CEDB20003: Fundamentals of Cell Biology

-Three 40 minute multiple choice tests (10% each) in early, mid and late semester;
-2 hour final examination (70%) in end of semester exam period.

I found this subjet to be hit or miss at times. Lecturers were all very enthusiastic about what they were teaching and were always willing to help. I found the content from A/Prof Robb de Iongh's lectures the most intellectually stimulating and most interesting as we got to learn how a cell activates the signalling pathways to survive or die etc.

At times, I felt this subject was a pain in the ass due to the fact that there were 3 intrasemester tests which made life just that tad harder since I had 2 MSTs each for anatomy and biochemistry making the total intrasemester test count to be 7 (compared to last year where I had 2 intrasemester tests in total and you can probably see why this semester was my most stressful yet).
I found the content from the cytoskeleton and neuronal development to be pretty darn boring, like learning how the lamellipodia moves forward via actinmysoinII contractions just is not my cup of soup.

As pink0289 said, don't be fooled by the two 1 hour lectures per week. The extra content you would otherwise miss out on is covered in the CALs. You are designated into a computer lab where most weeks you go in and fill in the worksheets of info. Make sure you understand alll the content from the CALs since the CATs and exam are also based heavily on the content covered here. You can do the CALs at home at your will but the disadvantage you have here is that you forego the option of having the lecturers direct attention/help if you choose to stay at home. Out of the 7 or 8 CALs I turned up to 2 of them (LOL lazy me) and I kinda wish I went to them. The times when I turned up, at least 1/2 of the CAL students did not turn out so yeh.

I think this subject very interesting, in particular Robb's lectures and Gary's lectures as well. The reason why it gets a 4/5 is mainly for two reasons:
1) Some of the boring content (cytoskeleton - actin, microtubules etc + neuronal development) - I know that there's always boring content in every subject but yeh.
2) The results for CATs to be released was rather ridiculous. For the first CAT, it took ~3-4 weeks for results to come out as compared to biochem which had their results released for both MSTs within 1 week.

From the 2 reviews already on here, I gather that the reviewers did not find the lectures very difficult but I perosnally found some of the content quite hard to grasp. This for me was not a walk in a part and some of the content requires immaculate detail and knowing the general principles won't get you very far. After this subject, I'm contemplating switching from anatomy/phys major to a cell bio major but I'm still in the process of deciding.

Yes. Audio quality was very poor and I regret not going to a single lecture all semester since each lecture would take me ~2-3 hours to fully finish.

Dr Jenny Gunnersen (Lectures 1-2, 7, 14-16) - Introduction, membrane transport, visualising cells, neuronal development and signalling.
A/Prof Gary Hime (Lectures 3-6, 17-18) - Transcriptional + translational observation and control.
A/Prof Ross Waller (Lectures 8-13) - Protein sorting (gated, transmembrane, vesicular) + cytoskeletal structure and function, cytoskeletal motors + Mitosis/Cytokinesis
A/Prof Robb de Iongh (Lectures 19-23) - Cell signalling pathways (RTKs , RS/TK, Wnt/B-catenin, GPLRs)

2 past exam papers from 2009 and 2010 are given however they do not have section A (MCQ part). No answers provided however the last revision lecture has sample answers to a handful of the questions.

4/5

B Alberts, A Johnson, J Lewis, M Raff, K Roberts & P Walter, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th edition, Garland Science. Apparently this book is the Holy Bible for Molecular/Cell Biologists and I was unfortunate enough of not being able to utilise this book.

two x 1 hour lecture per week, 8 x 3 hour computer-aided learning (CAL) modules.

2014 Semester 1

3 tests throughout the semester, each worth 10%. The first one included short answer and the last two were all MCQ. Final exam worth 70% with sections A, B and C - MCQ, short answer and extended response respectively. For the extended response you get choose to answer two questions out of four options.

As the name suggests, this subject is all about cells (topics listed above with lecturers). Personally, I did not enjoy it because I did not find the content interesting (and this only put me off studying for it) but saying that, I thought the subject was well organised and very fair when it came to assessment.

I would not say this is a particularly difficult subject however some of the subject content was not that easy and could be quite time consuming to learn and understand. The reason I didn't like this subject is because it was not intuitive to me unlike subjects like physiology and anatomy where you have experience of the lecture content. I found the last five lectures on cell signalling to be the most difficult by far but if you spend time on it, you will be fine. Much of the content involves knowing the names and functions of MANY different proteins which is something that I had some difficulty with.

To be honest, because I did not really enjoy the subject, I found the lectures quite boring but saying that I have no complaints about the lecturers. They all explained their content clearly. Ross Waller was by far my favourite lecturer just because you could really tell how passionate he was about his area of study and this really came through when he was lecturing and him leaving the university is a real loss.

The CAL classes are optional but if you go to the class, the lecturers and tutoring staff are also there to help you with any content you are struggling with (and therefore it is well worth going). They do not usually take the whole 3 hours to complete (usually about 1.5-2 hours). Do not be fooled, the CALs are definitely assessable and made up a large proportion of the tests throughout the semester (unfortunately, this was to my surprise) but the content is not too hard to get your head around and is well explained in the module.

I found the questions in the assessments to be very fair. They did not try to trick you with the questions and if you knew your stuff, you would be fine. Many of the short answer and extended response questions in the exam asked for a diagram so it would be well worth your time learning and understanding the diagrams used in the lectures.

Overall, like I said, this subject was well organised and fair but just not for me. If you enjoy learning about cellular processes, you will probably enjoy the subject and I would recommend it for you. If you are more like me and enjoy subjects where you can experience and apply your knowledge, I would consider looking at other options.

Yes, with screen capture, although the audio quality of lecture recordings from the Harold Woodruff Theatre in the Microbiology building were VERY average

Dr Jenny Gunnerson (co-ordinator) - intro lectures, visualising cells, cell movement, neurons
A/Prof Gary Hime - gene expression, regulation of the cell cycle
A/Prof Ross Waller (although he left the university during the semester which is a real loss!) - protein sorting, cytoskeleton
A/Prof Robb de Iongh - Cell signalling

Yes, they give you two past exams (2009 and 2010) but they only give you sections B and C (no multiple choice). They also give you an extensive list of revision questions from each lecturer

3.5 out of 5

B Alberts, A Johnson, J Lewis, M Raff, K Roberts & P Walter, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th edition, Garland Science. I did not buy and not use the textbook. I felt that the lectures gave enough information

24 x 1hr lectures, 7 x 3hr CAL (Computer-Assisted Learning) modules

Semester 1, 2014

3 tests during the semester which were quite short. The last two were completely multiple choice. Each were worth 10% and the final 2hr exam worth 70%

The subject is basically all about cells. The structure of cells (the easiest bit), gene expression and how it is regulated, protein transport pathways in the cell, cytoskeleton structure and function, how cells move, mitosis and cell cycle, and cell signalling pathways in cell proliferation and death are topics covered.
This subject was great! The lecturers were pretty good and the subject content was fantastic. This is one of the subjects I think that was easy to get a 100 in. I got 95% for the tests and was expecting to get 100% on the exam but I came in 10 mins into writing time and unfortunately had to go to the toilet twice during the 2 hr. I missed at least 33 marks worth of questions but I was pretty confident that everything I answered was correct so I wasn't really worried and therefore took my time a bit. But I'll tell why later.

So, subject content- To be honest, the content isn't that easy. But I enjoyed it. Which is why I think I did well in them. We started off with basic stuff covered in VCE and first year biology with a few new stuff here and there. But towards the end people found the content like cell signalling difficult to grasp. With those particular topics, you have to be able to look at the big picture before getting to the detail. There is quite a bit of detail covered in this subject which you are expected to know, but if you find it interesting it isn't going to be that hard. My advice is to start early with revision, but don't worry about that because you will be forced to revise and keep up to date thanks to the tests. Believe me, if it weren't for them my SWOT VAC would've been a nightmare. And don't be fooled in to thinking there is less content than other life sciences because of having two lectures per week. There are 8 three hour cals full of stuff that is assessed but more on that later.

Lectures- The lecturers are good and explain everything clearly. I found Jenny and sometimes Ross a bit boring. But they are not unbearable or anything. They all are always willing to answer any questions and are very nice and approachable. When revising lectures I would suggest grouping them in to topics and studying, so that you can see the big picture. I think this is why people actually did not get cell signalling pathways because it was broken up into 5 lectures and so even though Robb gives a little summary at the end of each pathway I knew a couple of people who struggled with seeing how they were connected and all that. I made charts to visualise the pathways, although there were great diagrams used in the lecture from the textbook. It actually helped with revising and made life a lot easier than a bunch of notes. Everything on the lecture is assessable, even the examples they use. Just check with the lecturer if you aren't sure whether you have to know something.

CALs- My favourite part of the week. Each CAL is 3 hrs long. No attendance is taken. You just turn up, log in and do the CAL in the lms. The CALs were very well put together. There was a lot of information to get through in the 3 hours. You have to read pages of information, sometimes watch a couple of videos and answer questions in the CAL and also in the worksheet made available before the CAL. Since the CAL is full of information the worksheets are basically questions provided by the lecturer to give you an idea of what you have to know from the CAL. Answer the questions and take notes from the CAL if you have to. You can always ask questions from the lecturers who attend the CALs. Since attendance isn't recorded many people stopped coming to the CALs. And you can also leave any time you wanted to so some people would turn up but stay for about an hour or two and leave. I don't think people realised this was the best place to ask questions from the lecturers. Its like a consultation time without having to book an appointment or emailing. And the lecturers being so nice would just sit and explain anything you needed to clarify. Its important you understand stuff in the CAL rather than memorise; and I stress this for the last 4 CALs. The reason this subject scored a 4 instead of 5 is because I think the CALs would've been much more interesting if the lecturers interacted more with the students instead of just walking around the class. Since Ross' CALs were sort of prac based (doing a couple of activities online), he did guide us and explain to us what we were doing in certain parts of the CAL. It was really helpful for the CATs (the test in the semester) so I would suggest you go to the CALs.

CATs/ tests- worth 30%, these are mainly based on the CALs. Only a couple of multiple choice questions of CAT 2 and 3 were from the lectures. CAT 1 had short answer as well as MCQ and did cover a fair bit of the lectures, so my suggestion is study both the lectures and CALs. They are very short tests and are done in the CAL time slot for that week. The lectures and CALs that will be assessed is given by the lecturer so make sure you study those particular ones. Like I said, CALs are mainly tested here, so going to the CALs would be a good idea. I managed to get 100% for 2 of my CATs and I attribute it to lecturers clarifying stuff in the CAL (esp. Ross). And also be prepared to know a bit of detail from the CAL. I'm really not sure how many CALs there will be next year (we had only 7 but I think there are 8 ) so I can't really give you an indication of what details you might have to know because the amount of detail you have to know varied for each CAL. Its best to ask the lecturer in the CAL. Since the CALs are spread out during the semester, it helps you keep up to date. I know they are not worth much but put some effort into the CATs because they are quite easy if you have studied, not many trick questions and helpful when revising for the exam because you've covered about 50-60% of the content already.

Speaking of the Exam- I had the worst exam experience so far in my undergraduate degree and I still managed to get a H1 without having to do any special exam. The reason for this was because of the exam structure. I have copied and pasted the following from the lms:
'This 2 hour exam will cover all material presented during semester in CALs and Lectures. It consists of 3 parts (A, B, C).
Part A (30 min) comprises 20 multiple choice questions (1.5 mark each). All questions should be answered.
Part B (40 min) has 4 questions worth 10 marks each and will directly test material presented in lectures and CALs. All 4 questions should be answered.
Part C (50 min) provides a choice of 2 questions from 3 options. Each question is worth 25 marks. These questions will focus on how well you have understood key concepts and whether you can integrate information from different aspects of the subject. The questions often have a problem-solving aspect to them, whereby you need to outline how a dynamic process or mechanism operates or how to investigate cellular functions and processes.'
So Part A had 5 questions from each lecturer and wasn't too hard or time consuming. In Part B each lecturer contributed one question and some questions were broken up into parts. I didn't have time to finish my answer for one of these questions. And I couldn't do a question in Part C. Which is where I screwed up. I want to kick myself for not starting with part C, because I might have had a chance in finishing the exam. Anyway the first two sections are straight-forward but with extended response, I would suggest breaking the question up into parts and answering them in that order For example one question would be: What requires...? Describe the process... Suggest 3.... and list its features. I would the answer the question by first underlining 'what', 'describe' 'suggest" and 'list' and in the answer space -->
what- (answer here)
describe- (answer here) etc.
Some questions were in parts, but there are other questions where you are expected prose- like answers even though our exam didn't have any. So make sure you give enough detail for 25 marks. Remember to answer the question and don't waste your time writing too much. Robb goes through how to answer the part C and some tips in the last lecture, so pay attention to that.In summary: good lecturers, the subject content is not too hard and I enjoyed it a lot (but it depends on the person), make sure you are up to date, make the most of CALs, CATs are pretty easy to score on so studying for the exam is no big deal

Yes with screen capture. But the Harold Woodruff Theatre recording is horrible. We had about 2 or 3 lectures that didn't have any screen capture. Just turn up to the lectures, there are only two per week!

Dr Ross Waller - Intro lecture, protein sorting and cytoskeleton structure
Dr Jenny Gunnersen - microscopes, cell membranes, cell movement and stuff on neurons
A/Prof. Gary Hime - Gene Expression (mainly regulation) and cell cycle regulation
A/Prof Robb de Iongh - Signalling pathways (the best part and also a very good lecturer)

Yes, about 2 (2009 and 2010 I think but I didn't do them). The exam structure is explained in the last lecture.

4.5 Out of 5

B Alberts, A Johnson, J Lewis, M Raff, K Roberts & P Walter, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th edition, Garland Science.- I like the book but you don't need it, the lectures are enough. Most of the images in the lectures are important in understanding concepts so if you don't print out the lectures slides you can always borrow the textbook and take a look at them.

2 x 1hr lectures per week, 8 x 3hr cal modules according the handbook but we had 7 becuase of public holiday

2013 Sem 1

82 (H1)