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BIOL334 is an advanced course that builds on the conceptual frameworks developed in the pre-requisite course BIOL271. It provides in-depth coverage across the breadth of evolutionary genetics with an emphasis on population, conservation and quantitative genetics, phylogenetics and phylogeography.
Goals of the course: To provide students with an advanced understanding of evolutionary genetics including the mechanisms of evolution (population genetics), the evolution of complex traits (quantitative genetics), and the genetic inference of evolutionary histories above and below the species level (phylogenetics and phylogeography, respectively).Course ContentThe following is a brief outline of the topics that will be covered by the course, and the lecturers involved in each of the sections.Population/Conservation/Quantitative Genetics, Marie Hale – 12 lectures (term 3)These lectures will focus on the processes that influence the creation, maintenance and distribution of genetic variation in natural populations and provide an introduction to quantitative genetic analysis. Topics include the impact of mating systems, selection and random events on genetic diversity; determination of population genetic structure; application of population genetics theory to conservation issues; inheritance of quantitative traits.Phylogenetics/Phylogeography, Tammy Steeves – 12 lectures (term 4)These lectures will focus on the utility of genomic data to infer the evolutionary history of taxa above and below the species level. Topics will include molecular evolution, molecular dating, building/interpreting interspecific trees (phylogenetics), and building/interpreting intraspecific networks (phylogeography). Ultimately, we will address two key questions: (i) to infer the evolutionary history of a particular taxon, how do we decide which genomic marker(s) to use? and (ii) why do we use phylogenetic methods for some datasets, but use phylogeographic methods for others?
Students will:Students will have acquired and be able to demonstrate a deep understanding of the genetic nature of the evolutionary process (assessment tasks: pre-lecture quizzes and final exam). Students will be able to use genetic data to calculate diversity measures, reconstruct evolutionary processes within populations, assess effective population size, determine the heritability of complex traits, and quantify the impact of evolutionary mechanisms on gene frequencies over time (assessment tasks: population genetic tutorials and final exam). Students will have developed an appreciation of the role of genetic variation and population genetic structure in species conservation (assessment tasks: pre-lecture quizzes and final exam). Students will be able to explain why rapidly evolving genes are a good choice to infer relatively close evolutionary relationships whereas genes that evolve more slowly are a better choice to infer relatively distant evolutionary relationships (assessment task: pre-lecture quizzes and final exam). Students will be able to explain why phylogeographic networks are often the most appropriate choice to depict close evolutionary relationships whereas phylogenetic trees are often the most appropriate choice to depict relatively distant evolutionary relationships (assessment task: pre-lecture quizzes and final exam). Students will be able to build and interpret phylogeographic networks and phylogenetic trees to infer the evolutionary history of populations and species, both orally and in writing (assessment tasks: phylogenetics/phylogeography tutorials and final exam). Transferable Skills RegisterSynthesising information. In everyday life and in many job situations you will be required to read information from different sources, construct your own understanding and shape your own viewpoint. (In tutorials we will discuss recent research papers in a group environment and this will develop your abilities to identify the essential elements of research outputs.)Analysing and interpreting data. Important for research, as well as in a number of privatesector organizations. (This skill will be developed when we assist you to analyse and interpret the population genetic, phylogeographic and phylogenetic data in the tutorials.)
BIOL271
BIOL330
Tutorials begin the second week of semester 2, see MyTimetable for details.
Marie Hale
Tammy Steeves
To gain a pass in this course students must achieve a mark of 50% overall plus achieve an average of at least 40% in tutorial assessments and an average of at least 40% in written tests/examinations.
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Feedback from Previous Course Surveys: Student ratings 20131. This was a well organised course 4.02. Course helped to stimulate my interest 4.03. Workload appropriate 3.94. Opportunities for active student participation 4.45. Feedback was helpful and timely 4.06. Overall, this was a good quality course 4.1Student ratings 2014 1. This was a well organised course 4.7 2. Course helped to stimulate my interest 4.3 3. Workload appropriate 4.7 4. Opportunities for active student participation 4.7 5. Feedback was helpful and timely 5.0 6. Overall, this was a good quality course 4.7 The following issues were raised in written feedback by students at the end of the course. The responses were collated by the course coordinator and common responses scored. Action taken in response to feedback is indicated in CAPITAL LETTERS.Which aspects of this course were most positive? Super Enjoyable Course. Had so much fun this semester in the course The most helpful aspects were the well organised full content uploaded to learn - thus if I was unable to attend a lecture I was able to still listen to the lectures, view the powerpoint slides, and access the articles etc. recommended for further reading very easily. Pre lecture quizzes Lectures and tutorials Feedback provided from the pre lecture quizzes and from the tutorial work. All the practice questions Tutorials and review lectures to go over calculations and practice exam questions How could this course be enhanced to assist your learning? The course was so well organised and delivered, it doesn't need any changes.Addition of another form of assessment, adding a midterm assessment. WE HAVE ADDED A MID-COURSE TEST TO TEST MATERIAL FROM TERM 3.
It is essential that you are aware that plagiarism is considered a very serious offence by the Academic community, the University and the School of Biological Sciences. Plagiarism is defined as taking content from another work or author and presenting it, without attribution, as if it is your own work. Content here includes text (sentences or major parts of sentences), display items (graphs and tables), and overall structure (the detailed sequence of ideas). Plagiarism includes:• re-use of previous assignments (even if each individual sentence has been rephrased to say the same thing in different words, if the overall structure is re-used) • copying of another student’s work (with or without their consent)• the unreferenced use of published material or material from the internet e.g. cutting and pasting of paragraphs or pages into an essay.For most pieces of in-term assessment you will be given information concerning the use of direct and indirect quotes from previously published work. If you are in any doubt about appropriate use of published material, please speak with a member of academic staff. If you are still unsure what plagiarism is, then seek advice.It is a School policy that courses may request you submit work electronically for subsequent analysis of originality using Turnitin. Students agree that by taking courses in BIOL, required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site.
A+ 90% or aboveA 85 – 90A- 80 – 84B+ 75 – 79B 70 – 74B- 65 – 69C+ 60 – 64C 55 – 59C- 50 – 54A restricted pass (R) may be awarded to those who are close to a pass (i.e. an overall score of 48-49.9%) AND who have achieved at least a 40% overall score in both in-course assessment and tests/exams. If an R grade is awarded you gain credit for the course but cannot continue into papers that require this course as a pre-requisite. NB. The R grade is only available at 100 and 200 level - it cannot be awarded for third year papers. Failing grades: D 40-49 E 0–39
If you feel that illness, injury, bereavement or other extenuating circumstances beyond your control have prevented you from completing an item of assessment worth 10% or more of total course assessment or if these circumstances affected your performance in such assessments, you should apply for Special Consideration. Applications for Special Consideration should be submitted via the Examinations Office website http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/regulations/general/general_regs_aegrotat.shtml and notify the course co-ordinator within five days of the assessment or its due date. If this is for medical reasons you should visit a doctor within 24 hours of the assessment (application form available on-line or from the Student Health Centre). The Special Consideration provisions are intended to assist students who have covered the work of a course but have been prevented by illness or other critical circumstances from demonstrating their mastery of the material or skills at the time of assessment – they do not excuse you from doing the assessment within a reasonable time agreed with the course co-ordinator. You should expect to be required to submit additional work if you miss a major assignment (e.g. a field trip for which a major write-up is required).In rare cases you may not be able to complete an assessment or attend a field trip, because of involvement in international or national representative sport or cultural groups. In such cases you should also apply for Special Consideration. Please review the Special Considerations policy because very few kinds of activities will be eligible for consideration (e.g. holiday trips, birthday parties etc. are not given special status in the University policy).Students prevented by extenuating circumstances from completing the course after the final date for withdrawing, may apply for Special Consideration for late discontinuation of the course. Applications must be submitted to the Examinations Office within five days of the end of the main examination period for the semester.For further details on Special Consideration applications, please refer to the Examinations Office website http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/regulations/general/general_regs_aegrotat.shtml.
In BIOL, we require a satisfactory level of achievement in both the theoretical aspects of the discipline and in practical activities. This means you must attend all class activities and submit all items of assessment unless you have a very good reason not to (e.g. medical reasons). A student must attain an average score of at least 40% for in-course assessment and average score of at least 40% in the course exam/test, AND score at least 50% overall for the course, to be awarded a passing grade.
We welcome constructive feedback at all times – help us to make this a valuable course for you. We endeavour to remain approachable at all times. If you would rather give feedback anonymously, please use the on-line course survey or talk to lab demonstrators, or your class rep (who will all report back to the staff-student liaison committee that includes a representative from each of the undergraduate classes). Class representatives will be selected from each class at the start of course.
All assignments should be placed in the designated collection box in the foyer of the 2nd floor of the School of Biological Sciences (near the main office), unless directed otherwise by the course co-ordinator. All assignments must be accompanied by a cover sheet signed by you stating that the submitted work is not plagiarised. Cover sheets are available on top of the collection boxes, or you can download one from the Biology website (under Undergraduate). In addition, you may also be asked to submit your work electronically (via Learn) for analysis in Turnitin. You will be given instructions on how to do this in the assignment handout. Marked assignments can be collected from the Secretaries' Office between the hours 9.30-10.30am and 1.30-2.30pm, unless directed otherwise by the course co-ordinator. Teaching staff will endeavour to return work as soon as possible, and should contact you if there are likely to be any delays that will prevent return within the maximum 4-week timeframe.
Domestic fee $848.00
International fee $3,713.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
This course will not be offered if fewer than 10 people apply to enrol.
For further information see School of Biological Sciences .