BB844: Field Course in Terrestrial or Marine Biology (5 ECTS)

STADS: 04015501

Level
Master's level course approved as PhD course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the autumn semester.

Teacher responsible
Email: dalia@biology.sdu.dk
Email: rnglud@biology.sdu.dk

Additional teachers
peterstief@biology.sdu.dk
lorenzo@biology.sdu.dk
johannas@biology.sdu.dk

Timetable
Show entire timetable
Show personal time table for this course.

Prerequisites:
None.

Academic preconditions:
Students taking the course are expected to:

• Have knowledge of the curriculum in biology or similar
• Be able to handle basic software (Word, Excel, Power point)

Course introduction
The participants plan, carry out, and analyze the results of a biological field project. The process includes the search for relevant scientific literature, testable hypotheses should be established and the evaluation of results obtained in relation to the existing knowledge in the field. Specific research topics are chosen among pertinent biological issues in the natural environments that surround the field stations of the Institute of Biology, where the practical part of the course takes place. The participants will gain insights to the different stages of the research process in general, and to principle of and methods in biological fieldwork in particular.

In relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit focus of the course to:

• Give the competence to implement new biological solutions and independently  develop and realise an experimental research project
• Give skills relevant for experimental field investigations
• Give knowledge and understanding of experimental  investigations

Expected learning outcome
The learning objectives of the course are that the student demonstrates the ability to:

• Search and critically select scientific literature pertaining to a particular biological topic.
• Use scientific articles and other sources to formulate working hypotheses for biological field projects.
• Design biological field investigations to test the hypotheses established.
• Carry out biological investigations and experiments in the field.
• Analyze the results gathered, and structure and describe these in a scientific style.
• Discuss own results in relation to previous investigations.
• Define directions for interesting research in the future.

Subject overview
The following main topics are contained in the course:

• Theory and planning: A research topic is selected and working hypotheses and a detailed research plan are elaborated based on a screening of relevant literature and discussions of the theory behind the topic.
• Field course: The practical part is carried out as a combination of field laboratory work studies at either the Biological Institute’s field station Svanninge Bjerge or the Research Center for Marine Biology in Kerteminde. Accommodation at the field stations is mandatory. The results are analyzed and summarized in a report written in the style of a scientific paper.

Literature
There isn't any litterature for the course at the moment.

Website
This course uses e-learn (blackboard).

Prerequisites for participating in the exam

1. Satisfactory participation in the theoretical (min. 80%) and practical (min. 90%) parts of the course. Pass/fail, internal marking by teacher.

Assessment and marking:

1. Report. The report can be written in groups of max 5 students. Evaluated by the Danish 7-mark scale and internal evaluation. (5 ECTS). (04015502).

Report deadline: October 22^nd.

Reexam: December 15^th.

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.
Intro phase: 2 hours
Skills training phase: 48 hours, hereof:
 - Tutorials: 8 hours
 - Excursion: 40 hours

Educational activities Study phase: 50 hours
Educational form
Activities during the study phase; Writing the research report.

Language
This course is taught in English.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.