Course Coordinator:Sankar Subramanian (ssankara@usc.edu.au) School:School of Science, Technology and Engineering
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
Species live in populations. In order to understand how species survive in a changing world we need to understand their populations. The course gives a foundation in population ecology and genetics that is essential for conservation, restoration and invasive species management. You will develop field skills used to quantify populations and how they change, and learn key aspects of population genetics relevant to molecular ecology. You'll gain an understanding of population dynamics and develop skills in the analysis and interpretation of data in the study of population ecology and genetics and genomics.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – pre-recorded videos of learning content and instructions will be available online via canvas | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Laboratory 1 – Self paced weekly tutorials to reinforce concepts and to learn analysis methods and data interpretation undertaken in computer laboratory | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
Population ecology; Population genetics; measuring and defining populations: population growth; regulation of population growth; genes in populations; Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium; genetic diversity; inbreeding; selection
300 Level (Graduate)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Summarise, analyse and interpret population ecology and genetics data |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
| 2 | Calculate estimates of population growth |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
| 3 | Understand and apply the key concepts in population ecology and population genetics |
Knowledgeable Sustainability-focussed |
| 4 | Apply population ecology and genetics concepts to conservation and restoration issues |
Ethical Sustainability-focussed |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
ENS221 or ANM203 or SCI212
Not applicable
Not applicable
Will have undertaken some scientific writing and data analysis at second year level
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Students will be provided early feedback during class attendance at the computer laboratory sessions the completion of the allotted tasks and worksheet is then submitted each week one week after completion to be marked these are returned the following week. The marks combined make up the assessment task 2
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 20% | 60 minutes |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | Individual | 30% | 100 x 10 |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | In Class |
| All | 3 | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 50% | 2 hr |
Exam Period | Online Submission |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Weekly Quizzes | |||||||
| Goal: | This task assesses comprehension of population ecology and genetics or genomics concepts presented in the weekly lectures. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | An online quiz will be administered each week via Canvas. The quiz will consist of multiple-choice questions. You must complete the quiz within one hour, and only one attempt is permitted. Submission: Week 1 to 12. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Tutorial questions | ||||||||||
| Goal: | The tutorial question series allows you to review and apply practicalaspects ofpopulation ecology and genetic and reinforce materials covered within the course in an applied contexts |
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| Product: | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | Students to complete tutorial data analysis exercises and answer tutorial questions. To be submitted one week after tutorial completion. Each tutorial submission is of equal weighting and combined will result in 30% of the total marks. The specific tutorials to be submitted will be identified on Canvas and tutorial notes will be available on Canvas Submit: week 1 to week 12 as specified |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Exam | |||||||
| Goal: | Enable students to demonstrate understanding of theoretical concepts in population ecology and genetics, undertake analysis, interpretation and synthesis of population ecology and genetics data and apply this to specific scenarios. |
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| Product: | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | Each student will be examined based on material covered in lectures and tutorials for the course and the exam will be held in the normal examination period. The exam will contain short answer questions, data analysis and interpretation and an essay question. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Not applicable
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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