This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Undergraduate Handbook 2006-2007 (archived)
Module BIOL3411: HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT (P)
Department: Biological and Biomedical Sciences
BIOL3411: HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT (P)
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tied | 3 | 20 | Available in 2006/2007 | None. | Durham |
Tied To
Pre-requisites
- None.
Corequisites
- None.
Excluded Combinations
- None.
Aims
- To promote an appreciation of how the environment impacts on the health of humans and other animals and to promote cross-disciplinary thinking and problem solving.
Content
- Course introduction.
- Important infectious diseases, Disease ecology: Changing disease patterns through history, A case study of how the risk of malaria in the UK has changed, New and emerging diseases, Disease processes and scaling, environmental change and human health in developing countries, how changing climate and weather affects human health, water and health, increasing population pressure, plant diseases, pests and famines, transgenic vectors.
- Case studies in the environmental management of diseases.
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- Students should be able to: Demonstrate how many environmental, biological and sociological factors affect human health either directly or indirectly through their effects on disease pathogens.
- Appreciate the changing nature of the interaction between the environment and health, both in time and space.
- Understand that these controlling processes operate at different temporal and spatial scales.
Subject-specific Skills
Key Skills
- Extract, compile and review relevant scientific information from various sources and evaluate them critically.
- Acquire, interpret and critically analyse experimental, clinical and field data and present the results effectively.
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- MCQs are appropriate as a revision aid and to demonstrate knowledge acquisition.
- The written report will show the communication skills learnt as well as the ability to interpret.
- The integration of these skills will be assessed in the written examination.
- The poster is the best way of demonstrating presentation skills and the ability to summarise data in a concise fashion.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 23 | 1-2/week | 1 hour | 23 | |
| Tutorials | 1 | 1 hour | 1 | ||
| Seminars | 2 | 1 hour | 2 | ||
| Poster | 6 | 6 hours | 36 | ||
| Preparation and Reading | 138 | ||||
| Total | 200 |
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | 50% | Formal Examination | 2 hours | 100% | |
| Presentation | 40% | Presentation | 100% | ||
| Report | 10% | Research Report | 100% |
Formative Assessment
MCQ.
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.