BIOL334-18S2 (C) Semester Two 2018

Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 16 July 2018
End Date: Sunday, 18 November 2018
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 27 July 2018
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 12 October 2018

Description

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 and genomics with an emphasis on population, conservation and quantitative genetics/genomics, phylogenetics and phylogeography.

To provide students with an advanced understanding of evolutionary genetics and genomics including mechanisms of evolution from a genomics perspective and genetic/genomic inference of evolutionary histories above and below the species level.

Learning Outcomes

  • As a student in this course, I will develop the ability to:
  • Explain how the environment can interact with the genome to alter genome output and why might these processes influence evolution (assessment tasks: pre-lecture quizzes and midcourse test).
  • Explain how the genome is organised at the 3D level, and how genome interactions can contribute to genomic changes that may influence evolution (assessment tasks: pre-lecture quizzes and midcourse test).
  • Analyse differential gene expression in response to environmental change (assessment tasks: genomic mechanisms tutorials and midcourse test).
  • 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).
  • 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).
  • 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 Register
    As a student in this course, I will develop the following skills:
  • Synthesising 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. We will discuss recent research papers in a group environment and this will develop your abilities to identify the essential elements of research outputs during problem-based lectures and tutorials.
  • Analysing and interpreting data. Important for research, as well as in a number of private-sector organizations. This skill will be developed when we assist you to analyse and interpret genetic and genomic data in tutorials.
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Prerequisites

Restrictions

BIOL330

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Tammy Steeves

Lecturer

Amy Osborne

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Final Exam 30% (Phylogenetics/Phylogeography)
Pre-lecture quiz 1 5% (Genomic mechanisms)
Pre-lecture quiz 2 5% (Phylogenetics/Phylogeography)
Midcourse Test 30% (Genomic mechanisms)
Tutorial Assessment 1 15% Evolutionary mechanisms)
Tutorial Assessment 2 15% (Phylogenetics/Phylogeography)

Course links

Course Outline

Notes

Feedback from Course Surveys

2014
Course well organised: 4.7
Course stimulated my interest: 4.3
Course workload appropriate: 4.7
Course provided opportunities for active learning: 4.7
Feedback was helpful and timely: 5.0
Overall, course good quality: 4.7

2013
Course well organised: 4.0
Course stimulated my interest: 4.0
Course workload appropriate: 3.9
Course provided opportunities for active learning: 4.4
Feedback was helpful and timely: 4.0
Overall, course good quality: 4.1

The following issues were raised in the online course survey completed by students at the end of the course last year. The responses were collated by the course coordinator and common responses scored.

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. Thanks 
• Addition of another form of assessment, adding a midterm assessment. We added a midcourse test for assess term 3 content.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $865.00

International fee $3,788.00

* 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.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if fewer than 10 people apply to enrol.

For further information see School of Biological Sciences .

All BIOL334 Occurrences

  • BIOL334-18S2 (C) Semester Two 2018