NES1504 : Skills for the Biosciences
- Offered for Year: 2026/27
- Module Leader(s): Professor Pip Moore
- Lecturer: Dr Evelyn Jensen, Dr Hannah Davis, Dr Simon Maddock, Dr Heather Sugden, Dr Matt Bawn, Dr Mark Shirley, Dr Gary Caldwell, Professor Marion Pfeifer, Professor Aileen Mill, Dr Gavin Stewart, Dr James Stach
- Technician: Dr Kirsten Wyness
- Other Staff: Miss Laura Messenger
- Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
The module aims to immediately engage students with the variety of local environments at the same time as developing core laboratory and field skills (PC3 – assessed). The module aims to demonstrate the complexity of the biological world and the systems approaches and critical thinking required to understand it (PC10 – assessed). At the same time this module will develop the transferable skills required for students to successfully navigate their degree. The module will also develop key competencies in data and digital literacy (PC4 – assessed), finding an interpreting information (PC2 – assessed), communication (PC5 – assessed) and collaboration (PC8 – developed), academic ethics (PC7 – introduced), professional skills (PC9 – assessed) and career development (PC9 – introduced). This will be done through a mix of practical exercises, tutorials, lectures and online learning and assessment. The module will introduce students to their personal tutors and tutorials will be run throughout the academic year. The skills and knowledge gained in this module will be applied and further developed in modules throughout the students’ academic journey and will be useful in careers beyond university.
Outline Of Syllabus
This will be a block taught module running in the first 4 weeks that the students arrive. Through a series of practical field and laboratory session, lectures, online learning and workshops this module will provide the students with the practical, academic and professional skills to complete modules throughout their first year with these skills further developed throughout their degree. The module we cover the following material:
Workshops and practicals will empower the students to think critically, work collaboratively and professionally and to realise that science is often advanced through trial and error.
The students will be introduced to a variety of basic field and laboratory techniques, they will then practice these techniques before demonstrating their competency in each skill.
Lectures, on-line material and workshops will be used to develop the students skills in the scientific method, information literacy, ethics literacy, scientific communication and career opportunities on offer to a biosciences graduate.
Tutorials will provide small group opportunities to further develop the skills outlined above with a particular focus on scientific writing, reading the scientific literature and critical thinking.
At the end of this module students will be well prepared to undertake the rest of their undergraduate degree where they will put the skills and knowledge developed here into further practice recognising that building competencies is a journey not a destination.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 6 | 0:30 | 3:00 | Canvas quizzes to test competency related to academic skills activities |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 12:00 | 12:00 | Written exercise |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 12:00 | 12:00 | Practical report |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | Present in person |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 5:00 | 5:00 | Reflective log on skills development |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | Working collaboratively |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Field skills development - digital platforms |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 6:00 | 6:00 | Field skills development - DML |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Laboratory skills development and assessment of competency |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | Online via Canvas – locating resources, referencing, scientific writing |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 4 | 2:00 | 8:00 | Online via Canvas – Expectations of HE, ethics, scientific literature, communicating science |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 8 | 1:00 | 8:00 | Tutorials run through semester 1 & 2 |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 4 | 3:00 | 12:00 | To be introduced to R, Digimap and Blast and use these digital platforms |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | A showcase of the varied careers on offer to bioscience graduates |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 100:00 | 100:00 | Reviewing material to apply to other modules throughout Stage 1 |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 8 | 2:00 | 16:00 | Preparing for tutorial tasks |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Online material will provide students with information on the wide range of academic skills they will need to use throughout their degree. Lectures will be used to introduce material while practicals and workshops will enable students to apply information learnt online and in lectures in practical contexts while also developing key laboratory and field practical skills. Tutorials will provide opportunities for small class teaching for developing academic skills further as well as providing opportunities for pastoral signposting.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practical/lab report | 1 | M | 100 | Data presentation and interpretation – Max 1000 words |
Zero Weighted Pass/Fail Assessments
| Description | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Computer assessment | M | Canvas MCQ quizzes |
| Reflective log | M | Reflection on current practical, academic and professional skills - max 1,000 |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | M | Max 500 word written exercise |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The computer assessment will ensure that all students have engaged with the Canvas materials and have an understanding of how to apply the knowledge learnt. The reflective log will ensure that the students identify and reflect of their competencies in all the practical, academic and professional skills learnt and applied during this module. The practical report will enable students to apply their competency in communication, data literacy and digital literacy. Finally the formative written exercise will ensure that students receive early feedback on their scientific writing style.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES1504's Timetable