The first tutorial that the first year students attend is to discuss whether a virus is alive or not. Before this tutorial the students must write a 500word statement either "for" or "against" this argument, which must be referenced correctly. A reference from a journal article on this topic is placed on the unit homepage on DSO (Deakin Studies Online). Students must then obtain at least two other references, from journals or textbooks.

Rationale

Rationale

The Writing in Biology program [see Taylor 1] in first year biology at Sydney University involves a learning cycle which includes explanation of academic writing and its importance, creating criteria for assessing writing, practising and giving feedback, plus a component encouraging reflection on the writing process. One of the limitations in this cycle is the fact that students are usually working alone during the key period of preparation of draft and final reports.

A group of postgrad students said they particularly liked and remembered the assessment of a third year ecological methods field trip. Students from a range of disciplines worked in groups to gather data, but their reports were assessed individually. One student said,    

"there was just massive data sets, vegetation and invertebrate pitfalls and mammal trapping. ... Everyone was collecting data for animals as well as plants and then analysing it or going through it every night on the field trip."