Module FOUD02H8: Concepts, Methods and Theories in Biology

Department: Foundation Year (Durham)

FOUD02H8: Concepts, Methods and Theories in Biology

Prerequisites

Corequisites

• Mathematics 2

Excluded Combination of Modules

• CMT Arts & Humanities, CMT Business, CMT Social Sciences

Aims

• The CMT modules are designed to introduce students to concepts, methods and theories within the student’s chosen discipline. The CMT modules provide a lens through which students engage with knowledge and knowledge creation in their chosen discipline; the Scholarship in Higher Education module provides the tool-kit for their engagement and communication of knowledge; and the Advanced Scholarship in Higher Education module provides an iterative experience of bringing toolkit and lens together to provide students with the opportunity to actively engage in the process of knowledge generation and communication by completing a research project within the student’s chosen discipline.
• Introduce, extend and develop a range of concepts, methods and theories relevant to the Biological Sciences progression route
• Develop and extend laboratory skills by performing, analysing and evaluating procedures performed to demonstrate fundamental principles of Biology
• Develop academic communication in biology and to demonstrate effective application of these scientific principles
• Introduce, extend and develop the use of primary and secondary source materials alongside critical analyses
• Encourage collaborative studentship and demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary practice in biology
• Explore the importance of ethics within science and technology
• Skills and other attributes
• This module supports the overall programme aims to enable students to have:
• acquired the ability to work confidently with a range of academic materials and sources (as appropriate to progression subject area);
• acquired the ability to work confidently with numerical data and basic statistics (as appropriate to progression subject area);
• gained various skills for undergraduate study, including the ability to extract and summarise meaning from text, to read rapidly and accurately, to write and present clear and precise arguments using appropriate evidence;
• acquired a level of self-efficacy in relation to workload management, basic academic autonomy and a learner identity as an effective university student;
• gained skills in using libraries, online databases and other reference resources;
• acquired the ability to engage confidently and with clarity in academic oral argument and respond appropriately to contributions made by fellow students.

Content

• Subject specific knowledge and the principles of biological sciences required for entry to Year 1 study at Durham
• Generating and utilising data from laboratory activities; interpreting and applying results in the explanation of biological concepts
• Interdisciplinary nature of biological sciences and the requirement for collaborative approaches
• Application of the scientific method as the bases for research in biological sciences
• Use of primary and secondary sources as evidence-based communication
• Evaluate the applications of biotechnology in medicine, food production and industry
• Explore the importance of ethics in science and technology

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students will be able to:
• 1. Demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of relevant subject concepts in response to specific assessment tasks
• 2. Demonstrate the appropriate use of relevant research methods in response to specific assessment tasks
• 3. Demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of relevant vocabulary in response to specific assessment tasks

• By the end of the programme students will be able to:
• 1. Demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of concepts in biological sciences
• 2. Demonstrate the appropriate use of relevant research methods
• 3. Demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of relevant vocabulary

• By the end of the module students will be able to:
• 1. Demonstrate critical thinking
• 2. Demonstrate effective communication using appropriate academic styles
• 3. Demonstrate appropriate use of number
• 4. Demonstrate the use of appropriate sources of evidence

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• This module will be delivered using a combination of lectures, practical sessions/seminars and tutorials on a weekly basis. Students will be taught subject specific concepts to be applied to a variety of tasks or assignments designed to lead to achieving the module outcomes.
• In this module, the Test’s primary function is to allows students to demonstrate the range and sophistication of their engagement with the module’s Reference/Factual knowledge, contextually and selectively applying this knowledge in response to specific test questions, with the secondary focus on the key skills of Academic communication under timed conditions (as they are likely to experience in their subsequent years of study).
• The Essay’s primary function is to allows students to demonstrate the range and sophistication of their engagement with the module’s Reference/Factual knowledge and Process knowledge, applying this knowledge in response to specific stimulus question, with the secondary focus on the key skills of Academic communication in long form writing (as they are likely to experience in their subsequent years of study).
• The Lab Report primarily allows students to demonstrate the range and sophistication of their engagement with the module’s Procedural knowledge and how they apply these within the context of their discipline (e.g. Laboratory), with the secondary focus on effective academic communication through the medium of a Lab Report (as they are likely to experience in their subsequent years of study).

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

A range of formative tasks are used to help students work towards module outcomes and to iteratively build competency towards each respective summative assessment.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University