BMSC11005 - Foundations of Biochemistry

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will enable students to develop their knowledge and understanding of biomolecules and cell function, including the structure and biological role of amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids. They will develop a basic understanding of how these biomolecules are synthesised, catabolised and interconverted through key biochemical pathways to meet the needs of the cell and organism, and will provide the necessary knowledge to begin to study disease and drug treatment at the cellular level. Students will also develop a theoretical understanding of methods used in biochemical analysis and develop literature searching skills in the recognition and use of primary sources of scientific information.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisites:

CHEM11041 Chemistry for the Life Sciences or CHEM11042 Fundamentals of Chemistry or CHEM11043 Atoms, Molecules and Matter

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026

Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane
Bundaberg
Online
Rockhampton
Term 3 - 2026 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 60.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 12.32% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Some lectures too long and concerns about the amount of content each week.
Recommendation
Several weeks' content has already been broken into smaller lectures. Re-organise the remaining lectures to be shorter during unit refresh. Consideration given to streamlining some of the content.
Action Taken
This has been addressed through progressive refinement and remains an ongoing process.
Source: Student feedback, Self reflection
Feedback
"What have we learned" slides very helpful, but missing from some lectures.
Recommendation
Ensure that these are included for every lecture.
Action Taken
With the rewriting of the materials for these weeks, these are now included for every week.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Some content irrelevant to future career
Recommendation
Long-term: Consider creating a unit tailored to paramedicine, chiropractic and other courses not requiring such in-depth biochemistry knowledge. Short-term: Provide further context for students to understand importance of context to future careers.
Action Taken
Implementation of case context has been expanded, with more planned for 2026.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Weekly textbook chapters should be provided within Moodle content.
Recommendation
Supplementary readings will be added to each learning week of Moodle.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Course Committee
Feedback
TEQSA and AIMS accreditation guidelines suggest high-stakes assessments should not be conducted online.
Recommendation
Move to invigilated final exam from Term 2, 2026
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.