Aims

Students will be familiarised with research in contemporary Zoology. They will use skills and knowledge they obtained during the degree programme in order to work with 3 lecturers on specific themes in contemporary Zoology. Students will be able to work independently on a research question using contemporary research literature and be able to deliver a scientific presentation on the specific research questions. Furthermore, students will be familiarised with animal welfare and ethics including legal and moral aspects of human use of animals, for example in research and agriculture.

Outline Of Syllabus

Taught sessions:

An introductory lecture will inform students about the work they will do in this module, and one or two lectures will inform students about issues of animal welfare and use of animals in research.

Other sessions will be centred on three theme areas, relevant to contemporary research in Zoology and to the interests of teachers of the Zoology degree.

Examples of the theme areas are: Animals and Humans (including animal welfare); Animals in the News (including media reports of Zoological research); and Animals and their Environment (including the ways animals adapt to the built human environment).
A different teacher is responsible for each theme, and each theme will have 4 timetabled sessions.

In the first, the teacher will introduce the theme, and identify different topics within it that will be the basis of student presentations. The class will then be divided into groups.

In the second and third sessions, each group will meet to plan and prepare their PowerPoint presentation. The teacher will circulate between the groups to advise and to check progress.

In the final session, the groups will each present their presentation.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

An introductory lecture will inform students about the work they are expected to do during the module.

Lectures will provide information about animal welfare and research on animals.
Active learning experiences will be provided in each of the three areas, in which students work in groups with each one contributing by undertaking background reading, and then tasks in preparing and delivering a presentation.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Knowledge will be assessed in the exam.

Contribution to group work will be assessed as part of the professional skill assessments; partly by peers and partly by module teachers.