HLH105 Research Skills and Strategies 1

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit is designed to provide opportunities for you to experience and develop core research skills. The transition from undergraduate scholar to independent researcher, regardless of the field of research, requires both general and specific thinking and practical research skills, together with research strategies additional to those obtained in an undergraduate degree. As part of the training for a career in research this unit will include exposure, experience and training in cross-disciplinary and extra-disciplinary research skills and strategies.
Active student participation in workshops and seminars provide opportunities for self-reflection, initiative and actualisation.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Demonstrate effective skills in self- and time-management and practical knowledge of health and safety issues, and research ethics.
2. Demonstrate advanced information retrieval skills including collection, critical analysis, and data collation from published literature.
3. Demonstrate advanced skills in oral and written presentations and participate in collaborative and interactive research forums in which you actively discuss research methods.

Content

Learning Approaches

Several days of workshops and lectures will be held in the University's Orientation Week and will cover aspects of research including information retrieval, funding research, project/time mangement, intellectual property management, research conduct and ethics including interactions with past Honours graduates. Over the remainder of the teaching period, weekly two-hour workshops introduce learning and training in core research skills (e.g. information retrieval, information technology, grant writing, authorship and publication, statistics, intellectual property, professional standards and ethics, data management, oral and written communication). In other workshops you will make short oral presentations and participate in structured discussion and debate on topics, including the assessment items associated with this unit and other units in the course. Student-lead discussions of current research projects will likely involve Industry-focused projects as well as research projects in areas such as nutrition, exercise, infectious diseases, cancer, molecular medicine, vision, genetics and genomics. Continuing professional education is demonstrated through active engagement in external research seminars and submission of seminar reflections, feedback on lab book record keeping and presentation of a Introductory Seminar to the School summarising the proposed research project.  

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback will be provided in oral or written form on progress during the unit classes and for each of the assessment items. You will have the opportunity to informally interview with the Honours Teaching team. The interview offers a private opportunity to acquire constructive feedback from progressive assessment items and to highlight personal challenges and issues you might wish to confidentially discuss with the Honours Teaching team.

Assessment

Overview

Formal assessment for this unit is comprised of:

• A short oral presentation (5 min) to the Honours cohort describing the published literature and preliminary data that is foundational to your chosen research project 
• A longer Introductory seminar (15 min) to academics within the School of Biomedical Science
• Reflection on research seminars and effective record keeping in the form of a workbook

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Introductory Seminar

An oral seminar presented to staff, visiting scientists, including industry representatives and other students. Assessment is based on demonstration of scientific quality, logic and argument, clarity, use of illustrations, and answers to questions.

Assessment: Reflective Seminar Journal

You are expected to attend and engage in research and industry seminars given by researchers within and outside of your school. Assessment is based on the submission of a reflective journal that will include a short description of the findings of the talk, or a reflection on presentation style that you found effective. A proforma for seminar attendance will be provided. Attendance of at least 8 seminars during semester 1 is required for this assessment. You will also submit a research workbook that reflects accurate record keeping of your methods and data generated during semester 1.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Foundational Research talk

A short oral presentation to student peers on the literature and preliminary data that is the foundation of your project will provide an opportunity research your topic (information search and retrieval), construct a story around why your project is important and present the topic to the class. Feedback is provided through participation and peer-evaluation.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

This unit is conducted entirely in  seminar room settings, and no risks beyond the ordinary need to be considered.

Course Learning Outcomes

HL53 Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours) (Study Area A)

1. Students will demonstrate coherent and advanced knowledge of a biomedical science research area and understand the principles and practice of research ethics and laboratory health and safety related to this discipline.
   Relates to: Introductory Seminar, Foundational Research talk
2. Students will demonstrate critical thinking, independent judgement and technical skills required to conduct, analyse and disseminate research in the biomedical sciences.
   Relates to: Introductory Seminar, Reflective Seminar Journal, Foundational Research talk
3. Students will be able to effectively plan, execute and evaluate a piece of research by demonstrating responsible professional practice, and advanced problem-solving working independently and in collaboration with a research team.
   Relates to: Introductory Seminar, Foundational Research talk