CHEM11041 - Chemistry for the Life Sciences

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides the principles of chemistry that underpin the life sciences and a strong foundation on which students can develop an understanding of biochemistry and molecular biology. Starting with an appreciation of what matter is and classic atomic structure, the learning will progress through how energy is involved in bond formation and provides forces between molecules that govern chemical interaction, to the organic chemistry and molecules central to the life sciences. Understanding the naming and classifying of chemical compounds will allow students to communicate in accepted scientific terms. Tutorials and practical laboratories will re-enforce the theoretical knowledge gained in lectures, and provide the students with the opportunity to use basic mathematics and develop practical analytical skills. There will be a compulsory residential school for distance education students.

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 There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

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 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

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

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 10%
2. Written Assessment 15%
3. Practical and Written Assessment 25%
4. Examination 50%
5. On-campus Activity 0%

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 1 - 2018 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 97.78% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 28.85% 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: Have Your Say
Feedback
Some students were displeased with the quality of the lecture videos, a number highlighting echo 360 in particular as an issue (sound issues).
Recommendation
Measures were taken by academic staff to improve video quality (staff purchased personal microphone) with reasonable success. Issues with echo 360 however, were beyond the academic staff’s control. The roll out of the the new version of ECHO 360 in Term 2 2018 will hopefully further resolve the issue.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
The majority of students indicated that overall they enjoyed the course, the following aspects were highlighted 1. Delivery of content 2. Approachability of staff and their consistent reliable response to queries via the forums 3. Quality of face to face interaction with staff 4. Use of online assessment pieces
Recommendation
Continue with best practice
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Have your say survey via Moodle
Feedback
The majority of students indicated that overall they enjoyed the course, the following aspects were highlighted 1. Delivery of content 2. Approachability of staff and their consistent reliable response to queries 3. Quality of face to face interaction with staff
Recommendation
Continue best practice
Action Taken
Student forums were monitored daily at a prescribed time period. Students were encouraged via email, forum posts , in lectures and during tutorials to actively engage with the forums. Worked solutions and tutorial videos were provided, with an emphasis placed on the proper use of the scientific calculator where it was required. The residential schools timetables were adjusted to include additional tutorial sessions for mixed mode students. An additional residential school session was offered in Rockhampton to reduce class numbers and provide the students with an improved learning experience.
Source: Have your say survey via Moodle
Feedback
A number of students expressed their concern at the amount of content covered in this unit. The majority acknowledged that the material covered is necessary for their discipline and future study but felt that their understanding would benefit if the unit was divided into more units – either via the addition of a bridging unit prior to CHEM11041 to cover the fundamentals or by the delivery of the content over two separate units.
Recommendation
As observed by a number of respondents CHEM11041 is a pre requisite to a number of units and in order to prepare the students for these units it is necessary to cover a lot of chemistry fundamentals.
Action Taken
CHEM11041 is a pre-requisite unit to a number of units and in order to prepare the students for these units it is necessary to cover a lot of chemistry fundamentals. Staff can sympathise that student s(particularly those studying chemistry for the first time) may feel overwhelmed and struggle with the unit content. Consequently, staff were sure to highlight the large amount of resources and support facilities available to students, such as the ALC and so forth.
Source: Have your say survey via Moodle
Feedback
A number of respondents (particularly mixed mode) felt that there should be more face to face interaction within the unit.
Recommendation
The majority of student enrolled in this unit were mixed mode students, those who were located near the Bundaberg and Rockhampton campus' were offered the opportunity to attend internal tutorials and lab sessions, a number of students did take this option and found it beneficial. Unfortunately the footprint of this cohort does limit the potential for all students to have face to face interaction outside of the residential school, to counter that video tutorials have been provided to students but time and geography limit the impact.
Action Taken
Student enrolments in Bundaberg were again reduced, this was coupled with a lack of appropriate staffing in Bundaberg (due to a significant illness). Consequently, no internal offering was offered in Bundaberg this term.
Source: Have your say survey via Moodle
Feedback
The residential school appeared to be a highlight for the majority of students, however a number of students felt that it should be extended, in terms of timing and in offering locations. It was also commented by a number of respondents that the layout of the manual could be improved, be lined up with laboratory schedule, etc.
Recommendation
As it stands due to the nature of the residential school and the requirement of appropriate lab space and specialised instrumentation there are limitations to the locations available, this can and does also impact on the number of offerings possible too. Although it should be noted that an additional Rockhampton residential school offering was made available this year. The laboratory manuals layout will be reviewed by academic staff.
Action Taken
The residential schools timetables were adjusted to include additional tutorial sessions for mixed mode students. The laboratory manual was updated to better reflect these timetable changes. An additional residential school session was offered in Rockhampton to reduce class numbers and provide the students with an improved learning experience.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Apply concepts of atomic structure to explain molecular bonding and nuclear reactivity.
  2. Apply scientific laws to explain physical and chemical changes to matter.
  3. Interpret structural drawings and names of molecules, with particular reference to organic compounds.
  4. Develop laboratory skills to obtain, interpret and report experimental data.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Written Assessment • •
3 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • •
4 - Examination • • •
5 - On-campus Activity •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
5 - Team Work •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10