Bioscience employers demand graduates with better practical competence. It is our supposition that, although undesirable, student learning is assessment driven and this is leading students to simply go through the motions in the practical setting (whether field work or laboratory based). In this intervention a Critical Incident Report was…

In this communication we report on a "blended" form of assessment combining the positive aspects of a laboratory investigation, including practical skill acquisition, data reporting and social interaction, with the application and authenticity of a case study encouraging students to deepen their learning from laboratory activities. (Contains 2…

One of the guiding principles in curriculum design is the need to achieve constructive alignment between intended learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment. Indeed studies carried out in the 1970s reported on the "hidden curriculum"; it was not in fact teaching but assessment that played the largest part in guiding students' learning.…

The use of blended learning, face-to-face contact alongside e-based activities, provides academic staff with an opportunity to match their teaching strategies with the changing student cohort. This study report students' perceptions of e-learning activities early in bioscience modules; students from all three levels of undergraduate study were…