Unit Outline

In this unit we will explore recent advances in immunology and microbiology. We will investigate how the immune system can prevent disease through a molecular battle with infectious agents and how the immune system can contribute to disease with a focus on the damaging nature of inflammation. The workshops in this unit will provide the opportunity to develop research and communication skills through interactive tasks. In addition, the unit is designed to enable students to develop skills to become effective research scientists and will involve critical review of scientific literature, interpretation and analysis of data, and communication (oral and written form) of scientific concepts.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

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


1.	Explain the concepts underlying complex human inflammatory responses
2.	Describe and discuss how infectious agents are transmitted and infect the human host and approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
3.	Describe how the function and regulation of immunity relates to protection against infectious agents
4.	Communicate complex information relating to inflammation, infection and immunity both verbally and in writing using correct scientific terminology

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	CJA212 OR KLA210
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	CJA314, CJA314

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Midsemester test	Week 6	15 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Communicating immunology and infectious disease biology: educational podcast	Week 6	25 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Communicating immunology and infectious disease biology: published commentary	Week 10	25 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Final Exam	Exam Period	35 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Midsemester test

Task Description:

A test covering content from the unit in the form of short answer questions. This will be a 50-minute online, open book test designed to evaluate the ability to describe, explain and discuss inflammation, immunology and infectious biology.

Task Length:

40 minutes

Due Date:

Week 6

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	The test is designed to provide an opportunity for students to apply knowledge of inflammation, immunology and infectious biology to correctly answer short answer questions	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment Task 2: Communicating immunology and infectious disease biology: educational podcast

Task Description:

Record an educational podcast summarising a published research article in the fields of immunology and infection biology.

Task Length:

5-10 Minutes

Due Date:

Week 6

Weight:

25 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Effectively describe and evaluate the published research demonstrating clear understanding of the biological concepts of immunology and infectious disease biology and agents	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Communicate complex information relating to immunology and/or infectious agents in a clear, concise and easily understandable way	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Communicating immunology and infectious disease biology: published commentary

Task Description:

Write a scientific commentary of a published article. Following the publication of important primary research, commentary articles are written by researchers from the field which summarise the published research, critique the research and evaluate the research’s impact on the field. For this task a research article will be assigned and the task will be to write a scientific commentary of this article.

Task Length:

1000-1250 words

Due Date:

Week 10

Weight:

25 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Effectively describes and evaluates the published research demonstrating clear understanding of the biological concepts of immunology and infectious biology and agents	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Communicates complex information relating to immunology and/or infectious agents in a clear, concise and easily understandable way	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Final Exam

Task Description:

An exam covering content from the unit in the form of short answer questions. This will be a 2 hour closed book exam designed to evaluate the ability to describe, explain and discuss inflammation, immunology and infectious biology.

Task Length:

2 hours

Due Date:

Exam Period

Weight:

35 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	The exam is designed to provide an opportunity for students to apply knowledge of inflammation, immunology and infectious biology to correctly answer short answer questions	LO1, LO2, LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes and achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.