Year 1 Student Tutorial Handbook
The School of Biological Sciences Tutorial Programme
All Year 1 SBS students are enrolled in the tutorial unit BIOL10000. Tutorials will provide you with knowledge and expertise related to your degree programme as well as transferable skills. The tutorial programme includes small group tutorials and plenary sessions. In the first semester, tutorials are also linked an online unit (Writing and Referencing Skills (WRS); BIOL10741) that will help you to improve your written communication skills. Figure 1 shows the components of the Year 1 Tutorial Unit.
Figure 1. Tutorials in Year 1 include small group and plenary sessions. The Writing and Referencing Skills (WRS; BIOL10741) unit complements tutorial activities and must be passed in order to pass the tutorial unit.
Small group tutorials will take place with other students from your degree programme and your Academic Tutor. Please note that times for your small group tutorials will be arranged by your Academic Tutor and will NOT appear on your personal timetable. Please check with your Tutor if you are in any doubt about the scheduling of your small group tutorials.
Plenary sessions will be delivered by specialists to larger groups of students from multiple degree programmes. This format ensures consistent delivery of information to students, and the plenary sessions cover topics that are relevant to all SBS students. Some plenary sessions have associated pre-session work, which should be completed in advance of the session. Table 1 lists the Year 1 plenaries, which will show on your personal timetable. They will be delivered in hybrid format so that you can attend live on campus or remotely via Zoom.
Table 1. Year 1 plenary sessions.
| Plenary title | Teaching
Week |
Pre-session work | Who should attend/complete |
| Semester 1 | |||
| Understanding University Assessments | 1 | YES | All Year 1 students |
| Frontiers of Science | 3 | No | All Year 1 students |
| How to Write a Scientific Essay [online resource] | 5 (recommended completion date) | No; online resource | All Year 1 students |
| MCQ Q&A Session | 10 | No | All Year 1 students |
| Semester 2 | |||
| How to Write a Mini Lab Report | 4 (recommended completion date) | No; online resource | Students enrolled in BIOL10412 or BIOL10422 |
| Employability: Make the most of your First Year | 7 | No | All Year 1 students |
| Experimental Reporting: Field Course | 8 | No | Students enrolled in a Field Course Unit |
Table 1. Year 1 plenary sessions. You will find descriptions of the sessions, instructions for pre-session work, and information about attending via Zoom in the relevant folder in the ‘Plenary Sessions’ area of the BIOL10000 Bb site. Semester 1 teaching week 1 begins on Monday 25th September 2023; Semester 2 teaching week 1 begins on Monday January 29th, 2024. TBC = to be confirmed.
The tutorial programme builds year-on-year and focuses on four major strands of skills: communication (written and oral); professional skills; experimental reporting; and employability, as shown in Figure 2. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) for the Year 1 tutorials are available here. The activities in Years 2 and 3 build on the skills that you acquire in Year 1.
Figure 2. Summary of the topics you can expect to cover in small group tutorials (top) and plenary sessions (bottom). There are variations between programmes, and your Tutor and Programme Director may, at their discretion, alter the content of your tutorials. FSB = Focused study in Biosciences.
Tips for success
To supplement your small group tutorials and plenary sessions, there is a curated list of resources available on the BIOL10000 Blackboard site to guide you through the academic year. These ‘Tips for Success’. are organised by week for each Semester, and they link you to supporting resources at the time that they are likely to be most useful and relevant to your tutorial activities and other major assignments. Completion of the resources is optional. The Semester 1 tips for success can be accessed here. The Semester 2 tips for success can be accessed here.
What are the roles of your Academic Tutor and Academic Advisor?
Your Academic Tutor will arrange your small group tutorials and mark your tutorial assessments. Your Academic Tutor will help you to:
- Develop skills and knowledge relevant to your degree subject during tutorials. Although not directly linked to the content of other units, tutorials will help you to put the information given in lectures and practicals into the context of your degree programme.
- Enhance your employability by helping you acquire a range of transferable skills. These include skills in written and oral communication, organisation of information, personal interaction, teamwork, and the use of information technology. Employers value these ‘transferable skills’. Tutorials will also help you learn to manage your time during your degree course and improve your revision and examination techniques. A detailed list of skills valued by employers and suggestions for how you can develop them is provided in Appendix 1.
Every student in the School is assigned an Academic Advisor. In Year 1, your Academic Tutor will also be your Academic Advisor. Your Academic Advisor is normally the same person throughout your course and is your main link to the School and the University. They can advise you on academic matters, personal problems (if needed), and can provide references when you are applying for jobs. Further information about Academic Advisors and One-to-One Academic Advisor Meetings is in the First Year Handbook.
How to pass the tutorial unit
You must fulfil three separate requirements to pass BIOL10000:
- you must have satisfactory attendance at small-group tutorials AND
- you have to obtain a mark of at least 40% for your tutorial assignments AND
- you must pass the Writing and Referencing Skills unit (BIOL10741).
Therefore, you will fail BIOL1000 if:
- you have more than one unexcused absence from small-group tutorials, OR
- your overall mark for BIOL1000 assignments is <40%, OR
- you fail the Writing and Referencing Skills unit (BIOL10741).
Consequences of failing the Tutorial Unit
Tutorials are an important part of the attendance requirements for your degree course and compensation for partial failure of unit examinations is available only to students who have passed their tutorial unit. In addition, students who fail the tutorial unit will be removed from Four Year Programmes and required to complete a re-sit essay during the summer vacation. For further details see the First Year Handbook.
Tutorial Attendance
Small group tutorials
Attendance at ALL small group tutorials (tutor-led and student-led) is compulsory and will be monitored by your Academic Tutor. Your Tutor will confirm the attendance recording arrangements for your student-led sessions. If you will be absent from a tutorial, or unable to complete a tutorial assignment due to illness, make sure that you follow the guidelines on ill health set out in the First Year Handbook. You must inform your Academic Tutor of an absence no later than the day and start time of your tutorial session AND submit a self-certification form to the Student Support Office no later than the day of the tutorial session that you will miss. It is your responsibility to provide this information. If you are unable to attend for any other good reason, you must supply documentary evidence to your Academic Tutor strongly supporting your reasons for absence.
More than one unexcused absence over the academic year will result in failure of the tutorial unit; exclusion from Four-Year (e.g., language, MSci, Enterprise, and Industrial Placement) programmes; loss of compensation for exams; and a summer re-sit essay assignment. Additional unexcused absences from tutorials may lead to the issuing of a formal warning letter. Unexcused absences may have detrimental effects on decisions on progression to subsequent years of your degree programme, or even lead to exclusion from study in the Faculty. For further information on this and other related matters, please read the relevant sections of the First Year Handbook.
Plenary sessions
Attendance at all plenary titles is recommended. Their content relates to assignments that you need to complete this year and they support the development of transferable skills. Most sessions will be delivered in hybrid format so that you can attend in person or live on Zoom. A few plenaries are online resources, as noted in Table 1.
Tutorial Assignments
Tutorial Assignment Deadlines
Table 2 summarises Year 1 tutorial assignments common to all degree programmes and lists their deadlines. There is an assignment brief for each of these assignments in the Assessments folder of the BIOL10000 Blackboard site. Note that you may have additional, program specific, deadlines for assignments that will be set by your Academic Tutor.
Late submission of assignments (i.e., after the deadline without an agreed extension) of tutorial assessments will be penalised by mark deduction every day (or part thereof, including weekends and holidays) beyond the deadline.
DASS-related automatic extensions, if applicable to you, can be used for the Semester 1 and Semester 2 Essays and may apply to the Programme-Specific Assignment, depending on its nature. Group work or presentations don’t qualify for these extensions, nor do formative tutorial assignments. You may want to remind your tutor if you qualify for a DASS-related extension.
Table 2. Year 1 tutorial assignments.
| Assignment | Deadlines (usually Thursdays at 16:00) | Contribution to BIOL10000 marks | Submission | DASS auto-extension? |
| Semester 1 | ||||
| Scientist Summary* | TBA with Academic Tutor (week 1) | Formative | By email to Academic Tutor | No |
| Frontiers of Science Summary | 19/10/23 | Formative | Assessments area BIOL10000 Bb | No |
| Semester 1 Essay – Draft | 9/11/23 | Plagiarism report only | Assessments area BIOL10000 Bb | No |
| Semester 1 Essay – Final | 23/11/23 | 10% | Assessments area BIOL10000 Bb | Yes |
| Semester 1 Poster | TBA with Academic Tutor (week 10) | 30% | By email to tutor and presentation in tutorial | No |
| Semester 2 | ||||
| Semester 2 Essay | 7/3/24 | 30% | Assessments area BIOL10000 Bb | Yes |
| Programme-specific assignment | TBA with Academic Tutor | 30% | TBA with Academic Tutor | Yes |
| Semester 2 Mini Lab Report Q & A** | TBA with Academic Tutor (week 11 or 12) | Contributes to BIOL10412 or BIOL10422 mark | TBA with Academic Tutor | No
|
Table 2. Year 1 tutorial assignments. Additional assignments may be specified by your Tutor. TBA = to be arranged; Bb = Blackboard. The BIOL10000 Bb site can be accessed here. Further information about each tutorial assignment is provided in the description of activities for each Semester. *Not all groups will do the Scientist Summary assignment. Your Tutor will instruct you if you are to do this. **Students enrolled in a Field course unit will be given instructions for alternative experimental reporting activities by their Tutors.
Formatting of Tutorial Assignments
Formatting is important, and mark penalties will be applied where assignments are formatted incorrectly or exceed the specified page or word limit.
- All written tutorial assessments should be formatted in the following way unless you are told otherwise: Arial 10pt font, A4 page with 2.5cm margins, 1.5 line spacing.
- Page limit and referencing style for each assignment will be specified by your Academic Tutor if not stated in the assignment brief.
- You should add a completed copy of the tutorial assignment coversheet as the first page of your assignment before you convert to PDF. The coversheet does not count towards the page limit.
How to submit tutorial assignments
Most assignments (see Table 2) should be submitted via the Assessments area of the BIOL10000 unit Blackboard site, where you can also find instructions for uploading an assignment. If you have technical difficulties during submission, you should submit an eLearning enquiry through Blackboard (‘Technical Support’ link in the left-hand menu). Your Academic Tutor will advise you how to submit any other tutorial assignments.
Marking and Feedback
Your assignments will be marked by your Academic Tutor and returned to you with feedback that will allow you to improve your work for the next assignment. It is important that you view and save your feedback as soon as possible once it is available. Instructions for doing so are here. Ahead of your next assignment, review this feedback and use the tutorial assignment coversheet to reflect on it and incorporate changes. If you don’t understand some of the feedback you have been given you should ask your Academic Tutor about it.
Semester 1: Developing Communication Skills
Introduction and Semester 1 Tutorial Schedule
Your small group tutorials, the Writing and Referencing Skills Unit and the tutorial plenary sessions all work together in semester 1 to develop your skills in communicating science. An outline schedule for Semester 1 is shown in Table 3. Tutorial activities and assignments, including plenaries, are described by week number (e.g., Semester 1 week 3). These refer to teaching weeks, with week 1 of teaching starting on Monday September 25th 2023 for Semester 1 and on Monday 29th January 2024 for Semester 2. The exact content of small group tutorials is not described as this will depend on your degree programme and your Academic Tutor.
Table 3. Semester 1 Outline Tutorial Schedule.
| Teaching Week | Small-group Tutorials | Plenary Sessions | BIOL10000 submission DEADLINES |
| 1 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial | Understanding University Assessments | Submit summary of scientist by email to Tutor*. |
| 2 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial | ||
| 3 | 1 Student-led tutorial to be held by week 4 |
Frontiers of Science (FoS) | |
| 4 | Submit FoS summary via Bb. Thursday 16:00 | ||
| 5 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial | How to write a Scientific Essay [Online] | |
| 6 | Reading week: no tutorial | ||
| 7 | 2 Tutor-led and 1 student-led tutorial(s) | Submit draft essay via Bb. Thursday 16:00 | |
| 8 | |||
| 9 | Submit final essay via Bb. Thursday 16:00 | ||
| 10 | Semester 1 Poster Presentations (Tutor-led) | MCQ Q&A Session | Poster submission date TBA by tutor. |
| 11 | |||
| 12 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial | ||
Table 3. Semester 1 Outline Tutorial Schedule. Your Tutor or Programme Director may provide an alternative schedule at their discretion. Bb = Blackboard; TBA = to be arranged. MCQ = multiple choice question. *Not all groups will do the Scientist Summary assignment. Your Tutor will instruct you if you are to do this.
This schedule doesn’t contain the dates and times of your small group tutorial sessions, which will be arranged by your Academic Tutor. You should ensure that you record times of your tutorials and the assignment deadlines. More information about each plenary session, including details of pre-session work, will be available on the BIOL10000 Blackboard site in advance of each plenary.
BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills (WRS) Unit
This compulsory online unit provides resources to help you with written communication, scientific referencing, and avoiding academic malpractice. These skills are essential for the year 1 tutorial assessments, including essays and lab reports, and will form the basis for written assessments during your time at University.
Please ensure that you read the BIOL10741 course content pages on Blackboard for information on how the course is run. You MUST achieve 100% in the Academic Malpractice module AND achieve an average score of 70% or above for the seven WRS modules to pass BIOL10741 and therefore the tutorial unit. You will receive a mark for the WRS unit from the seven WRS assessments.
The ‘Academic Malpractice’ module will be available from Welcome Week and must be completed by 4 pm on Friday 6th October (week 2). The ‘Academic Malpractice’ module must be passed with a score of 100% to pass and gain access to the rest of the WRS course. The remaining WRS modules and assessments can then be completed at any time before their respective deadlines (Table 3). Submission deadlines are 4pm on the Fridays of weeks 4-10 (see table 4). Extensions are not permitted.
Table 4. Writing and Referencing Skills unit (BIOL10741) deadlines.
| Assessment | Available from: | Deadline week | Deadline dates (Fridays at 16:00) |
| Academic Malpractice | 18/9/23 | 2 | 6/10/23 |
| Essential Language Skills | Once Academic Malpractice module has been passed with a score of 100% | 4 | 20/10/23 |
| Academic Style | 5 | 27/10/23 | |
| Text Handling | 6 | 3/11/23 | |
| Referencing the right way | 7 | 10/11/23 | |
| Planning ahead | 8 | 17/11/23 | |
| Performing a search | 9 | 24/11/23 | |
| Endnote online | 10 | 1/12/23 |
Table 4. Writing and Referencing Skills unit (BIOL10741) deadlines. Weeks correspond to Semester 1 teaching weeks, where week 1 begins on Monday 25/9/2023.
Queries about the BIOL10741 WRS unit should be directed to the Unit Coordinator, Dr Catherine Millar. Technical queries, including problems accessing the course, need to be reported to the eLearning team via the dedicated link on Blackboard (a tab, marked technical support, can be found in the menu on the left-hand side of the BIOL10741 Blackboard unit site). Queries relating to modules 5-7 should be addressed to uml.e-learning@manchester.ac.uk (for technical queries) or uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk (for queries on content).
Academic Malpractice
Understanding what academic malpractice is, and how to avoid it, is fundamental to your studies. As well completing the ‘Academic Malpractice’ module in the Writing and Referencing Skills unit, you will do an activity with your tutorial group in Semester 1 on how to recognise and avoid plagiarism. Later in Semester 1 you will have to opportunity to use the University’s plagiarism detection software on an essay that you will submit.
Supporting resources to help you learn about academic malpractice:
- The first module in the Writing and Referencing Skills unit
- First Year Handbook
- University of Manchester guidance on academic malpractice
- Resource on ‘Avoiding Plagiarism’ in Week 2 of Tips for Success
Any first-year student suspected of plagiarism or other forms of academic malpractice will have to attend an interview with a panel of academic staff. The panel will determine a suitable penalty, which may include a mark of zero for the assignment or for the course unit. Penalties for academic malpractice are increasingly severe in later years of the programme!
Semester 1 Tutorial Assignments
Scientist Summary Assignment (weeks 0-1)
Note that not all students will be asked to complete this assignment. This is a formative assignment and DASS auto-extensions do not apply.
Assignment brief: Details will be provided by your Academic Tutor if they choose to do this assignment.
Skills being developed: written communication
Frontiers of Science summary (weeks 3-4)
This is a formative assignment and DASS auto-extensions do not apply.
Assignment brief and marking scheme: download from the Assignment Briefs and Assessment Criteria folder of the BIOL10000 Blackboard site.
Skills being developed: note taking, written communication
Related plenary sessions:
Understanding University Assessments: pre-session work uses the same assignment brief and marking scheme; discussed during the plenary.
Frontiers of Science: the notes you take during this plenary are to be used to write a summary of the lecture.
Semester 1 Essay Assignment (weeks 5-9)
The final submission is worth 10% of the marks for BIOL100000 and qualifies for a DASS-related automatic extension. No extensions, including DASS-related, are possible for the draft submission.
Assignment brief and marking scheme: download the assignment brief and the marking rubric from the Assignment Briefs and Assessment Criteria folder of the BIOL10000 Blackboard site.
This assignment is submitted in two stages so that you have an opportunity to see the output of the University’s plagiarism detection software TurnItIn.
- Draft Essay submission (week 7). Once the draft essay submission deadline has passed, you will be able to see the plagiarism report on your essay, which you should save as a PDF for future reference. You then have the opportunity to edit your essay if you like. Even if no edits are needed, a separate submission must be made for the final essay ahead of the deadline in week 9.
- Final Semester 1 essay submission (week 9). If you do not submit a draft of the essay in week 7 you may still submit a final version for assessment, but you will not be allowed to see the plagiarism report on your final version.
Skills being developed: research, written communication, professional skills (referencing).
Related plenary sessions: How to Write a Scientific Essay
Other supporting resources:
- BIOL10471 Writing and Referencing Skills modules
- Tutorial sessions on aspects of essay writing, essay plans, referencing (exact content will vary by programme and group)
- Resources highlighted in Semester 1 tips for success (weeks 3 – 7).
You will get feedback from your Tutor on the Final Semester 1 Essay. You should read and save the feedback so that can improve your writing for future assignments including the Semester 2 Essay.
Semester 1 Poster Assignment (weeks 7-12)
The Semester 1 poster is worth 30% of the marks for BIOL100000. As it is group work, it does NOT qualify for a DASS-related automatic extension.
Assignment brief and marking scheme: download the assignment brief and the marking scheme from the Assignment Briefs and Assessment Criteria folder of the BIOL10000 Blackboard site.
DEADLINES
Skills being developed: group work, written and oral communication.
Related plenary sessions: none.
Other supporting resources and activities: Semester 1 Poster Information Resource (will be available later in Semester 1).
Semester 2: Developing Programme-specific Skills
Introduction and Semester 2 Tutorial Schedule
As in Semester 1, this schedule doesn’t contain the dates and times of your small group tutorial sessions, which will be arranged by your Academic Tutor.
Table 5. Semester 2 Suggested Tutorial Schedule.
| Teaching Week | Small-group Tutorials | Plenary Sessions | BIOL10000 submission DEADLINES (Thursdays 16:00) | Related submission DEADLINES (not BIOL10000) |
| 1 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial | |||
| 2 |
3 tutor-led and 1 student-led tutorials before the end of week 7 |
|||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | How to Write a Mini Lab Report [ONLINE] (BIOL10412/22 students only.) | |||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | Submit Semester 2 Essay via Bb. | |||
| 7 | Employability: Make the most of your First Year | |||
| EASTER |
||||
| 8 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial (or week 9) | Experimental Reporting: field course. (Field Course students only.) | ||
| 9 | 1 Student-led tutorial | Submit individual lab reports on BIOL10412/22 Bb sites. BIOL10412/22 students only. | ||
| 10 | Submit group reports on BIOL10412/22 Bb sites. BIOL10412/22 students only. | |||
| 11 | 1 Tutor-led tutorial | |||
| 12 | ||||
Table 5. Semester 2 Suggested Tutorial Schedule. Your Tutor or Programme Director may provide an alternative schedule at their discretion. TBC = to be confirmed; Bb = Blackboard. Teaching week 1 of Semester 2 begins Monday 29th January 2024.
Semester 2 Tutorial Activities and Plenary Sessions
Semester 2 Essay Assignment
Worth 30% of the marks for BIOL100000 and qualifies for a DASS-related automatic extension.
Assignment brief and marking scheme: download the assignment brief and the marking rubric from the Assignment Briefs and Assessment Criteria folder of the BIOL10000 Blackboard site.
Skills being developed: research, written communication, professional skills (referencing).
Related plenary session: How to Write a Scientific Essay
Other supporting resources and activities:
- BIOL10471 Writing and Referencing Skills modules
- Tutorial sessions on aspects of essay writing, essay plans, referencing (exact content will vary by programme and group)
- Feedback from your tutor on your Semester 1 Essay can be used to improve this essay. Use the tutorial assignment coversheet to summarise the feedback.
Mini Lab Report or Field Course Report Assignment and Plenaries
Note that these assignments count towards the practical or field course units, not BIOL1000.
In Semester 2, students enrolled on lab-based practical units (BIOL10412/10422) will produce a mini lab report, while students enrolled on field course units will prepare to produce a field course report. Although these assignments are not identical, the underlying experimental reporting skills are the same and will be covered in tutorials whether you are enrolled in a lab or field course unit.
Students enrolled on lab-based practical units (BIOL10412/10422) will work individually and in small groups to produce a mini-lab report that describes an experiment from their practical unit. Students will then answer questions about the content of their report during a question-and-answer tutorial session.
Related plenary session: Experimental Reporting: Mini Lab Report
Field course students will be provided with information regarding the format and length of their field course report in the assessment area on the Blackboard of their field course unit.
Related plenary session: Experimental Reporting: Field Course Report
Skills being developed: experimental reporting, written communication, professional skills.
Programme-specific Assignment
There is a programme-specific assignment worth 30% of the marks for BIOL10000. In addition to this, your group may also have other formative assignments (don’t carry any marks for BIOL1000. Details, including the assignment brief and deadline, will be provided by your Academic Tutor. The programme-specific assignment may be one of the following types:
Data analysis/Problem Solving
These activities are designed to complement skills acquired in the Practical Module BIOL10401 and will focus on quantitative and analytical problem-solving tasks relevant to your degree programme.
Group-based learning (GBL) sessions
GBL provides a means of developing team-working skills while exploring a topical issue relevant to your degree subject. See Appendix 2 for guidelines on running a GBL activity, and week 8 of Semester 1 Tips for success for further support with group work. Your group will choose or be allocated a subject for investigation, in consultation with your Academic Tutor. As a group, you then research the subject, deciding amongst yourselves who should do what and the approach that should be taken. On completion of your research, all members of the group should contribute to the final outcome, which could be an oral presentation, written article, or poster. The performance of the group will be assessed by your Academic Tutor, and this will contribute to your overall tutorial mark.
Employability
What are Employability Skills?
Employability skills are the skills needed in working environments. Employability skills can be very specific and technical, like understanding HPLC or how to run a PCR; or they can be general, such as demonstrating effective communication skills.
Why are employability skills important in year 1?
Employability skills are always important, and you will already have developed a range of skills from your experiences that have led you to The University of Manchester. If in year 1 you’re looking for a part-time job or summer internship, or plan to go on placement later in your course, you will be asked to write about and discuss your employability skills during application and interview. The sooner you have the chance to build your range of skills and reflect on these – the better.
What skills will I get this year?
In year 1 the employability focus is about settling in and trying new things. You will experience a lot of new subjects, people, and activities. We want to help you make the most of your time here and getting off to a good start is a key part of that. To help with this, there will be an Employability plenary session entitled ‘Make the most of your First Year’ in Week 7 of Semester 2. For a specific run-down of all the employability skills you can gain this year check out Appendix 1: Employability; your module descriptions also detail the skills you will have the chance to develop.
Keep a record of your employability skills
It’s worth thinking about how you can keep a record of the skills and new experiences you develop during the year. One way is to create a ‘living CV’ which acts like a list or summary of all the things you’ve done and what you’ve learnt. The benefit of this approach is when you come to write your CV to send out then you have all the evidence in one place. Typical headings would be education, jobs, volunteering, positions of responsibility and interests. For more information on CVs check out the advice on Careers Service website and follow the Get CV Ready Pathway.
Coming soon: the Careers Service are launching a skills audit tool on the CareerConnect portal in the autumn, to help you assess your current employability skills and suggestions to develop them further. Information will be shared with you when it goes live.
The Careers Service: Get Career Ready
From day one, the Careers Service can help you with all your career needs.
Common queries from first-year students are:
- How can I get work experience or a part-time job?
- I don’t like my course, what else can I do?
- How can I find out about career options?
- I don’t know what I want to do.
Make a start by logging into the CareerConnect portal where you can search for opportunities including jobs and internships, sign up for events, book careers appointments, and explore our e-learning career ‘pathways’.
The Biology, Medicine and Health Careers Consultants are Suzanne Creeber (Biological Sciences) and Emma Brewin-Caddy (Health and Medical Sciences, including Psychology), supported by Careers Advisers who support employability activities in the faculty. We offer a personalised service with booked appointments with specialist advisers, an application advice service, a specialist information service, and 24-hour access to careers information and vacancies through the website. In addition, we run an extensive programme of events and online workshops throughout the year.
For full details of how the Careers Service can support you, visit the website or explore our Linktree for direct links to our key services and social media sites.
Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellows
The Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellows are professional, published authors whose role is to help you strengthen your writing.
Sign up for a one-to-one tutorial to help you:
- Plan your study time.
- Focus your reading for essay writing.
- Express your ideas more clearly.
- Answer grammar and punctuation questions.
- Discover reading to improve your writing and editing skills.
- Increase your writing skills with the aim of improving your grades.
- Improve any academic writing.
Further information about the writers’ expertise, and instructions for appointment booking are available on the BIOL10000 Blackboard site.
Help with English Language Skills
Should you need help with English language skills, you can contact the University Language Centre.
Student Feedback
In order to help us maximise the benefits that you gain from tutorials, we need feedback from you, both on the tutorial activities and on your Academic Tutor’s performance. For this purpose, you will be asked to complete unit surveys at the end of each semester. There will be a general survey for BIOL10000 to give feedback on the tutorial plenaries, and a separate survey run via Blackboard to give feedback on your small group tutorials. It is important for us to have your opinion, as these surveys will be used to determine how plenaries and tutorials are conducted in future years. Details of how to access and complete the surveys will be emailed to you each semester.
Appendix 1: Employability
This table outlines some transferable skills that employers seek and ideas for developing these so that you can use them for job applications and in interviews in the future.
| What are employers looking for? | What does that mean? | How can you develop this skill? |
| Ability to articulate what you have to offer | Reflect on the skills you have gained throughout your tutorials and other units.
Develop good communication skills so that you can talk about your skills and provide evidence that you have them to potential employers. |
Reflection: keep updating your CV and keeping a record of new skills.
Communication Skills |
| Creativity & innovation | Being able to come up with new ideas, approaches, and solutions. Thinking ‘outside the box’ and being able to suggest new/improved ways of doing things. | You will have the opportunity to be creative in terms of your approach to assignments – e.g., ideas for poster topics in tutorials. Your final year project will present opportunities to be innovative in overcoming obstacles. |
| Critical thinking | Being able to analyse an idea or a piece of work objectively and weigh up its strengths and weaknesses. Recognise your own biases and be open to new ideas if evidence supports them. | Essays and oral presentations will include structured presentations of a logical argument. You will read and critically analyse primary literature in tutorials and build on these skills during your extended essay and literature review. |
| Cultural awareness & sensitivity | Experience of interacting with individuals from a range of different backgrounds and ability to adapt your approach to suit the needs of the people you are working with. | We have a diverse staff and student body, so you are likely to interact with individuals from a range of backgrounds during your tutorials and project, or as an ambassador or PASS leader. The Manchester Leadership Programme (MLP) and any volunteering you undertake provide opportunities to work within the local community, which is also diverse. |
| Leadership skills | Proven ability to lead a team effectively. | You may have the opportunity to act as a leader in a tutorial assignment or project, or as a senior ambassador. You can also seek leadership opportunities in the MLP or as a PASS Leader. |
| Numeracy | Being able to work with numbers is a key skill and may range from basic mental arithmetic to being able to analyse and interpret data. | Data Handling modules, practicals, field courses and projects will help you develop your numerical skills and ability to use statistics. Numerical skills are required in practicals and experimental reporting to work out concentrations and dilutions, and to calculate whether results are statistically significant. |
| Presentation skills | Proven ability to communicate your ideas both visually and orally. | You will undertake presentations in tutorials, field courses and as part of your final year project. Becoming an ambassador, PASS leader or student representative gives you further opportunity to develop your presentation skills. |
| Project management | Project management requires effective planning, and management of resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project objectives. | Your final year project will be the main opportunity to develop this skill, but you may also manage smaller projects in some lecture units, within the MLP, or as a PASS leader or PASS co-ordinator. |
| Problem solving | Grasp what needs to be done and reach a satisfactory solution to a problem. | Tutorials will include practice of problem solving in preparation for data handling in practical write-ups and the final year programme specific problem paper. |
| Self-awareness | Know what your skills, strengths and weaknesses are. Think of examples of how and when you have demonstrated these. | When you have completed a task (e.g., formal presentation, essay, exam) reflect on your performance. Write examples and state what you intend to do differently next time. |
| Self-management (ability to manage learning) | Effectively manage your time and complete work within deadlines. | Most units will require you to manage your time and submit assignments to deadlines. Your final year project will hone this skill, and will need to fit around other demands on your time such as coursework essays and reading for lecture units. |
| Self-esteem & confidence | Belief in your capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome effectively. If you have a strong sense of self efficacy, you are more likely to challenge yourself with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. | You will have the opportunity to rise to the challenges provided by completing independent work to deadlines (e.g., extended essay) and to learn from constructive criticism and feedback (e.g., peer review in tutorials; discussion groups and feedback from tutor or project supervisor). |
| Teamwork | Proven ability to work well within a team AND an understanding of the role you take within a team. | Most projects and tutorial activities involve some teamwork, as do some final year lecture units. Aim to take on different roles so that you experience as many as possible. Reflect on your strengths and development needs. |
| Research skills | This may refer to researching literature, searching databases, identifying appropriate resources, and extracting key information or may refer to practical scientific research. Research is also an important skill when looking for and applying for jobs. | You should do extra reading around your lectures including reading recent primary literature and review articles. More extensive research will be required for essays, your extended essay and literature review. Your main opportunity for research will be during your final year project. |
| Written Communication | Effectively organising your ideas and communicating these in a coherent manner. Being able to use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. | Throughout your degree you will develop your written communication skills through your assignments such as essays, Year 2 extended essay and project write ups. |
For further help see http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/experience/skills/ The ‘Develop your skills’ section contains ideas on how to develop these skills beyond your degree (plus guidance on how recruiters assess for them).
The My Learning Essentials training programme offers careers advice through face–to-face workshops and online resources.
Appendix 2: Group Based Learning (GBL) Tutorials
What happens in a GBL tutorial?
These are general guidelines for GBL tutorials, which may be modified at the discretion of your Academic Tutor. GBL tutorials are run by students and the Academic Tutor is the facilitator and does not take part, other than to provide guidance if needed. Further guidance on group work is available on the My Learning Essentials website.
A specific topic, short article from a journal or a research paper is chosen. In the first session students decide on the primary learning objectives of the topic and how they are going to go about researching these. This should be done using a wide variety of information resources focused on the primary literature.
At the second session (usually student-led; the Academic Tutor is not present) the group have a full detailed discussion of the topic, focusing on the primary learning objectives. During this session one of the students should act as chairperson. Students should also decide on how the material will be presented the following week to their Tutor. The final session is either a formal presentation of the topic to the Academic Tutor or a discussion of the topic between the Academic Tutor and students.
Attendance at all sessions is compulsory as a primary aim of GBL is to develop an awareness of teamwork skills and increase the knowledge base of the whole group. Non-attendance jeopardises the learning of all other group members as individuals. For this reason, recordings of attendance and minutes of meetings in the absence of the Academic Tutor must be taken and be open to review by the Academic Tutor at any time.
Guidelines for the running of GBL tutorials
- A chairperson must be appointed at the beginning of each GBL to control the running of the discussion. Attendance must also be recorded.
- Another student is appointed as secretary and should record the agreed learning objectives and email these to all members of the group.
- All students should make a record of the agreed topics to be researched.
- Group communication is essential and everyone in the group should have input (this is strongly dependent on the chairperson).
- The sessions should cover set one-hour time periods. This helps to focus the group and develops time and resource management.
- The research information should come from a range of sources (for example, primary literature, textbooks, internet, reviews, personal experience etc.).