Outline

Overview

Many challenges require knowledge that extends across multiple disciplines. Therefore, the ability to identify interdisciplinary knowledge is needed and establish links to develop integrated solutions is a crucial skill in the modern world. This is especially relevant to microbiology. This unit presents the opportunity to bring together the concepts and skills you have learnt in microbiology and team up with students from other disciplines to apply them to a real-world problem. You will work on a project related to the production of safe, health-promoting foods. Nutrition-related chronic diseases are a major challenge for 21st century society owing to their huge socio-economic burden and their multifactorial nature. The problem your group is assigned will be based on real world examples and considered from multiple angles that may include: How government should make decisions regarding approval/regulation of a new food product; How a company might approach production, optimization, and marketing of a new food, and; How the health claims and/or safety of a food product can be assessed or improved. Each of these angles requires knowledge from multiple disciplines and a sound understanding of microbiology is highly important. In this unit, you will receive microbiology-specific training, in addition to collaborating with students from other disciplines on project-based learning; identifying and solving problems, collecting and analysing data and communicating your findings to a diverse audience. All of these skills are highly valued by employers across the spectrum from education to industry to government.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Life and Environmental Sciences Academic Operations
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	6cp from (MIMI2X02 or MEDS2004 or MICR2X22 or BMED2404) and 6 cp from (MICR2X31 or MICR2X21 or MICR2024)
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	Fundamental concepts of microorganisms, biomolecules and ecosystems
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Andrew Holmes, andrew.holmes@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Andrew Holmes, andrew.holmes@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Supervised exam ?	MICR3888 final exam Exam on discipline-specific content delivered in lectures and practical	30%	Formal exam period	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Project proposal pitch Group presentation of a research project to develop a food product	10%	Week 06	10 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Multimedia presentation Short multimedia presentation on an aspect of the food system.	15%	Week 12 Due date: 25 Oct 2023 at 23:59	10 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Small continuous assessment	Reflection Self-reflection and peer feedback to a multidisciplinary project	10%	Week 13 Due date: 03 Nov 2023 at 23:59	Approx 5 pages accumulated over semester
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Food product development proposal Written submission according to defined criteria for describing development	35%	Week 13 Due date: 03 Nov 2023 at 23:59	Written report ca 4000 words.
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Further information on all these tasks is available on the canvas page. Your mark for all group tasks is determined by academics in the course and will be moderated by peer-evaluated performance feedback documented in the reflection task. Final exam is purely individual asessment.

Product Proposal Pitch. Students will work in groups to produce a written and oral presentation based on their planned project work. You will outline a pilot project aimed to produce a new food product and present the research proposal. This product proposal pitch is marked as a separate assessment task (10%) but directly related to the written proposal (below). Assessment of the group proposal pitch is by both peers and academics with each students marks moderated by individual performance.

Product development proposal (written report). This task builds on the proposal pitch (see above), but is marked separately (35%). Students continue to work in their groups to produce a new food product development proposal. The proposal should be based on development of a new food that can either deliver health benefits via mechanisms that are dependent on microorganisms, or is able to be marketed as part of a healthy diet. The product development proposal requires your team to address questions that are specific to food science, nutrition, and microbiology. You also need to collectively consider requirements for gaining regulatory approval to market a new food product. Assessment of the group report is by academics and with each students mark moderated by individual performance.

Multimedia presentation. Students will work in groups to produce short audio-visual presentation explaining an aspect of the food system of your choice. This chosen aspect should be relevant to how your new food product is placed within the food system (e.g. its health impact, sustainability, cultural significance etc). Groups will submit a multimedia file (movie or narrated slide show) that is less than 10 minutes in duration. Assessment will be by peer assessment as well as academic review. Each students mark moderated by individual performance.

Group work reflection. This task is ongoing through the semester and has five components. (1) Each week we expect your group to be assigning action tasks to each member and recording team progress in a simple log. Academics will monitor the quality of meeting logs throughout semester and will follow up performance issues by interview as necessary. (2) After the project pitches you will provide brief constructive feedback to other members of your group in week 7. (3) Your group will agree a mark for the project pitches of other groups and provide feedback and a mark justification in week 7. (4) Your group will will agree a mark for the multimedia presentations and provide feedback and mark justification in week 12. (5) Your groups log of team meetings and an individual reflection essay are submitted together at the conclusion of the project. Each student receives an individual mark for this task (10%) and the individual performance modifier for the group tasks is based on these records and interviews. Assessment is by academics.

Final Exam. A 2 hour individual exam with multiple choice and short-answer questions. The final exam assessment is compulsory and failure to attend, attempt, or submit will result in the award of an AF grade. If a second replacement exam is required, this exam may be delivered via an alternative assessment method, such as a viva voce (oral exam). The alternative assessment will meet the same learning outcomes as the original exam. The format of the alternative assessment will be determined by the unit coordinator.

Assessment criteria

Assessment grading

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2021 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	At HD level, you achieve the unit learning outcomes to an exceptional standard. A ‘High Distinction’ reflects your exceptional ability to apply comprehensive knowledge, analytical, communication, and collaborative skills in diverse contexts to synthesise multiple advanced insights and produce original solutions for highly complex problems.
Distinction	75 - 84	At D level, you achieve the unit learning outcomes to an excellent standard. A ‘Distinction’ reflects your excellent ability to apply well-developed knowledge, analytical, communication, and collaborative skills in diverse contexts to synthesise multiple insights to produce original solutions for complex problems.
Credit	65 - 74	At CR level, you achieve the unit learning outcomes to a good standard. A ‘Credit’ reflects your ability to apply broad knowledge, analytical, communication, and collaborative skills in a variety of contexts to synthesise insights and produce adequate solutions for routine problems.
Pass	50 - 64	At PS level, you achieve the unit learning outcomes to a proficient standard. A ‘Pass’ reflects your ability to apply threshold knowledge, analytical, communication, and collaborative skills in some but not all contexts to combine insights and produce basic solutions for routine problems.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Penalties for late submission will apply.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Bringing disciplinary knowledge to a multidisciplinary food system project	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 02	Food, diet and microbes	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	Teamwork training exercise	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 03	Fermented foods 1	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 03	Team work on project - Food & Nutrient associations in health.	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 04	Fermented foods 2	Lecture (1 hr)
	Team work on project - Microbiome associations with health outcomes	Workshop (2 hr)
	Kombucha production - experimental plan and design	Science laboratory (3 hr)
Week 05	The gut microbiome	Lecture (1 hr)
	Team work on project - Safety and food production	Workshop (2 hr)
	Kombucha experiment - media preparation and set up	Science laboratory (3 hr)
Week 06	Microbe physiology and beneficial metabolites	Lecture (1 hr)
	Kombucha experiment - sample analysis and tutorial.	Science laboratory (3 hr)
	Product proposal pitch presentations	Presentation (3 hr)
Week 07	The prebiotic strategy for gut health	Lecture (1 hr)
	The food system: Industry regulation and Stakeholders	Workshop (2 hr)
	Kombucha experiment - microbial community	Science laboratory (3 hr)
Week 08	The probiotic strategy for health	Lecture (1 hr)
	Team work on project - peer assessment and feedback on product pitches	Workshop (2 hr)
	Kombucha experiment - discussion on microbial analysis; metabolite analysis	Science laboratory (3 hr)
Week 09	Team work on project - storyboard for multimedia	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 10	Food safety and microbes - intoxication	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 10	Team work on project	Independent study (2 hr)
Week 11	Food safety and microbes - infection	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 11	Assessment preparation in groups	Independent study (2 hr)
Week 12	Food safety and microbes - source tracking	Lecture (1 hr)
	Assessment preparation in groups	Independent study (2 hr)
	Food system multimedia presentations	Presentation (3 hr)
Week 13	Course review	Lecture and tutorial (1 hr)

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Apply disciplinary knowledge to solve problems in an interdisciplinary context.
LO2. Find, define and delimit authentic problems in order to address them.
LO3. Create an investigation strategy, explore solutions, discuss approaches and predict outcomes.
LO4. Analyse data using modern information technology and digital skills.
LO5. Demonstrate integrity, confidence, personal resilience and the capacity to manage challenges, both individually and in teams.
LO6. Collaborate with diverse groups and across cultural and disciplinary boundaries to develop solution(s) to the project problems.
LO7. Communicate project outcomes effectively to a broad audience.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

This is the third iteration of this unit. The assessments are unchanged, but for this year we have re-ordered the project pitch and multimedia tasks. Project pitch now week 6 and 10% (was wk 12 and 15%); multimedia is now week 12 and 15% (was wk6 and 10%). This is to improve alignment with the FOOD3888 product development project and respond to student feedback that multimedia was a bigger task needing more time.

Additional information

This unit is done in collaboration with STAT3888, FOOD3888 and NUTM3888. 30% of content and assessment is specific to MICR3888 students. The remaining 70% is done in multidisciplinary groups.

The STAT/NUTM/FOOD/MICR interdisciplinary units have two project offerings so that it is possible to do both NUTM3888 (project 1) and MICR3888 (as project 2) in the same semester. The course workshop timetable is structured to facilitate this.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Assessment grading

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

MICR3888: Microbiology Interdisciplinary Project

Semester 2, 2023 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Assessment grading

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect