BABS1201: Molecules, Cells and Genes

2 x Mid Semester Exams (Completed Online) - 10% Each
Science Communication Project (Group Project) - 35%
5 x Mastering Biology Online Quizzes - 1% Each
Final Exam - 50%

HSC Biology OR HSC Chemistry OR HSC Physics OR HSC Earth & Environmental Science

This course is fairly straightforward and enjoyable. The first few weeks are the only real difficult part of the course, where you are introduced to dozens of new terms to describe cells and cell function that you need to memorise. If you are able to overcome this then the rest of the course falls into place and it becomes easy to get a respectable mark.

Mastering Biology is the online component of the textbook. It has a dedicated study area where you can test yourself using multiple choice questions and flashcards. Lots of questions for the mid semester exams and the final exams are taken directly from the study area.

The group project serves as an interesting introduction to university presentations. You are assigned a group in your first lab and choose a topic from a list given in the course manual. You first write an individual essay analysing sources relating to your topic, a primary research article and a secondary review article and relate them to the course content. You then are tasked with making an educational presentation to your lab, due in the final lab. At first the group project seems like a waste of time, but it helps legitimise the content you have learnt in your lectures by linking the content to real world research.
The labs are the opposite of physics labs. Instead of having too much work to do, it often feels like they are taking a 1.5 hour lab and stretching it out to a 3 hour long lab. By the end of the lab you are exhausted and want to lie down. The labs are not marked, but content from the labs does appear on the final exam, and the group project primarily takes place in the lab.

2 x 1 hour lecture. 3 hour lab every other week

2/5

Yes

Rebecca LeBard, Anne Galea, John Wilson

Lecture slides are available on Moodle. No past papers available, but questions are taken directly from Mastering Biology (An online version of the textbook). Course Manual is required for labs. It can be bought from the bookshop or printed from moodle.

4/5

Urry et al. 2014. Campbell Biology. Mastering Biology has all the relevant information and is available for free in moodle. Don't bother buying the textbook.

2018 Semester 1

76 DN