MVSF20001
Unit Handbook 2015-16
Biomedical Research, Employability and Enterprise Skills (BREES) Unit Code - MVSF20001
HANDBOOK 2015-16
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MVSF20001
Unit Handbook 2015-16
CONTENTS UNIT STRUCTURE AND AIMS .................................................................................. 3 UNIT DIRECTORS AND CONTACTS ........................................................................ 3 TEACHING STAFF CONTACT DETAILS ................................................................... 4 PERSONALISED TIMETABLE ................................................................................... 4 INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES ......................................................................... 6 TEACHING METHODS .............................................................................................. 6 Lectures................................................................................................................... 6 Statistics support ..................................................................................................... 7 Team Activities ........................................................................................................ 7 FEEDBACK ON YOUR WORK ................................................................................... 8 SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT ..................................................................................... 8 Coursework (40%) ................................................................................................... 9 Examinations (60%) ................................................................................................ 9 Penalties for late submission of coursework............................................................ 9 Moderation of marks for work that exceeds the word limit ..................................... 10 Penalties for plagiarism ......................................................................................... 10 WORK-LOAD AND CRITERIA FOR THE AWARD OF CREDIT POINTS ................ 10 Your input .............................................................................................................. 10 Criteria for passing the unit.................................................................................... 10 Criteria for the award of credit points ..................................................................... 10 Reporting ill health and absences ......................................................................... 10 IMPORTANT SOURCES OF INFORMATION .......................................................... 11 Your personalized timetable .................................................................................. 11 Unit handbook ....................................................................................................... 11 Email and Blackboard ........................................................................................... 11 Useful web addresses ........................................................................................... 11 Reading and recommended text books ................................................................. 11 YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK ..................................................................... 12 WHAT TO DO IF PROBLEMS ARISE ...................................................................... 12 STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS ....................................................... 12
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UNIT STRUCTURE AND AIMS Biomedical Research, Employability and Enterprise Skills (BREES) is a 20 credit point unit running in teaching blocks 1 and 2 (weeks 1-24). It will develop key skills that will be useful in other second year units as well as your final year and are highly valued by employers. Activities in the unit fall into three elements: Research Employability Enterprise This unit provides you with important core competencies for the biomedical sciences and will equip you with the skills you will need to succeed in the final year and to enhance your employability after graduation. The unit has three main aims: Enhance research skills through the development of data handling and interpretation abilities, and to provide you with an appreciation of how science is conducted ethically and sustainably, Provide you with the opportunity to develop your employability and job application skills, Enable you to gain an understanding of the commercialisation of biomedical science. The aims of this unit will be achieved through both independent and team work and will foster written and oral communication skills to both scientific and lay audiences. The capacity for self and peer assessment will be developed throughout the unit. There are a variety of tasks to complete for this unit which are aimed at developing scientific and professional skills with a particular focus on collaborative work and self-awareness.
UNIT DIRECTORS AND CONTACTS Location Name/Role
(Biomedical Sciences Building unless specified)
E-mail
Dr Phil Langton (Unit Director) Dr Kelly Moule (Unit Director) Unit Administration: Jacky Willett Biochem – Dr Mike Jones CMM – Dr Keith Brown P&P - Dr Andrew James
D9 EW14 D22 A.100G G54A C41
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Unit Administration is located in the Physiology and Pharmacology School Office (Room D22). Open between 9.30am – 4.00pm for student enquiries. Unit Administration: Jacky Willett (
[email protected]). The unit directors will be available to discuss your academic progress through the unit and will maintain a record of your formative and summative assessment results. They will be happy to discuss any academic problems that you may be experiencing during the unit – please email (
[email protected] or
[email protected]) to request an appointment.
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Unit Handbook 2015-16
TEACHING STAFF CONTACT DETAILS NAME SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS Brennan, Pete P&P
[email protected] Brown, Keith CMM
[email protected] Hewitt, Martin Med Library
[email protected] Hannah Pearce Careers
[email protected] Jones, Mike Bioc
[email protected] Ladyman, James Philosophy
[email protected] Langton, Phil P&P
[email protected] Murrell, Jo Vet School
[email protected] Moule, Kelly Bioc
[email protected] Palmer, Alan RED
[email protected] Pullen, Ann CMM
[email protected] Robinson, Emma P&P
[email protected] * Teaching staff should be contacted by email in the first instance. Be sure to check all resources on Blackboard before resorting to emailing academic staff.
PERSONALISED TIMETABLE You will be supplied with a unit timetable at the beginning of year. This must be used, together with this handbook, as the guide to the activities that will occur during the year and their locations. Consult your timetable on a regular basis as dates and places for activities may change from one week to another. Also ensure you check your email and the unit pages on Blackboard regularly for any course announcements. There is currently no physical unit noticeboard.
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OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES BY WEEK (WITH DEADLINES) The table below gives a basic overview of the timetable for BREES and the tasks associated with the unit. Week
Lecture (Mondays 5pm)
1
Introduction to the unit
2
CVs and cover letters
3
Shortlisting & Interviews
4
Shortlisting
5
Data presentation
6
Scientific Writing Research commercialization
7 8
Ethics of human experimentation
10 11
Ethics of animal experimentation The business plan Team planning session
12
no lecture scheduled
January exam period
Scientific writing exercise
9
17
Grant proposal and introduction to panel pitches Philosophy of Science Feedback on January exam Experimental design and descriptive stats Hypothesis testing 1
18
Hypothesis testing 2
19
Hypothesis testing 3
13 14 15 16
20 Hypothesis testing 4 Easter vacation 21
Other sessions, associated work, coursework deadlines, etc Library training (mandatory - to take place in weeks 1 or 2 depending on your Honours School) Prepare your CV and cover letter for application Deadline for CV and cover letter submission 4pm Tuesday 13th October Shortlisting activity conducted in teams (mandatory) Interviews (mandatory – consult personal timetable for time) Deadline for submission of paperwork 4pm Thursday 29th October. Practice scientific writing exercise (on-line) Your team must meet to discuss potential ideas suitable for commercialization. An “Enterprise Team Planning” session will run in Week 11 to help you develop your idea and work effectively as a team. The idea must be suitable for production of all three elements of assessment: i) a presentation to a panel (the “pitch”) ii) the Executive Summary, and iii) a grant proposal.
Deadline for submission of finalized cv and cover letter 4pm Monday 16th November
Preparation for the Panel Pitch, lunchtime panel pitch drop-in clinic Deadline for submission of pdf of Panel Pitch presentation 4pm Thursday 11th February Mandatory - Panel Pitches to take place in weeks 16/17 Mandatory Stats online quiz 1. (week 16) Deadline 5pm Mon 22nd Feb Mandatory Stats online quiz 2. (week 17) Deadline 5pm Mon 29th Feb Mandatory Stats online quiz 3. Deadline 5pm Mon 7th March Lunchtime grant proposal clinic Mandatory Stats online quiz 4. Deadline 5pm Mon 14th March Lunchtime grant proposal clinic Mandatory Stats online quiz 5. Deadline 5pm Mon 21st March
Stats workshop
Deadline for the Executive Summary, grant proposal submission AND assessment of team working 4pm Thursday 14th April Formative datasets released
Revision session
Outline of the summer examination, practical advice and an opportunity to ask questions. Summative data sets for the exam will be released during week 22
22 23 24
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INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES This unit aims to develop your professional skills. The intended learning outcomes of the unit and teaching methods are summarised below. Research The ability to write for scientific publication An understanding of experimental design The ability to critically analyze scientific papers Data analysis and interpretation skills A basic knowledge of statistical methods appropriate to biomedical sciences The retrieval and evaluation of scientific information sources A basic understanding of bioscience and biomedical ethics An appreciation that assessment of risk is a key part of experimental design Manage your time Employability Ability to write a curriculum vitae and covering letter that is appropriate to the job being applied for Work as part of a team to critically evaluate the applications and provide balanced formative feedback for each applicant Ability to perform competently as an interviewer and interviewee. Peer review and assessment skills Work effectively in a team Manage your time Construct and deliver critical feedback to others Oral presentation skills Writing skills in general Enterprise
The ability to communicate scientific concepts to a lay audience, such as business investors The ability to write technical documents such as executive summaries for business plans and research grant applications An understanding of how scientific ideas are funded as both research projects and commercial exploitations Peer review and assessment skills Work effectively in a team Manage your time Construct and deliver critical feedback to others Oral presentation skills Writing skills in general
TEACHING METHODS Learning in this unit will be supported by: Lectures (normally weekly on Mondays at 5pm) On-line exercises Group activities Workshops or drop-in clinics Lectures Note that some preparation (podcast or pre-reading) may be required prior to some of the lectures. You are strongly advised to check ahead and find time to do the preparation. Page 6 of 12
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We hope that all lectures will be audio recorded via the new lecture capture process and that the recordings will be made available on Blackboard. However, as with any technology, system failure is a possibility and we cannot guarantee that recordings of all the BREES lectures will be available. We strongly advise you to attend all lectures as the recordings are not meant to substitute for the live sessions. If you wish to make your own audio recordings, the University has a clear policy on the recording of teaching sessions. If you wish to make any form of recording, you need to ensure that you consult the policy (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/studentrulesregs/recording) and ensure that what you wish to do is permitted. Statistics support The lectures on experimental design and statistics (weeks 16 to 20) are associated with on-line exercises that aim to support your learning of statistics and the software application, SPSS. The on-line quizzes count 5% towards the unit mark and are designed to help you gain familiarity with SPSS and reinforce the lecture material. SPSS is available on computers in all open access computer areas. If you are not close to a University computer room you can still access SPSS. You have two options: 1. SPSS is available as an application on the Student Remote Desktop (accessed via MyBristol). URL - http://goo.gl/gFSA8l 2. You can download SPSS from the IT Services pages and install SPSS on your own computer. URL - http://goo.gl/yMvuWV These two screencasts are found also in the Experimental Design and Statistics folder that you will find in Research tab of the BREES Blackboard site. To help you become familiar with SPSS, we will release some practice data sets in Week 21 which you can analyse. You will be required to analyse similar data sets for the summative end of unit exam in May/June. A Question and Answer session for statistics will be held in week 23. Team Activities You will be assigned to a team that has a collaborative area within Blackboard. Teams will be organised by School as far as is possible. You are required to attend several team activities timetabled through the unit. These sessions are aimed at building the skills required for your assessed coursework and to support your continuing study. The topics will be relevant to course content and will complement skills being developed in the BREES unit. Details will be available in your personalised timetable. The team activities are: Job application shortlisting (Employability strand) Job application interviews (Employability strand) Commercialisation of an idea that is assessed in three distinct phases: o Panel Pitch, o Executive Summary, o Grant Proposal (Enterprise strand). Normally, team activities will be outlined in a lecture with supporting materials being provided in Blackboard. Some team activities are timetabled, but you will also need to arrange team meetings outside of the unit timetable.
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FEEDBACK ON YOUR WORK Formative help and feedback comes in many forms, it is not just about getting comments on a piece of written work and it can come from staff and student peers alike. You will receive feedback at numerous times during this unit. Some specific examples are listed below: Nature of feedback Comments on your CV and cover letter Comments on your interview performance Comments on your scientific writing exercise Comments on your team’s panel pitch presentation Comments on your team’s grant proposal
Source(s) of feedback Student peers and staff Student peers and interview chair-person Specific and generic feedback from staff Staff and student peers Staff
We will endeavour to give you formative feedback within 3 weeks of submission. This excludes vacations, when you will receive feedback as soon as possible on return.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT Assessment task
% of unit
Research strand (65% of unit marks): January scientific writing exercise – read results and 10 interpret figures then write an abstract Four on-line statistics quizzes
5
End of unit exam consisting of: Scientific writing exercise 50 MCQ questions covering statistics, experimental design and ethics. Employability strand (15% of unit marks): Preparation of CV and job 7.5 application covering letter Interview
7.5
Enterprise strand (20% of unit marks): Executive summary of 5 business plan (1 side A4)
Team (T) or individual (I) task
Evaluation
I
Academic staff
S (feedback via markers comments and group generic feedback)
I
Academic staff
S (on-line feedback available for each quiz question)
I
Academic staff
S (feedback provided by publication of marks breakdown)
I I and T
Academic staff Peer marking with staff moderation
T
Staff
Presentation to the panel
5
T
Staff
Research grant application
10
T
Staff
Formative (F) and/or summative (S) and feedback opportunities
S and F (feedback via team peer assessment and staff) S and F (feedback via team peer assessment), interview panel chair to add comments and moderate all marks S (staff feedback) S (feedback via peer comments), assessor panel to mark and provide feedback. S (feedback via staff comments)
Marking schemes for all of the assessment tasks are available on Blackboard. Please familiarise yourself in advance with the assessment criteria!
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Coursework (40%): CV and covering letter, 7.5% (Employability) Interview performance, 7.5% (Employability) Online statistics quizzes, 5% (Research) Presentation (5 minutes) to the panel, 5% (Enterprise) Executive summary of commercialization plan, 5% (Enterprise) Evidence based grant proposal, 10% (Enterprise) The Enterprise element of this unit requires a substantial amount of team work. We will ask you to assess the contribution of your fellow team members to the tasks and if you fail to engage adequately your marks will be subject to moderation. The ‘team working contribution’ form you will fill in is available on Blackboard. Examinations (60%) January exam period: Scientific writing exercise, 10% (Research) May/June exam period: One paper which will last for 2.75 hours and have two equally weighted sections: 20-30 multiple choice questions (MCQ) – 25%; Scientific writing exercise – 25% Any lecture theme may be examined. The composition of the paper and allocation of marks is described below. The marks awarded to a section reflect weight of material in the unit and not the time required to address the different types of question. A sample exam paper containing examples of all of the types of question will be available. The MCQs will each consist of a question and 5 options. There is only one correct answer for each question. You will mark your chosen answer on an optically-read mark sheet. Negative marking is NOT applied. The majority of the MCQ questions will relate to the statistical analysis of the summative data sets which will be given to you before the exam period. You are expected to analyse the data using SPSS before the exam and you will be allowed to bring printouts of your SPSS analysis with you into the exam. These print outs should not be embellished or annotated with additional notes. Penalties for late submission of coursework There is a faculty policy that covers late submission of summative coursework (i.e. coursework that contributes to the overall unit mark) https://www.bris.ac.uk/fmvs/currentstudents/undergraduates1/latesubmission.html You are strongly encouraged to check deadlines for work to be handed in and comply with any email or Blackboard posted notices. Completed coursework should be: a. Uploaded to Blackboard, or b. Left in the BREES hand-in boxes, located near the Physiology and Pharmacology school office, by the deadline indicated. The hand-in boxes will be emptied at the deadline and any non-submissions will invoke the late work penalties listed above. Any late coursework should be handed directly to the unit administrator, who will stamp it with the date and time that the work was submitted. If special circumstances (e.g. illness) prevent you from submitting coursework by the relevant deadline, you should follow the procedure identified below. You should make every attempt to submit coursework on time (it can be emailed or posted to the unit administration if you cannot physically attend). In extreme circumstances, you may be granted an extension of the submission deadline but only if you contact (email) the Unit Director in advance of the deadline. You should then complete a Self-Certification Form on your return. Please note, however, that coursework deadlines are set well in advance and already allow for the possibility of minor illness.
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Moderation of marks for work that exceeds the word limit Many of the pieces of coursework within this unit have strict word limits associated with them. If you exceed stated word limit a moderation will be applied to your mark for that piece of work. The moderation will be a pro rata mark reduction for the piece of work based on the percentage by which you have exceeded the word limit. Thus, if you receive a mark of 60% for a piece of work but have exceeded the word limit by 10%, your final mark will be reduced by 6% and your final mark will be 54%. Penalties for plagiarism Your work will normally be submitted to the plagiarism detection service, Turnitin. If plagiarism is detected penalties may be imposed according to the University Regulations. You are responsible both for understanding your responsibilities and complying with same. You can find the specifics here - http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/studentrulesregs/examregs.html#plagiarism With specific regard to the examination of Scientific Writing (January and Summer examinations), including long strings of words and full sentences from the source text in your summary (abstract) IS PLAGIARISM. TO AVOID PLAGIARISM YOU MUST SUMMARISE THE TEXT IN YOUR OWN WORDS. More guidance on this is available in the Research Tab on Blackboard.
WORK-LOAD AND CRITERIA FOR THE AWARD OF CREDIT POINTS It is important that you understand the regulations associated with this unit and what is required of you in order to pass the unit and/or be awarded the associated credit points. If any of the following sections are unclear please refer to the unit director. Your input This unit is a 20 credit point unit. University guidelines state that one credit point is broadly equivalent to 10 hours of total student input. This includes contact time, independent study, revision and assessments. Your total time input to the unit (including independent study) should therefore amount to around 200 hours. Criteria for passing the unit You will normally pass the unit if you are awarded a mark of at least 40% in the unit overall assessment. Criteria for the award of credit points Credit points are normally awarded if you have passed the unit, although they may be withheld if your attendance and/or performance in the coursework components are deemed unsatisfactory. If you fail the unit with a mark of between 35 and 39% you may be awarded the credit points for the unit subject to satisfactory attendance and or performance in coursework. Reporting ill health and absences Your responsibilities in case of absence for any reason are defined in the University’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes You are strongly encouraged to be familiar with these regulations.
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IMPORTANT SOURCES OF INFORMATION Your personalized timetable Your personalised timetable is the guide to the activities that will occur during the unit and their locations. Consult your timetable on a regular basis, dates and places for activities may change. Unit handbook Ensure you have read and understood the content of this handbook. Consult the Unit Administrator if there are any sections you do not understand. Email and Blackboard Check your email daily and the unit pages on Blackboard regularly for any course announcements. Emails will be sent from the Unit Administrator and Unit Director from time to time. Useful web addresses Self-help documents related to computer skills and software are available at http://www.bris.ac.uk/is/learning/ Office of the University Secretary for student regulations, guidelines and procedures: www.bris.ac.uk/secretary/ University of Bristol student help pages: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/studenthelp/ For literature searches: http://www.pubmed.com as well as assistance available at the Medical Library Reading and recommended text books There are no-set texts but in second year you will be expected to find information from a number of sources, using multiple textbooks. Individual lecturers are likely to make recommendations of useful information sources, both textbooks and reports in scientific journals. Some may recommend web -based materials. In this context useful textbooks include: 1. Experimental design for the life sciences, Graeme D. Ruxton and Nick Colegrave, Oxford University Press (13 copies in Medical Branch Library) 2. Medical Statistics at a Glance, Edited by Aviva Petrie & Caroline Sabin and published by Blackwell. (34 copies in Medical Branch Library) 3. Intuitive Biostatistics: A non-mathematical guide to statistical thinking, Harvey Motulsky, Oxford University Press. (13 copies in Medical Branch Library) 4. Skills for Success: The Personal Development Planning Handbook, Stella Cottrell, Palgrave. (5 copies in Medical Branch Library) 5. New Business Road Test, J Mullins, FT Prentice Hall. (5 copies in Medical Branch Library) Useful resources for numeracy and writing skills: 1. Maths skills for advanced sciences, by Ken Price, Oxford University Press. (6 copies in Medical Branch Library) 2. The Complete Plain Words, Ernest Gowers, Penguin. (2 copies in Medical Branch Library) 3. Eats Shoots and leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation. Lynn Truss, Profile Books. (3 copies in Medical Branch Library)
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YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK We value your comments and feedback on all aspects of the teaching. We will ask you to complete an on-line questionnaire towards the end of the unit. In addition, we will also meet twice a term with Year 2 student reps from Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Physiology and Pharmacology. If you have any issues you bring to our attention please raise them with your reps.
WHAT TO DO IF PROBLEMS ARISE If you experience personal difficulties during the year, your first port of call should be your personal tutor in your home school. If you and your tutor feel it is appropriate, please keep the Unit Directors (Dr Phil Langton, Dr Kelly Moule) informed about issues that may be affecting your work.
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Schools should have notified the Unit Administration of any students with special needs. If this appears not to have happened please notify the Unit Administration (by email
[email protected] ) and also raise this with your home school.
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