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BIOL40615: Agriculture and Biotechnology

It is possible that changes to modules or programmes might need to be made during the academic year, in response to the impact of Covid-19 and/or any further changes in public health advice.

Type	Tied
Level	4
Credits	15
Availability	Available in 2024/2025
Module Cap	None.
Location	Durham
Department	Biosciences

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

None

Aims

To provide students with a clear view of the agriculture and biotechnology industrial sector.
To create awareness of the benefits of agriculture and biotechnology for our society.
To provide students links with industries in the agri-food and biotechnology sector.
To provide students a framework for translating the theoretical knowledge to industrial applications

Content

Seminars, workshops and guided visits to generate a broad overview of the agriculture and biotechnology industry sector.
Group workshops to elaborate critical thinking and develop communication, data management and problem-solving skills.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

Deep understanding of the agricultural and biotechnology industry.
Understanding of strategies for the translation of fundamental science for the improvement of agriculture and biotechnology.
Awareness of the technical, legal and ethical limitations associated to agricultural and biotechnological industrial sector

Subject-specific Skills:

Ability to think critically within the context of agriculture and biotechnology.
To implement students industrial view.
To empower industrial networking abilities.
Understand the challenges associated to the agriculture and biotechnology sector.

Key Skills:

Critical thinking
Problem solving
Group working
Hypothesis building
Address questions
Ethical awareness

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

The teaching will consist of lectures and workshops distributed across the year (~ every 2 months), in preparation for the planned industrial visits. The lecture and workshop activities will provide the theoretical knowledge and specific topic discussions for the students industrial visit preparation. The industrial visits aim to provide a direct interaction with the industrial sector and will illustrate the strategies used for the translation of fundamental knowledge into agricultural and biotechnological innovations. Four mentor led group surgeries are planned.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total	Monitored
Lectures	4		2 hours	8
Seminars	4		2 hours	8
Workshops	4		4 hours	16	Yes
Industrial Visits	4		8 hours	32	Yes
Mentor/group surgeries	14	Bi-weekly	1 hour	14
Group preparation / reading				72
Total				150

Summative Assessment

Component: Coursework		Component Weighting: 100%
Element	Length / Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Written report	6000 words	100

Formative Assessment

Formative verbal feedback on written report.

More information

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