BSc Biomedical Sciences

You will have a mixture of small group tutorials with your Academic Tutor and plenary sessions as part of a larger group. Plenary sessions will provide support with academic communication and allow you to develop transferable skills that increase your employability. Tutorials with your Academic Tutor will also develop your transferable skills and skills associated with your degree programme. Through activities such as essay writing and oral presentations, you will be helped to gain an overview of your subject area, and to consolidate and integrate knowledge gained in your lectures.

To provide all students with the skills associated with their degree programme subject and to develop personal transferable skills that will prove of general use and enhance employability.

• Develop and apply degree programme-specific knowledge.
• Develop and apply degree programme-specific skills.
• Extend knowledge of the degree subject and help to put the information received in lectures and practicals into perspective.
• Develop new and improve existing transferable skills.
• Describe the relationship between assessment and learning.
• Apply a conceptual (and theoretical) understanding of assessment.
• Describe the nature and meaning of assessment criteria and understanding.
• Select and apply appropriate approaches to assessment tasks.
• Search for information and identify relevant data to meet information needs.
• Identify relevant information to communicate science to specific audiences.
• Develop scientific writing skills
• Demonstrate skills in self and peer assessment
• Develop skills in analysing scientific issues and presenting clear arguments.
• Identify how to evidence and apply transferable skills for job applications and interviews in the future. 

Syllabus: The unit will normally include at least 12 hours contact with the Tutor. Some sessions will be delivered to larger groups of students as plenary sessions. Some tutorials may be student-led, and held without the Tutor. The content will vary between Degree Programmes but may include: abstract writing, essay writing, teamwork, problem solving, group based learning, oral presentations, reading and analysing primary research papers, lab report writing, exam question practice, careers advice.  

Attendance: Attendance at small group tutorials is compulsory. Students who fail to attend tutorials, or who have an overall mark for their tutorial assignments of less than 40% will fail the tutorial unit. Compensation for partial failure of the examinations is available only to students who have passed the tutorial unit. In addition, students who fail the tutorial unit are required to complete an re-sit assignment during the summer vacation.

Assessment methods may vary slightly between degree problems but will include: a Research Paper (40%), programme-specific assignment (45%) and two Career Skills assignments (15% for both). 

Students will receive written and/or verbal feedback from their Academic Tutor for all work submitted for the tutorial unit. Students are also encouraged to meet with their Academic Tutor to discuss their feedback in more detail.