GENE30001: Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics

A written class test during semester (20%); three assignments of not more than 500 words each due during the semester (30% in total); a 2-hour written examination in the examination period (50%)

I thought the lecturers were all quite good. Charles knows his stuff and is into it but that can be a bit of a problem. The guy's smart as hell so he sometimes goes through a problem and you're left wondering wtf just happened. Watching the lectures again or googling helps though. Ronald tends to go off on little tangents/stories which is a pro in that they're interesting but a con if you're the type that just wants to get through the relevant material and leave.

The MST I thought was difficult but fair. It's all short answers and Charles gives you a list of practice questions to do (at least one or two of them actually ended up on the MST) which are good. There was barely any actual formula type questions but I think at least one will pop up so know how to use the formulas. Primarily know how to perform the sample questions that pop up throughout the lectures. Those are the types of questions that will pop up on the MST. You will get a formula sheet so you don't need to actually memorize any. You will mainly want to just make sure your lecture notes are detailed on the theory (what did example X demonstrate?) as that will what the MST is gonna be focused on.

The assignments were pretty interesting. They're designed to help you be able to analyze articles and also tie in your knowledge of genetics together. I think the first one was to find an article on eQTLs and then state some key points in the article and what they meant. Ronald's one involved using your knowledge of inbreeding etc to work out a plan to save a species (you choose one from a bunch he offers) from extinction.

I can't remember the exam exactly but it was fairly similar to the MST. If you know your theory then it should be pretty good. Again I don't remember a lot of formula type questions, just mainly theory.
The subject could definitely benefit from tutorials and more practice questions. We suggested this so hopefully they implement them for future students. The subject is also geared towards population genetics so if that's not your thing then you might not like it. I feel the subject was kind of confusing for a decent portion of the semester but then towards the end everything tied in or clicked for me and all of a sudden boom clarity everywhere. I found this subject more difficult than the other genetics subject (Orgs). Exam questions are recycled so definitely do the old ones. I don't think this subject is an easy H1 but if you put the effort in I think you'll fare well.

Yes, with screen capture.

Charles Robin, Ronald Lee, Phil Batterham, Ary Hoffman, Alexandre Fournier-Level, Philippa Griffin

Yes, quite a few.

4/5

None.

3 one hour lectures a week

2014 Semester 1

H1