Learning Outcomes

• Intended learning outcomes and associated assessment
  
• Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding and evaluation of experimental design, methodology and data in the field of molecular biology (assessment tasks: research project reports and final exam)
  
• Understand and critically evaluate scientific methods (assessment task: final exam)
  
• Independently perform DNA sequence alignment, execute tests to select models of nucleotide substitution, perform Bayesian phylogenetic analyses, and use the results of these analyses to test evolutionary hypotheses (assessment task: research project report)
  
• Discuss the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of different phylogeny reconstruction methods (assessment task: final exam)
  
• Explain the most important parameters that are relevant in DNA sequence alignment and selecting models of nucleotide substitution (assessment task: final exam)
  
• Critically evaluate the complexities of defining digital sequence information and its geopolitical context (assessment task: final exam)
  
• Demonstrate an understanding of the scholarship on digital sequence information as it relates to discussions in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (assessment task: final exam)
  
  The following skills are developed in this course:
  
• Ability to manage team work. Most jobs require interactions with others to accomplish a task to a particular standard and on time (graduate attribute: employable, innovative, and enterprising).
  
• Independent and self-motivated learning. A life-skill that is important in any career (graduate attribute: employable, innovative, and enterprising).
  
• Finding, understanding and using information in primary literature and on the internet. These are very general skills that are essential in many careers (graduate attribute: employable, innovative, and enterprising).
  
• Written and oral communication. Many employers require employees to have good communication skills (graduate attribute: employable, innovative, and enterprising).
  
• Interpretation of phylogenetic trees and reconstructing evolutionary relationships. Important in fields of evolutionary biology such as genetics, bioinformatics, systematics, molecular ecology (graduate attribute: critically competent).
  
• Ability to recognise how local and indigenous science influences and is influenced by global activities (graduate attribute: globally aware and biculturally competent and confident).

Prerequisites

Restrictions

Equivalent Courses

Recommended Preparation

For further information see School of Biological Sciences .