What to expect

Welcome to Human Biology at Curtin

For most of you this is the first unit in Human Biology which you’ll do at a tertiary level. We intend to do more than just present you with information and expect you to regurgitate it back to us at the end of the semester. We are interested in helping you to develop the skills which employers value, and which the Division of Health Sciences at this university has pledged to provide. These include time management, collaborative work and study skills, and the ability to deal with scientific information and make sense of it to yourself and others. Expect to be challenged. We have set the unit up to encourage active learning and develop self-directed study. While you will be provided with all the information you need, it will not be just handed to you, and you will not always be reminded of your obligations to yourself and others. You will be encouraged to be self disciplined and to problem-solve, and you will see that, in science, there is not always a right answer or method. You will need to consider the views and beliefs of others as well as your own.

University study is hard work, and if you are studying full-time you will need to treat university as a full-time job. You’ll need to be honest with yourself about the quality of your work because you’re the one who will benefit from effective study practices.

Hours spent doing HB out of class time

Past students have been asked to tell us how much time they spent on average outside class time every week. Sixty percent spent 1-5 hours and 35% spent 6-10 hours. A unit with this credit value should involve at least 10 hours of work per week, including assignments and reading. This means 6 hours of your own time on top of the 4 hours of contact time. If you are not so productive one week you will need to carry that workload over to the next week. You cannot afford to have too many easy weeks!

Advice from past students

Students have also been asked what advice they would give to newcomers to this unit. Here are a few of their comments:

• Stay on top from the start
• Keep up with the work as you go along. Do PRE READING BEFORE SESSIONS
• Read all prereading before going for labs/lectures
• Do focus questions continually
• Do all the focus questions and read info before going to the session
• Keep up with the work, do not fall behind
• Do not just do homework, do revision as well
• Consistency — never procrastinate
• Keep up. Do not get behind
• Do not blink — you’ll miss something
• Keep up with the focus questions
• Study
• Keep on top of workload
• Study, read, devote heaps of time to it
• Do the focus questions as you go — then you’ve got your notes for the test
• Do FQs on a weekly basis and keep up to date with workload
• Answer all FQs straight away and CAAs ASAP
• Keep up with the work as you go — leaving it for even 1 week makes it so hard to catch up
• Study from the beginning and do the focus questions
• Do not fall behind or you will never catch up

As you can see, there is a common theme — be prepared for classes and keep up with the work and you will be fine.