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Unit Summary

Unit type

PG Coursework Unit

Credit points

12

AQF level

9

Level of learning

Advanced

Former School/College

Former School of Environment, Science and Engineering

Unit aim

Exposes students to cutting-edge marine ecology, experimental design and analysis.  Students will design, execute and critically analyse field and laboratory experiments testing ecological hypotheses. They will also critically analyse the experimental evidence that supports paradigms underpinning modern ecological research.

Unit content

Ethics in marine ecological research: past, present and future.

Effective mensurative experimentation for marine ecology.

Establishing causal relationships using manipulative experiments.

Marine ecological theory: from zombie ideas to new paradigms.

Advanced practice in marine ecological research.

Experimental designs and analyses for manipulative ecological experiments.

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

GA1: , GA2: , GA3: , GA4: , GA5: , GA6: , GA7:
On completion of this unit, students should be able to: GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 critically analyse ethical considerations for guiding practice in marine ecological research
2 develop and apply rigorous experimental design to advanced mensurative experiments
3 demonstrate critical understanding of how logistical constraints compete against design considerations in manipulative experiments
4 display scientific communication skills at a professional level
5 critically synthesize cutting edge ecological research
6 perform basic quantitative analyses of experimental data involving multiple factors.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. critically analyse ethical considerations for guiding practice in marine ecological research
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  2. develop and apply rigorous experimental design to advanced mensurative experiments
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  3. demonstrate critical understanding of how logistical constraints compete against design considerations in manipulative experiments
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  4. display scientific communication skills at a professional level
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  5. critically synthesize cutting edge ecological research
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  6. perform basic quantitative analyses of experimental data involving multiple factors.
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA5: