Unit Synopsis
This unit focuses on developing an understanding of how genomes are organised, how they function within the cell, how molecular medical treatments can be developed, ways in which we can manipulate genomes and utilise their components for a range of medical applications. You will explore the application of molecular techniques, such polymerase chain reaction and next generation sequencing, and their revolutionary impact on diagnostic testing.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite BMSC11002 Human Body Systems 2 AND BMSC11005 Foundations of Biochemistry OR BMSC11008 Medical Anatomy and Physiology 2 AND BMSC11005 Foundations of Biochemistry OR BMSC11011 Human Anatomy and Physiology 2 AND BMSC11005 Foundations of Biochemistry 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 |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
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).
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
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 30% |
| 2. Laboratory/Practical | 0% |
| 3. Practical Assessment | 30% |
| 4. Examination | 40% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 17.86% 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.
Some graphics and visual aids in lecture and tutorial slides were of low quality.
Revise lesson materials and update supporting visual aids to a higher quality resolution.
Images and visuals in lecture and tutorial slides were updated to higher resolution.
Source: Student feedback.
Students appreciated the interactive review activities.
Continue to provide more interactive review activities covering "key concepts" for weekly content.
"Key concepts" interactive review mini-lessons were expanded to include more topics.
Source: Personal reflection.
Online and in class interaction was low.
Encourage peer to peer learning through regular Moodle posts and consider use of a mixed student-led and instructor-led approach in tutorials.
Weekly Moodle posts were provided. Tutorials were opened with "question time" to encourage engagement.
Source: SUTE Comments
Students reported that some lectures were long and included repetition of content.
Streamline lectures to provide key overviews, and emphasise student self-directed study for additional learning.
In Progress
Source: SUTE Comments
Students felt they would benefit from additional preparation for the short answer questions on the exam.
Develop short answer quizzes for weekly content to help students prepare for the final exam.
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Provide more guidance on scientific writing conventions.
Include information of scientific writing conventions for assessments.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the structure and organisation of cells at the molecular level
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the genome including its manipulation and sequencing
- Accurately review and evaluate the strategies associated with the transformation of micro-organisms and animals
- Explain the process of identifying genetic changes and their significance
- Apply knowledge of molecular biology techniques in the laboratory.
The learning outcomes achieved are linked to the objectives of the accrediting body, Australian Institute of Medical and Clinical Scientists (AIMS).
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Laboratory/Practical | • | • | |||
| 3 - Practical Assessment | • | • | |||
| 4 - Examination | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | ||
| 5 - Team Work | • | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |