Biol115

The Thread of Life

Lecture 1
Introduction to Biol115
Aims, hopes and aspirations

It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot

irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known,
but to question it.
~Jacob Bronowski
The Pale Blue Dot

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 The Thread of Life
An introductory course in cell and molecular biology.
A description of life at the microcosm.
Cells, as the fundamental units of life, straddle the boundary
between living and non-living.
How cells are organised, function and socialise
A wierd dimension beyond the range of normal human
experiences.
Underpins all of biology.

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 Unit organisation
Lecturer and Unit Dr Sham Nair
Convenor sham.nair@mq.edu.au

Senior Tutor
Julian May
(prac classes,
julian.may@mq.edu.au
assessments, marks)

Tutors
Practical
(practicals, tutorials, class tutors
assignments)

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 Textbook

Principles of Biology (http://www.nature.com/principles)

This is an ebook and is available for most electronic platforms
(Mac, PC, iPad, etc). You can purchase an access code from
the Co-op bookshop or directly online. Once you have
registered your copy, you will need the following access code
to view the contents: 26603018

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 The undergraduate journey
More than a linear journey.
Standards-based assessment in Biol115
Work on your weaknesses
Study skills
Numeracy skills
Literacy skills
Challenge and push your mental boundaries; reflect on your
learning (metacognition)

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 Student behaviours that promote learning
Develop good, lifelong learning habits
Be bold.
Be goal oriented.
Be careful if you dont have long term
goals.

Undertake active study.

Undertake small group/collaborative
learning.
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~tbayston/eme6313/retension.jpg
Challenge yourself.

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 How to do well in Biol115
detailed document on iLearn

Attend lectures
Attend practicals/tutorials
Complete all assignments and course activities
Engage in small group learning
Commit to regular study outside of formal contact hours
(deep, active learning)
Communicate with your tutors and lecturers if you face issues
that affect your study.

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Data from Dr Sara Harris, University of British Columbia, Canada
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 Results

M1 (%) FE (%) FE-M1

Intervention (P) 64.5 72.6 8.1

Intervention (NP) 77.4 72.9 -4.5

No intervention 81.5 76 -5.7

P: active study; NP: no activity study

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Improved performance by students who
attempted online quizzes (MB)
84
82

Final Exam Mark/150 80

78
76
74
72
70
68
No MB With MB

P<0.05
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 Collaborative learning - PeerWise
Student feedback extremely popular activity and high learning value.
92% authored more than min # of questions; 95% answered more than
min # of questions.
>17,000 questions in the Biol115 Peerwise database.

100-499 Qs 61%

500-999 Qs 5%

>1000 Qs 2%

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Peerwise

Raw marks in the final exam

supports
deep
learning

Peerwise score

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 Biol115 Unit organisation

Day Time Location Notes

Monday 10 am 11 am Mason Theatre First weekly lecture

Friday 3 pm 4 pm Mason Theatre Second weekly lecture

Repeat of Mondays
Tuesday 12 pm 1 pm X5BT1
lecture

Repeat of Fridays (3
Friday 4 pm 5 pm Mason
pm) lecture

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 Practicals (internals)
DAY TIME Locations
Monday 12 pm - 3 pm E8A120, E8A160
3 pm - 6 pm E8A120, E8A160
Tuesday 9 am - 12 pm E8A120, E8A160
2 pm - 5 pm E8A120, E8A160
Wednesday 9 am - 12 pm E8A120, E8A160
12 pm - 3 pm E8A120, E8A160
3 pm - 6 pm E8A120, E8A160
Thursday 9 am - 12 pm E8A120, E8A160

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 Practicals (external)
Group Sessions Times Notes
1 30-31 Aug Prac 1-4
1 Prac 5-7 (includes mid-semester
2 22-23 Sep
test)
1 6-7 Sep Prac 1-4
2 Prac 5-7 (includes mid-semester
2 23-24 Sep
test)

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 Biol115 Assignments
Abstract writing (10%)
You will be required to produce a 300 word abstract (summary) of a scientific
article.
Annotated bibliography (10%)
You will provide annotation of 8-10 peer-reviewed articles on selected topics in
cell and molecular biology (details will be provided later).
Peerwise (10%)
Peerwise is an online collaboration tool. You will use Peerwise to develop
context-specific questions and attempt problems. This is a semester-long
assignment. Details will be provided later.

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 Biol115 Assessments
Assessment component Weightage

Final examination 50%

Midsemester test 10%

Practical class quizzes 10%

Assignment 1 (Abstract) 10%

Assignment 2 (Annotated bibliography) 10%

Assignment 3 (Peerwise) 10%

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 Prac class allocation
If you have not been allocated a prac class, please see
Julian May:

Julian.may@mq.edu.au

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