| Unit name | Cell and Developmental Biology |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BIOL20024 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Sparkes |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
N/A |
| School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
Why is this unit important?All living things are composed of cells and all biological phenomena are ultimately the result of cellular activity. Developmental mechanisms govern how cells multiply, arrange themselves, and specialise, and cellular mechanisms are responsible for the responses of organisms to their environment. Cell and developmental biology are two of the most rapidly advancing areas of biology, whose medical, agronomic and biotechnological significance have been recognised by recent Nobel Prizes.This unit will use examples of several mechanisms including cell signalling, developmental patterning, and cell differentiation in animals, plants and microbes to illustrate how genetic information is processed, and how single cells can develop into complex, multicellular organisms.
Aims:
• to complement interests in all areas of biology
• to provide a secure grounding for more advanced courses involving cell and developmental biology
• to provide a secure grounding for practical projects relating to cell and developmental biology.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
In our biology degrees, the core knowledge and skills are delivered in years 1 and 2. This unit will provide grounding for units taken in year 3 with aspects that include cell biology, developmental biology and/or molecular biology.
An overview of content
This unit will provide:
- an essential understanding of the processes which occur at the subcellular level to enable
communication to occur in the cell.
- an essential understanding as to how processes at the subcellular level enable developmental
processes to occur.
- an essential understanding of developmental patterning in a range of model organisms.
- a secure grounding for more advanced courses with aspects related to cell and developmental
biology.
This unit will achieve this by covering a range of topics related to cell and developmental biology including gene regulation.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
At the end of the unit, you will have an overarching appreciation of how communication enables complex developmental patterns. You will understand how communication occurs within a cell to generate complex developmental patterns. You will develop your problem-solving skills based on applying core knowledge gained during the unit.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
- Explain a range of examples of cellular and developmental mechanisms in animals, plants and microbes
- Identify common and organism-specific mechanisms which enable cells to ‘communicate’ at the subcellular and intercellular level
- Identify common and organism-specific mechanisms required for developmental processes
- Apply lateral thinking to solve problems using the core concepts delivered in the course
Lectures, directed reading, research and/or problem-solving activities, practical exercises and independent study. There will be one formative piece of CA and one summative.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Ability to apply key concepts delivered during lectures to novel problems will be developed throughout the course in preparation for the summative problem-solving exercise. A subset of lectures will introduce this aspect along with a laboratory session enabling students to work in pairs to discuss problems based on a subset of lectures. The latter will mimic the settings of the summative assessment: problem question release, access, discussion / help and upload. Feedback from the formative exercise will be given during a lecture session where the questions and answers will be discussed with the class to enable students to understand expectations for the formative problem-solving assessment.
Preparation for the formative essay will be drawn from essay writing skills gained in year 1 along with an example question for the unit which will be discussed in the revision session lecture at the end of the unit.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The unit mark is based on:
- 40% Problem solving exercise, apply your understanding of key concepts delivered during the unit to answer novel problems. Open book exercise, expectation is to complete it within approximately 3 hrs. Drop in practical session to discuss problems with lab partner and ask for help from staff / demonstrators to understand questions / problems set.When assessment does not go to plan
Normally, if the problem-solving exercise is missed, a similar assessment task will be set, at a time to be determined in consultation with the Senior Tutor’s team. If the exam is missed, an alternative paper will normally be set in the reassessment period.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. BIOL20024).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
