions you ask and

you have many opportunities for one-on-one

time with lecturers.

Assessment is quite heavily weighted towards

in-class quizzes. This can be annoying during

DISADVANTAGES

Memorising all the organic reactions can be a

bit tedious.

If you get behind during the semester it can

be hard to catch up on material before the in-

class quizzes.

CHEM2050 – ORGANIC & INORGANIC CHEMISTRY



Page | 49

the semester but there is a lot less pressure

for the final exam.

The course can be helpful for GAMSAT

preparation.

TIPS

Because of the in-class quizzes it’s very helpful to keep on top of the content throughout the semester.

Go to workshops! They will set you up for the final and there is plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

SECAT RESULTS

4.1

4.3

3.7

4.3

4.0

3.7

4.3

4.2

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 50

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Joanne Blanchfield

Contact hours per week: 3 Lecture hours and 3

Contact hours

Prerequisites: CHEM1200, CHEM1010 or

CHEM1030

Recommended Prerequisites: BIOL1020

Restrictions: Incompatible with CHEM2041 and

CHEM2001.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In CHEM2052, much emphasis has been placed

upon connecting chemical principles to

biological systems. Consequently, the course

presents the opportunity for students to apply

concepts from inorganic and organic chemistry

to various biological contexts. Topics to be

investigated include vitamins, enzymology,

biosynthetic pathways and the multifaceted

role of metal ions. CHEM2052 aims to provide a

sound grasp of the underlying molecular

mechanisms for many biological processes in

light of the increasingly multidisciplinary nature

of chemistry.

ASSESSMENT


found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

A fun course that examines the role of

chemistry in biology. You will learn a lot more

about the details of biological reactions that

you may have covered in previous courses.

Targeted at extending the chemistry

knowledge of people who are studying a

DISADVANTAGES

The video assignment is very time consuming.

A lot of the content overlaps with other

courses (e.g. CHEM2050 and BIOC2000) and

can feel a bit basic especially if you have done

a fair bit of chemistry before taking this

course.

CHEM2052 – CHEMICAL BIOLOGY



Page | 51

major in the biological/biomedical field, and

may be useful for GAMSAT preparation.

Quite a small class size so there is time to

engage with lecturers directly.

The midsem is quite heavily weighted (equal

to the final), which can be stressful. However,

the final is a lot smaller than for other

courses.

TIPS

Don’t leave the assignments too late- they will take more time than you think.

This course assumes quite a bit of first-year chemistry knowledge. It would be helpful to revise this early in the semester.

The bioinorganics module at the end is very interesting but quite challenging. Don’t wait until SWOTVAC to learn it.

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.1

3.6

4.0

4.1

4.1

4.0

4.0

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 52

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semester 1, 2 & Summer at St. Lucia

Course Coordinators: Associate Professor Tony

Roberts (semester 1) & Doctor Christophe Haynes

(semester 2)

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 1 tutorial & 1

contact class

Prerequisites: MATH1051 and MATH1052. One

must be able to solve linear and separable first

order and second order linear differential

equations, evaluate integrals and line integrals,

solve equation system and find the eigenvalues

and eigenvectors of a 2x2 matrix. These concepts

may appear in assignments or projects.

Restrictions: Incompatible with MATH2000 and

MATH7000.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

MATH2001, an extended version of MATH2000,

is a relatively new course offered for the first

time in 2014. It has an additional contact

session which covers extension topics, and

different tutorials and a different exam to the

mainstream course. Topics include:

Second order differential equations, undetermined coefficients, variation of parameters.

Multi-dimensional calculus, surface & volume integrals, cylindrical, spherical and general coordinate transformations.

Stoke's & Green's theorems and applications (flux, heat equations).

Linear algebra, diagonalization, quadratic forms, positive definiteness, elementary numerical linear algebra.

Multi-dimensional Taylor series, second partial derivative test, maxima, minima and saddle points

in N-dimensions. Method of least squares for functions.

Vector spaces, norms and inner products (for square-integrable functions).

Gram-Schmidt orthogonalisation and orthogonal matrices.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


MATH2001 – ADVANCED CALCULUS

AND LINEAR ALGEBRA



Page | 53

STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

For students who wish to major in

mathematics, MATH2001 is one of the

compulsory courses to pass. The difference

between MATH2001 and MATH2000 is in the

extra hour of contact lecture per week, where

students are given the chance to learn and

understand the proofs given in the regular

lectures. This course is definitely more

challenging than MATH2000; I would

recommend this course to students who have

achieved highly in first year maths courses

and have a great interest in understanding

the applications of the principles of calculus,

vectors and matrices.

DISADVANTAGES

Personally I think the difficulty of this course is

much greater than expected perhaps because

it was a new course. As it was the first

semester to have contact lectures, they

weren't well-planned and some students

found the contact lectures and lecture notes

confusing. On top of that, there were no past

exams on this component of the course. I

would assume this problem would now be

fixed.

TIPS

As I only did this course out of pure interest and this is the only second year maths course I've

done at UQ, I would recommend students in the same position as I am to spend more time doing

the tutorial questions and pay special attention on really understanding the questions types in

the assignment questions given. The lecturers and tutors are quite friendly so don't hesitate to

ask them any questions about the course that you may have. It is also important to know which

proofs you need to memorise before the exams as there will be a question or two testing your

understanding of the proofs.

SECAT RESULTS

3.9

4.1

3.8

4.1

3.9

3.7

4.1

3.9

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 54

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Jack Wang


lab hours


Recommended Prerequisites: BIOC2000

Recommended Companion Course: BIOL2202

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOL2012 and

MICR2008.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This introductory course explores microbe

diversity, their cellular biology, growth and

nutrition, metabolism, and basic genetics.

Besides learning about microorganisms

involved with disease, their ecology and

applications in biotechnology, students will

study the innate, humoral and cellular immune

systems and the immune response to infection.

Practicals include experiments that

demonstrate principles learnt in lectures. A

greater emphasis has been placed on practical

techniques and safety, due to industrial alumni

recommendations. The course provides the

fundamental knowledge and skills needed for further studies in microbiology, molecular biology and

biotechnology.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on MICR2000 Semester 2 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Lecturers gave lots of feedback on everything

More exam focused than assignment heavy

Very clear focus on what was expected for

exam content

Lecturers were all very good, engaging,

DISADVANTAGES

Assignment is quite difficult to get your head

around

Prac sessions were mostly concerned about

lab skills, not much content learning from

pracs

MICR2000 – MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY



Page | 55

humorous and stated clearly what needed to

be learnt

Lecturer is very engaged with students,

actively encourages student discussion, opens

review lectures to student questions and

actually provides answers to ONLY THEIR

OWN practice papers (not the ones on the UQ

library)

Not many learning support systems in place

for the course, other than emailing. It's one

way communication stream of teacher

feedback to student.

TIPS

A lot of content, more of an exam based subject than assignments so study regularly.

Each of the quizzes matter. Even if it's just a 10% quiz, don't take it lightly as that could be the

difference between a 6 and a 7.

Course is broken up into lots of little assessment. It's important to do well in all of them; don't get

complacent.

SECAT RESULTS

4.4

4.4

4.5

4.3

4.3

4.1

4.5

4.4

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 56

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Stephanie Tobin

(semester 1), Doctor Courtney von Hippel

(semester 2)


Tutorial hours

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: (PSYC1020 or

PSYC1030) and PSYC1040

Restrictions: Incompatible with PY261 or 270 or

271 or 272.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This research-oriented course builds on the

theory and practice of psychological research

covered in PSYC1040, laying the foundation for

PSYC3010. Topics covered include research

design and measurement issues, data analysis

methods, reporting writing procedures,

interpretation of research and related issues.

theory and practice of research methodology,

data analysis and report writing in psychology.

Students should be able to critically appraise

their own research methodologies, as well as

others'.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

A great follow up to the first year psychology

statistics course (PSYC1040). Together, these

2 courses exempt you from doing the

compulsory STAT1201 course for all science

students.

DISADVANTAGES

People who are not doing a psychology major

may consider this course a waste of time as

most of the course is covered in STAT1201.

The course is relatively light in terms of

content, and with relatively few hours each

PSYC2010 – PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY II



Page | 57

The course was relatively straightforward

revising 1st year statistics, before moving

onto ANOVA, a priori and post hoc follow-up

tests to ANOVA, non-parametric tests,

correlation and regression calculations. The

course steps relatively slowly through each of

these with specific examples of common

tests, and provides ample opportunity to

revise under exam conditions and with a well-

designed assignment.

Tutorials were also fun and interesting, and

the lecturer was very approachable and

friendly.

week so it's quite tempting to skip out on

lectures and tutorials.

TIPS

Keep up with the coursework, and make sure to continue practising questions. While the content

is quite light, it is quite hard to cram how to do calculations.

SECAT RESULTS

4.1

4.2

3.9

4.2

4.3

4.4

3.9

4.4

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 58

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Professor Matthew Hornsey

(semester 1), Doctor Courtney von Hippel

(semester 2)


Tutorial hours

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: PSYC1020 or

PSYC1030

Companion course: PSYC1040, if not taken in first

year.

Restrictions: Incompatible with PY263 and PY292.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course explores the theories and empirical

research methods behind how one's feelings,

actions, behaviour, thinking and attitudes are

influenced by the social environment as an

individual or as a group. Topics can be found

under “Advantages”. Tutorials will also go

through the research process of study design,

data collection and analysis, as well as report

writing.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

The lecturer was very friendly and

approachable. Strongly encouraged audience

participation with lollies during lectures

throughout the semester. The course

provided an expansion of the first year social

DISADVANTAGES

For premedical students, this course has little

relevance with biomedical science nor with

medicine in general.

Unlike many of the other psychology courses,

PSYC2040 – SOCIAL & ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY



Page | 59

psychology course PSYC1030, and also

covered quite a bit of material on

organisational psychology, something which

most people don't realise is vital to many

aspects of society. The course covers topics

such as self-concept and promotion, social

perception and judgement, happiness,

attitudes and behaviour, love and attraction,

group dynamics and group identity in the

workplace, stereotyping and prejudice in the

workplace and job satisfaction.

The course is very interesting and provides a

welcome change from the 'hard science' that

biomedical sciences is mostly comprised of.

There are many real world applications.

The assignment, where you design, collect

and report your own social experiment, is also

very interesting. This provides an opportunity

to develop scientific skills and experience

real-world research.

attending these tutorials is more or less

compulsory due to the group orientated

nature of the assignment. Failure to attend

severely hampers your ability to complete the

assignment to the strict timeline, and also lets

your assigned group down.

The assignment also requires quite a bit of

your own time in gathering data (usually from

the general UQ community).

TIPS

If you are interested in social and organisational psychology and want to do something different

to biomedical science, and want to get out of the heavily lab-based environment, I would

recommend doing this course.

Pay attention and write notes during the lectures or recordings, as often times, the lecturer will

have a single point on the slides, but only elaborate on it verbally. Everything she says is

examinable so notes are very important.

SECAT RESULTS

4.2

4.4

4.0

4.4

3.9

4.2

4.4

4.2

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 60

COURSE INFORMATION

Offered: Semester 1 & 2 at St. Lucia

Course Coordinators: Professor Thomas

Suddendorf (semester 1), TBA (semester 2)


Tutorial hours

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: PSYC1020

Companion course: PSYC1040, if not taken in first

year.

Restrictions: Incompatible with (PY260 and 269) or

PY293.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course explores learning and cognition,

two distinct fields in psychology, each with a

different approach to understanding the mind.

One third of the course will be on the

experimental analysis of behaviour as derived

from principles of associative learning. The rest

will be on cognitive topics such as memory,

imagery, language, intelligence and

comparative psychology. Laboratory sessions

will focus on training of skills including

gathering, analysing and presenting

information, and in providing feedback.

ASSESSMENT


Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

This course is a more in-depth look into

behavioural and cognitive psychology

introduced in the first year course PSYC1020.

The course is structured very well, split into

three main sections. "Learning and it's

DISADVANTAGES

The lectures are not the most interesting of in

terms of content, especially the section on

lower level cognition.

Most lectures are spent on historical research

PSYC2050 – LEARNING & COGNITION



Page | 61

applications" covers the different types of

conditioning, "Higher level cognition" covers

topics such as imagery, language and

evolutionary psychology, while "Lower level

cognition" covers topics like attention and

memory.

The assignment is a report on a self-designed,

self-participant experiment. It is flexible in

what topic you can choose to research, and

provides valuable experience and practice in

writing scientific articles.

The tutorials guide you through each section

of your assignment and are designed to

ensure you don't miss your deadlines. The

tutorials also incorporate small, very

interesting experiments commonly used in

real psychological research to measure

attention and memory.

and results, often not examined. While the

course coordinator, Professor Suddendorf, is

extremely interesting for his module on higher

level cognition, the same cannot be said for

the other two lecturers.

TIPS

Start thinking of an experiment to do as soon as the assignment is introduced in the tutorials. It is

extremely difficult to find something relevant to yourself as well as the lecture topic, while also

having enough journal articles to provide background information. Start looking early.

Do not miss tutorials, the experiments are interesting, and provide excellent practice for writing

your assignment as you write an easy example section based on each weeks experiment, also

worth easy marks.

SECAT RESULTS

3.8

3.9

3.8

3.8

3.7

3.8

3.8

4.0

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 62

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor David Simmons and

Doctor Michael Bulmer

Contact hours per week: 6 contact hours in a

variety of styles

Prerequisites: None

Restrictions: This course is only available to

Advanced Study Program in Science (ASPinS)

students who are successful interviewees.

Scie2111 is its twin course for students studying

Advanced Science.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

SCIE2011 is a course for first year ASPinS

students keen for research. It does not involve

practical lab work, but aims to teach the skills

necessary for success in research (eg

communication, group work and presentation

skills). It also introduces students to the life of

the researcher by providing networking

opportunities, career talks, scientific discussion,

undergraduate research conferences and visits

to labs at UQ. There are four multidisciplinary

research modules, which are hot areas of

research in science. Students will work in

assigned groups to integrate expert knowledge,

build on their own university knowledge and

present their findings to the class.

ASSESSMENT

2015 assessment details unavailable at the moment. 2014 assessment details can be found at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

Has many exploratory course activities such

as a weekend camp, lab visits and field trips.

There is also an invitation to attend the

undergraduate research conference and

present a conference poster in the foyer,

which is good experience.

DISADVANTAGES

Each module spans two weeks, which is a

relatively short turnover time and doesn't

allow 'revamps' or progress to be made on

previous findings. Real research often takes

months, so it is difficult to get an idea of how

much tedium there is involved in real

SCIE2011 – PERSPECTIVES IN SCIENCE



Page | 63

Small cohort of less than 40 students means a

tightknit community. Although the majority

are usually biomedical students, there are

students from other scientific disciplines so it

is a good chance to mix and mingle.

As the course content is made of what you

are willing to search and learn, the workload

is usually not significantly harder than other

courses, except in one week last year where

three assessments were due. This might

change as a result of student feedback.

Students are divided into groups of four

based on their application interview. These

groups stay unchanged throughout the

semester, although there is opportunity to

change around if group conflict is

unmanageable. This allows one to get used to

the working styles of others, and mimics a

work situation.

This course is focused on skill building and

improvement.

Class presentations alternate between a

written task and an oral presentation.

research.

Vague criteria for assessment tasks, except

the symposium proposal. It is claimed to be

deliberately vague, but one knows that there

are already set criteria and expectations in the

markers' minds. These are guarded carefully

and there are no past examples to view.

Plans change more often than in other

courses. This may be due to speakers not

being available.

Ethics is covered in Stat1201 and that may be

why it is not mentioned in this course at all,

but it would have been closer to the real thing

to have ethical debates or at least an

understanding of ethical dilemmas

researchers face and how they get around

them.

TIPS

Delegate the work. Group work tends to be dominated by a leader, which may lead to conflicts. It

might be a good idea to rotate leadership each module, unless procedures are already very

efficient.

Reflection helps in skill focused courses like these. You learn what you are willing to be taught

and willing to find.

SECAT RESULTS

4.8

4.8

4.4

4.3

3.9

4.5

4.9

4.5

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 64

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Marc Ruitenberg

Contact hours per week: 4 contact hours.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: BIOL1015, BL206,

PY255 or BIOL1040.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

ANAT3022 serves as a comprehensive

introduction to the anatomy of the brain. While

not a physiology course, emphasis upon

function is placed throughout. Students will

undertake studies involving sensory, motor and

emotional functions as well as neurological

diseases. Practical sessions with cadaver

samples will provide further opportunities to

consolidate the course content. Group

dissection of a brain specimen will also be held in the later part of practicals for hands-on

experience.

ASSESSMENT


found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

ANAT3022 is a fantastic course for students

interested in practical and theoretical

experience with the human brain. The

content is diverse and aims to outline the

function of various anatomical landmarks of

the brain. Students can learn to effectively

appreciate the sheer complexity of the brain

like never before. This is a must for those

neurologically inclined.

DISADVANTAGES

The group dissection may be slightly

disappointing with large numbers of students

dissecting the one brain.

Some of the content, especially the

neurological diseases, may overlap with past

studies and you may not see anything new.

ANAT3022 – FUNCTIONAL NEUROANATOMY



Page | 65

Students can dissect a brain - this course is

one of the few biomedical courses which

permits dissections of human specimens.

TIPS

Always complete the prac manual prior to your session so you don’t waste valuable time that

could otherwise be spent productively handling specimens.

The GAF has multiple textbooks and binder folders filled with reference material. This is especially

useful in case you ever want to test your knowledge.

Diagrams are important and you should take the time to draw them out. Notable diagrams in the

past included the Circle of Willis, the DCML and AL pathway, cerebellar pathways and basal

ganglia.

Do not underestimate the final few lectures on imaging and language. Though they are worth a

few MCQs, the MCQs in the EOS is actually worth a fair amount.

The literature analysis task may be something students are not accustomed to - older students

may have completed a similar task in BIOL1040. Read up on journals and popular writing to gain a

better insight in how you’d write a media article.

SECAT RESULTS

4.6

4.7

4.0

4.4

4.6

4.5

4.8

4.6

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 66

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Professor Mike Bennett &

Professor Brian Key


Practical or Lab hours

Prerequisites: BIOM2020

Recommended Prerequisites: BIOM2012

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course gives students valuable hands-on

dissection experience of the viscera, walls of

the thorax, abdomen and pelvis. Gross

morphology, structural inter-relationships and

functional anatomy are complemented by a

microscopic study of normal and pathological

tissues. Students will learn about the

integration of organ systems and structures in

key regional areas and anatomical variations,

pathology and histology of given organ

systems.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on BIOM3002 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

BIOM3002, in my opinion, is a must for all

students intending to go on to medicine.

The human dissection is a really good way to

get past any squeamishness you have, and

rapidly improves your grasp of visceral

anatomy.

While some of the bone content is a bit dry

(at least it was in my personal opinion) the

DISADVANTAGES

The spotter exam was a lot more difficult than

the BIOM2020 one, in my opinion. This is

mainly because the questions tend to be more

obscure and the massive amount of content

to cover.

The developmental questions are pretty

straightforward, which helps.

BIOM3002 – HUMAN BIOMEDICAL ANATOMY



Page | 67

visceral and developmental stuff was really

interesting, and continually related to clinical

conditions which not only made it more

interesting, but made the content easier to

learn.

This course is the best way to learn histology,

in my opinion, with relatively small class sizes,

a very useful course handout and plenty of

tutors to assist.

Overall, I thought the course was really

enjoyable and has made a number of other

subjects easier.

The dissection report (which may have since

been removed) was extremely vague, which

meant that it takes a lot of time for a

relatively short assignment.

Time with tutors in practicals is less than that

in BIOM2020 as they are spread between a

number of groups so independence is

important in this subject.

TIPS

I would pay attention to the details in this subject. If a disorder is mentioned once in a lecture but

never again, or on a lecture slide/diagram but never discussed explicitly: its fair game to be

assessed and probably will be.

The histology portion of the midsemester exam has no surprises and should essentially be free

marks, so make sure you actually attend the contact and look at all the images to take advantage

of this.

The pathology questions in the final exam by Glenda Gobe tend to be the most difficult and

require you to think about the questions rather than just regurgitating content so make sure you

understand that section particularly well.

SECAT RESULTS

4.6

4.8

4.3

4.3

4.6

4.4

4.8

4.5

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 68

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Stuart Mazzone

Contact hours per week: 6 contact hours

Prerequisites: BIOL2200, STAT1201 and

(BIOM2012 or BIOM2020 or BIOL2202 or

BIOM2402 or BIOM2208 or MICR2000)

Restrictions: Course not available to BBiomedSc

and MBBS/BSc students.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this capstone course, students majoring in

biomedical sciences will engage in

multidisciplinary problem-solving project work

to gain an appreciation of the contribution of

their specialisation to contemporary

biomedical science, potential benefits to the

community, scientific ethics and statistical

and/or computational skills in analysis &

interpretation of data. Included in this course

are 7 areas of specialisation: anatomy,

developmental biology, human genetics,

immunology and infectious diseases, neuroscience, pharmacology, and physiology.

ASSESSMENT


found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

The course is composed of only assessment

tasks, meaning no end of semester exam. The

main assessment task of writing a research

proposal is given very early on and due at the

end of the semester. This allows you to work

on the proposal at your own pace.

Your research proposal involves investigating

a given biological pathway in a disease, as a

DISADVANTAGES

Course is compulsory. Your major assessment

task is worth 60%. Coupled with the fact that

there is no end of semester exam means that

if you do not do well in your assessments and

fail the course, there is no supplementary

exam.

The course very much relies on your own

drive/work ethic to complete your major

BIOM3200 – BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE



Page | 69

result, most your lectures will be about the

disease and its pathways. The other lectures

are dedicated to teaching you on how to

approach your other assessment tasks such as

the statistics or ethics assignments.

assignment. The assignment requires large

amounts of research and writing, meaning

that procrastination tends to be a bad idea.

You have a Stats assignment.

TIPS

If you are confident during the semester that your research proposal is well underway, feel free

to stop going to the lectures. The lectures are mainly there to provide background info on your

particular disease and help you get ideas for your proposal. Similarly, it may be beneficial to go to

the lectures in the beginning to get a general idea on what you want to do.

In pracs, you are allocated groups to work with. Make sure you turn up to every prac session and

help each other. You'll tend to rely on each other for most of the assessment tasks.

You can take the subject so long as you have completed a 3rd year course. Thus it is possible to

take it in the last sem of your 2nd year. However, you may find that the course will be much

harder for you than a 3rd year who has more basic science knowledge (eg. procedural techniques

or background info for research proposal). The course is supposed to be taken at the end of your

degree.

Pester your lecturers and prac tutors to read your research proposal drafts and get them to point

out where you can improve.

SECAT RESULTS

3.3

3.3

2.8

3.5

3.2

3.2

3.5

3.7

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 70

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Peter Noakes

Contact hours per week: 3 lectures, 1 contact hour


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course covers the mechanisms that

operate to regulate neuronal identity, synaptic

function, synaptic plasticity and neural circuits.

This course will also go on to examine the cell

and molecular basis of neural pathology, which

can be understood from our knowledge of the

molecular mechanisms that operate to control

normal neural function. The second part of the course will focus on information pertinent to current

developments in molecular neuroscience and neurochemistry. All lecturers are researchers with

international reputations in their fields of cell and molecular neuroscience.

ASSESSMENT

For comprehensive detail on NEUR3001 Semester 1 assessment, check out the Electronic Course

Profile at:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

The subject matter in this course was

particularly interesting and built well on

BIOL2200 and BIOM2011. Learning about the

synapse on the molecular level and neuronal

organisation fed well into the more applied

part of the course investigating particular

diseases of the nervous system.

The journal club was arguably the best part of

the course, enabling you to research and

DISADVANTAGES

The course was probably balanced in its

advantages and disadvantages. The main

problem was the lack of integration of some

of the modules, especially given the course

coordinator didn't even know how it linked

together holistically.

Assessment-wise, there were some vague

questions in the final exam where the model

answers didn't really relate to what was asked

NEUR3001 – MOLECULAR & CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE



Page | 71

present the findings of a paper and interact

with the presentations of others on similar

topics. It also allowed you to get to know one

of the lecturers on a more personal basis

which was primarily helpful in getting advice

on their module.

The exam format with predominantly short

answer questions was beneficial for ensuring

all the content was learnt.

so in that sense it is easy to do poorly even

with sufficient study.

Having the guest lecturers for each

disease/topic present only 3 lectures each

also made it slightly disjointed. However,

some of these lecturers were not as good as

our lecturers so only having 3 lectures was a

bonus!

TIPS

If you're going to do this course you need to stay on top of the work as a lot of detail is

assessable.

The textbook is not really necessary so unless you desperately want it, save your money.

Try and get yourself a good journal club partner/set aside quite a bit of time as it can be quite

stressful to prepare a presentation in a week.

Use the practice exam as it is quite a good idea of what some of the lecturers will ask in the

midsem/final.

Watch timing in the exams as they are a bit tight in that department.

SECAT RESULTS

4.3

4.4

3.9

4.1

4.0

4.3

4.4

4.2

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 72

COURSE INFORMATION


Course Coordinators: Doctor Mark Bellingham


Tutorial hour


Recommended Prerequisites: BIOM2012

Companion Course: PSYC1040, if not taken in first

year.

Restrictions: Incompatible with (PY260 and 269) or

PY293.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course focuses on how brain systems work

in an integrated fashion to extract high level

sensory information, plan and control

movement, form memories, cope with

emotional and physical stress, trauma, disease

and addiction. In addition to lectures on these

themes, students will learn the details of a

particular brain system by critical analysis and

presentation of primary scientific literature in a

group seminar setting, and by completing an

individual critical analysis assignment using a

Wiki page.

ASSESSMENT


found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

NEUR3002 is very different to other courses

I've done so far. Firstly, the course is more

'concept' based, rather than being focused on

the details which is a nice change from many

of the biomedical subjects. It also contained a

number of self-contained, independent topics

DISADVANTAGES

Each lecturer is free to lecture on whatever

they want, with little cohesion between

sections. This means that some lecturers tend

to spend a lot of time on highly specific topics

that are unrelated to most of your other

studies. For example, the lectures on vision

NEUR3002 – THE INTEGRATED BRAIN



Page | 73

(including navigation, the brain's immune

system and some clinical topics such as

epilepsy) which kept it interesting and meant

that you were likely to find something that

captured your interest. While this meant that

the midsemester and final exam covered a lot

of content, the exams were straightforward

and it was clear the key ideas that were most

likely to be examined. Overall, this meant that

the course assessment wasn't too difficult.

Finally, this subject crosses over nicely with

BIOM2402 (both look at addictive drugs) and

BIOM2012 (Nick Lavidis lectures in both with

very similar content). While the topic is

unlikely to be particularly relevant for all

fields, it's perfect for people with an interest

in neuroscience and for people who would

like a less intense option for third year.

Overall, this was one of my favourite subjects

I've done simply because it was really

interesting and not too strenuous (Wiki Page

Assignment excluded).

included an entire lecture on the eyeball

structures of different species. While I found

this interesting, it can be a little frustrating to

learn towards exam time. Additional, the 'Wiki

Page' assignment is a bit vague which makes it

hard to know what to prioritise.

TIPS

I would highly recommend starting on the Wiki Page assessment as soon as you get it, because it

requires a lot of background reading. Another tip would be to focus on key concepts and not try

and memorise little details, because they rarely assess details in this subject (each lecture gets 3

MCQs and 1 SAQ so they need to cover big concepts and don't have time to ask you anything

more specific). Finally, the practice exam is a really good indicator of what the final exam will be (I

believe almost half the questions were identical in my year).

SECAT RESULTS

4.0

4.2

3.0

3.6

3.7

3.8

4.5

4.0

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 74

COURSE INFORMATION – SCIE3011

COURSE INFORMATION – SCIE3211

Offered: Summer Semester

Course Coordinators: Doctor Nickolas Lavidis

Contact hours per week: 180h over 6 Weeks

Prerequisites: Completion of #24 units

Recommended Prerequisites: BIOL1040,

BIOL2200, BIOM2011 and BIOM2012

Restrictions: Incompatible with BIOL3044,

BIOL3017, BIOL3043, SCIE3017, SCIE3043 and

SCIE3044.

Offered: Semester 1 & 2 at St. Lucia

Course Coordinators: Associate Professor Sandie

Degnan (semester 1) and Associate Professor

Sassan Asgari (semester 2)

Contact hours per week: N/A

Prerequisites: N/A

Restrictions: This course is only available to

Advanced Study Program in Science (ASPinS)

students which are successful interviewees.

Previous students of the course SCIE2011 will not

need to have another interview for this subject.

This subject is also not available for BAdvSc

students.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

SCIE3221 offers students to participate in and conduct an undergraduate biomedical science

research project over the summer break. Students are required to gain approval from their

supervisors as well as the course coordinator before beginning this course. While every student will

encounter different experiences, this course aims to provide a general exposure to scientific

research at UQ.

SCIE3011 is a year-long course for students in the second year of the Advanced Study Program in

Science (ASPinS). Similar to SCIE3221, students undertake a research project for the purposes of

becoming accustomed to scientific research. Unlike SCIE3221, students can choose any project, not

necessarily biomedical in nature. All ASPinS students will present at the ASPinS Undergraduate

Research Conference, usually held in October.

SCIE3011 – PERSPECTIVES IN SCIENCE RESEARCH

SCIE3221 – BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PROJECT


Page | 75

ASSESSMENT

SCIE3011 2015 semester one assessment details can be found here:


The SCIE3221 2015 summer semester assessment details are unavailable. 2014 summer semester

assessment details can be found here:


STUDENT REVIEW

ADVANTAGES

SCIE3211 is perfect for students who want to

immerse themselves in a biomedical research

project. The summer break offers a rare

opportunity to complete a course without the

added workload of other courses.

Both SCIE3221 and SCIE3011 is also an

excellent way of knowing whether a research

career, or at least an honours year, is for you.

Depending on your project and supervisor,

this course is usually far more flexible than

your average third year science course.

SCIE3011 provides workshops and resources

for students to understand the expectations

for each assessment piece. This is very useful

for later research courses such as SCIE3221.

The students also have an ASPinS camp as

well!

DISADVANTAGES

There is very little structure to these courses –

every project will be different and every

student will encounter different issues.

For SCIE3221, there are no guidelines for

assessment pieces other than a criteria sheet

for each one. Students who have no

experiences with a research oral presentation

or keeping a lab notebook will be

disadvantaged.

TIPS

Always ask for help when you need it! Depending on your supervisor(s) or the size of your lab,

there are always more experienced lab members to answer your questions. In particular, it is

highly recommended that students who are not exactly familiar with some of the assessment

pieces ask others.

Communication is important. Attend lab meetings, update your supervisors on your progress and

receive feedback on your project. There’s nothing worse than not being sure of what you’re doing

until the very last week. Also, while supervisors are generally aware of assessment details, your

supervisor might not know about it. Make sure your supervisor knows exactly what he or she is

expected to do as a SCIE3221/SCIE3011 supervisor.

Be sure to consider the lab location, size and supervisors before choosing. At the same time, for

SCIE3221, be sure to apply ahead of time (there is an application form, available at SBMS).

Coupling SCIE3221 with a summer research scholarship could be a good idea.




Page | 76

SCIE3011 posters should be printed well ahead of time to avoid those late rushes and long

queues at printers.

SECAT RESULTS (SCIE3221)

3.8

4.4

3.1

3.1

2.6

3.1

4.3

3.6

1 2 3 4 5










Strongly Disagree


Page | 77

IMAGE ATTRIBUTIONS

All images used in this course guide are creative commons. The attributions are as below.

COURSE ATTRIBUTION

CHEM1200 https://www.flickr.com/photos/53921113@N02/5645102295

CHEM1100 https://www.flickr.com/photos/canyon289/3701614577

MATH1051 https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14596563437

MATH1061 https://www.flickr.com/photos/wcn247/10173414723

BIOC2000 https://www.flickr.com/photos/107963674@N07/11390714906

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/2RAM.png

BIOL2200 https://www.flickr.com/photos/pnnl/8146322408

BIOL2202 https://www.flickr.com/photos/micahb37/3080247531

BIOM2020 https://www.flickr.com/photos/42807077@N07/7251296386

BIOM2208 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericatkins/7927573110

BIOM2402 https://www.flickr.com/photos/destinysagent/1778953537

CHEM2050 https://www.flickr.com/photos/uclmaps/8789302390

MATH2001 https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14779932991

MICR2000 https://www.flickr.com/photos/adonofrio/5390287631

PSYC2010 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_uk/8135755109

PSYC2020 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Hippocampus-mri.jpg

PSYC2040 https://www.flickr.com/photos/petithiboux/5195323587

PSYC2050 https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisyarzab/5659535221

ANAT3022 http://blog.eyewire.org/mit-neurotech/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Connectome_extraction_procedure.jpg

BIOM3002 https://www.flickr.com/photos/dukeunivlibraries/5975622182

NEUR3001 https://www.flickr.com/photos/47814009@N00/2943548161

NEUR3002 http://www.pnas.org/content/106/49/20954/F1.expansion.html

BIOL1030 https://www.flickr.com/photos/kumaravel/5413516418

BIOL1040 https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmiers2/6122461840

PHYS1171 https://www.flickr.com/photos/birthintobeing/11841180046

PSYC1030 Portraits

SCIE1000 https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14802933703

STAT1201 https://www.flickr.com/photos/8141155@N07/2583772698

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Standard_deviation_diagram.svg

BIOM2011 https://www.flickr.com/photos/euthman/3884912676

BIOM2012 https://www.flickr.com/photos/functionalneurogenesis/7223470974

CHEM2052 https://www.flickr.com/photos/29945479@N07/3017618545

BIOM3200 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubclibrary/405901913

SCIE3011 https://www.flickr.com/photos/osmium/4345591347

SCIE3221 https://www.flickr.com/photos/rvc/6360419733

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