HEALTH 3000B - Research Placement for Health Sciences

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2017

This course is designed to expose third-year BHlthSc (Adv) students to the university medical research environment and provide an opportunity to participate in the process of scientific research. The primary component of this course is the research placement, in which students are associated with an active research group in the Faculty, facilitating opportunity to gain hands-on medical research experience. The course will contribute to the student?s major in one of the three designated majors for the B.Hlth.Sc (Adv) (in Epidemiology, Nutrition or Reproductive Health) and therefore the research project will be in one of these areas. The research placement experience will be supported by tutorials and a ?journal club? focusing on development of core research skills and knowledge and critical appraisal of research outputs. The tutorials will also explore research integrity and the ethical issues associated with medical research. The course builds on HEALTH 2000 - Experimental Research in Health Sciences (Adv) II. Each student will document their research activities with a final written report, and in addition will communicate their research findings at an end-of-year symposium.

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Course Details

Course Code	HEALTH 3000B
Course	Research Placement for Health Sciences
Coordinating Unit	Health and Medical Sciences Faculty Office
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	6
Contact	Up to 5 hours per week, including 3 hours of research placement
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Prerequisites	HEALTH 2000
Restrictions	This course is restricted to BHthSc (Advanced) students
Assessment	Research proposal, research project presentation, final research report and oral presentation, written assignments and research quiz

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Professor Amanda Page

Course coordinators
Prof Amanda Page
Centre for Nutrition and Gastrointestinal Diseases, School of Medicine, University ofAdelaide,
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), North Terrace, Adelaide
Email: amanda.page@adelaide.edu.au
Ph: 8128 4840
Dr Nichola Thompson
School of Medicine, University of Adelaide
Room N404a, Medical School North, Frome Road, Adelaide
Email: nichola.thompson@adelaide.edu.au
Ph: 8 8313 6395
A/Prof Lynne Giles
School of Public Health, University of Adelaide
Room 7-09, Level 7 Terrace Towers, 178 North Terrace, Adelaide
Email: lynne.giles@adelaide.edu.au
Ph: 8313 0234

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1.   Apply collaboration and team work skills through shared learning in a working scientific research environment.
2.   Formulate a small group research project, including specification and justification of an appropriate research hypothesis, research design, and statistical analysis.
3.   Interpret, discuss research findings with peers and supervisors and communicate research findings in written and oral forms.
4.   Identify and critically evaluate scientific literature in health research, emphasising the core concepts related to their specialised research project.
5.   Identify and analyse contemporary and ethical issues in research in the health sciences.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	2-5
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	1-5
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	1-4
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1-3
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	5
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	1, 5

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Readings, including journal articles, will be made available to students electronically. This will be supplemented by web-links for specific topics, as relevant. Project supervisors will provide or direct students to necessary materials during research project work.

Learning & Teaching Modes

The primary component of the course is a research placement, for three hours each week, in which the students will be involved in a collaborative small group research project, working within an active research laboratory or group. Independent learning is required to read and analyse papers for fortnightly journal clubs, prepare written assignments, prepare a written proposal for the research project, and write a final report on the research project.

Additional contact time consists of four one hour tutorials (maximum of 1 per fortnight), covering two themes across the first semester: 1) research ethics and 2) research design and evaluation. There will also be a one hour “journal club” on alternate fortnights (semester two; six in total) as an exercise in interpretation and critical appraisal of the literature and to address key contemporary issues in health science research.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Contact hours:

Type	Number of sessions	Duration of each session	Total hours
Tutorials	4	1	4
Practicals	24 (over 2 semesters)	3	72
Journal club	6	1	6
Total			82

Assessment tasks:

Type	Assessment % allocation	Number of sessions	Total hours
Oral presentation (ethics)	15	1	8
Research proposal (Inc study design)	30	1	50
Abstract and Poster presentation (research poster presentation summative)	15	1	30
Written project report (results and discussion summative)	40	1	50
Total			138

Non-contact:

Type	Number of sessions	Anticipated time (hr)	Total hours
Weekly reading for journal club	6	2	12
Preparation for tutorials	4	2	8
Preparation for practicals (hours/practical)	24	2	48
Total			68

Total workload (hr/semester): 144
Workload/week (hr): 12
Distribution of the expected workload (hrs/week) over two semesters for a 6 unit course is in accordance with the revised assessment for the course.

Learning Activities Summary

Research placement (3 hours/week – indicated as practicals within the workload spreadsheet) will be conducted in small groups, working within an active research laboratory or group, and will include planning, conducting and analysing the project, preparing individual writtenreports and preparing and presenting (in groups) a research poster.

Supportive tutorials/journal clubs (1 hour/fortnight; maximum of 4 tutorials in semester 1 and a “journal club” (1/fortnight in semester 2; total of six) will cover three broad themes which will be timed according to the semester of students entry into the course to accommodate mid-year entry students

1.      Ethical issues and practice in health sciences research (semester 1; 2 tutorials and assignments linked to research placement);

2.      Research design and evaluation (semester 1; 2 tutorials and assignments linked to research placement);

3.      Critical appraisal and key contemporary issues in health science research (semester 2; journal club).

Specific Course Requirements

Students will be conducting research as part of a research group and may be required to work after hours, and at varying times, depending on the research activities to be undertaken. However, the after hour work will fall within the estimated workload (hrs/week) for the course.

Small Group Discovery Experience

Research projects will be carried out under the guidance of a research supervisor and her/his team (eg laboratory or research group placement), who will assist in development of research-related skills including proper conduct of research, understanding of the research field including key literature, learning specific techniques and/or skills related to the research field, analysis of research data and presentation of research findings. Research activities will initially be carried out with direct supervision by the supervisor and/or other research laboratory members but, depending on student progress, may also involve independent work under broad supervision. It is envisaged that most students will work in pairs on the same research project, and jointly prepare and present their poster, but they will prepare separate research proposals and written reports.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Assessment type	Weighting	Hurdle	Learning course objective(s) being addressed
Individual research proposal, including research background and project design (week 8)	Summative	30%	Yes	2,4
Laboratory Group Assignments (Oral presentation 1,ethical issues semester 1; Poster presentation semester 2)	Summative	30%	No	1-5
Abstract for conference (semester 2)	Formative	0%	No	2,3
Oral presentation 2 (critical appraisal/journal club)	Formative	0%	No	1,3,4,5,
Written project report	Summative	40%	No	1-5

Assessment Related Requirements

Modified assessments

1) Students seeking an assessment deadline extension on either medical or compassionate grounds must refer to the University policy. The policy and an application form can be downloaded from the following site: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/supps.html (2) Requests for an extension to written assessment deadlines or replacement oral assessments should be made by submission of the completed form and supporting documentation to the course coordinator. Alternative assessment arrangements cannot be made without the receipt of a completed application form. (3) Course coordinators will not approve applications for extensions where the nature of the illness is considered minor. This decision cannot be made where no evidence is provided as to the severity of the illness. We strongly respect the right of students to keep the specific nature of their illness confidential. However, University Policy requires your medical practitioner to complete sections 3 and 4 of the appropriate form (see http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/mod_arrange.html) certifying that they considered your illness to be major. Students are strongly advised to take a copy of this form with them for completion by their medical practitioner at the time of their consultation.

Final academic supplementary assessments for this course will only be offered on academic grounds.

Academic supplementary assessments cannot be applied for. Academic supplementary examinations may be offered at the discretion of the School learning and teaching committee to permit students to re-sit if their overall performance was close to the required level (above 45% average standard).Supplementary examinations make take the form of an oral examination, additional written assignment or examination paper. Those sitting supplementary assessments on academic grounds will be required to achieve a grade of at least 50% in a supplementary assessment to pass the course. Successful completion of supplementary assessments offered on this basis can only result in a final mark for the course of 50%.

Assessment Detail

The Research Proposal, in semester 1, is a Hurdle assessment task. Students who do not submit this piece of assessment or achieve a mark of at least 45% cannot continue in the course. If students do not achieve at least 45% for this assessment then there needs to be discussion with and agreement from the course coordinators before continuation in the course can be confirmed.

Submission

Written tasks will be submitted via MyUni and TURNITIN; students will have the opportunity to screen drafts through TURNITIN confidentially before final submission.

If applicable, areas must provide details on submission process/requirements (e.g. specification for electronic submission of essays, the use of cover-sheets, location for physical submission of practical reports, specification of submission through TURNITIN); requires specification of penalty for late submission and approach to granting of extensions to due dates; any penalties for inaccurately stating the word count of a submitted assignment should also be specified; requires indication of staff “turn-around” timeline on assessments and the provision of feedback to students; requires specification of approach to re-submission/redemption of work. Detail can also be provided on supplementary examination/assessment opportunities.

Late submission & Extensions:

All assignments, including those handed in late, will be assessed on their merit. However, assessments handed in late to this course will be deducted from the mark awarded at a rate of 10 percentage points of the total possible per day. The School reserves the right to refuse to accept an assignment that is more than 7 calendar days late.

Any potential difficulties in meeting assessment deadlines should be discussed in good time with the course coordinator and the appropriate university forms submitted in accordance with university policy (refer to modified assessment arrangements).

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator