Postgraduate Course: Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NEBM11014)
Course Outline
| School | Deanery of Biomedical Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This is an elective course for the MSc by Research in Integrative Neuroscience. Students learn about key features of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and current research. |
| Course description |
Changes to how the brain develops during early life lead to a variety of neurodiverse outcomes, such as autism, intellectual disability, and attentional problems. These neurodevelopmental disorders may be associated with features such as epilepsy, sensory hyper- and hypo-sensitivity, and altered social interaction and/or cognition. Many neurodevelopmental disorders have a genetic basis, which allows a direct path to understand behaviour and potential therapy of these deleterious features. This elective course showcases research being undertaken at the University of Edinburgh which hopes to give an insight how changes to genes leads to altered synaptic, cellular, circuit, and behavioural function in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Course delivery
Seminars will be delivered by the course team which includes researchers in the field of neurodevelopment who are using cutting edge techniques to understand neurodevelopmental disorders and potential therapies. The seminar sessions will consist of 1-2 weekly seminars from researchers in the field.
These seminars will be complemented by oral presentations from the students, to be based on published literature related to topics presented in the previous seminar sessions. Paper presentations will be delivered as either small groups (2-3 students/group) or individually (for assessed presentations).
The course team and peers will provide formative feedback on group and individual presentations in advance of the final summative assessments.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2023/24, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 54,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
137 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
In-course assessment: 100%
This course will be assessed by 2 oral presentations of research papers from a pool selected by the course organisers and seminar contributors.
ICA1 (30% of mark). The first assessed presentation will be given during the rotation of weekly oral presentations, selected from a pool of papers that relate to aspects covered in the first series of seminars. The students should introduce the background and motivation for the study, the key research questions/hypotheses addressed in the paper should be summarised, with a focus on critical appraisal of the experimental design, results and their interpretation. This assessment will occur after all students have received formative feedback on at least one group presentation; Each presentation should last no more than 15 minutes. This assessment will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and apply analytical skills to interpret research data accurately and critically (learning outcomes 1&2).
ICA2 (70% of mark). The second assessed presentation will take place at the end of semester, following completion of all seminars and group presentations. It will be a presentation of either a paper from a pre-selected pool of papers, or a paper of the student's choice, on the theme of neurodevelopment and neurodevelopmental disorders. All student-selected papers will be vetted by the course organisers to ensure that equivalent depth of the paper to perform the assessment. The second presentation should focus on a proposal for future directions related to the findings of the chosen research paper. At the outset students should place the research paper in the context of the work within the wider literature and clearly identify the key findings before identifying open questions directly arising from the paper, suggestions as to how to address future follow-on experiments, and discussion of how this study may change our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Each presentation should last no more than 20 minutes. This assessment will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, awareness of the current state of research, and the ability to communicate information effectively in a wide range of contexts (learning outcomes 1, 2, & 4).
|
| Feedback |
Formative feedback on group and individual presentations during the course.
Summative feedback on oral presentations of research papers.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
- Demonstrate awareness of the current state of research.
- Develop and apply analytical skills to interpret research data accurately and critically.
- Demonstrate ability to communicate information effectively in a wide range of contexts.
|
Reading List
| Recommended reading or other learning resources will be discussed with the Supervisor/Elective Organiser at the time of establishing the project. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will develop a critical understanding of the principal theories and concepts in their chosen elective field of interest. They will learn to apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to forefront issues in their elective field of interest. They will learn to critically evaluate numerical and graphical data. Students will learn to communicate with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists. |
| Special Arrangements |
Course is restricted to MSc Integrative Neuroscience students only |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sam Booker
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Debbie Grahames
Tel: (0131 6)50 3160
Email: |
|
|
University Homepage